The Unconventional Convention -- Day 2

ICYMI, day two had many of the surprising and touching moments we saw on day one, with voices of everyday people and a too- short keynote from rising Democratic stars.  The epic roll call vote is a must- see (if you have 34 minutes).  But, for our money, following Michelle Obama's tour de force the night before, it was another woman, Dr. Jill Biden, who stole the show with her emotional recounting of her life with Joe Biden.  Cindy McCain also narrated a moving tribute to the friendship between Biden and her late husband.

Here are Jill Biden's remarks along with former President Bill Clinton's and former Secretary of State John Kerry's, plus a reprise.







Reprise:  The Boss approves this message (Bruce and Patti appear in a blink at 2:30) =choke=



Tonight there's a blockbuster lineup:  Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kamala Harris, and former President Barack Obama.

BONUS:  Humorist Andy Borowitz has a scoop on the Republican response to Jill Biden's classroom remarks --

 Melania to Deliver Convention Speech from Empty Classroom at Trump University
 

Quotes Of The Day

-- Former President Bill Clinton was asked about comments by Sen. Lindsey "Hush My Huckleberries" Graham (R-Secessionland) saying Republicans would make Hillary Clinton "own Obamacare" if she's elected President.  Having been served up this fat one by Huckleberries, President Clinton swung for the fences:

“This bill [Obamacare] has already produced a lot of good results,” Clinton explained. “Look, they are desperate for this bill to fail. Because, if it’s not a failure, everything they’ve been telling us since 1980, ‘big government’s bad,’ is wrong.” 

He continued, “They so badly want it to fail. Can you remember a time in your lifetime when a major political party was sitting around just begging for America to fail? I don’t know what’s going to happen. I would be shocked if it fails. I just think when all these dire predictions don’t come out, if they don’t, I believe that pretty soon, within the next several years, it will be like Medicare and Medicaid. It will be a normal part of our lives and people will be glad it’s there.”

(Reports are that Huckleberries is still icing his "berries," kept in a secret location known only to Sen. John "Walnuts" McCain.)

-- Actress Patricia Arquette made an impassioned plea for equal pay and equal rights for women in her speech accepting the Best Supporting Actress Oscar last night:

“To every woman who gave birth, to every taxpayer and citizen of this nation. We have fought for everybody else’s equal rights. It’s our time to have wage equality once for all. And equal rights for women in the United States of America.”

-- Also at the Oscars, singer/songwriter John Legend addressed the struggle that didn't end with Selma in his speech accepting the Best Original Song award:

“We know that the Voting Rights Act that they fought for 50 years ago is being compromised right now in this country today. We know that right now, the struggle for freedom and justice is real. We live in the most incarcerated country in the world. There are more black men under correctional control today then were under slavery in 1850. We are with you, we see you, we love you and march on,” he concluded.

-- Finally, Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone on Rudy "Noun, Verb, 9/11" Giuliani and love for America:

I feel sorry for Rudy that he can't love this country the way it is. I love America even with assholes like him living in it. In fact, I'm immensely proud of our assholes; I think America has the best assholes in the world. I defy the Belgians or the Japanese to produce something like a Donald Trump. If that makes me an exceptionalist, I plead guilty.

Love it all.

Quote Of The Day - The "Resentment Vote"

"They want you to cast resentment votes.  Resentment against the president.  Resentment against the Affordable Care Act.  Resentment against the last bad thing that happened."  -- former President Bill Clinton on the Republican message, last Thursday in New Hampshire, quoted by E.J. Dionne, Jr., today.  Resentment, fear, hatred.  Those are great motivators in politics, and Republicans have been playing those cards for decades now because they have nothing else to offer their dwindling base -- and they've been largely getting away with it =cough= "mainstream media" =cough=.

Bill Clinton: Austerity Would Drag Country Back Into Recession

Snippet from former President Bill Clinton's remarks to the Democratic congressional retreat in Leesburg, Virginia, this week:



Maybe now that the Big Dog has endorsed the reality that Paul Krugman has been espousing for years, more Democrats will have the courage/ sense to stand up against destructive austerity measures that would "solve" a problem that doesn't exist.

