Don't Get Me Started with Linda Sharp

To Bey Or Not To Bey? In A Night of Roaring Exuberance, That Question Ultimately Did Not Matter

(Be gentle when you see MAGAts today.  That brown around their mouths indicates the sadness of eating shit all night.)

Last night's final DNC gathering was a tour de force, as opposed to the RNC's tour de farce.  Long before the balloons and confetti rained down, the night was filled with rousing speeches, heartbreaking stories from survivors of mass shootings and the parents who lost children to them, vocal performances by two of the biggest acts going - P!NK and The Chicks, a Republican speaking daggers directly into the hearts of Republican'ts, and confident deliveries from young candidates in important swing states.

Watching each evening this past week, it is mindboggling to think how everything about this convention was rejiggered, reformatted, and brought together in just about four weeks time.  The cohesiveness of message was there throughout.  The excitement and palpable joy was apparent.  And the rhythm of it all - not the music, although that has been a testament to which side the artistic community believes in - but the flow.

The flow has been steady, strong, and increasing with each passing night.  Last night saw the tsunami realized.  If emotions were water, Chicago would have been at the bottom of the Exuberance Sea.

Admittedly, some of the build-up yesterday and into the night had to do with what has proven to have been erroneous information.  It was early afternoon when typically reliable sources began sharing information that there was a block of time in the schedule that was for a mystery guest, then a mystery musical guest.  It was not helped that White House political director tweeted a single bee emoji - think Beyhive for Beyonce.  (She later updated that her child had taken her phone.)

The natural and excited assumption was Beyonce'.  After all, she has given the campaign permission to use her rousing anthem Freedom, and is a staunch supporter of Kamala.  Additional speculation this week has been Taylor Swift - who long ago went on the record about her feelings for the Orange Beast.  Lord knows that between those two iconic women, they could bring forth voting numbers as yet unseen, and deliver the final blow to what has been a laughable campaign on the right.

As the night wore on, the speculation grew into near certainty as those inside the arena began tweeting that "Beyonce was now in the United Center."  And let's be honest, we could all imagine how it would play out.  The opening strains of Freedom, Beyonce' hits the stage and performs as the perfect introduction for Kamala Harris to begin speaking.  That we still held out hope she would be accompanied by Taylor Swift?  Well, excitement does what it does - it allows our imaginations to carry us away.

And that's not a bad thing.  If anything it kept us riveted to our TVs throughout the night.

Through Elizabeth Warren receiving such a sustained welcome from the crowd that she visibly teared up.  It was beautiful.

Through Reverend Al Sharpton's direct words and his welcoming to the stage four of the members of the Central Park Five, now the Exonerated Five.  It was a powerful rebuke of the racist demagogue on the right who took out a full page, $85,000 ad in the New York Times in 1989 calling for their deaths when they were just teens.  They served a combined total of 41 years in prison before DNA evidence in 2002 exonerated them all.

Through fellow prosecutors and attorneys who know Kamala, who know her strengths in and out of the courtroom.

Through the impressive speech by the youngest member of the House, Maxwell Frost of Florida.  He is going places.  As are Colin Allred of Texas and Ruben Gallego of Arizona.  I was so happy to see the DNC elevate them nationally as they take on Ted Cruz and Kari Lake respectively.

Through the beautiful acapella version of the National Anthem by the Chicks - the original victims of Republican cancel culture for having called out George W Bush's war.

Through the tear inducing words of Abbey Clements, a Sandy Hook teacher, Kim Rubio, a bereft mother of a slain Uvalde daughter, Melody McFadden, the daughter of a mother shot to death by a live in boyfriend when she was 17, and the aunt of another young woman shot to death on a beach vacation, and a young man - Edgar Vilchez - who witnessed the drive by shooting of a classmate.  I cannot imagine the memories they must contend with each day, each second of each day.  And their message was clear - we can stop it.  We must stop it.  There is simply no way to go about life thinking it could never happen to you or someone you love.

Through Gabby Giffords - my God, that woman - aphasia from her shooting may have hobbled her - but it has not stopped her.  She was firm, resolute, determined, and ALL IN.

Through P!NK touching our hearts with an acoustic version of What About Us.  Just her backup singers, her amazing daughter Willow, a single guitar, and her soaring vocals.  She may fly through the air in her concerts, but her voice needs no cables to soar and take us up with her.

