My name is C.T. Gopinathan, Gopi for short. My owners take good care of me. I like it when, once in a while, they settle down on the couch--with me invariably between them--and watch TV. They are getting older, and more placid. They have seen a lot, and, generally, accept the world as it is--with a smile. Sure they still try to change it for the better, but not with missionary zeal. For the last three nights, we have gathered to watch the National Republican Convention. I started out looking like this: (Picture of a sleeping cat to follow.) By the end of the second night, I looked like this: (Picture of a frightened cat to follow.) These calm, sedate, mature people were yelling--screaming--at a young man giving a speech. My male owner was shouting what humans call expletives--something I've never heard him do before. The woman was yelling, "Liar, liar! You dishonest, dangerous, terrible man!" I was shocked. What got into them? From listening to many of their conversations, I know that they are not quick to anger, and eager to listen to those with different views. What got into them that transformed these sanguine bunny rabbits into raging beasts? I do not possess nearly enough neurons to solve this mystery, so I will turn it over to one of my owners, Thomas Dorsett, who does. What follows is his brief account of the past three days.
We expected lies from the speakers, but decided to listen anyway, to learn precisely what lies we would hear--and, perhaps, what truths; we are both open to rational arguments. The first speaker we heard was an enormous tough, the governor of my home state, New Jersey. Nirmala and I looked at each other toward the end of the speech and laughed, What an egotist! He went on and on about himself without ever mentioning Romney. He hardly ever smiled; mostly frowned, while looking at the teleprompter, not at the audience. I got the feeling that his implied message was his intent of running for the presidency in 2016. He lied and lied. Said he balanced the budget, but forgot to mention that New Jersey has just about the worst employment situation in the nation. Lies, lies, lies. We looked at Gopinath as if he were America and the enormous Governor Christie was getting ready to sit on him.
The next day Governor Huckabee spoke. A better delivered speech; he spoke with animation and looked at the audience, with whom he was obviously engaged. Again, lies, lies, lies. One example: he called the president, as did Gingrich, the Food Stamp President, because many more are on food stamps now. Never mind that President Obama didn't change the regulations at all; there are more on food stamps because of the economic mess the previous regime has caused. And the horrible canard that President Obama was referring to small businesses when he said, "You didn't build that," thus denigrating the great spirit of entrepreneurship in the country, is reprehensible--President Obama, of course, was referring to the infrastructure--roads, schools, etc--that are necessary for businesses to succeed.
Condaleezza Rice was good. She talked about the importance of education--wrong convention, Secretary Rice! She spoke movingly about her childhood in Birmingham where the racist laws wouldn't allow her to order a hot dog at so many places--her mother told her, however, that she could be anything she wanted. And she did indeed go far, thanks, in no small part, to government-enforced civil rights. I do have one question, though. Didn't she see any irony in talking about such things to a crowd that looked like a White revival meeting?
Then came a female Hispanic governor. I really enjoyed listening to someone who was able to speak Spanish correctly. (Remember Hillary Cinton's Si, se pueda?) It was a pleasure to hear "El sueno americano es en el exito." She told us that she works with a democratically controlled state legislature and actually gets things done. (I'm afraid to fact-check; I hope it's not a lie.) She was obviously there as a means to woo both women and Hispanics, who seem to be flocking to the Republican cause with the same zeal as sparrows flock to Gopinathan.
Then came Mr. Ryan. It was just too much. Yes, we began to scream at the screen. He blames Obama for blaming Bush--which President Obama doesn't do often at all-although he should. Never mind that in 2008 began the worst recession since the Great Depression, from which it took over a decade to recover. Even if Obama's sensible strategies hadn't been obstructed by the loony Tea Party, this downturn would not be as easy to reverse as previous ones.. He blamed the President for a plant closing that occurred before President Obama took office--and he knew he was lying, since this fact was pointed out to him before. He also blamed the President for making matters worse by the stimulus package, which every objective analyst says was of considerable benefit. He presented himself as a warrior against spending. What a lie! Ryan is a big, big spender. True he wants to cut down drastically on social programs, but he also wants to give the military much more, and supports truly egregious transfers of wealth to the wealthy through tax cuts, therefore increasing the deficit by trillions. Yes, we were screaming at this dreadful liar. What chutzpah! He blamed Obama for the bond downgrading of the United States--those who did the downgrade, however, blamed the Tea Party types who would not compromise at all and almost drove the nation to a temporary default. There is no way that the United States can resolve its debt problem without tax increases, the bond gurus inform us; they fear, with the Tea Party (I call them the Me Party) acting like bad kindergartners. reasonable tax restructuring will not occur. So they downgraded our bond status. If Ryan ever gets his way and cuts the budget as he would like to, we would be plunged into another recession. That's exactly what happened in 1937, when Republicans persuaded Roosevelt to slash spending.
And Medicare!! When a Republican--especially one like Ryan-- tells you he's out to save Medicare, believe that as much as a Democrat who tells you she wants chastity belts covered by all insurance programs. Believe Republicans on Medicare and you might as well light a candle to an icon of Rush Limbaugh as the patron saint of the working poor.
