The Republican convention

As you know, I try to stay away from political issues, but I just have to comment on what I saw last night.

First let me say that I did not watch even one second of the Democrat's convention, and I only tuned in to the Republicans last night because the Red Sox game ended and there was nothing else to watch.

It was really lame.

I'm not saying this because I have a liberal bent - it was just lame. McCain needs to do a whole lot better.

What I saw was this: Laura Bush, who I think is pretty genuine (but misguided), introduced the President, who spoke from the White House. She said, among other things, her husband has kept the country safe.

I'm not sure if that was a good thing to bring up, since the attacks on Sept. 11 happened on his watch, in the first place. Fodder for the Dems to jump on there.

The President came on the giant screen and proclaimed that McCain will lift the ban on off-shore drilling - you know, the ban his father put in place. I was surprised the TV cameras did not flash to 41's face when his son said that.

The rest of his speech was the usual.

Fred Thompson, former senator and actor, took the stage and bummed us all out in describing McCain's 5 yrs. as a prisoner of war. The convention hall was totally silent.

Again, I'm not sure that pointing out that McCain can't raise his arms high enough to salute his country was the best thing to say. People have an image of the President saluting military personnel in all situations, including when boarding or leaving the presidential aircraft.

Thompson made him sound really decrepit.

Then former Dem Joe Lieberman invoked the name and claims to fame of former President Bill Clinton. Yikes!

I thought the whole thing, after Bush spoke, was as much Bush bashing as it was Obama bashing. That may not be a bad strategy, but they really need to say why McCain is better than Obama, not why he's better than Bush.

Cuz that bar ain't set very high.