Through Leon Panetta, former US Secretary of Defense, delivering body blow after body blow against a Trump administration wholly unqualified, uneducated, and unable to secure our safety through isolationism, let alone represent on the world stage.  He lauded Harris's record on foreign policy, security, her reputation around the world, and her steadfast alliance with our military.  It was one of the strongest speeches of the night.

Through Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer who could one day lead this party just as strongly as Kamala.  She is a powerhouse of a politician, speaker, human.  That emotion you men like to deride in females as a way of putting us down, negating our ability to lead?  Well, unlike you, we have had to fight for everything we have, every right, every advance, our own credit cards and bank accounts, names on leases.  We push human beings out of our bodies, lads.  And we put up with your patriarchal bullshit.  We are stronger than you, and the reality is you know it.  Which is why people like Whitmer scare the bejesus out of you.  Whitmer embodies all of it.

Through Adam Kinzinger, Republican and former Illinois rep in the House.  He spoke directly to Republicans about putting country first, and made it very clear that:  The Democrats are as patriotic as us. They love this country just as much as we do. And they are as eager to defend American values at home and abroad as we conservatives have ever been. 

He went after Trump, calling him "a weak man." (He is.)  And then delivered these very important words to the party he once called home.  As a conservative and a veteran, I believe true strength lies in defending the vulnerable. It’s in protecting your family. It’s in standing up for our Constitution and our democracy. That—that is the soul of being a conservative. It used to be the soul of being a Republican. But Donald Trump has suffocated the soul of the Republican Party. His fundamental weakness has coursed through my party like an illness, sapping our strength, softening our spine, whipping us into a fever that has untethered us from our values.

Through it all, I kept reviewing the schedule of speakers and knew we were within two of Kamala taking the stage.  Which surely meant we were within two of being serenaded by one, if not two, of the biggest musical stars in the world.  Maya Harris, Kamala's sister, spoke eloquently of their mother, her strength, their upbringing.  And then Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina took the stage to speak in glowing terms of the woman he calls friend, colleague, champion for the people.  It was a rousing speech that led to the moving film about Kamala Harris.

And it was moving.  It introduced facets of her you may not have been aware of.  Spoke of her upbringing, her background, her tenacity, her resilience, her climb - and no, MAGAts, not on her knees as you like to crassly accuse, but on her merit.

As the film ended and she was welcomed to the stage, Freedom played.  Anyone else thinking that surely Beyonce was just offstage singing live and would be revealed?  Whatever, I got lost in the cheering, the swelling in my chest, the tears forming in my eyes at the sight of yet another woman at the top of our ticket.  It should have been Hillary in 2016 - seriously, think of how different our country, the world would be today.  How many of our fellow citizens would still be above ground, not dead at the hands of a completely inept, greedy, unprepared administration as COVID took hold.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda...

As the crowd finally quieted down, she began to speak.  And it was an uplifting, powerful, wide ranging, barnburner of a speech.

(At this point, we were thinking, hmmm, ok, it would make sense for Beyonce' to finish the evening AFTER this speech.)

Harris prosecuted Trump as the unserious man he is.  As the felon, the adjudicated rapist, the instigator of January 6th.  She spoke of his plans should he snake his way back in, especially in light of the Supreme Court ruling in his favor about immunity.  And she dropped this very chilling, but very true line:  Just imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.

As she spoke of Project 2025 and what would be eradicated by it, she banged this refrain, echoed back by the crowd:  We are not going back.  We are not going back. We are not going back.

She drove home the intrusive policies that have already taken hold in states eradicating bodily autonomy from so many women, Trump's pride in being the one to overturn Roe v Wade.  This is what's happening in our country because of Donald Trump. And understand he is not done. As a part of his agenda, he and his allies would limit access to birth control, ban medication abortion and enact a nationwide abortion ban with or without Congress. And get this. Get this. He plans to create a national anti-abortion coordinator, and force states to report on women's miscarriages and abortions.

That last part is accurate.  As if anyone has any right to intrude upon the excruciating emotional pain that is a miscarriage, or any business being anywhere near the decision making and reasons for someone else's abortion. 

And then, in a speech full of incredible lines, she delivered one of the most pointed.

