Republican Convention: Who Cares?

Dear Madame L,

Are you watching the Republican Convention in Tampa at all this week? Or do you even care about what the Republican Party is doing?

Sincerely,

Watching Avidly

Dear Avid Viewer,

Madame L is not watching the Republican Convention in Tampa much, as she regards political conventions as huge wastes of her valuable time. She did watch Ann Romney's speech on Tuesday night, and thought Mrs. Romney did a great job of showing how much she loves her husband. Madame L was reminded of some of the best church talks she has heard in her lifetime, full of love and warmth and commitment. And Madame L was impressed with Ann Romney and happy to hear about what a great guy Mitt Romney is. 

But did that talk persuade Madame L to vote for Mitt Romney? 

No, it did not. 

Madame L knows a lot of great guys, guys like Mitt Romney, guys who are good husbands and fathers and nice to other people, full of charity and love, leaders in their community and/or church, and all that. But that's not what we need in a president of our country. 

(And if it were, Barack Obama qualifies on all those same points.)

Here's who we need: 

---Someone who is honest (for example, someone who isn't afraid to reveal his tax returns....What is Mitt Romney afraid of? Is he afraid the Mormons who love him so much will be outraged to find out he didn't pay a full 10% tithing? Is he afraid the non-Mormons who love him so much will be outraged to find out he DID pay a full 10% tithing, and less than that in taxes? And, by the way, Madame L notes that while a bunch of Republicans are accusing Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) of lying for calling Mitt Romney out on his tax returns, the one Republican leader who has actually seen those tax returns, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), is NOT calling Harry Reid a liar.

---Someone who relates to and sees the needs of real people (which Mitt Romney appears to be incapable of doing)

---Someone who hasn't changed his position back and forth, as blown about on the winds of Tea Party opinion, on birth control, women's reproductive health care in general, overall health care in general, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, and every other important policy (how can we trust Mitt Romney at this point, when we don't know what he really believes about anything at all?)

---Someone who has actually struggled for four years for all of us, making every advance he has made in spite of the Republican leaders who have made it their goal for the past four years to ensure that Barack Obama won't be re-elected, voting against legislation they themselves supported earlier, taking outrageous stands that hurt their constituents, doing everything except passing laws that would actually create jobs or help anyone in any way 

---Someone with an actual vision for the future, for getting jobs, for cutting waste and abuse in government bureaucracies without cutting the social safety net that will keep our Middle Class strong instead of turning us into a third-world country where the rich supporters of Romney et al. will continue to get richer while the rest of us get poorer and poorer

---We need Barack Obama to continue for four more years as president, and we need a Democratic majority in the Senate and increased numbers in the House. 

---We need to start doing all those things the Republican Party is talking about at their convention in Tampa but has no intention of actually doing.

Sincerely,

Madame L