Debates between vice presidential candidates can be ho-hum affairs, about as important as the office itself. But with one remark, Democrat Lloyd Bentsen scored a direct hit on Republican Dan Quayle and fashioned a debate highlight for the ages.
DAN QUAYLE: I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of vice president of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency. I will be prepared to deal with the people in the Bush administration, if that unfortunate event would ever occur.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Senator Bentsen.
LLOYD BENTSEN: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy. (Prolonged shouts and applause).
….and here is Dan Quayle mis-spelling “Potato.” — Mr. Quayle’s most famous blunder occurred when he corrected a student’s correct spelling of “potato” to “potatoe” at an elementary school spelling bee in Trenton, New Jersey, on June 15, 1992. According to his memoirs, Quayle was uncomfortable with the version he gave, but did so because he decided to trust what he described as incorrect written materials provided by the school.
He informed student William Figueroa that he had misspelled the word “potato,” when in fact Figueroa had spelled it correctly. Quayle then had Figueroa add an “e,” not only making it incorrect, but once again making himself a target with this misspelling. Quayle was widely lambasted for his apparent inability to spell the word “potato.”
The “Hyena howling” by the convention delegates didn’t help. It just drowned an abominable speech.
Silhouetted in an awful solid blue background and resplendently bedecked in an expensive “elitist suit” without a FLAG PIN, John McBush delivered one of the worst speeches I have ever heard a U.S. presidential candidate make.
He was clumsy, un-inspiring and appeared ill at ease.
Compared to yesterday’s speech by the Killer From Wasilla (Sarah Palin), McCain looked old, stuffy and very much “Bob Dole Like.”
Best summary of the McCain platform: While attempting to argue that McCain would constitute a change from the last eight years, Tom Ridge hilariously declared that “John Bush” is his own man.
Simply put — this was a very badly delivered speech, lacking in specifics fraught with ineffectual choruses like “Fight With Me!,” … “Fight With Me!,” … “Fight With Me!” — useless slogans which will not work Mr. McCain!
After three days of juvenile negative attacks — and no mention of tangible proposals to fix the American economy or to fix health care — the most pressing issues this election cycle, the ReTHUGlicans are codling Americans for four more years of right-wing dictatorship, fear mongering and GOD sanctioned thuggery.
Jeffrey Toobin of CNN hit the nail on the head when he said: — “I thought it was the worst speech by a nominee that I’ve heard since Jimmy Carter in 1980. I thought it was disorganized, I thought it was it was theme-less, I thought it was very, very boring…I personally cannot remember a single policy proposal that he made because they had nothing connecting them.I found it shockingly bad.”
While listening to the speech Michael Crowley of The New Republic wrote: “It’s not over yet but this is a very underwhelming speech. Familiar points explained in pedestrian terms. No overarching themes–right now it’s sounding like aState of the Union laundry list. Even the crowd in the hall isn’t jazzed. This is the sort of reception Tom Ridge got.”
McCain’s willful mis-representation of Barack Obama’s positions, just like Sarah Palin did yesterday, a general lack of details on policies and, his GOD pandering to right-wing extremism didn’t amount to CHANGE, his new rallying cry — borrowed from Barack Obama, who has been using it consistently since the Democratic primaries.
The speech deteriorated pathetically when McCain embarked on a lengthy narration of his capture and torture in Vietnam, something he should delegate permanently to his surrogates.
The P.O.W. card …may only work with thug-bigots on the extreme right who love beating up on the weak, and/or the very old who are still clinging to cold-war nostalgia.
Thirty five year old war stories are stale and won’t work Johnny!, especially with Obama’s youthful base.
Who cares how and whether the VietCong broke your legs and arms — while caged like an animal in Vietnam, while America was losing another illegal war — a war that started when a European colonialist (France) asked Neo-European-Colonialist (America) to help it maintain a grip on it’s illegally acquired colony, resulting in Vietnam splitting into two, and causing the Vietnamese to slit each others throats — just like the Shia and the Sunni have been doing in Iraq.
It is also evident that McCain wants to have it both ways — “disembowel” Obama on one night, then brag about how he will bring change and bi-partisanship to Washington the next day! — Too many contradictions and too much confusion.
The right-wing snakes may like that, but I really doubt if McCain won any more independents last night with that kind of rhetoric, for that’s not CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!
While the Killer From Wasilla exceeded expectations the other day, McCain clearly failed in delivering the biggest speech in his life.
I give Johnny a big C- …and only because he conducted himself with some decency, unlike the sadistic presentation by Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, who gave the keynote speech on Wednesday night.
The THUG of New York a.k.a “America’s Mayor” was exceedingly vicious!
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Speech Reactions
REFERENCES:
1. Why McCain would be a mediocre president
2. The Real John McCain — Certainly, the convention that nominated him bore no resemblance to that John McCain. Rather than remaking George W. Bush’s Republican Party in his own image, Mr. McCain allowed the practitioners of the politics of fear and division to run the show.
Sarah Palin’s Hypocrisy — On Pregnancy By Cagle Cartoons
As the country rapidly diversifies, Republicans are presenting a convention that is almost entirely white. To a large extent, the Republican Party still is — The White-Bigot Party.