Simply put, they are out of their minds.

She talked about border control and the need to overhaul our immigration programs;  of NATO, our alliances; of the dangers of people like Putin and Kim Jung Un and why they want a weak, easily manipulated man like Trump back in office.  And then she spoke very clearly, plainly, forcefully about Israel and Palestinians, Hamas and Gaza.

Let me be clear: I will always stand up for Israel’s right to defend itself and I will always ensure Israel has the ability to defend itself. Because the people of Israel must never again face the horror that the terrorist organization Hamas caused on October 7th. 

Including unspeakable sexual violence and the massacre of young people at a music festival. At the same time, what has happened in Gaza over the past 10 months is devastating. So many innocent lives lost. Desperate, hungry people fleeing for
safety, over and over again. The scale of suffering is heartbreaking. President Biden and I are working to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity. Security. Freedom. And self-determination.

And while I am well aware that protesters will poke holes all over it, and people who still do not have an interest in educating themselves about the hurdles our political system put in place decades ago in terms of Israel - choosing horror porn instead - this was a statement of determination and dedication to see a resolution to it all.

As she wound things up, she, as did her sister, spoke of her mother.  Of one of the most important lessons she taught her daughters:

Our opponents in this race are out there, every day, denigrating America. Talking about how terrible everything is. Well, my mother had another lesson she used to teach. Never let anyone tell you who you are. You show them who you are.

America, let us show each other—and the world—who we are. And what we stand for. Freedom. Opportunity. Compassion. Dignity. Fairness. And endless possibilities.

We are the heirs to the greatest democracy in the history of the world. And on behalf of our children and grandchildren, and all  those who sacrificed so dearly for our freedom and liberty, we must be worthy of this moment. It is now our turn to do what  generations before us have done. Guided by optimism and faith, to fight for this country we love.

To fight for the ideals we cherish. And to uphold the awesome responsibility that comes with the greatest privilege on Earth. The privilege and pride of being an American.

So, let’s get out there and let’s fight for it.
Let’s get out there and let’s vote for it.
And together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.

Thank you. God bless you. May God bless the United States of America.

The cheers rolled like happy thunder.  I cannot imagine what it must have sounded like, felt like, to be inside that arena.  Confetti began to swirl, friends and family rushed up on the stage, balloons cascaded down.  It was momentous.  It was balm on the aching heart of a nation so beleaguered from the years of Trump, of MAGA cultishness, of extremism, of white nationalism.  It was ROARING EXUBERANCE.

And through my tears, the smile that was so wide my face ached, I realized there was not going to be a Beyonce'.  And there did not need to bey.  There are still 74 days for the Swifties and the Beyhive to see their heroines step forward.  But last night?  Last night beylonged to all of us.  We are the ones we have been waiting for all along.

(Footnote for MAGAts:  Yes, we all saw you eating shit online during and after last night's DNC event.  We saw your naked emperor endlessly, mindlessly, ALL CAPS posting on Truth Social.  We heard him call into FOX and Newsmax where the talking heads cut him off as he was rambling, fumbling with the buttons on his phone, WAY out of it.  We see your postings this morning deriding the DNC, speakers, Kinzinger for daring to call you out.  You are spinning wildly because while you may not be the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree (and Kamala will still allow you to say Merry Christmas), even you are smart enough to know what you are seeing.  You are seeing your aging, meandering, mindless, mealy mouthed candidate and his incredibly inept VP candidate continually step in their own shit.  You can see the writing on the wall.  

I would encourage you to come on over.  Get right with your god, your conscious, your patriotism and vote for a future that is inclusive, not just of LGBTQIA people, people of all colors, religions, no religions, but of you.  Yes, you.  Despite your abhorrent behavior the past decade, this party will be working to protect your rights, your social security, your healthcare, your future.  

Come on over.  Not just because we have the most relevant, popular music acts, or the top people in TV, film and theater.  Although there is a reason they are part of our party - because our party looks like them - all colors, creeds, genders, orientations.  Come over because our ideas don't all orbit around hurting other people.  Including you.  Be part of something real, not part of something really heinous.

The door is open.  The right side of history is waiting for you to do the right thing.  Just wipe your mouths before you come in.) 

