I don't write much about national political spectacles here but this evening, after watching a few minutes of what has degenerated over the previous decade into tired and predictable hatemongering Republican Convention speeches, and knowing that a veteran Republican speech writer provided the words Sarah Palin would be speaking, leaving us no chance to really know who this new face on the national stage was, I decided to turn the channel. I then spent some time surfing for some honest information presented without all the ridiculous and frankly childish meanspiritedness that permeated tonight's Convention.
I wish someone would tell me where in the hell the intellectual, thought-provoking and honestly impressive "issues" dominated discussions have gone in this party? Why the constant childish attacks on the opposition? For all the rhetoric about it being the party of inclusion, it's such a turnoff and creates such great disgust in me that I find myself being pushed further away from the party rather than being drawn into it.
To be sure, I'm an independent who leans to the left, but that doesn't mean I haven't supported some conservative ideas in the past. But a good portion of the current crop of candidates and officials in it remind me of the obnoxious school yard bully and I left having to deal with that kind of stupidity when I left grammar school.
Thankfully, NPR answered the call and provided some great, "grownup" audio as a refreshing change of pace.....
Homeless, Across From The RNC
by Steve Proffitt
Day to Day, September 3, 2008 · We visit the Dorothy Day Center, a homeless shelter across the street from the Republican National Convention. Father Estrem, who runs the shelter, discusses how the RNC has impacted homeless life and where poverty stands on Republican and Democratic agendas.
Related NPR Stories
