Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Cold speeches

As I sail about the blogosphere the last couple of days, I look at the endless parsing of the Democratic Convention speeches, the general thumbs-up for Michelle Obama, and for Hillary Clinton, and for other folks who got their minutes of stage time, and I'm left cold and somewhat envious.

I'm envious of those people who are so excited by what's going on, the pundits and bloggers who parse through each line to find the hidden motivations (is Hillary supporting Barack enough? If you take the 37th letter of each sentence of her speech, it spells out "I want John McCain to be my president" - is this significant?), the delegates crying as Michelle spins her tale of overcoming hardship. Envious because I want to feel that kind of passion for the cause, I want to know that sense of commitment.

But I don't. The speakers are speaking, and the words are predictable. Michelle needs to humanize her husband and herself, so she tells the story of her upbringing, and the story of their courtship, and how important being a mom is, and she accomplishes that, and I am unsurprised. Hillary needs to show her support for the nominee of her party, and she does that, and I am unsurprised.

These are professional politicians, speaking speeches which are well-vetted, approved by the party and the campaign. There will be no surprises, no real news, just professionals delivering exactly what is expected. They will play their assigned roles.

And none of this will amount to anything more than a cash infusion for Denver. It won't solve any of our problems, it won't change the path this country is on, it won't even change minds. It's self-indulgence, throwing a party to celebrate something that hasn't even happened yet. Wake me up when the adults come home.

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