In MAGAland There Is No Bottom

There is nothing revelatory in that title.  Nothing earth shattering or history making.  We have seen over and over and over again that just when we think they can go no lower with their lies, their rhetoric, their actions, they find a bigger backhoe and keep digging.

If, in fact, they do have a bottom, it must be deeply hidden in the Mariana Trench.

What causes recoil in decent human beings, is embraced by them.  They worship a felon, an adjudicated rapist, an adulterer, a cheat, a bankrupt, a rapacious conman.  From the moment he slithered down his escalator, they have flocked to his increasingly vile, bigoted rhetoric. 

Referring to all Mexicans as rapists. "When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best ... They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists." 

Openly mocking a disabled reporter.

His deeply callow remarks about John McCain: "He's not a war hero, he's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured, okay? I hate to tell you."

Any of those would have been immediately disqualifying for any politician prior to Trump.  We know that.  But in Trump they found themselves.  Not smart.  Afraid of everything.  Racist.  And simmering with a hatred that he brought to a full boil.

"Grab 'em by the pussy."

What we again thought was the bottom, a leaked recording of him, one that should have spelled the end?  It wasn't.  I am still stymied that his cult, especially the women, went all in, downplaying it as simply "locker room talk" and then creating t-shirts begging the candidate to do the same to them.

Watching as children were ripped from their parents at the border and instead of being repulsed; instead of being able to look at their own children and imagine the horror; instead of calling for it to end immediately - THEY.  CHEERED.  THEY. JEERED.  Making it so apparent that the bottom still had not been reached, and that they truly see brown people as not people.

Then COVID hit.  I still find myself thinking of what could have been, how it could have been handled, even in the hands of Trump.  Over a million people died because his entire approach was to first stick his fingers in his earwax holes and ignore the experts, thus allowing it to begin its sinister spread.  Then, instead of encouraging mask wearing - the absolute bare minimum of what we could do for one another - he openly mocked the practice, which in turn made his cultists mock the practice.

Small aside:  I think about that one piece a lot.  If he had made mask wearing "patriotic", hell, cool, I wouldn't have cared if he sold Trump logoed masks by the gross.  His mouth breathing horde would have embraced them, worn them, and attacked anyone not wearing them.  Instead, they threw public tantrums, they attacked, and continue to attack anyone who does wear one.  Are you aware that Nassau County in New York recently passed The Mask Transparency Act?  It makes it illegal to wear any face covering in public.  $1000 fine.  The allowances it does contain are thus: “shall not apply to facial coverings worn to protect the health or safety of the wearer, for religious or cultural purposes, or for the peaceful celebration of a holiday or similar religious or cultural event for which the wearing of masks or facial coverings are customarily worn”.  I put that one part in bold because if you choose to wear one to protect the public, such as when being around someone in public with compromised immunity or trying to prevent others catching a cold or flu from the mask-wearer, you are not allowed.  So my wearing one around my sister while she was going through chemo?  That would have been punishable by a fine.  My choice to wear one in airports and on planes because I care about the health of other people?  Nope, against their law.  A law that, not shockingly, was designed and implemented by Republicans.  This is the kind of fallout that continues because Trump is an uneducated blowhard.  And do not get me started on his impact on vaccines...

But I digress...

We have watched as fellow citizens have been killed because of his rhetoric.  As streets have filled with Nazis, Proudboys, white supremacists.  As Christianity has been hijacked by him - a walking morality famine.

January 6th was a new low.  The attacks on the Capitol, the police, the lawmakers; the destruction of property, the smearing of shit on the walls of Congress; the hordes brandishing Trump flags as they attacked the halls of democracy.  All the while he sat on his diapered ass watching it all in glee, unwilling to even release a tweet telling them to stop.

BOTTOM.

There are so many examples of his, and their, mendacity, but last night proved once again that they just cannot help themselves.  They must dig deeper.

Last night at the DNC, VP candidate Tim Walz took the stage to speak to the assembled crowd and viewers at home.  It was beautiful.  That man is real.  He is down to earth.  His enthusiasm radiates.  Calling him "America's Dad" is not hyperbole - it is his whole, genuine vibe.  As he touched the crowd, speaking from the heart about their struggles to have children, the cameras cut to his family - Gwen, son Gus, daughter Hope.  Gus was crying, smiling, and then moved by the sincerest and purest of emotions, he stood, and shouted through tears, "That's my Dad!"  (If you missed it, watch below.)

