Democratic convention liveblogging

Well, I am not easily chocked up but the speech that Ted Kennedy gave was very moving for me. He has been consistently demonized by the Republicans for many years. However, I think the true value of his life and his work will win out over the noise of hatred. He has not been perfect. We all know that - so does he. For me, politics, at its best, is all about helping others. It has been a long time since liberal ideals could raise its head high and tonight many of us took in the first breath of fresh air in a long time.

I think Ms. Obama has put an end to her critics who called her elitist and angry.

i Michelle irritated me by going on and on about how she left the corporate world for " public service." If you unpack this, you might end up where Steve Sailer did.

Well, she's no beer heiress who steals other women's husbands. So, I can see why Michele Obama's career is so upsetting.

I liked Michelle's speech. She is very smart, very likable and very down-to-earth, and not the elitist that Peggy Noonan has suggested she comes across as. Maybe she has seemed out of touch in the past, but not tonight. In fact, as a white working-class Catholic I feel more commonality with the the Obama's right now then I do with anybody in the current Republican leadership. It's a shame about abortion, and it's a shame Obama's party is rife with Eastern elitists, left-coast goofs, and wild-eyed campus "radicals" all of whom are hostile to people like me. The best I can do is sit this one out, sadly.

Michelle Obama gave a good speech. She seemed warm, intelligent and pleasant, and told her life story well. That's all that's needed in a speech like that, and it wasn't the place for Bush-bashing or 14-point plans. That time will come later.

Also, I suspect Steve Sailer would never get a job or last very long in any serious corporate environment, be it a big law firm or someplace like that, so his views on what it takes to make it in biglaw or anyplace like that really aren't views I'd take seriously.

Mark, actually it wasn't very hard, if you haven't drunk the "Obama = Saviour"kool-aid.

Tell me, what's so "exotic" about Barack Obama? Compared to who?

John McCain was born to a U.S. Admiral, himself the son of an admiral. in the far away land of Panama. After a ne'er do well youth marked by "hell raising," he spent several years in a foreign land also (admittedly in the service of his nation, and some of it was against his will and quite heroic -- nevertheless, fortunately, highly atypical). Since returning, he has lived in his many homes in Arizona and Washington and elsewhere.

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, a U.S. state. His father was an immigrant. So it is with many of all -- all of us, if you go back far enough.

Aside from a few years with his stepfather in Indonesia, young Barack Obama lived in Hawaii and Kansas, also a U.S. state the last time I looked. Though he claims to have some issues with drugs and some adolescent growing pains, he appears to have been a hard working, exemplary student throughout his life.

Later he spent two years at Occidental College, a college in Eagle Rock, a quasi-suburban neighborhood between Los Angeles and Pasadena (once the seat of WASP old money in Southern California). Then, a couple more years in New York while he attended Colombia. Finally, he went to Chicago, Illinois -- "hog butcher to the world" -- to work as a community organizer and get his feet wet in his chosen career. Then, on to the far away land of Boston -- "Bean Town" its natives call it, to attend Harvard, where he did pretty well to say the least. And, finally, back to the land of brats and pizza in Illinois.

He has a wife and two daughters and attended church regularly. He had a preacher who sometimes made extreme political statements that some might deem as hateful, but who wasn't named Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, John Hagee, Paul and Jan Crouch, Benny Hinn, who preach that people who disagree with them will be thrown into a literal lake of fire where they will be tortured for all eternity, and that this is a good thing.

The worst thing about his personal life anyone in the press has been able to prove is that the New York Times was unable to find anyone who remembered him using the drugs he claims to have briefly used before getting his life fully on track. (If Obama had managed to go through four years of college in Los Angeles and New York and NOT used any illegal drugs at all during the early 1980s, I'm here to tell you he would have been a part of a far smaller, far more exotic group.)

Sorry, the only "exotic" things about Barack Obama is his name. The fact of the matter is that his life experiences as the son of a struggling but extremely conscientious single mother who eventually marries a former coworker are far more common than those of the son and a grandson of Admirals who became a prisoner of war, then returned home and divorced his first wife in favor of a beer heiress with close family members who have been disowned and whom she refuses to acknowledge.

If the right really thinks Obama is exotic, but John McCain is just good folks, then its priorities may have become even more twisted than the Bush legacy appears to demonstrate.

There is one relatable American family running for President, and it is not the McCains.

Sure wish some Republican, some pundit, some analyst, some newsman, anyone would point out that the Democrats control both houses of congress. Who will hold the Democrats responsible for the failure to get the ball going on all these issues they claim are important? If spending is out of control, who is at fault? If we have no energy policy, who is at fault?

Barack Obama never lived in Kansas, for what it's worth. Hawaii, Indonesia, then Hawaii again.

"...political theater." Exactly, and it all makes me just a little bit nauseous.

That anyone could speak well of a complete self-absorbed spoiled rich brat like Ted Kennedy, who has marched through his life breaking and destroying people and careers, is shocking. Honoring him doesn't speak well of anyone. The words are "Chappaquick" and "Mary Jo Kopechne".

And while I'm conservative, I am not reflexively a hater of Kennedys. JFk was a decent Cold Warrior president. I never met the man, but a mutual friend and client was a very close friend to JFK Jr. and thought highly of him.

"No Resaervations" was on. Why anyone would watch the Woman From Affirmative Action, Daley Machine Division drone on is beyond me. And the same is true of the GOP confab. Why bother?It's a commercial.

Hi, Bugg. I know you are not alone in hating Ted Kennedy for his past history. But, there are many people who have worked with him over the years, including many Republicans, who have great respect for him.