Day Two

You’d never know it unless you saw the convention streamed live or watched it on C-SPAN, but, on Day Two, some of the speakers had a spark or two – but still not fire – in their bellies. The cable and broadcast networks were too busy “opining” to show much of it. What they showed instead, if only by example, was that being good at getting it wrong – and at dumbing down – is a mainstream media job qualification.

And, of course, they showed Hillary’s much awaited speech. She was on script and her delivery was “sincere.” Compared to yesterday’s blandness, it was a high point. The instant assessment from the pundits, reiterated the morning after, is that the party is now, finally “unified.” That’s a good thing, I suppose – what with John McCain menacing. But if only that speech of Hillary’s were her last hurrah! Instead, the pundits agree: she can now become the next Ted Kennedy. As valley girls used to say in the early days of the (still continuing) Age of Reagan – “gag me with a spoon.”

There is still hope, however, that his speech tonight, on Day Three, will be the last hurrah for Bill. After all, it was he, not his official wife, who was the perpetrator of crimes against humanity (murderous sanctions) and crimes against the peace (wanton, “humanitarian” military adventures). Neither should Bill Clinton – and Hillary too, if she wants to claim her tenure as First Lady as “experience” -- be forgiven for completing Ronald Reagan’s work and preparing the ground for Dick Cheney’s and the Bush boy’s. None of this dawns on Democrats, except the handful of genuine progressives among them, or on the so-called journalists who tell us what the news is. Hillary gave a good speech; perhaps the best so far at the Denver infomercial. She did what she was supposed to do; she came to the aid of the party, the POP, the Party of Pusillanimity (or, what comes to the same thing, Pelosiites). But the fact remains: it’s the politics, stupid.