Tim Walz’s son just ripped my heart RIGHT OUT OF MY CHEST GEEZUS 😭 pic.twitter.com/dqP7I5MtN9

— Renee 🪷 (@PettyLupone) August 22, 2024

It was a singular moment.  And again I will stress the word pure.  Which is exactly what triggered the vile creatures of MAGAland to begin attacking a 17 year old, neurodivergent boy who has ADHD, anxiety, and a nonverbal learning disorder.

Gus is a remarkable young man.  And like many children - on the left and the right - he faces challenges.  Part of his particular set of circumstances come with difficulty regulating emotions in social settings.  Emotions that we all saw build up and overflow last night, expressed in the most touching, heartfelt way - "That's my Dad!"  We should all be so blessed.

The attacks on him by MAGAts - from mocking, to name calling, to venomous, venal descriptions - all speak to there again being no bottom.  Because even when called out and informed about Gus's challenges, they do not apologize, they double down and dig deeper.  I have lost count of the number of people on Twitter (fuck Elon, I will not call it X) who have thrown the word "retarded" at him, have called for him to be "put down", have called Gwen and Tim "failures".  (I feel it deeply because all of those things have been thrown at me about my son being transgender.  That his life is lesser than, that my parenting and supporting him is a failure on my part.)

Again, I will use the word stymied.  As with abortion, where they act as if no one in their ranks has had one, has paid for one, they act as if no one on their side has a child who is autistic, has a processing disorder, is neurodivergent in any way.  I feel so deeply sorry for any child caught in the web of parents like this.  I used to say I wished a gay child or trans child on these people so they would learn.  But the reality is twofold:  I don't wish parents like that on a gay or trans child, and those people won't ever learn.  They don't want to.  They think they can beat homosexuality out of a kid.  Beat excessive emotional outbursts out of them.

What was on display last night was love.  Pure, unconditional, accepting, transcendent love.  That family is an example of what parenting can be when done right, when done from the deepest part of the heart.  It is what I fervently hope our son feels from us.  That we are his forever.  That we are his safe space in this world that is often cruel and dangerous.  That he is not embarrassing to us; we are inordinately proud of him.  That nothing could bring me to my knees faster than him hollering through tears, "That's my Mom!"

Tim shared this photo last night with the words, "Hope, Gus, Gwen — You are my whole world. I love you all so much."

MAGAland simply has no grace.  They seek to find fault everywhere.  They experience joy by mocking others.  This sociopathic behavior is rampant in their ranks.  As the saying goes, it's a feature, not a bug.  One that they emulate from watching their terracotta twat in action.  Trump's every utterance is filled with name calling, mocking, belittling.  

But let me ask you this.  That genuine emotion for his father displayed by Gus, displayed by Hope - could you ever in a million years imagine one of Trump's progeny displaying anything remotely close?  Rhetorical question.  We all know the answer.  Of course not.  There is never any honest emotion on display.  Those adult children simply stay in his orbit because that is where they draw their livelihoods.  And for him, they are simply a means to an end, props to be used and eventually discarded.  Everything with Trump is transactional.

Everything with the Walz family is real.  Let the MAGA trolls keep digging their grave.  The Walz family is so very far above them, MAGAts cannot even see the soles of their shoes.

And as for Gus?  This saying came right to mind:

We see your rainbow, Gus.  And we thank you for sharing it and your Dad with us all.

The Obamas Bring The Pleasure & The Pain

The DNC has been electric and it's only been two nights.  Compared to the RNC (whose fundraising numbers just came out for July - - only $31 million, with $33.5 going back out)?  It's on life support and the DNC has put up a pinebox for it to crawl into and be done.  

Bringing the hammer and nails last night?  Well, it started with a raucous and jubilant roll call complete with a DJ.  DJ Cassidy (currently engaged in a Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood) rocked out a playlist that was curated for each state and territory as the delegates awarded their votes to Harris and Walz.  From obvious choices like Sweet Home Alabama for Alabama and Carry On My Wayward Son for Kansas by Kansas to a surprise reveal as Lil Jon hyped the crowd with Turn Down For What as Georgia cast their votes.  State by state by territory, song after song took what is usually a meh portion of the events and turned the DNC into a party.