Only 36 of the 2,380 delegates seated on the convention floor are black. One week after Democrats nominated the nation’s first black presidential candidate on the eve of the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Republicans have only one African American — Fox News’ resident Uncle Tom Michael S. Steele — scheduled to speak last night during prime time at their convention.
As McCain’s 96 year old mother gazed listlessly into the rafters of the convention hall and with ReTHUGlicans and a sprinkling of ReTHUGliTOMS salivating like hungry, poisonous black mambas,…. and howling like a pack of hyenas, Sarah ‘Barracuda‘ Palin delivered a heavily choreographed speech, designed to rally the THUG/BIGOT base of the Republican party.
The speech was delivered right after MAFIA GOON — the former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani had finished mocking, insulting and mis-representing Obama’s positions…. and topping it up with a dose of 9/11 fear-mongering.
Rudy Giuliani “The Goon” Rips Into Obama
[Note:During his two "Iron Fist" terms as Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani in concert with his police force THUG-HANDLED minorities with "Mafia Viciousness." -- the most notorious events of Giuliani's tenure, included the execution-style killing of Amadou Diallo and the sadistic torture of Abner Louima -- by Giuliani's police force.] — see more info below.
At the beginning of her speech I sensed some tension in her, but the “Killer From Wasilla” unwinded and got more comfortable as the speech progressed.
She spoke of her family, including her eldest son, who is about to be deployed to Iraq in the US Army, and her younger son, who has Down’s Syndrome.
In the speech, she assailed Obama, Biden and the “Liberal” media: “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a “community organizer,” except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don’t quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren’t listening.” “We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.”
Read…..working people — how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns ……is a direct appeal to the White BIGOT VOTE.
The Barracuda (reading a speech prepared by McCain’sTHUGS) went on to mis-represent and mock Obama’s record, lying about her own at the same time, and smothering everything with heavy doses of recycled Republican Fear-Mongering.
“And there is much to like and admire about our opponent.” But listening to him speak, it’s easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate.”
This could be America’s next Vice-President
This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word “victory” except when he’s talking about his own campaign.”
“But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed … when the roar of the crowd fades away … when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot - what exactly is our opponent’s plan?”
“What does he actually seek to accomplish, after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet?” The answer is to make government bigger … take more of your money … give you more orders from Washington … and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world.”
“America needs more energy … our opponent is against producing it….,” said Sarah.
Towards the end of the speech, when she got more comfortable, “Dame Sarah” changed gears, dishing out “time-tested” Republican insults: “Taxes are too high!” . . . “Obama will raise your taxes!” . . . “Tax increases!” . . . “He will raise income taxes!” … “He will raise payroll taxes!” … “He will raise investment income taxes!” … “He will raise the death tax!” . . . “He will raise business taxes!” . . . ["Big Government!"] . . . ["Obama will KILL YOU!"] . . . ["Obama is a MUSLIM"] . . . ["Obama is a Kenyan Communist!"] . . . ["The Terrorists are here .. in this hall!"] . . . ["I'll create more jobs!"] . . . ["I'll cut the deficit!"] . . . ["I'll start the war!"] . . . ["I'll keep those Negroes in their place!"]……LOL!, pure PoliTRICKS!
Meanwhile — Overheard: Obama might pursue criminal charges against Bush
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said yesterday that he and running mate Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November. Biden’s comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.
But his statements represent the Democrats’ strongest vow so far this year to investigate alleged misdeeds committed during the Bush years. “If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued,” Biden said during a campaign event in Deerfield Beach, Florida, according to ABC.
“[N]ot out of vengeance, not out of retribution,” he added, “out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president — no one is above the law.” …..[ MORE ]
REFERENCES:
1.Rudy Giuliani — “America’s THUG”
They call him “America’s Mayor.” But to blacks that title sugarcoats Rudy Giuliani’s real reputation as one of the most racially divisive leaders in the nation. Peter Noel’s book puts Giuliani’s often-ignored record of oppressing the “other New York” front and center in the 2008 presidential race.
Noel was a witness to “Giuliani time” in New York. As the race beat journalist for “The Village Voice,” he reported exclusively on the police brutality that rained down on blacks, and the denigration of black leadership by Giuliani. In this collection of his exposs, Noel provides stunning insights into the most notorious events of Giuliani’s tenure, including the execution-style killing of Amadou Diallo and the sadistic torture of Abner Louima. Both men-like many black victims of Giuliani’s stop-and-frisk policing-were innocent of any wrongdoing.
This brutality sparked a new black activist movement. Scores, including Jesse Jackson, were arrested-and Peter Noel was there to cover it. No journalist was more insightful about the rise of Al Sharpton,Khallid Muhammad’s “Million Youth March,” and Giuliani’s demonization of David Dinkins, the city’s first black mayor. There are interviews with major political players, inside accounts of the shifting alliances and violent conflicts between ethnic groups, and a stinging critique of the white-dominated media. And then there is Peter Noel’s interview with Giuliani, which took the form of a street fight in Harlem.
In these eloquent, often searing pieces, written in an outraged and authentic voice, Peter Noel spoke truth to the power of an “Afriphobic” mayor. In this revealing book, he still does.
