It wasn’t so bad. One may note that the pearls were absent last night. She cuts a striking figure and she learned a lot from Barack. It was heart warming to hear Michelle talk about how her dad worked so hard for the city so she could go to college. It was a soft sell of the point Bill Cosby has pointed out, that dads need to support their families. I was reminded, though, of Chris Rock’s infamous act.

There is a double standard here.  If McCain talks about how his dad was an admiral in the Navy, his critics will use that against him, as if he had a priveleged life.  Mr Robinson was a responsible dad and a good role model for fathers black or white…I don’t know how that makes Barack Obama any more or less qualified to be president.

Looking through the 2008 Democratic convention schedule, two things came to mind.  One is that Michelle Obama is keynoting tonight, Monday the 25th.  This really got me thinking.  If my wife, who is an occupational therapist, were to give a talk at a therapist convention, could I give a speech also?  I mean, we talk about her work every day, so that should qualify me, right?  The interesting pivot here is that early on Obama shied away from the power couple meme because he was running against Hilary.

I guess I could understand a 10 minute introduction speech, but letting Michelle keynote.  I watched Michelle give a speech before, it was not pretty.  Must presidential wives give keynotes?  Theresa Heinz Kerry was disastrous, but at least she wasn’t inflammatory.  I fear that Michelle may very well put a dent in Baracks poll rating.  He may finish strong, but people will be paying attention to Michelle.

There are a couple of notable absences that caught my eye…Al Gore and Howard Dean.  The environment has been one issue without much traction this season.  Perhaps these people are hearing from their constituents about high gas prices.  See when you have real problems you don’t need to create imaginary ones.  Is Al Gore not willing to be kicked around anymore?  Perhaps all the attention from the academy and Nobel committee was all too much.  Well, Gore may be the best chance to prevent the ascension of Hilary in 2012, and maybe a self-imposed exile might do him some good in that regard.

The absence of Howard Dean is notable because he is the most outspoken critic of the war, and I guess with the success of the surge the dems don’t want to revisit that.  Along these lines, one might also wonder where Gavin Newsome is, that maverick in support of gay marriages.

A generic Democrat wins this election, and this convention is designed to appease Hilary (and set her up for 2012) and make Obama look like a generic democrat.  Unfortunately, he is by no means generic, and that is a double edged sword.

If you are a democrat and you want to win in November, wouldn’t you think it would be in the bag had you nominated Al Gore.  I’m fairly conservative, and I would consider voting for Gore over McCain.  But I won’t vote for Obama.  And there are a lot of GOP members that are frustrated with this administration and the party, but just aren’t willing to pull the lever for the most inexperienced and liberal member of the Senate.  The GOP will owe all those primary caucus types a debt of gratitude for overplaying their hand.

The Chicago Tribune informs us that “Whitey” is not really a slur. Why? Because it’s just not offensive enough. The entire rather short article is below. Not only does the Tribune staff inform us that it’s really not offensive, they tell us that anyone who finds it offensive is simply ignorant and stupid.

Now all you deep-down-inside institutional racists dig down and think of a couple of racial slurs that you consider simply “more of a taunt” and insert it for the word “whitey” above. You see? We’re all free to make whatever slurs we deem appropriate as long as we feel that it involves simply “prejudice” and not REAL “racism;” as long as it lacks an “ominous context.” We’re all free to be prejudiced, as long as we’re not racist.

I can’t find anything in this article to disagree with, but find it hard to believe that this is setting an equal standard for whites and non-whites when it comes to racial slurs. The article could have been even shorter. Something like:

“Only white people can be racist.”