At the RNC, it's always 9:11

The Republicans opened their convention in NYC today, using their usual rhetoric of fear and leadership to tout the current President and his quick reaction to world terrorism, involving children's books, religious wars and the creation of a color-coded "how scared of non-specific threats should we be now?" measuring stick.

Ex-New York mayor Rudy Giuliani compared Bush's leadership to that of Churchill's--favorably, if you can believe it--and said he is "working to make us even safer at home." We assume he means that metaphorically, as in "he's placed a lot more locks on our doors, he's watching everything we do and say, and he's made it harder for us to enjoy the freedoms of a Democratic state by pissing off all our neighbors."

The GOP is staging a theatrical presentation for the nation, placing moderate republicans on the speaker's platform who actually have very little say in the direction of the party. They hope that undecided voters will believe that McCain, Guiliani and the Governator reflect the true nature of Republican politics today, rather than the members who constructed and approved the actual platform which is so right-wing conservative that even Dick Cheney doesn't agree with it all.