Geoge W. Bush just began speaking to the convention.
Anyone else watching? Is it just me or do the maroon "Service" signs being waved by people throughout the hall look like big Hershey bars?
I'm twittering the convention HERE.
Update [2008-9-2 21:58:0 by Todd Beeton]:Umm, did he really just equate the "angry left" with McCain's captors at the Hanoi Hilton?
Update [2008-9-2 22:6:25 by Todd Beeton]:Haha, they scheduled Bush so he ended just before prime time began but the networks are leading their coverage with Bush's speech a few minutes delayed.
Update [2008-9-2 22:30:9 by Josh Orton]: Posted Lieberman's embargoed remarks in the extended entry, just in case you wanted to know what he says without having to watch the full Joementum...
Update [2008-9-2 22:32:59 by Todd Beeton]:Best (and by 'best' I mean fucked up) pundit line of the night: Tom Brokaw on NBC tonight said "I would not like to be Joe Buden debating Sarah Palin because she is going to have a lot of momentum by the time she gets to that debate if things go as well as the Republicans hope they will." Totally.
Update [2008-9-2 22:46:29 by Todd Beeton]:Was Lieberman this bad in 2000?
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gwe9T LkJ5aTXM29zhuE2XyexTpJgD92UV0J81
Text of prepared remarks by Sen. Lieberman
By The Associated Press - 9 minutes ago
Remarks as prepared for delivery to the Republican National Convention
on Tuesday by Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn.:
Thank you for that warm welcome. I am honored to be here.
We meet tonight in the wake of a terrible storm that has hit the Gulf
Coast but that hurts all of us, because we are all members of our
larger American family.
At times like this, we set aside all that divides us, and we come
together to help our fellow citizens in need.
What matters is certainly not whether we are Democrats or Republicans,
but that we are all Americans.
The truth is, it shouldn't take a hurricane to bring us together like
this.
Every day, across our country, millions of our fellow citizens are
facing huge problems.
They are worried about their homes, their jobs, and their businesses;
they are worried about the outrageous cost of gas and of health
insurance; and they are worried about the threats from our enemies
abroad.
But when they look to Washington, all too often they do not see their
leaders coming together to tackle these problems.
Instead they see Democrats and Republicans fighting each other, rather
than fighting for the American people.
Our founding fathers foresaw the danger of this kind of senseless
partisanship. George Washington himself -- in his farewell address to
our country -- warned that the "spirit of party" is "the worst enemy"
of our democracy and "enfeebles" our government's ability to do its
job.
George Washington was absolutely right. The sad truth is -- today we
are living through his worst nightmare, in the capital city that bears
his name.
And that brings me directly to why I am here tonight. What, after all,
is a Democrat like me doing at a Republican convention like this?
The answer is simple.
I'm here to support John McCain because country matters more than
party.
I'm here tonight because John McCain is the best choice to bring our
country together and lead our country forward.
I'm here because John McCain's whole life testifies to a great truth:
being a Democrat or a Republican is important.
But it is not more important than being an American.
Both presidential candidates this year talk about changing the culture
of Washington, about breaking through the partisan gridlock and
special interests that are poisoning our politics.
But only one of them has actually done it.
Only one leader has shown the courage and the capability to rise above
the smallness of our politics to get big things done for our country
and our people.
And that leader is John McCain!
John understands that it shouldn't take a natural disaster like
Hurricane Gustav to get us to take off our partisan blinders and work
together to get things done.
It shouldn't take a natural disaster to teach us that the American
people don't care much if you have an "R" or a "D" after your name.
What they care about is, are we solving the problems they are up
against every day?
What you can expect from John McCain as president is precisely what he
has done this week: which is to put country first. That is the code by
which he has lived his entire life, and that is the code he will carry
with him into the White House.
I have personally seen John, over and over again, bring people
together from both parties to tackle our toughest problems we face _to
reform our campaign finance, lobbying and ethics laws, to create the
9/11 Commission and pass its critical national security reforms, and
to end the partisan paralysis over judicial confirmations.
My Democratic friends know all about John's record of independence and
accomplishment.
Maybe that's why some of them are spending so much time and so much
money trying to convince voters that John McCain is someone else.
I'm here, as a Democrat myself, to tell you: Don't be fooled.
God only made one John McCain, and he is his own man.
If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never
would have taken on corrupt Republican lobbyists, or big corporations
that were cheating the American people, or powerful colleagues in
Congress who were wasting taxpayer money.
But he did!
If John McCain was just another go-along partisan politician, he never
would have led the fight to fix our broken immigration system or to do
something about global warming.
But he did!
As a matter of fact, if John McCain is just another partisan
Republican, then I'm Michael Moore's favorite Democrat.
And I'm not.
Sen. Obama is a gifted and eloquent young man who can do great things
for our country in the years ahead. But eloquence is no substitute for
a record -- not in these tough times.
In the Senate he has not reached across party lines to get anything
significant done, nor has he been willing to take on powerful interest
groups in the Democratic Party.
Contrast that to John McCain's record, or the record of the last
Democratic president, Bill Clinton, who stood up to some of those same
Democratic interest groups and worked with Republicans to get
important things done like welfare reform, free trade agreements, and
a balanced budget.
Governor Sarah Palin, like John McCain, is a reformer who has taken on
the special interests and reached across party lines. She is a leader
we can count on to help John shake up Washington.
That's why the McCain-Palin ticket is the real ticket for change this
year.
The Washington bureaucrats and power brokers can't build a pen strong
enough to hold these two mavericks.
And together, you can count on John McCain and Sarah Palin to fight
for America and to fight for you! And that's what our country needs
most right now.
What we need most is not more party unity in America but more national
unity!
Especially at a time of war, we need a president we can count on to
fight for what's right for our country -- not only when it is easy, but
when it is hard.
When others were silent, John McCain had the judgment to sound the
alarm about the mistakes we were making in Iraq. When others wanted to
retreat in defeat from the field of battle, when Barack Obama was
voting to cut off funding for our troops on the ground, John McCain
had the courage to stand against the tide of public opinion and
support the surge, and because of that, today, our troops are at last
beginning to come home, not in failure, but in honor!
Before I conclude, I ask the indulgence of those in this hall tonight,
as I want to speak directly to my fellow Democrats and independents
who are watching.
I know many of you are angry and frustrated by our government and our
politics and for good reason.
You may be thinking of voting for John McCain but you're not sure.
Some of you have never voted for a Republican before and in an
ordinary election, you probably wouldn't.
But this is no ordinary election, because these are not ordinary
times, and John McCain is no ordinary candidate. You may not agree
with John McCain on every issue.
But you can always count on him to be straight with you about where he
stands, and to stand for what he thinks is right regardless of
politics.
As president, you can count on John McCain to be a restless reformer,
who will clean up Washington and get our government working again for
you!
So tonight, I ask you whether you are an independent, a Reagan
Democrat or a Clinton Democrat, or just a Democrat: This year, when
you vote for president, vote for the person you believe is best for
the country, not for the party you happen to belong to.
Vote for the leader who, since the age of 17, when he raised his hand
and took an oath to defend and protect our Constitution, has always
put our country first.
So, let's come together to make a great American patriot our next
great president!
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