The Republicans have wrapped up their convention in Tampa, and if I were the people in the Obama campaign, I’d be worried. Particularly after Mitt Romney’s speech.
I could certainly find plenty to criticize, as I did throughout this attack-dog week. Speaker after speaker simply threw facts to the wind. And the hyper-patriotism and “USA! USA!” chants always make my skin crawl. (And yes, frankly, they remind me of scenes from newsreels showing the adoring, emotional crowds in Germany during Hitler’s reign.)
But Romney’s speech last night showed a stronger, more forceful Romney than we have seen — and than the Obama campaign has portrayed. And in the numerous tender segments of the speech, we saw a far more human Romney.
The speech, and his delivery, personalized him. And there were lots of strong lines — the kind that make great, on-the-road campaign speeches and great TV ads.
I’ve been nervous before about Barack Obama’s chances for re-election. But after last night, I’m close to betting that he’ll be a one-term president. And I won’t be surprised if Republicans make it a full sweep, keeping the House and taking the Senate.
This article appears in Aug 29 – Sep 4, 2012.
The most chilling line of his speech was “You know there’s something wrong with the kind of job he’s done as president when the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him.”
Unfortunately, that is actually true with a lot of ppl, and unfortunately Romney has a good chance of winning.
The fact is that Obama lost this election a long time ago. His only hope is either to try to make Romney radioactive (that’s been his strategy to date, to no avail), or just pray that independent voters sit on their hands.
Meanwhile: Hearing the name of her country makes the authoress’s skin crawl? And she’s an Obama supporter? Talk about stereotypes — you can’t make up this stuff! In any case, it sounds like she may be in need of some serious deprogramming. We pray she seeks it.
As for the “Triumph of the Will” allusions, are you kidding? Nothing in the last 80 years says Nuremberg like Grant Park on Election Night 2008. For better or worse, Gov. Romney will never enjoy anything remotely like that kind of moonbat adulation.
When seeing and hearing people express love of their country makes your skin crawl, and you can’t watch a thoroughly American gathering without being reminded of a Nazi rally, it tends to put the rest of what you say in perspective. All in all, a very informative commentary in this regard. Just not about Romney.
why is it that those who preach tolerance are the most intolerant? The Nazi Germany reference is so appalling and frankly, stupid, I do not know why it is considered fit to “print”. Comparing the thousands of individuals at the RNC to champions of murder, is so laughable, hateful and full of prejudice, it tells so much more about the writer than anything else.
For all the talk of how Republicans don’t care about poor people, minorities, women etc. you’d think a Republican has been president the last four years. The fact is life has not improved for most of America, people are poorer, more people are disenchanted and can’t afford to wait any longer for results that aren’t coming. I would be interested in seeing those facts checked. Oh yes, and diversity of expression at the RNC should be something to” fear” too- it’s ruining a prized liberal narrative.
City,
If one disagrees with the President, they are racist. If they talk about the economy, they hate the poor, if they ask about jobs, they do not understand that the President inherited a worse economy than he deserved.
Truth is, this is a failed presidency! It is time for a change!
MaryAnna,
Your readers are liberal and they are trying to tell you that you are out of touch! I am shocked by that. Wow!
“out of touch” is a very charitable characterization. Unhinged is probably closer to the mark.
Craig (and others here who seem to miss the point):
There is a huge difference between “people expressing love of their country” VS “hyper-patriotism and chanting”.
Regardless what “side” you align with more … most issues are NOT 2 sided, black and white like our party system is. And one ‘side’ is NOT more patriotic than the other…
And chanting does not mean you ‘love’ your country more than others.
Thinking that way is what’s scary.
Our founding patriots were deeply thinking, well educated men. They were careful with their words and phrasing . They were fair and balanced deliberators.
People who just chant their country’s name at everything a politician says as if they were at a football game — rather than weighing matters soberly and carefully from all sides— are NOT patriots… they are pawns who are letting themselves be emotionally manipulated into taking sides, rather than challenging these candidates to REALLY dig into and explain the issues.
Considering it “love of your country” to just chant your country’s name in a big group is not just lazy, it’s dangerous.
snowman,
Uh oh, the thought police are here.
So as long as I don’t THINK my side is more patriotic, and I don’t cheer after EVERY phrase a politician says, as long as I weigh matters “soberly” and align myself with you, than it’s ok to chant USA? Who made these rules? Sounds like some sort of control freak.
How the heck do you know how much or how little any of the people at the RNC have weighed the issues? How did you get into all those heads? You should run for office.
The thing that creeps me out, is that your standards are insane and politically self fulfilling. So things aren’t black and white unless we’re talking about chanting “USA”?! There is absolutely nothing objectively wrong with chanting your country’s name- there IS something wrong with calling people who disagree with you Nazis or attacking some one’s freedom of speech as “dangerous”. I am far more suspicious of that.
Chi… classic manipulation you’ve got going on there.
No one is saying “disagreeing with my point of view makes you a Nazi” …
You’re comment implying that is the exact same partial-reading lazy gut reaction I’m talking about.
It’s like you read with a defensive ear rather than really paying attention to what’s being said.
What I said was dangerous is when emotionally-charged devotion to a “side” (ANY side) takes the place of actually thoroughly discussing the issues at stake.
And yes, that is what is politics is like now. And much of the mainstream media caters to and feeds off of that. And that is how fascism has risen historically in many countries through time.
