I stay off social media during major political events. I’d rather watch and judge for myself, which is also why I watched on C-SPAN. The platform formerly known as Twitter experienced a different event than I did. The media types were full of complaints about timing: the first day of the DNC did run too long and too late but I don’t care. The evening was full of fine oratory and moving moments, which makes the carping look small and petty.
The major media complaint was that President Biden’s speech did not appear in the one-hour window allotted to the convention by the broadcast networks. Such lateness mattered decades ago but there are other ways to view a convention in 2024. It’s as if the internet, 24-hour news channels, and the YouTube did not exist.
It mattered when George McGovern gave the speech of a lifetime in the wee hours of the morning in 1972. It didn’t matter last night. Why? In case the MSM forgot, Joe Biden is not the nominee. Besides, the vestigial teevee networks could have expanded their coverage but prefer to whine and complain. Like Maureen Dowd, they’re hasbeens. Fuck them and the train they rode in on.
As expected, we got SOTU Joe, not CNN debate Joe. There were moments of inconsistency in his delivery, but it was a solid performance. His daughter Ashley gave one of the best speeches of the evening in introducing her dad. She had some tough acts to follow, especially Steve Kerr, AOC, Senator Reverend Warnock, and the person who should have been our first woman president, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The media, of course, was unmoved by the warmth and love that greeted the President as he gave his valedictory speech. It was genuine affection as opposed to the cultish atmosphere at the RNC where the Kaiser of Chaos waved the bloody ear and talked about himself. Many of us remember how Joe Biden saved the country from a second Trump term and ably guided the country out of the pandemic. The MSM prefers the Trump freak show. Shame on them.
It’s hard for me to complain about tardiness when I’m running late this morning. I had the sort of insomnia that made me wish that I’d written last night but I was too tired; or so I thought. Oh well, what the hell.
I’ve had The Last Hurrah on my mind since Joe ended his candidacy in favor of Kamala. It’s a 1956 novel by Edwin O’Connor about the last campaign of a beloved old school Boston politician. John Ford’s adaptation of the book is perhaps his most underrated movie. Spencer Tracy plays the grizzled politician who loses his last race to a lightweight nitwit.
Like Joe Biden, Tracy’s character is Irish. He didn’t know when to step aside. Joe Biden did. Joe’s legacy is a rich one: He gave up the office he’d always wanted after only one term because it matters who wins this election. The Biden-Harris team saved us from a second Trump term, it’s up to the Harris-Walz team to put an end to Donald Trump’s political career.
Joe Biden’s last speech to a Democratic convention as an officeholder was not only his last hurrah, it was his valedictory address. It was a classy exit from a classy man who will be remembered as one of our finest presidents. Kamala Harris is a worthy successor who told our president that she loved him upon joining him on stage after his speech. I’ll take dilatory love over punctual hate any time.
Thank you, Joe.
The last word goes to Gentle Giant: