Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin Speak at the Republican National Convention
I read that Mitt Romney spoke before these two, but I missed it. Oh well, I’m sure it was pretty boring.
I was driving home when Mr. 9-11 spoke so I did not get to see the speech. I don’t know how it came across on TV, but listening to the radio I imagined chunks of Obama flesh spewing from his mouth on to the bloodthirsty delegates below. Here are a few excerpts from Rudy Giuliani’s pugnacious speech:
For — for four days in Denver, the Democrats were afraid to use the words “Islamic terrorism.”
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
I imagine they believe it is politically incorrect to say it. I think they believe it will insult someone. Please tell me, who are they insulting if they say “Islamic terrorism”? They are insulting terrorists.
(APPLAUSE)
The audience love it. I didn’t get it while listening, and I still don’t get it. Is it funny?
Of great concern to me, during those same four days in Denver, they rarely mentioned the attacks of September 11, 2001. They are in a state of denial about the biggest threat that faces this country. And if you deny it and you don’t deal with it, you can’t face it.
…
The Democratic leader — the Democratic leader of the Senate said, and I quote, “This war is lost.”
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
Well, well, if America lost, who won, Al Qaida, bin Laden?
Uh… Rudy. Rudy! Have you heard the news? bin Laden is still at large. We left him in Afghanistan and sent about one hundred twenty thousand troops to Iraq in a pre-emptive strike against Saddam’s cache of WMDs, only there weren’t WMDs there. Then we said we were fighting al Qaida (who arrived after we opened the door for them) and then we were fighting to liberate the Iraqis and spread democracy. That worked if you think of “dying” as liberation, and we’ve come to find that the Iraqis are not too hot on our brand of Democracy.
So who won? Bin Laden and his al Qaida network certainly haven’t “lost.” They are still in operation far away from Iraq.
Governor Palin represents a new generation. She’s already one of the most successful governors in America and the most popular.
Really? I guess he can say that NOW she is “popular.” But up until last week, outside of the state of Alaska, how many of us new much of anything about her? How many of us thought of her as a popular governor?
And she’s already had more executive experience than the entire Democratic ticket combined.
You really shouldn’t go there, because she’s got more executive experience than McCain too. Based on that argument, she should be at the top of the ticket. Based on the post below, most people – even prominent Republicans – don’t think she belongs there.
She’s been a mayor. I love that (ph).
I’m sorry — I’m sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn’t cosmopolitan enough. (LAUGHTER)
That is soooOOOOOOOO funny! Especially coming from the former mayor New York City! Ha!
I’m sorry, Barack, that it’s not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there.
On that dig we’ll move on to Sarah “Barracuda,” who I must admit was better than I wanted her to be. She was vibrant and likable (if you’re into MILF types) and she smiled as she used her words to stab Obama over and over again. She delivered it just right and elicited a riotous response from the crowd.
…we [small town people] tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.
(APPLAUSE)
As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes and whoever is listening John McCain is the same man.
Nice word choice: “wherever” instead of “whenever.”
I remember way back when… in 2001 that wherever he went he said he opposed Bush’s tax-cuts because they were targeted at the wrong people: the very rich instead of the middle class. That was a good man. Not he wants to extend Bush’s tax cuts for the richest Americans and cut their taxes even more. Bad idea.
I remember back in 1999 when he said he would not support a repeal of Roe v. Wade. Good man. Now he says he support a repeal of Roe v. Wade. Bad man.
I remember back in 2005 when McCain, a man who was subjected to torture, was against torture and thought the Guantanamo detainees should be allowed to challenge their treatment. Good man. Now, not so much. Bad man.
So Sarah, which man is he today? The good man or the bad man?
This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word “victory,” except when he’s talking about his own campaign.
(APPLAUSE)
But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot…
I don’t think the “victory” jab is right, but I’ll check it out. No time now.
About those backdrops and roaring crowds… What’s that behind you? The Liberty Bell? The Grand Canyon? Are you using a backdrop to enhance your image? Is what I’m hearing a huge crowd of supporters cheering for you? Where will that gigantic screen go when you leave?
… when that happens, what exactly is our opponent’s plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he’s done turning back the waters and healing the planet?
…The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, and raise payroll taxes, and raise investment income taxes, and raise the death tax, and raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars.
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
My sister, Heather, and her husband, they just built a service station that’s now open for business, like millions of others who run small businesses. How are they going to be better off if taxes go up? Or maybe you are trying to keep your job at a plant in Michigan or in Ohio…
Sarah… Sarah… You were all caught up in the presentation of Obama’s speech weren’t you? You like him, don’t you? You envy his serious temperament, natural charisma, and gift of oratory, don’t you?
You must have been getting all dreamy eyed when he said he would cut taxes for 95% of American families, and when he said he would cut taxes for small businesses.
Go back and read it. Give it another go in your next speech and, while you’re at, include a little something about which slice of the income pie gets all the benefits of Bush’s tax cuts that you and John McCain want to extend.
I’ll be listening…