More Convention Coverage
I put the computer away while Laura Bush was speaking last night, mainly because I needed time to absorb what she was saying before I could comment on it. After the Beavis and Butthead-like performance of the Bush twins (huh huh, heh heh heh), Laura Bush's speech was compassionate, coherent, reasonably upbeat, and surprisingly smirk-free. It's really too bad she's married to such a schmuck.
This morning's Washington Post has a column by Tom Shales (I actually just looked to see who wrote it, and had an "aha!" moment—I used to enjoy his commentaries when I lived in D.C.) worth reading called Man of Steel Flies into Washington. It's mainly about Arnold Schwartzenegger's speech, but it also includes some analysis of the Republicans' use of TV/technology, as well as this hilarious quote:
At the Fox network, the Republican convention is being covered like a happy birthday party for God, with the channel's right-leaning commentators and anchors hanging on for the joyride of their lives, all but turning cartwheels.
We were watching CNN, since neither of us can abide Fox News, but when the TiVo changed channels on us (to Bravo, for the West Wing) at 11pm, I couldn't convince Al to change back to the convention. "There's only so much I can take," he said. He seemed to find it more unnerving and demoralizing than me reading aloud from the 9/11 Commission report.