Seriously, the powers-that-be running the Harris/Walz campaign are so on point and prepared, the playlist hit Spotify within 15 minutes of the roll call being completed.

In a night full of highlights, we got a surprise as Kamala and Tim, 90 miles away in a packed arena in Milwaukee, were livestreamed into the DNC just after the roll call.  Two arenas filled to capacity connected as much by joy as by technology.  The crowd response was thunderous.  And the smile that I had plastered on my face from the music, stayed there.  (I had just boarded a flight and my goofy ass grin was covered by my mask, but my crinkled up eyes surely gave away my happiness.)

We then got the beautiful oration of Doug Emhoff as he paid tribute to his talented, learned, experienced wife, Kamala.  It is always heartwarming when a significant other waxes rhapsodic, but this speech also served to highlight something that exists on this side of the aisle that is a famine on the other:  Secure male personalities.  

No bullshit machismo.  No pandering to the little ladies.  No talking down to or for them.  No puffed up chests hiding the diminished capacity below.  We have men at the top of this campaign who openly revere their wives with no hesitation or fear that their man card will be pulled.  They love them, hug them, kiss them, speak of them with highest regard.  They support them.  They are in awe of them.  And they know how damned lucky they are to simply exist in the orbits of these remarkable women.

Take note, MAGAts - those are the true measures of a man.  There is nothing manly about keeping a woman down, consigning her to the kitchen, making decisions for her.  Your bluster and bravado?  As fake and phony as the bull testicles you attach to your trucks to convey your ... manhood?  There's a reason you seek out timid women, trad wives; why you push to enact laws that demean us, control us, take our voices away.  You are scared little boys.  Here's the truth:  it takes confidence to stand next to your partner.  It takes being secure in yourself to stand behind them.  To cheerlead them.  To cede the spotlight, to be the support system.  To feel, in every fiber of your being, pure joy when they succeed, unsullied by jealousy or insecurity.

We see it in Doug.  We see it in Joe.  We see it in Barack.  Men comfortable in their own skin.  Men who lift up their wives.  Men who are not intimidated by the women they married.  Men who radiate pride in their partners.

More of you need to take note and do better.

Which brings me to the better part of the evening.  Actually, the best part.  I landed just in time to stream Michelle Obama's speech.

This woman is a force.  Composed, calm, educated, informed, and ready to do battle.  While her words from the past, "When they go low, we go high" still ring in our ears, last night saw her finally say "Hold my earrings" and bring the fire against the man and the cult that have for nearly two decades threatened her family.  Her words rang out, strong, true, pointed.  She spoke of her recently passed mother, her grief, and her determination to honor her and all our mothers and grandmothers and on and on who have fought, struggled, lived and died in the pursuit of making better lives for all of us.

She spoke of Kamala, and took Trump to the woodshed, without ever saying his name:

She understands that most of us will never be afforded the grace of failing forward. We will never benefit from the affirmative action of generational wealth. If we bankrupt the business or choke in a crisis, we don’t get a second, third, or fourth chance. If things don’t go our way, we don’t have the luxury of whining or cheating others to get further ahead. No. We don’t get to change the rules, so we always win. If we see a mountain in front of us, we don’t expect there to be an escalator waiting to take us to the top. No. We put our heads down. We get to work. In America, we do something. 

Skewered his tiny heart and roasted it whole.

When she did utter his name, it was utter perfection:

For years, Donald Trump did everything in his power to try to make people fear us. See, his limited, narrow view of the world made him feel threatened by the existence of two hardworking, highly educated, successful people who happen to be Black.

Wait, I want to know: Who’s going to tell him that the job he’s currently seeking might just be one of those “Black jobs”?

Then she did something that needed to be done, she brought out a mirror for this party to look into.  Dems have a long history of flinching.  Of not fighting back.  Of getting scared off.  And this time we simply cannot afford to be cowed by anything the right throws.

So no matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day, this is going to be an uphill battle. So folks, we cannot be our own worst enemies. No. See, because the minute something goes wrong, the minute a lie takes hold, folks, we cannot start wringing our hands. We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right. And we cannot indulge our anxieties about whether this country will elect someone like Kamala instead of doing everything we can to get someone like Kamala elected. 

