So . . . Shana and I have been sucked into politics again this year. As Obama, supporters I'm certain we are a bit biased, but we're trying to be as fair as we can. Over the past couple days we watched the Republican convention. I have to admit that I really liked John McCain's speech last night (I know there have been some mixed reviews about this speech). What I thought was most interesting was how his most forward looking ideas, his ideas about working together, taking the best from both parties, and reaching out across the aisle (to anyone for that matter) received the most tepid support from the audience. That speech was the John McCain I would support. However, the rest of his party was, at least from my opinion, utterly divisive. I know this is politics and it doesn't take too long for the gloves to come off, but... so much of this just seemed excessive to me.
Now, perhaps the Democrats are just as bad (I'm not naive). Part of me has been looking for Joe Biden's acceptance speech in order to compare it to Sarah Palin's. I don't doubt there will be a similar amount of attacks. However, I couldn't get past her sarcasm and self-righteous smugness. I have to admit she reminded me of Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books. A women who felt she was standing up for "good" and what was "right," but was so self-righteous and arrogant that the only result was, you guessed it, umbrage!
Perhaps my perception is slanted, but it seems to me the Republicans tend to be far more guilty of this bashing - the loudest cheers at the RNC always came from the biggest attacks and insults (they almost seemed just hungry for blood).
I also can't believe some of the hypocrisy. After getting to the point where it was hard to listen to anymore, some comic relief was sorely needed and the Daily Show came to the rescue.
It always feels a lot better to laugh than to get angry and I can't help but remember Shakespeare's line: "There is much truth in jest."