"He's Got It Right"

Once again, ladies and gentlemen, President Obama's most valuable surrogate:

Bill Clinton on Obama's Plan to Rebuild America

The Big Dog speaks:



BONUS: You can check out Greg Sargent's analysis of the ad here.

Clinton Meeting With Senate Dems

Former President Bill Clinton is meeting with the Senate Democratic caucus today in hopes of energizing and focusing them for the health care fight ahead (no word whether Sen. Lieberliar (Ass-CT) will be there to take notes for the Rethugs). Clinton should bear down on some of the "conservaDems" like fellow Arkansasans Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor and remind them what the party has been fighting for over the past 50 years: universal health insurance. They seem to have forgotten.

Advice from Bubba on Health Care Reform

Former President Bill Clinton has some advice for President Obama on the health care reform battle:

"I wouldn't even worry about the Republicans. I'd worry about executing."

He goes on to say in this Esquire interview that the Rethugs are "in la-la land." We think they passed throught la-la land months ago and are now in Batshitcrazy Land.

Somebody Needs More "Target Practice"

Former President Bill Clinton was working the rope line at an appearance for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe when he commented on Dead Eye Dick Cheney's recent outbursts. Clinton remarked about the The Dick, "I do hope he gets some more target practice before he goes out again." CNN has the video clip.

Be sure to watch Donna Brazile's excellent comments on the clip, in which she runs the clock out on Rethuglican hack Ed Gillespie. Notice Gillespie's expression when Wolf Blitzer says "all right, guys, we'll leave it there." Well done, Donna! Bwahahahahaha!!

Get In The Game, Or Get Off The Sidelines

Politico's Ben Smith makes the observation that former President Clinton was acting as an analyst and not as an Obama surrogate in his recent appearance on "The View." He gives lukewarm support to Obama, while praising McBush as "a great man." This is disturbing, and is a total contrast with Sen. Hillary Clinton's actions, which have been very supportive of Sen. Obama's campaign. Sen. Clinton has been making appearances for Obama in many key states, and is following through on her commitment to help elect Obama. Her hubby? He's still pouting, even after Obama paid a courtesy call on the former President a few days ago. It's becoming more clear that he just wanted to redeem his term as President through his wife's election.

Narcissist Bill had a lot to do with undermining his wife's campaign by ill-considered statements, so it's a gamble to unleash him in support of Obama. If he stays "on message" he could help a great deal in some key states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida. The problem is, he doesn't seem to want to.

UPDATE: Paul Slansky says it well.

Own Worst Enemy

The HuffPo has an interesting account (from Associated Press) about Bill Clinton's recent "meltdown" in a private meeting of 15 California superdelegates. In a tirade triggered by a delegate's comment about James "Alien" Carville's description of Gov. Bill Richardson as a "Judas", the former President went ballistic, claiming that the Governor promised "5 times" not to endorse anyone but Sen. Clinton. The delegates were apparently stunned by the outburst, and California Democratic leader Art Torres was enlisted to call each of the delegates and apologize for the tirade. Not a good way to win over delegates for his wife.

For the record, Richardson denies that he ever promised his former boss that he would endorse Sen. Clinton. Who to believe? Never mind.

Known By the Wingnuts You Cite

As reported in today's WaPo, the Clinton campaign sent out an e-mail to the media containing "a blog posting by National Review columnist Kathleen Parker, who called 'nonsense' the idea that the former president attacked Obama at a campaign event in Charlotte." What Bubba Clinton said in Charlotte:

"I think it would be a great thing if we had two people who loved this country and were devoted to the interest of this country. And people could actually ask themselves who is right on these issues, instead of all this other stuff that always seems to intrude itself on our politics." (He then dropped Hillary's name in case anyone was confused about the point he was making. If Bubba's talking about political baggage, he is one super-sized steamer trunk himself. Ahh, those Clintons sure love them some Walnuts McBush!!)

This increasingly execrable campaign has now stooped to quoting a wingnut column to support their transparently false claims of innocence in the matter. Well done!