John McCain and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow Promises

Forgive the poor photoshopping but take a look at the glum expressions on the circled faces. The arrow points to a guy partially hidden by the podium yet you can still see the "What the hell am I doing here?" look on his face.

I hate to admit it but I missed McCain’s speech last night. It was totally unintentional. I had just finished watching Jungle Book 2 and still had 30 minutes until his speech. (I can’t help it. I’m gay. I LOVE Disney, even their low-quality sequels.) Anyway, I decided to lie down for a few minutes and the next thing I knew it was 11:10 and I hear applause and commentary coming from the television in my living room. In the words of the immortal Charlie Brown, “Rats!”

Based on the responses I read this morning on the internet and the somber reaction of the crowd to McCain, I wasn’t the only one sleeping during his speech. Based on those reviews and the snippets of videos I caught today, not only did McCain fail to ignite his audience; he also did not bring anything new to the table. In fact, he made the same promises that George Bush made 8 years ago while, at the same time, trying to distance himself as far as he could from the President, someone whom he supported 90% of the time.

This is as far as I can comment as I didn’t watch his speech. Even if I had watched it, it wouldn’t have changed my opinion of McCain. In general, I like him. He’s a decorated war hero who supported his country and suffered because of that support. I think he’s one tough cookie and he genuinely loves his country. But he hasn’t singularly cornered the market on Patriotism. And let’s face it folks, he’s really, really old. Plus he represents the party that has controlled the white house for 8 years and is responsible for the predicament we are in today.

"Pay attention guys, I'm making a speech!"

If he gets elected you can kiss gay rights and Roe vs. Wade good-bye, especially with Sarah Palin nipping at his heals daily. If he is elected, he will continue to vote the same way he has in the past, supporting the same ideals George Bush supported. I, for one, cannot idly stand by and let that happen. He may have the support of Pit Bull Soccer Moms, but he doesn’t have a clue about the millions of other mothers out there – the moms who have to work and can’t afford to stay home and run their kids all over the universe in a gas-guzzling SUV. Nor does he have the volunteers and community workers who devote their time with little or no pay to make their communities a better place to live, the same people the Palin put down in her speech the night before.

The Republican Party has no clue about the real working people of America. I am happy that McCain is successful enough to have 7 or so houses, even if he’s not sure of the number. But most of us are having a hard time keeping the one house we own. And congrats to him that his wife can afford to spend over $300,000 on an outfit she wore at the convention yet my daughter has to debate over whether or not she can afford a $30 dress on sale at Kohl’s. These are the real issues that face Americans. These are the issues that the Republicans repeatedly overlooked. Instead we were served sarcastic and down-right nasty attacks on Obama and empty promises of change. And America does need change, but not the kind of change we’ll get from McCain/Palin and four more years of Bush-like policies.

"This is how I brace myself when I fall!"