By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Sep 5, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
Contributing RP Artur Davis was given a prime time slot to speak last Tuesday at the Republican National Convention. Below, we have a transcript of his speech and a few excerpted articles about it:
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you.
Some of you may know, the last time I spoke at a convention, it turned out I was in the wrong
place.
So, Tampa, my fellow Republicans, thank you for welcoming me where I belong.
We have a country to turn around. This week you will nominate the most experienced executive to seek the presidency in 60 years in Mitt Romney.
He has no illusions about what makes America great, and he doesn’t confuse the presidency with celebrity, or loftiness with leadership.
What a difference four years makes.
The Democrats’ ads convince me that Governor Romney can’t sing, but his record convinces me he knows how to lead, and I think you know which skill we need more.
Now, America is a land of second chances, and I gather you have room for the estimated 6 million of us who know we got it wrong in 2008 and who want to fix it.
Maybe we should have known that night in Denver that things that begin with plywood Greek columns and artificial smoke typically don’t end well.
Maybe the Hollywood stars and the glamour blinded us a little: you thought it was the glare, some of us thought it was a halo.
But in all seriousness, do you know why so many of us believed? We led with our hearts and our dreams that we could be more inclusive than America had ever been, and no candidate had ever spoken so beautifully.
But dreams meet daybreak: the jobless know what I mean, so do the families who wonder how this Administration could wreck a recovery for three years and counting.
So many of those high-flown words have faded.
Read the rest of… Artur Davis’ RNC Speech and Media Coverage
I think that’s about as good as the guy can do. He can’t really offer specifics, because his policies are incoherent. Balance the budget, but cut taxes, reverse Medicare cuts and increase defense spending? Balance the budget by killing the wind energy tax credit? Riiight.
But of course, style trumps substance. And on those grounds, well, he’s no Rubio. He’s not even a Rob Portman. He’s just terminally incapable of appearing genuine.
My high school basketball coach once sat in on a meeting with a college coach who was recruiting me. “Too bad you can’t teach height,” he said. The college coach nodded grimly, much as Romney’s speech coaches likely did last night.
Read the rest of… Jeff Smith: Romney’s Convention Speech
By John Y. Brown III, on Tue Sep 4, 2012 at 12:00 PM ET
The importance of grandfathers—on Labor Day.
The most important thing my very wise and learned paternal grandfather ever told me was when I was 20 years old. We were having a philosophical discuasion about the ends never justifying the means being illustrated in a criminal law case he was involved with –and I took a personal turn with my next question.
“Papaw, how old was dad when you realized he was going to be really successful?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t out of time yet myself.
There was an uncharacteriatic pause and I looked at my grandfather’s winced face. It was the first time I had ever stumped him. Or at least the first time one of my questions had left him temporarily speechless. Recovering, he said in a stern tone raising one eyebrow, “Well, to tell you the truth, I never thought your dad would amount to much of anything.” And as he realized that even though my father was now 51 was helping support both of us, he couldn’t remember ever amending that opinion, he broke into a broad smile and a hearty laugh.
That’s it. The most important thing grandfathers usually pass down to grandchildren is the truth about their parents.
The wisest thing my maternal grandfather ever said to me.
I was in my final year of law school and into my late 20s. My grandfather Durall, who possibly had the finest mind of any of my family members, had to drop out of school at age 14 to go to work in the coal mines–for $2 a day pay.
We were about to sit down to chat and his first question to me was, “Reckon you are going to stay in college until you can draw Social Security?” he asked, chuckling to himself. It made me laugh hard–and was probably the harshest thing I ever recall my grandfather Durall saying to me.
The reason I thought of that conversation this morning is that whatever I can think or say about Labor Day, I’ll never quite be able to give the term “work” the kind of meaning that he did. Of all my family members, none worked harder, endured more, and received less than my grandfather Durall. And he almost never missed a day of work or took a vacation time. Or complained. It was just his way. He honored the term “labor” in a way his grandchildren can salute but will never replicate.
