First Night of the Convention

I was able to see a good bit of the convention coverage last night. I have to admit I wasn't riveted to the set, but this was due more to having my two young kids vying for my attention and not a boring convention. My first impression is that like the DNC's overplaying Kerry's Vietnam service, the RNC is going to overplay 9-11. Yeah Bush did a great job and we all want to feel good about it again, but I don't want be sick of it by convention's end. I thought for the most part the speakers were impressive. McCain made it clear why we must fight this War Against Terrorism. Here are some of the better exerpts.

"Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war. Like all wars, this one will have its ups and downs. But we must fight. We must. The sacrifices borne in our defense are not shared equally by all Americans. But all Americans must share a resolve to see this war through to a just end. We must not be complacent at moments of success, and we must not despair over setbacks. We must learn from our mistakes, improve on our successes, and vanquish this unpardonable enemy. If we do less, we will fail the one mission no American generation has ever failed to provide to our children a stronger, better country than the one we were blessed to inherit.

Our choice wasn't between a benign status quo and the bloodshed of war. It was between war and a graver threat. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Not our critics abroad. Not our political opponents. And certainly not a disingenuous film maker who would have us believe that Saddam's Iraq was an oasis of peace when in fact it was a place of indescribable cruelty, torture chambers, mass graves and prisons that destroyed the lives of the small children held inside their walls."

The speaker that surprised me was Ron Silver. It took me awhile to find the transcript this morning. You would think an actor speaking out against the Hollywood elite would be big news. Ron Silver is a rarity in Hollywood much like Arnold Swartzenegger...a sane, conservative voice. Even though he mentioned that he is a "well recoginzed liberal on many issues confronting our society" he is no Barbara Streisand, Alec Baldwin, or Susan Sarandon. He understands the gravity of this War on Terrorism and is not afraid to speak out against his own entertainment community

"We are again engaged in a war that will define the future of humankind. Responding to attacks on our soil, America has led a coalition of countries against extremists who want to destroy our way of life and our values. This is a war we did not seek. This is a war waged against us. This is a war to which we had to respond. History shows that we are not imperialists, but we are fighters for freedom and democracy."

UPDATE
Sorry folks...I got convention burnout so I didn't write any more on the convention. There is plenty of good coverage and critique of it out there in blog land.