Out of the Mouths of Pit Bulls...

I watched the big speeches of the Democratic Convention last week -- Hillary, (missed Bill for yoga class), Joe Biden, and Obama -- so I thought it was only fair to give the Republican Convention equal time this week. Although I missed Tuesday night's speakers, I tuned in for Guiliani (on the radio as I drove home from yoga), the surprise VP candidate Sarah Palin, and McCain. What follow are a few moments from this week's coverage that stuck with me.

1) Guiliani's dig at the Democrats (or one of many). He took them to task for not mentioning the words "Islamic Terrorists" all week at their convention and mocked them for trying to do what he termed "the politically correct thing." He then went on to wonder out loud what was so bad about calling a spade a spade, since surely the Terrorists deserve that label. (Clue: No, Rudy, I think it has more to do with implying that the whole nation of Islam is comprised of radical terrorists...)

2) "Drill, baby, drill!" The delegates repeated this chant throughout Palin's speech on Wednesday night. What the heck? Screw the environment -- even though it's been widely acknowledged that drilling more won't have any effect on the ridiculously high gas prices at all for at least ten years -- let's drill. So much for conserving our natural resources for future generations. Let's just rape and pillage mother Earth for the immediate gratification of our own selfish needs.

3) Palin's tag line (not at all ad-libbed): "What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick." Ha ha. Honestly, after 8 years of Dick Cheney occupying the Vice Presidency, I really don't want another pit bull in that position. I'd be content with a Collie (Lassie would do) or a Saint Bernard, or at most, a German shepherd.

With an all-star line-up of pit bulls preceding him on stage, McCain was able to take a bit more of the high road last night, and I acknowledge him for that. I'd take him over Giuliani any day. But I still prefer the other candidate's message of change.

I just hope that we won't let our junior high instincts take over (see May 19 entry) when we go to the polls in November. I hope we will remember that this is more than a popularity contest -- the war hero vs. the celebrity, the old white guy vs. the young African-American, the pragmatist vs. the idealist. I hope that, in the end, we will make this a contest that is more about issues than personalities.