Now For Something Completely Different

The weekend before the Republican national convention, I implored folks that we needed to see the never ending river of hater-aid and crazy-stupid flowing from the GOP.  And man, they did not dissapoint.  We've seen speakers make their cases for their own re-election and/or their candidacy for 2016 (at the end of Obama's second term).  We've heard them tell their own life's stories, and tell us how evil Government intervention is ruining our country (ironic, given most of them ARE government).  We've seen their Vice Presidential candidate lie so badly that even FOX Nes called them out.  We seen them bash Obama, and were even treated to a bizarre empty chair monologue from Clint Eastwood.  And somewhere in all of that, there were pleas to vote for Mitt Romney.  Most of it forgettable, all of it predictable.  And if the post convention polling is any indication, Romney got all of the "bounce" of a bowling ball.

Now it's the Democrats turn.  And like the Republican convention, we need to see it.  Not just to flush last week's crazy-stupid from our eyes and ears, but we need to see what the Dems have to offer.  What I'm hoping for is something that was sorely missing from the GOP convention...substance.

For all of it's tough talk and so-called "truth telling" (although I not sure anyone would define what they were "telling" was anywhere near the "truth"), we've heard very little from the Republican convention by way of foreign policy, nothing on Afghanistan, and little more than platitudes about the economy (beyond the words "freedom" and "liberty" being mentioned ad-nauseum).  It's all well and good for you to blame your opponent for the bad economic environment, that's just politics.  But if someone asks, "How will you improve the economy?" and your only answer is "Wait until I'm elected," that's just a sign that you have no plan, or the plan is so bad that you're afraid people won't vote for you (which Romney has pretty much indicated). 

What I want to hear from Democrats, and Obama, is what they will do for the economy, national security, the war in Afghanistan.  Will will Dems do for women, seniors, minorities, and immigrants.  What will they do for the poor, for workers, for the LGBT community?  What will they do for all of us, not just the top 1% that GOP consider the "job creators"?  While listening to Democrats correctly blame the GOP for the present economy may be entertaining for our side, this convention, if it is to outshine the Republican convention, needs to give us specific solutions to our problems, and not just lofty platitudes (that's so 2008).  And yes, we all need to see this as well.  I just hope they're up to the job.