So what did you guys think about Clinton's speech at the DNC

Anybody else think he seemed a bit unhealthy? Not just the shaking hands, but his voice and skin tone. I guess he's not a young man anymore, and heck, it could have just been a cold and some cold meds, but he just didn't seem all that healthy to me.

As for his speech, it was certainly good, but I'm not sure it was as great as everyone is making it out to be. Especially for someone who makes 8 figures a year giving speeches.

So far, I thought Michelle's speech was the one that most exceeded expectations.

 

Scoreboard...

 

He's had health problems. He had a quadruple bypass and later a collapsed lung about 8 years ago. Supposedly, he's a vegan now.

 

I think they were perfect in tandem - it would have been especially cool if they could have been on the same night, or if Clinton's speech would have led right into Obama's tonight.

Michelle's speech really was about reinforcing the character issue and "he's just like you" aspect - it had very little to do with policy or the GOP. Clinton's was entirely about policy and Republicans and Presidential leadership. Combined, they make a portrayal of a person that (they say) you should both like and trust who he is, and what he will do.

I think they each targeted different audiences in different ways.

 

i think it's great that every night has a different compelling speaker. tonight will be obama's turn. i'm betting that he brings his A game.

 

Here we go:

Nothing in "the facts" there refutes Ryan's claim that Obamacare took money away from Medicare. It amounts to, "well Ryan's plan does as well so he's a hypocrite." That's editorializing, not fact checking.

See above. The fact that Ryan asked for stimulus funds after voting against the stimulus does not refute Ryan's statement. What's so egregious about this particular "fact check" is that if the author had been more interested in actually fact checking than in finger pointing, he could have pointed out that much of the stimulus went to tax cuts for average Americans, which actually does refute Ryan's statement.

If I'm not mistaken, George W Bush pushed through a smaller auto bailout before he left office, and before this plant closed. That sounds to me like government support. Candidate Obama said that he thought government support would keep the plant running. It didn't.

Another appeal to Ryan's supposed hypocrisy as a "fact check." What part of "fact checking" do these people not understand? This is a very clear-cut example of a statement that is absolutely true, and a "fact check" that is completely irrelevant to the validity of the claim.

That's my take on the Paul Ryan "fact check." I addressed each point without skipping any. If you'd care to explain to me where you disagree, maybe we can actually debate this!

 

There's a bit of film of a 15 year old Bill Clinton shaking Jack Kennedy's hand. It's appropriate, because Bill is the finest political mind and speech maker since the two older Kennedy brothers. The speech was brilliant. They'll be talking about it in political science classes for decades to come. When I found out that it was 48 minutes long, I was shocked. I hadn't noticed the length at all. Clinton used every minute to great effect, in my opinion.

 

Big Bill was feeling it last night. Probably could have kept going another 20 minutes if TV time would have let him.

 

it was like a prime springsteen concert.
bill is definately "like a boss."

 

Except that under any reasonable definition of the term, limiting reimbursements to insurance cos. in future years isn't taking money "out" of the program or "raiding Medicare"; It would be like if you said Medicare negotiates a new deal with Pfizer on more favorable terms, it just "raided itself" by not giving in to Pfizer's opening offer.

That's reading comprehension, not editorializing.

 

Big Bill wasn't through last night.

[Update] Clinton, at the DNC after-gavel party, spotted a stage and gave a very long speech to a new audience, according to a person in the room, who left after 20 minutes, before he'd finished speaking (again).

 

You make a fair point. The problem with the "fact checkers" was that they did not make that point. If the "fact check" had said what you said, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But it only attacked Ryan as a hypocrite, without addressing his factual claim at all. Again, that's not fact checking!

 

If Obama can spend four years reminding everyone what a mess he "inherited," it would be perfectly fair for Republicans to claim that Carter and Clinton "inherited" their first (and only, in Carter's case) terms from Republicans as well. Of course, they still wouldn't get any credit for the rapid growth in Clinton's second term (until they start crediting the Republican congress)!

 

my favorite line was the one about Romney doubling-down on trickle-down. that was a great line.

i love the Clintons!

 

Just watched it again and got a second round of goose bumps.

$100 million dollars of the best propaganda money can buy rendered moot in 48 minutes.

 

Except what Bush, Clinton, etc all inherited were normal everyday business cycle recessions and expansions. What Obama inherited was unprecedented in US and world history, except maybe in the leadup to the Great Depression. It's a slightly different scenario.

 

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/433-nmcWw8E" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I liked the big finale with M83.

 

Of course I knew this, if for no other reason than Obama has said it himself every time he's opened his mouth during the last four years.

That's one of my complaints with Obama. I'm not even saying that he's wrong, just that he needs to shut the hell up about it already!