Give 'em hell, Joe!

A lot of times I cry because I feel a sadness or emotional pain or I'm in sympathy with somebody else's' sadness or pain. Fairly often happiness or joy can do it, too. Those are very strong emotions in their own right. Watching this clip, though, I had tears in my eyes not because I was sad or happy, but because I was filled with rage. A righteous anger at the systematic rape and ruination of my country, my people, my way of life. I dislike hate and and vitriol, but this isn't that. This is the well-deserved response to 8 years of wrong that has been perpetrated on my nation. 4 hankies



More and more I'm liking Joe Biden. Now I see what his early supporters already knew: he's capable and he's a fighter.

Give 'em hell, Joe!

Signs of Hope

3 hankies

Jonathan Winters on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

Jonathan Winters has always been one of my favorite comedians. I somehow saw some of his stand-up as a kid, and his humor just really appealed to me. It made me a bit weepy to see him triumphantly raise his cane to the audience at the beginning of this segment (1 hankie) and he was pretty funny, throughout. With this interview, though, he really strikes me as a man sort of saying his goodbyes. He's been married for 60 years, and his wife isn't well. With couples who've been bonded so long, it's rare for one to long survive the other. I hope he and his wife live to be 150, but I really had the feeling while I was watching this that this may be one of his last public appearances. 2 hankies

Dog Whisperer: ATF K-9 Gavin

I just finished watching this episode (only an excerpt, here), and it's hard not to be touched by the troubles this dog has, and not to be moved by the way he's recovered and so much healthier, now. 3 hankies

Coverage of Obama's Acceptance Speech at the DNC.

I'm watching this time-shifted so I can skip the commercials, but I'm starting at the beginning as Will-I-Am is singing "Yes we can." It's beautiful and makes me tear up (1 hankie). It's amazing that an artist can make a moving song using a campaign speech. Says something about the campaigner, if you ask me.

I'm watching MSNBC's coverage, so there's lots of skipping around to avoid Chris Matthews and Pat Buchannan commentaries... (this isn't the "angry-yelling-at-the-TV-diary") I'm catching as much Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow as I can.

Hee hee... I wonder if Rachel Maddow knows that they're broadcasting her, Nora O'Donnell and Eugene Robinson dancing to Stevie Wonder? For all of her brilliance, she seems kind of shy and self-conscious.

Al Gore is beginning to speak. Just thinking about what the country would be like now if he'd been allowed to take his rightful office back in 2000... Good lord, this man should have been running this country. 1 hankie

Tom Brokaw of all people is making weird comments about the setting being "empirical." The other MSNBC commentators are sort of taking him to task for it.

Joe Biden is speaking. This is the first speech I've heard by him. Not bad...

This is crazy. MSNBC has a transcript of Obama's speech before he makes it, and Olbermann is reading parts of it? Don't spoil it for me! Holy crap!

MSNBC has got to be kicking themselves for putting their set outside. Earlier there was a guy with a bullhorn behind "Race for the Whitehouse" who was drowning out the pundits by screaming "911 was an inside job!" over and over, and now as Rachel Maddow and the others are trying to discuss the upcoming speech, the crowd noise - even without bullhorns - is making it hard to understand them.

That stadium is crammed full of people...

Dick Durban is taking the stage to introduce Obama.

I have to say, I've been hearing a lot of good speeches in the last few days, and very few speakers can move me the way Obama can. The man is a brilliant orator.

They're showing a video about Obama's biography. I have to say, he was not the prettiest of babies...

This video is very touching. Now he's talking about his mother's passing. 1 hankie

"One person's struggle is all of our struggles. We recognize ourselves in each other." 2 hankies

Is it just a trick of fate? The fact that I was born in '74 and Nixon and his successors are all I have to compare with? Barack Obama strikes me as potentially the most amazing leader our country has ever seen. Is it just because I was born so late in our country's history and don't remember anything better? Or is it the stark comparison of 8 disastrous years of Bush? This man seems so amazing to me. I want him to lead this country. 2 hankies

He's coming onstage, now, and people are weeping. 1 hankie

He accepts the nomination! 4 hankies

"Enough!" 4 hankies

"We love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight." 4 hankies

"They work hard, and they give back, and they keep going without complaint. These are the Americans I know." 3 hankies

"It's time for them to own their faliure." 3 angry hankies

"These are my heroes." 3 hankies

"I will restore our moral standing so that America is once again that last best hope for all that are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future." 2 hankies

"This election has never been about me. It's about you." 3 hankies

"...to hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dreams..." 2 hankies

Biden and his wife walking on stage to join the Obamas and embracing them really struck me, somehow. 3 hankies

Biden was a young widower, as well. Knowing that draws me to him all the more. Bringing a family through that trauma is difficult and he seems to done it exceptionally well.

"They're going to criticize me for saying that he inspires me, and to hell with my critics." Chris Matthews. That took me by surprise...

Well, they've left the stage. I guess that's a good enough place to stop. What an amazing speech.

Invesco Field National Anthem

(doing this from my iPhone so it might be sloppier than normal.)

I'm like Rachel Maddow, the national anthem always makes me cry. Tonight, though, as I'm fully prepared to cry buckets as I listen to Obama's acceptance speech, it's really flooring me. 4 hankies

Hillary Clinton Moves to Nominate Barack Obama by Acclimation

I just watched the roll-call vote of the Democratic National Convention, and I watched as Senator Hillary Clinton moved to suspend the roll-call and in a show of unity move to nominate Barack Obama as the Democratic Nominee.

I have to tell you, this was a very emotional moment for me. Tears were pouring out as I watched the Democratic Party come together and nominate their candidate. I wasn't the only one, either. There were a lot of tear-streaked faces in that crowd. 4 hankies

Oregon Democratic Party Ad

I saw this on Crooks & Liars. No commentary needed, really. 3 hankies

Michelle Obama's Speech at the DNC

My daughter had another white night, tonight. She does this quite often. I understand it perfectly, too, because I'm the same way. I just would rather be doing just about anything else but sleeping. She needs the sleep, though, since school has started back up, so I sit on the floor by her bed, keeping her from getting up and going back out to the family room to play. With me there she knows it's bed time and she'll stay in bed even if she's not particularly sleepy. I'm not so durable. A lot of nights I'll fall asleep leaning against her bedroom wall, and wake up a couple hours later, hopefully with her asleep in her bed.

That's what happened, tonight. Like most of these nights, the fact that I actually got a little sleep means I won't be able to just move on to my own bed and fall straight asleep. I actually wake up fairly alert and need some time to wind down, again, before I can finally go back to sleep.

Since the Democratic National Convention is currently underway, I decided to channel surf and see if I could catch some highlights of the convention's first night. What I found on CNN (in high definition, no less) was a replay of Michelle Obama's speech to the convention.

It was beautiful. It was moving. It was pitch perfect coming from a woman who I hope with all my heart will be the next First Lady of the United States. In a political season where her husband routinely makes me weep in anger at the injustices of the past 8 years and with hope at the potential for the next 8, her speech really got to me. It was about honoring the hard work of the past and current generations and their struggle to make life better for those who follow them. 4 hankies

Colin the Whale Euthanized

I know that sometimes there's no choice, but it doesn't make it less painful. It's so easy to empathize with higher mammals because in so many ways they are like us. 3 hankies

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24222883-5001021,00.html