RE: MAT clearly is connecting the cheering crowd to nazis:
” And the hyper-patriotism and “USA! USA!” …they remind me of scenes from newsreels showing the adoring, emotional crowds in Germany during Hitler’s reign.)
That is not my projection. Mary Anna Towler disagrees with Republican proposals to the country’s problems and because of this, she is labeling the GOP supporters as Nazis.
You described people using their freedom of speech to chant USA as “lazy and dangerous.” There is no possible way that you could ever know how informed any one who chants “USA” is. Considering that chanting USA just happened at the RNC event as mentioned in this post and discussion board, I think it’s pretty clear which side you are attacking, no matter how “impartial” you are trying to make yourself sound. You started your statement to address all of us who just don’t “get” what MAT meant. She compared GOP enthusiasts to Nazis. Clear as day.
Just curious if anyone noticed Michelle Obama chanting “USA” at the DNC- have a feeling Mary Anna Towler will give her a pass on that one.
Sounds to me like snowman is the only calm, rational person commenting on this article… I agree with you entirely!
And chl… snowman didn’t say that using free speech to say something is lazy. Not even close. He said “Considering it “love of your country” to just chant your country’s name in a big group is not just lazy, it’s dangerous.” Labeling the chanting as patriotic, by itself, without discussion of the issues is just that. It’s correct to say that we DON’T know how informed that crowd is. That is EXACTLY why it is a bad idea to label it as patriotism. They may be the most informed people in the country (in that case, good for them). They might be complete idiots. Either way, allowing one’s emotions to decide what should be a rational argument/discussion is simply a bad idea.
Samantha-
the only ones who have attempted to dissect ANY motive behind the chanting of USA at the RNC- are you, snowman and mary anna towler.
I never said it was one thing (patriotic) or anther, just that there is no way to know what’s in someone’s head. Which is why it’s stupid to make some sweeping rules about which chanting is ok and which isn’t.
Again, it is also wrong to compare people at the RNC to nazis- you have to have an extremely serious case against someone to call them such or otherwise you diminish the meaning of nazi entirely.
The problem with liberal thinking is highlighted by your comment, snowman’s and MAT- liberalism is an intolerant ideology. It produces arrogance and a desire to instruct people’s private interior thoughts. You guys always seem to be telling everyone to “calm down” and you label everyone who disagrees with you as being so “angry”- as if you have the authority or the objectivity to do so. You project labels onto the actions and beliefs of others that you do not like- so for example- chanting at the RNC is akin to nazism while, has anyone even attempted to analyze Michelle Obama’s chanting? No, not here, but I would guess her label would be a little more generous than “nazi”.
Chl,
You write about how it’s wrong to put labels on people without knowing what’s in their thoughts and hearts, while you then go on to label me and two other commenters as liberalists. Do you see the inconsistency here? I never said I am a liberalist, nor did I even say that I’m Democrat, or Republican, or anything else for that matter.
I would also like to point out that no one called those that were chanting nazis. It was stated that the chanting was reminiscent of a nazi rally, that it had the same frenzied atmosphere. That could be said about many public events where loyalty to a cause or side is strong (sporting events, political rallies, pie eating contests for goodness sake). That is not the same as calling someone a nazi.
I would also like to point out that alot of those ” adoring, emotional crowds in Germany” were NOT nazis. They were German citizens cheering a leader that they thought would bring happiness and glory to their country. They were, sadly, wrong. It doesn’t make them nazi’s.
Also, you DID mention patriotism:
“So as long as I don’t THINK my side is more patriotic, and I don’t cheer after EVERY phrase a politician says, as long as I weigh matters “soberly” and align myself with you, than it’s ok to chant USA?”
And no one said anything about making rules against cheering or chanting…. or anything. We were all just saying it’s kinda creepy.
your cut and paste of my comment shows that you have not been paying close enough attention to this discussion. I was mocking snow man’s criteria for what he was defining as “hyper patriotism” .
If you are going to compare a nazi rally to a pie eating contest, I think you need to go back to school. Comparing anyone to a fan of Hitler’s is most definitely meant to be insulting to say the least.
Mary Anna Towler is left leaning- left leaning people who support what Obama is doing are ” liberal”. She may call her self “progressive” or any other label, but on numerous occasions , I have read pieces by MAT condemning intolerance. For liberals, tolerance is a hall mark creed of liberalism. AGAIN, comparing people you don’t agree with to adoring fans of a man who murdered millions of people is objectively silly. It is the definition of intolerance. You and snowman, instead of condemning these remarks have even gone so far as to say, “alot of those ” adoring, emotional crowds in Germany” were NOT nazis”- as if that should lessen MAT’s insult. Give me a break! You are not objective here – you are not only condoning those remarks, but you are finding ways to defend them! Going into all these machinations about what is hyperpatriotic and what is not- who cares?! The entire point of my entering this discussion was to say it is wrong to associate anyone with Hitler who is not guilty of being a mass murderer.
You and snowman have more of an issue with the chanting at the RNC (which you find “creepy”) than associating innocent people with Hitler. This speaks volumes.
If you cannot see how it is offensive to compare a RNC fan to a fan of Hilter, than I can only guess that you are in the boat for Obama and no amount of logic will change your mind. Hence my label of “liberal”. Calling an ideology intolerant is vastly more generous than associating an entire group of people with one of history’s most evil men. a+b=c. associating those at the rnc with an evil man is associating them with evil PERIOD. Pretty extreme.