Tom's Rant

Watching the Republican convention last night, I was struck by two things. 

One, those folks at that convention don't look like the America I know.

Two, it sounds like it's going to be 2000 and 2004 all over again, playing the fear card. There seemed to be a lot of "noun, verb and 9/11," and not just from Giuliani. In addition, from the President on down, there was the drumbeat of divisive attacks on the left and liberals, on the east and the elite. Having grown up in Joe McCarthy's Wisconsin and well-remembering the red-baiting and the attacks on pinkos and commies that set neighbor against neighbor and cast a pall of fear over political discussion, this strikes me as the same old McCarthy era rhetoric with new names, appealing to the same old fears and hatreds ... us against them.

This was reinforced by the renewed focus on being commander in chief. At times, George W. Bush has talked as though being CIC is the only aspect of the presidency that matters. The debate over Sarah Palin's pick as vice presidential nominee has also been cast in that light. In the meantime, the world has gone on to become multi-polar, with other nations using their energy wealth and our national bankruptcy to pass us by or ignore us because we are no longer "militarily, economically and politically pre-eminent," as members of this administration proposed as the post-Cold War role for America in Sept. 2000. The Pax Americana those folks pursued is now beyond our grasp, and diplomacy on all fronts is going to be way more important to America's welfare than the command of military power. Let's hear about that, and about the way a healthy, well-educated nation is at least as important to our future as the guns in our arsenal.

Palin did a great job of presenting herself. I look forward to seeing how her beliefs play out on real issues. I used to think McCain was one of the few principled politicians at the national level; I've lost confidence in that assessment. Palin has bucked entrenched members of her own party on issues of principle and won. Maybe she can bring some of that focus on principles back into the campaign and we can hear debates on real issues, not about whether it's better and more worthy to be a community organizer in Chicago or a small-town mayor.

That's my rant before dawn's early light. Other views welcomed. tv