Ryan is a dangerous fanatic. All of us must fight to guarantee that he will never be a "heartbeat from the presidency." What's left to say? I will let my good animal friend, C.T. Gopinathan, close:
We gathered on the third night and listened to Romney's speech. I must admit that if I were human, I would have been yelling at Romney for a speech full of platitudes, lies and saber-rattling, but my owners behaved admirably. I suppose they were weary from all the nonsense of the past three days. They had a good sleep.
We expected lies from the speakers, but decided to listen anyway, to learn precisely what lies we would hear--and, perhaps, what truths; we are both open to rational arguments. The first speaker we heard was an enormous tough, the governor of my home state, New Jersey. Nirmala and I looked at each other toward the end of the speech and laughed, What an egotist! He went on and on about himself without ever mentioning Romney. He hardly ever smiled; mostly frowned, while looking at the teleprompter, not at the audience. I got the feeling that his implied message was his intent of running for the presidency in 2016. He lied and lied. Said he balanced the budget, but forgot to mention that New Jersey has just about the worst employment situation in the nation. Lies, lies, lies. We looked at Gopinath as if he were America and the enormous Governor Christie was getting ready to sit on him.
The next day Governor Huckabee spoke. A better delivered speech; he spoke with animation and looked at the audience, with whom he was obviously engaged. Again, lies, lies, lies. One example: he called the president, as did Gingrich, the Food Stamp President, because many more are on food stamps now. Never mind that President Obama didn't change the regulations at all; there are more on food stamps because of the economic mess the previous regime has caused. And the horrible canard that President Obama was referring to small businesses when he said, "You didn't build that," thus denigrating the great spirit of entrepreneurship in the country, is reprehensible--President Obama, of course, was referring to the infrastructure--roads, schools, etc--that are necessary for businesses to succeed.
Condaleezza Rice was good. She talked about the importance of education--wrong convention, Secretary Rice! She spoke movingly about her childhood in Birmingham where the racist laws wouldn't allow her to order a hot dog at so many places--her mother told her, however, that she could be anything she wanted. And she did indeed go far, thanks, in no small part, to government-enforced civil rights. I do have one question, though. Didn't she see any irony in talking about such things to a crowd that looked like a White revival meeting?
Then came a female Hispanic governor. I really enjoyed listening to someone who was able to speak Spanish correctly. (Remember Hillary Cinton's Si, se pueda?) It was a pleasure to hear "El sueno americano es en el exito." She told us that she works with a democratically controlled state legislature and actually gets things done. (I'm afraid to fact-check; I hope it's not a lie.) She was obviously there as a means to woo both women and Hispanics, who seem to be flocking to the Republican cause with the same zeal as sparrows flock to Gopinathan.
Then came Mr. Ryan. It was just too much. Yes, we began to scream at the screen. He blames Obama for blaming Bush--which President Obama doesn't do often at all-although he should. Never mind that in 2008 began the worst recession since the Great Depression, from which it took over a decade to recover. Even if Obama's sensible strategies hadn't been obstructed by the loony Tea Party, this downturn would not be as easy to reverse as previous ones.. He blamed the President for a plant closing that occurred before President Obama took office--and he knew he was lying, since this fact was pointed out to him before. He also blamed the President for making matters worse by the stimulus package, which every objective analyst says was of considerable benefit. He presented himself as a warrior against spending. What a lie! Ryan is a big, big spender. True he wants to cut down drastically on social programs, but he also wants to give the military much more, and supports truly egregious transfers of wealth to the wealthy through tax cuts, therefore increasing the deficit by trillions. Yes, we were screaming at this dreadful liar. What chutzpah! He blamed Obama for the bond downgrading of the United States--those who did the downgrade, however, blamed the Tea Party types who would not compromise at all and almost drove the nation to a temporary default. There is no way that the United States can resolve its debt problem without tax increases, the bond gurus inform us; they fear, with the Tea Party (I call them the Me Party) acting like bad kindergartners. reasonable tax restructuring will not occur. So they downgraded our bond status. If Ryan ever gets his way and cuts the budget as he would like to, we would be plunged into another recession. That's exactly what happened in 1937, when Republicans persuaded Roosevelt to slash spending.
And Medicare!! When a Republican--especially one like Ryan-- tells you he's out to save Medicare, believe that as much as a Democrat who tells you she wants chastity belts covered by all insurance programs. Believe Republicans on Medicare and you might as well light a candle to an icon of Rush Limbaugh as the patron saint of the working poor.
Ryan is a dangerous fanatic. All of us must fight to guarantee that he will never be a "heartbeat from the presidency." What's left to say? I will let my good animal friend, C.T. Gopinathan, close:
We gathered on the third night and listened to Romney's speech. I must admit that if I were human, I would have been yelling at Romney for a speech full of platitudes, lies and saber-rattling, but my owners behaved admirably. I suppose they were weary from all the nonsense of the past three days. They had a good sleep.
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