“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” ~President John F. Kennedy

People who know me know that I tend to get very pissed off about the media advancing false arguments in the name of “fairness.”  This is the common practice of the 24 hour news networks to have someone on from both sides of an issue to fight it out on air.  The problem of course is that sometimes, one side is factually correct, and the other is not, and by giving both sides air time, the media lends legitimacy to an argument that is demonstrably false.

So in today’s Washington Post article about Rachel Maddow, I was quite happy to read this:

But she is determined to avoid the left-right pairings that sustain much of cable news.  ”It creates fake balance,” she says. “I’m sorry — we’re going to have a debate about whether or not the Earth is flat? It doesn’t make sense to have a debate about whether offshore drilling is going to bring down gas prices. You know what? It’s not. The fact that it’s false ought to be reported, or you’re advancing a lie.”

I can’t wait for her show to start!

Wow!  Ted Kennedy was electrifying.  He showed up and delivered a fantastic speech despite having had surgery earlier this summer to deal with his brain tumor.  Who could have thought that Kennedy would be outdone later in the evening?

Michelle Obama gave one of the best speeches I have seen.  It was incredible.  She made the case not just for Barack Obama, but for Democratic ideals.  Ours is a party that is not content with the world as it is, but wants to strive for the world as it should be.  That is the center of Barack Obama’s message, and Michelle delivered it perfectly tonight.

It’s going to be a great week for Democrats.

Michelle’s mother narrates the biography piece:

Michelle’s brother Craig Robinson introduces her:

Michelle gives an incredible speech:

My favorite part:

Barack stood up that day, and spoke words that have stayed with me ever since. He talked about “The world as it is” and “The world as it should be.” And he said that all too often, we accept the distance between the two, and settle for the world as it is - even when it doesn’t reflect our values and aspirations. But he reminded us that we know what our world should look like. We know what fairness and justice and opportunity look like. And he urged us to believe in ourselves - to find the strength within ourselves to strive for the world as it should be. And isn’t that the great American story?

Full text below the fold.

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Ted Kennedy was incredible.  Haven’t found a good video yet, but will post ASAP.

Ted Kennedy is in Denver and will speak tonight.

The convention has begun!  I’ll make sure to get any of the headline speeches (and any others that stand out) up as soon as they are available.  Things kick of with Michelle Obama tonight, but the first big speech will be Hillary’s tomorrow.  The media likes to keep pushing the “What will Hillary do?!?!?” question no matter how dumb that is; Hillary will give a great speech about why McCain sucks and why Obama should be President.  You can safely bet every cent you own on that.

Text of the speech below the fold.

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