By Nancy Slotnick, on Tue Sep 4, 2012 at 8:30 AM ET
“He makes me laugh.” – Ann Romney, Republican National Convention.
She said it at least three times I think, so it must mean a lot to Ann Romney, but in my opinion the quality “he makes me laugh” is overrated. I tried it on for size with regard to the Presidential Race—“He’s such a great President; he always makes me laugh.” Something just didn’t sound right.
But then I am mainly interested in love and relationships, being that I am a Recovering Dater, so I applied the same litmus test there. Al Bundy makes me laugh; Peter Griffin on the Family Guy makes me laugh; but would I want to be married to them?
If you go onto any online dating site and look at profiles, you will see “sense of humor” on top of most women’s wish list. Don’t get me wrong- I love to laugh with my husband- that’s one of the best experiences in the world. And giggling—so much the more so. But just because someone makes you laugh, can you tell anything about his character?
Comedians can be very angry people; they can be loners. The straight man (in the comedic sense, not the sexual orientation sense), on the other hand, can often prove to be more “stand-up” than the funny man, when it comes to love. Or at the very least the correlation between funny and good husband is inconclusive. So we must look for some other clues when we attempt to assess character.
Judging someone’s character when you first meet is a monumental task, yet an important skill in dating. In my coaching practice, I advise women to read his actions, not his words. In other words, if he says, “I’ll call you,” that is words. (often lies.) If he actually calls, that speaks volumes.
So in advance of meeting, when you are trying to scope someone out from afar, how can you get a reading?
1. Eyes are the window to the soul. If you believe in a soulmate, then start looking into the eyes of strangers and find out what you see. It’s not staring, but reading their eyes. I dare you to do it.
2. Watch him while he’s talking to his friends. You can tell a lot by how he interacts with others.
3. Listen to what he’s talking about and see if it sounds intelligent. Ok, I grant you that this may be hard to do if you are scoping him out in a sports bar setting. This is why I recommend trying to have 1 date/week. Some things you can only find out from going more in-depth.
4. Finally, look for his smile. That Aretha Franklin song says “It’s in his kiss- that’s where it is.” That is true too. But we’re talking about in advance of kissing. Then, it’s in his smile. Even if you just observe him smiling at his friends, or laughing with them, you can glean a lot. And if you dare to smile at a stranger, you may get to find out a lot about him and his character.
So it may not be all about him making you laugh, but rather seeing when he laughs, and what it’s about. If he has a winning smile, he’s a keeper. And I’m not just talking about Obama. Oh wait, maybe I am.
By Zack Adams, RP Staff, on Mon Sep 3, 2012 at 5:30 PM ET
The Politics of Pigskin
The NFL and its referees (currently on strike) were almost able to reach a deal on Friday that would have allowed the normal refs to work all the regular season games. However, once that deal was struck down by the NFL Referees Association the NFL, teams, players, and fans face the prospect of starting the season with replacement refs that were none too impressive during the preseason. [Yahoo! Sports]
Here is Peter King’s season preview for SI. On the first page you can also find links to the rest of SI’s NFL coverage. [Sports Illustrated]
Pigskin and Politics collide this week when the Panthers will be forced to practice in Florida due to the Democratic National Convention being held in Charlotte. [ESPN]
This actually happened a while back, but it’s worth mentioning. Ray Rice took to Facebook back in July to make some classy and respectable posts on Facebook about bullying. Good on you, Rice. [picture]
Here’s a nice chart for those of you interested in keeping track of wins and losses once the season starts! [picture]
All of your favorite Recovering Politicians and writers will be having some fun playing Fantasy Football this season. Check out this post every week and I’ll keep you abreast of the results!
By Jonathan Miller, on Mon Sep 3, 2012 at 1:00 PM ET
Just caught this on “Showtime.” Derivative of the coolearly Social Network trailer — with the chorus of kids singing Radiohead’s “Creep” — but still awesome nonetheless.
Less than a month until the September 30 season premiere. Enjoy:
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you.