Small aside:  I truly believe that part of why this movement has been embraced so strongly is that we are finally seeing a campaign stand up and strike back.  The sharp, immediate, snark laden press releases.  The calling out of the weird obsessions the right has with genitals and bodily autonomy.  The meandering, mindless, sundowning Trump's "speeches" display.  This campaign is cutting them down to size, calling bullshit as it leaves the orifice, and doing it all with a smile, with a laugh.  At their expense.

That last part is why the Trump campaign and the MAGA cult are unraveling.  Why they cannot fill a single arena, let alone two in one night.  Why their coffers are running dry.  Why they are throwing anything and everything at the wall, but cannot make anything stick.  They are constantly being pushed onto the ropes by a younger, smarter, agile, tech savvy opponent.  An opponent who knows the Achilles heel of that narcissist is his ego.  And laughing at him is death by a thousand guffaws.  He is a small man, he has always been a small man.  And now everyone is seeing it.

To borrow from When Harry Met Sally - I'll have what she's having.

Michelle's speech was pure fire.  That woman is a gifted orator, a brilliant mind, a brave warrior.  And she left the crowd and the tuned in nation/world uplifted, challenged, resolute about our assignment.

The night could have ended on the high she delivered.  But no, there was more to come.  Following her would have been impossible for anyone else, I mean who on this planet could even hope to step up to the mic after all that?

President Barack Obama, that's who.  Although even he acknowledged the difficulty in having to speak after her.  I am feeling ready to go even if I am the only person stupid enough to speak after Michelle Obama. 

Michelle had opened her speech by speaking about the heaviness we have all felt for far too many years.  A heaviness we all knew was there, but could not fully define.  A cloud constantly hovering over everything.  And that is why feeling joy, feeling hope is akin to finally breathing deeply again.  Hope is making a comeback.

Seeing Obama, listening to Obama, my God, how I have missed that man's ability to speak, to calm, to center a frightened nation.

To use the repetend of the moment, he understood the assignment.

He began by honoring the efforts and achievements of President Biden.  Bragging on himself only to say this: And looking back, I can say, without question, that my first big decision as your nominee turned out to be one of my best. And that was asking Joe Biden to serve by my side as Vice President.

He spoke of Joe's empathy and decency and resilience.  His compassion, his steady hand, and most notabley, his selflessness.  That last one is how we got here.  Media onslaught be damned; party insider pressure that can piss right off; President Biden ultimately decided to step aside and pass the torch to his VP, who is now making an unprecedented, historic run to the Oval. By doing so he breathed new life into the party, the process.

Country over party.  Imagine Trump doing that.  You can't.  It's simply not in his DNA.  Self regard?  Absolutely.  Selflessness?  Not a chance.  

His words were strong and rang true.  And then he brought the pain.  I can only imagine the ketchup covering the walls of Mar-a-Lago.

He lambasted Trump for his incessant whining and endless grievance stream (think a one man Festivus), and then lampooned him.  He did not aim for the jugular.  Rather, his target was lower.  Yes, that's right, Barack Obama made a dick joke at Trump's expense.  It was glorious.  And it was everything that overbearing, self centered, hubris laden Hefty bag deserved.  The emperor has no clothes, and look!  He has a small penis!  (And to the media and mouthpieces on the right who are pearl clutching over this?  Pound sand.  You support a name calling, adjudicated rapist and felon.  Take all the seats.)

Referring to Trump as an incessant leafblower outside your window, he broke it down for America:

He doesn’t seem to care if more women lose their reproductive freedom, since it won’t affect his life. And most of all, Donald Trump wants us to think that this country is hopelessly divided: between us and them, between the real Americans who—of course—support him and the outsiders who don’t. And he wants you to think that you’ll be richer and safer if you will just give him the power to put those other people back in their place. It is one of the oldest tricks in politics, from a guy whose act has—let’s face it—gotten pretty stale.

We do not need four more years of bluster and bumbling and chaos. We have seen that movie before, and we all know that the sequel is usually worse. 

(Think Jaws 3-D or Sex & The City 2.  Especially the latter - oy.)

