This is basically what I think Obama’s speech was about at the DNC. Some say the speech “fell flat”, others that it wasn’t as good as Clinton the night before. I think that in many ways it was a much needed dose of reality about what our country faces at home and abroad and spoken in a way which moved many in the audience to tears (including this C-Span watcher). I’m really tired of the carping and snarky sniping and whining I’m hearing and reading from so-called “progressives” and “liberals”. Do we really want the sick and elderly to be left to the mercy of the Insurance companies? Do we want the special interests and the super rich to take over more of our government than they already have? Do we really want to forget about living as a community working toward common purposes and plunge into a hellish world of social darwinism that takes us back to the era of Oliver Twist?

No human being is going to produce the instant perfect solution to all our problems that some seem naively to expect; certainly not Romney-Ryan. In an effort to be fair, I went and watched as much as I could stand of Romney’s Speech to the RNC. In his description of his family roots and growing up, I was stunned to see how little emotion that history seemed to give him in spite of what might have been a bit of tearing up. What does his father’s love of his mom and the daily giving of a rose have to do with Mitt the son or the Mitt of today? Especially when the son speaking of his parents seems to ooze condescension for his listeners, as if he were telling a story to small children who couldn’t possibly really understand. The emotions that Obama arouses so easily were totally absent from Romney’s audience. I didn’t see any adoring looks or teary-eyed folks there. There were cheers, but even the cheers didn’t seem too enthusiastic.

Obama really believes in what he’s saying; you can see it in his face. I never get that feeling from Romney’s speeches, no matter how fast he talks. We can measure a person’s success in life by what he does with it; whether he spends it accumulating vast wealth, sometimes at the expense of others, or whether he lives it by some guiding principles that have to do with community and fairness and equal opportunity. Which do we value more?

Enjoy the music: