The Morning After

It was a giddy five days, wasn't it? I remember it well. There were blogs, and jokes on the Internet, and bets were made about how long it would last, how soon there would be a resignation. I made one of those bets myself. I said, within the month. Gone within the month. But five days passed and the vice-president was still there.

I'm referring, of course, not to our short happy fling with Sarah Palin, which ended last night with her completely terrifying speech in Minnesota, but to the week that Dick Cheney shot a friend in the face, didn't even go to the hospital to see him, and somehow, after a week, was still standing, as powerful as ever. These Republicans don't go away, and they never admit a mistake, and sometimes, when I remember this, I wonder how I ever forgot it, much less how I ever bet against it.

I forget what I know about conventions too, until I'm reminded every four years. The Democrats are always messy, multi-colored, a civics lesson in democracy, at times a nightmare of what can happen when people find their voices and won't stop talking. This year they had an abbreviated roll call, and the states all went through their introductory paragraphs ... the great state of Whatever ... the home of the God-Knows-Where Water Gap ...the place where daffodils bloom all year long ... and it made me misty thinking of the first night I ever heard a roll call. It was 1956 and I was camping on the rim of the Grand Canyon, listening to the radio and writing down the numbers on a piece of cardboard as the states decided whether Estes Kefauver or John Kennedy would be the vice-president on a ticket headed by Adlai Stevenson, whom I loved with all my heart. It was a thrilling night, and alone in the dark with my portable radio, I felt as if I were part of absolutely everything that was great in the universe.

Then of course, there are the Republicans, and I always forget them too. I forget how white they are, and mean-spirited, and thin-lipped. I watch them and I think, is anyone buying this? Does anyone think we're better off today? That we're "winning" the war? That teaching creationism is simply a matter of exposing students to both sides of the question? That it's sexist to wonder whether a mother who just months ago committed to a Down syndrome child ought to be running for vice-president? Does anyone think that executive experience trumps wisdom and intellect? And who are these people who rise to their feet and cheer loudest when they hear the words "Off-shore drilling"?

But the Republicans do it better. They present a united front. They wait for the applause, they don't roll over it in the interests of keeping the speeches short and on time. They ride the news cycle, they twist the truth, they stick to their talking points, they blah into the wind, blah blah blah blah blah, and in the end, they're still standing.

Now what?

Comments

[disgusted19216]

I never knew how large a percentage of women in North Carolina identified themselves as trailer trash. Even college graduates from Wake Forest that I talk too seem to be energized--not insulted-- by Palin. Shows what they really think of themselves, I guess. I am surprised and disheartened.

[CaptainStormfield]

Check out Joe Bageant. Joe is a very liberal guy who writes about the "Rednecks" of his home state, Virginia and the US. Its hard to understand why people would identify with someone like Palin but dont underestimate the influence of the "Ulster Scots" on American Culture

http://www.joebageant.com/

[tuttlemsm]

"Does anyone think that executive experience trumps wisdom and intellect?"

This is at the core of an answer to a Palin critique that Obama himself dares not say, so we have to.

While admittedly both Palin and Obama have thin resumes relative to the office each seeks, there is a big difference. Obama is brilliant and Palin is not.

But if anybody in the Obama campaign actually says that, then watch the "Elitist!" flag fly high.

The Republicans have actually convinced a lot of Americans that excelling at Harvard is a bad thing for a president to have in his background, but a mediocre career at a mediocre state university is a good thing for a vice president to have in her background. Astounding.

[lw1899]

Doesn't this tie-in to the fact that people with higher levels of education support Obama?

As Obama said, Republicans count on people's ignorance. Electing a bona fide sub-idiot into the White House for two terms is proof that their twisted strategy works. It is astounding but I believe people are much smarter this time around.

[NewAmerican]

Nora, when are you making another movie. I miss your movies.

[Travellini]

Sad that the DNC speakers wouldn't wait for applause and a rallying of excitement after some of the best lines of the convention. What a waste of enthusiasm in the interests of keeping the speeches short and on time - and it IRKS me that the Repubs got that part right.

I was GREATLY disturbed by the Palin's cry that Democrats see terrorists and ask if they've been read their rights - and she got a round of confetti for such a comment.

Are humans CREATED equally, or just American humans??? ... or just American humans who haven't been disappeared as potential terrorists??

Anyone willing to set aside due process, or to censor books, or to set up your own Alaska or to tout someone who does these things for VP - anyone of that sort seems to misunderstand the fundamentals of democracy.

Perhaps we could set up a fund for Republicans, educating them as to the importance of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and as an added bonus, logic and critical thinking classes .... No Republican Left Behind - lots of testing until they get it right!

[Promise]

I dislike the choice of Sarah Palin as much as anyone on this website and I've never voted Repulican.
However I do take issue with Ms. Ephron's dissing of the party as being too "white." Let's have a little racism here, Nora....that'll really help issues along, won't it?

[kimbari]

Well, it's not like it isn't *true*.

Jesus.

[auramac]

Obviously, those who haven't "heard" or seen "Obama's substance" are not capable of comprehending something that shouldn't be beyond their intellect- or prejudice, but apparently, it is.

I know politics is a dirty business, which Obama himself is trying to change, but what I've seen and heard from the conservatives for the last several decades, in politics, on the radio, this election, this campagn, is truly frightening. But as mean-spirited and clueless as Sarah Palin is, what completely bowls me over is that there are actually people who fall for this crap- even crave it. Why is it that the democrats are always reaching for unity and compromise, while the conservatives want to divide us. And they succeed- easily.

[youngec]

Nora, I too, was an Adlai Stevenson-ite and I remember something the late columnist Murray Kempton wrote at the time: The only excuse for the Republicans' quadrennial assault on truth and reason was the same as when they gave debutante balls during the Depression--iIt provides employment for a lot of people.

After 50 years, it's still true.

[gunsreligion]

You guys got it handed to you by the people you despise! You all need to regroup or it will be another republican victory. Its interesting to watch. Good luck!

[ReservoirDog]

Thanks Nora for your excellent critique of the Republicans. I"m not convinced that "Repubs do it better", but I do agree that they have no shame and keep doing it ("mean-spi­rited-atta­cks) because it seems to work politically.

After watching Guiliani's sneer; Romney's amatuerish rants; and Palin's uninspiring Rovian-laced " I know you are,but what am I " speech (?)---- I think the Republicans ought to change their name from the "Republican" Party to the Smart-A** Party !

Let's send them a HUGE message this November: WE'RE MADASHELL AND WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE !

[NCSABZB]

The Republicans never went broke underestimating the parochialism and stupidity of the american electorate. They're not interested in being represented by the best and the brightest. They vastly prefer the least and the dimmest.

[CBS]

Palin has raised the bar...now moms have to be able to bring down and field dress a moose. This is progress?

http://www.sfbaysailingpix.com/pez2008p1.htm

[RadCenter]

Now what?

Now we get out and work our butts off for Obama/Biden, that's what.

You may wish to wallow in your victimhood. I do not. We have the power to change. Let's exercise it.

[lawgrrl]

I was scared at first when I watched Palin rip into Obama with such nasty condescension (and that nose wrinkle she makes to show toughness, I guess). I knew she was a new obstacle for Obama (that poor man, we will only appreciate in hindsight all that he had to dodge and the fine lines he had to walk to get the nomination, let alone the presidency). But, I quickly reminded myself---he took and the Clinton machine and beat them. Sara Palin and McCain are no Hill & Bill. Obama will figure them out quickly (one thing he shows is that he learns FAST) and will suprisingly pound them both.

[Kalie]

Nora you are so right. However you should not have mentioned 1956 and camping because you are much younger than that!! I noticed the same thing you did about the Dems being so colorfully dressed and the Repubs being the "suits." Maybe a study should be done about how people who dress colorfully believe in themselves and those who depend on the grey/black suit have to wear it to make themselves look more.....a­utthoritat­ive....esp­ecially after hours. Sarah Palin's speech was terrifying and I could only watch the after ten o'clock highlights of the convention on CNN or MSNBC. When I turn to FOX, I feel like Im in the twilight zone because they don't see the same things I see. Especially Fox in the am. Mika sometimes understands the world, but Joe is so far removed I have to wonder....I am not from the same priveleged background and they just don't get that. Nora, always a pleasure.

[BiggJay]

I agree. What scares me is the fact that they are so obvious in their actions that they could care less about this country and it's citizens. I remember 2000 when they stole the election. I remember 2004 and the Diebold voting machines and the tactics used in the poor and minority parts of the country, and the vast percentage of undervotes. I remember Gahana Ohio that had only 800 registered voters, but Bush got 4,258 votes. I am scared that the reason the Republicans aren't actually talking about the issues and providing a blueprint for how to solve America's problems is becasue they've put there money, time and effort into insuring another stolen election. Is Diebold still providing the voting machines? Will the same tactics be applied in the poor areas of this country(i.e. not enough voting machines, cops harrasing people waiting to vote, mysterious power outages, pamphlets mailed to people telling them the day they vote has been changed)? This is my fear. It is up to us to make sure that does not happen.