Glad the Democrats have quit being sorry
Barb ShellySo this was the week when the Democrats finally stopped apologizing. It’s about time.
One speaker after another stood up and boasted about health care reform. They heralded energy independence. They celebrated diversity. They spoke up for a woman’s right to make her own decisions about reproduction. They took a stand against the cynical notion that government is always wrong and the titans of the free market are always right.
Bill Clinton did it all best, of course. No one is better at distilling complicated issues and explaining why the policies so demonized and ridiculed by Republicans are actually good for the nation and its people.
But Kansas City Congressman Emanuel Cleaver got the point across, too, in his fiery address that was more of a sermon than a speech. And so did Julian Castro, the mayor of San Antonio who gave the keynote address. And Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren, and Vice President Joe Biden, who soared above the ridicule he has encountered of late.
Obama’s speech was sober and measured, but he also took his stand for government. “We don’t want handouts for people who refuse to help themselves, and we don’t want bailouts for banks that break the rules. We don’t think government can solve all our problems. But we don’t think that government is the source of all our problems — any more than are welfare recipients, or corporations, or unions, or immigrants, or gays, or any other group we’re told to blame for our troubles.”
Two opinions as the conventions draw to a close: The Democrats had more fun, and they have the deeper talent pool.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoWhere are all of your fact checks? You did those last week, but not this week?
Brandon Lewis
8 months, 2 weeks agoThe fact checkers checked and everything checked out. ..but feel free to check the facts yourself, fact checker.
Steven Fetter
66223
8 months, 2 weeks agoPerhaps those not running for office celebrated Obama Care at the convention but show me one Democrat that is running for re-election this year bring it.
Who isn’t for energy independence? How we get there is another matter worth discussing. Many prefer to exploit our supplies of oil and gas over the green boondoggle that has only increased costs.
And if you consider Warren, Cleaver, Biden, and Patrick part of the deep talent pool, you may find yourself with a Republican administration in the very near future.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoVery nice and meaningful remark there, Brandon.
Or were you addressing Barb? She was really into fact checking last week. This week, not so much.
Matt Henry
8 months, 2 weeks agoWhat did I miss? When, for heaven’s sake, have the Democrats apologized for anything? They can reign terror down on whole communities, spreading nanny-state poverty like pixie dust, and get hostile and defensive when you suggest they are anything other than wonderful. We are asked to deny our own senses and hand over our good sense to the better sensibilities of The One. No thanks.
This whole convention was tepid and colorless and perhaps the best example of cult-of-personality run amuk in modern political history. It was one thing to get hypnotized in 2008 by this unknown star, but after four years of this mess? Willful denial….
Yanwen Xia
Overland Park
8 months, 2 weeks agoIf one looks at the history of the country and the development elsewhere in the world, one has to believe the democratic party represents the trend, the direction and the majority, even if there might be setbacks. During next two decades, Republicans will have to adjust itself in order to survive.
Yanwen Xia
Overland Park
8 months, 2 weeks agoThanks for your civility. I am looking at the role of government in the welfare of the majority of people, specifically education, healthcare, and old age insurance.
Regarding regulation, because of lack of government interference, we have seen the outsourcing of both blue and white collar jobs. Given the nature of capitalism— “the invisible hand of Mr Smith”, that is, seeking to maximize profits, it is natural for capitalists to move their factories to where cheapest cost can be found. In fact, some Chinese capitalists have started moving their factories to African countries because of rising labor cost there.
I am sure we would not have lost millions of jobs, if we had the right policy to stop it in the first place.
Government is always an instrument. One has to admit that government has the capacity to do the greatest good, much more than the largest individual philanthropist in the world, Bill Gate, and also the greatest harm like wars.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoYanwen, please expound? Democrats represent the trend in the world? What trend? Eastern Europe? Western Europe? China? Africa? Russia? Venezuela? Mexico? Canada? The world is a big and diverse place, please explain?
Also, are you saying the Republican Party will cease to exist within 20 years? Lewis Diuguid said said the Republican Party would cease to exist within ten years following the Democrats passing the healthcare bill. Is that what you are saying also?
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoYanwen, when we did have what was in effect outsourcing regulations, in the name of Smoot-Hawley, it led to the great worldwide depression of the 30’s.
Yanwen Xia
Overland Park
8 months, 2 weeks agoHi Kent, First there must be an opposition party. I am certain Republican Party still exist within 20 years, but it will definitely be not what it is now. The Party got to adjust to the changed world. Also consider the changing demographic makeup of the country.
In colonial America, women were very restricted in terms of their legal rights. Other minorities were treated even worse. Look at how much women and other minorities have gained legally and socially in a matter of two centuries. Civilization as a whole is always moving toward allowing more individual freedom and more tolerance and the government being instrumental to the welfare of the majority of people instead of being used for the interests of a tiny group.
What I see is the trend and is something that has happened or is happening elsewhere is the role of government in the welfare of the majority of people. China is a different case as she needs, above all, political reform that allows the existence of a competing party. Both western Europe (even though with its defects like Greece) and Canada are ahead of us.
Kent Mueller
8 months, 2 weeks agoYanwen. It’s the Republican Party that is about individual choice. We currently have an issue with some in our religious right corner regarding abortion, but that’s about it.
Democrats don’t think it is a good idea to be able to get a job without being required to join a union. No choice there. Democrats also don’t want a secret ballot for union votes. Not much choice there. Democrats want to eliminate some fatty foods and even the size of a cup of soda. No choice there. The list is long, Yanwen.
What evidence do you have that people are better off with government being instrumental in people’s lives? Does Obama, or you, know better what is good for me and my family than I do? I think not. Actually, greater individual freedom is quite incompatible with the government being instrumental in our lives. Think about that again, please. That is an oxymoron.
You mentioned western Europe. Have you compared the relative growth rates between western and eastern Europe? The faster growing eastern countries have far less interference from their governments than do the slower growing western European countries.
Yanwen, you seem like a very nice person. I would just like for you to rethink your position on how effective top down government can be beyond providing the basic infrastructure and the common defense. And please think through your thought as to how increasing individual freedoms can be compatible with an expanding government.