Then he did what he needed to do, and although I don't completely agree, I get it.  He reached across the aisle in an attempt to open the door to those in MAGAland who may be wavering.  He spoke of what unites us.  He spoke of understanding different points of view.  Again, I get the reasoning, but I personally cannot extend it to racists and Nazis and bigots.  I do not have any desire to understand a point of view that threatens my son's life.  That's not a difference in politics, that's a difference in humanity.  

By all means, if more of that sorry lot have their eyes opened by what they are seeing in their own party and now ours, GREAT.  At no point in time has the contrast been so obvious, the feelings so dark on one side, so hopeful on the other.  And make no mistake, joy is contagious.  It's the kind of infectious that's good to spread around.  But also, make no mistake - that party is roiling with hate and rage.  They see the happy faces at the DNC and it makes them angry.  They see the party atmosphere and openly mock what they simply don't understand.  And they hear the uplifting words and only ratchet up their own vile rhetoric.

That is why Trump's every rambling "speech" is based in one thing:  FEAR.  That's all he has left.  Lies and scary declarative statements about communism, Marxism, and the end of this country.  It's why JD Vance simply echos what Trump bleats.  He cannot go off message - and that message is keep them scared, keep them believing that the only answer to not being raped as they go to buy bread is TRUMP.

But back to Obama.

He continued to highlight the differences between the oppressiveness of the cult and the forward looking mindset of the the Dems.

Well, we have a broader idea of freedom. We believe in the freedom to provide for your family if you’re willing to work hard. The freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and send your kids to school without worrying if they’ll come home. We believe that true freedom gives each of us the right to make decisions about our own life, how we worship, what our family looks like, how many kids we have, who we marry. And we believe that freedom requires us to recognize that other people have the freedom to make choices that are different than ours. That’s okay. 

I completely agree.  I do not care where you go to church, how or what you believe.  Just leave me out of it.  I don't care if you love pickleball - I don't get it.  And I don't have to.  It is not up to me who you marry, if you marry, if you have kids, how you have kids.  Just as it's none of your business that I have sex for recreation not procreation, or that my son is transgender, or that my daughter is happily married and wants no kids, or that my other daughter is happily married and only wants one child.  As Tim Walz says, Mind your own damned business.

Obama extended some grace towards the backwards proclivities of the MAGAsphere when he said this:

We recognize that the world is moving fast, that they need time and maybe a little encouragement to catch up. 

Sure, to a point.  Racists have had forever to "catch  up" and they don't want to.  Bigots need more than encouragement to educate themselves.  There are rancid, dangerous, vile groups of people in our world and they do not deserve grace or time or patience.  They deserve to be firmly pushed back into their swamps, to have society cast them so far out that they are once again afraid to espouse their venom.

Do I believe there are people who simply need to see the proof in the pudding, as it were?  Of course.  Who need to finally grasp that my son is not a danger to their son or daughter?  That Pete's and Chasten's marriage does not take away from theirs?  That drag is an art form not a deviant pursuit?  That abortion is sometimes an absolutely necessary medical procedure, and even when it is simply a choice, it is not a choice that has any bearing on their life or is any of their fucking business?  Yes, yes, yes and yes.  But how much time, how much patience must we expend on them?  When does patience turn into placating the petulant and willfully belligerent?  Marginalized people do not have the luxury of endless time and patience.  There is truth to let go or be dragged.

And I believe Obama fully knows that.  He just also knows that when the spotlight is on him and the time calls for olive branching, that is what a statesman must do, what he must encourage.

He ended his speech by reminding everyone that the world is watching.  And it is.  The Trump years may have dulled the light, but we are still a beacon with the chance to once again shine brightly, lead the world out of the darkness.  His final words were concise and to the point.  We have roughly two months left until this thing is decided.  So let’s get to work.

Volunteer.  Register to vote.  And set it on your calendar to check and recheck your registration as we get closer to the date.  Encourage others to vote and be unabashed in telling them why they need to.  We must come out so strong, in such vast numbers that all the Republican subterfuge just won't matter.  Swing states must swing our way.  And we can do that.  

Spread the joy, the hope, the laughter and the light.  As MLK said, Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

We love this country.  We love one another.  We love the vision this party has for the future, a future that includes everyone.  Let's shine our light so brightly that it completely and forever fades that orange stain until it cannot be seen anymore.