Teddy and Michelle

I'm confused.

This week, the Democratic National Convention is in Denver. So far, it has been a parade of contradictions. First, we are told that we should support Barack Obama because he is a middle-of-the-road candidate who seeks to unite the country and seek common ground with Republicans. He is a Washington outsider who offers the "hope" of a new kind of politics. And yet, one of the first events of the convention was a video tribute to one of the most liberal politicians of the twentieth century, Edward Kennedy. Teddy has been the face of big-government liberalism for the past forty years, not exactly the centrist image the Obama campaign typically seeks to portray.

Second, we are told to support Barack Obama because he is a champion for "the least among us." We are told that there are millions of Americans who are victims of "country club economics" of President Bush and the Republicans. Apparently, if you are poor and disadvantaged, you need Obama and the Democrats to get elected so that you have a chance to make something of your life. Yet, speaker after speaker came to the podium to proudly announce how he or she had come from a poor family, put himself through college, and worked hard to achieve success. Isn't that what conservatives preach? If success in the America Obama wants to change is for the rich only, how did these people make it?

Third, we are told that America is still racist and sexist. Yet the keynote speech Monday night was given by Michelle Obama (an African-American female) who told her story of how she was raised on Chicago's south side by a poor blue-collar family, yet went on to obtain a law degree from Harvard University and pursue a very successful legal career. (She failed to include the fact that she and Barack managed to pull down over $4 million dollars last year.) Doesn't that beg the question? If America is so racist and sexist, how does this happen?

I told you I was confused. If you're not, let me know. I have some beachfront property in Florida I'd be glad to sell you.