The City Veins

There’s nothing like the Republican National Convention to remind me anew how low and vile the Republican Party can be.

As has been documented here, I’ve had my share of differences with Obama.  I’m not totally in love with the Democratic ticket the way many others are.  However, his speech last week reminded me of the best that America has to offer.  The worst he said about McCain was that he was too much aligned with Bush’s policies.  Other than that, he sought to inspire, to get us out of the name-calling, partisan mire we’re in now and recognize that we can disagree with the hate and vitriol that has come with that in the past.  Agree or disagree with his policies, you could never say he’s unfairly vicious.

Sarah Palin’s speech last night was everything that’s wrong with politics.  For almost an hour, it was low blow after low blow, many of them personal and quite hypocritical.  After 30 minutes, I was so disgusted I turned off the TV.  I cannot tolerate the low-brow insults of the Republican party anymore.  What’s so wrong with civility to them anyway? Are they afraid if people look rationally at what they’ve accomplished, they’ll realize how badly they’ve left this country?

If America is to ever advance and meet the myriad challenges we face, we have to get past this kind of nonsense. Sure, it’s funny and makes for good soundbites, but that doesn’t help end a war, revive an economy, or inspire people to come together. The snarkiness and sarcasm displayed by the Republicans are exactly the opposite of what we need today.

But I guess that’s part of the Republicans unspoken motto: “If you can’t inspire them (or lead them), insult them.”