Keep you friends close, but your enemies in Midtown...

The Republicans have officially been in town and it has been all I can do to keep from losing my mind. I'm trying not to let them get to me, but it's hard. Especially when I force myself to sit through their misleading and vindictive speechifying.

Last night's Bush love-fest was one falsehood after another. In the beginning of what will be a convention theme, the republicans trotted out John McCain and Rudolph Giuliani, two people who are far from the true face of the Republican Party these days. All the speakers lied about Bush's failed record and equated 9/11 to the Iraqi War. Especially Giuliani. He revived the rationale that Saddam Hussein had something to do with the attacks of Sept. 11, invoking that ground zero photo op where Bush grabbed a bullhorn and made the one true, sincere statement that Bush has made in four years. Giuliani said that Bush "stood amid the fallen towers of the World Trade Center and said to the barbaric terrorists who attacked us, 'They will hear from us.' They have heard from us! They heard from us in Afghanistan and we removed the Taliban. They heard from us in Iraq and we ended Saddam Hussein's reign of terror."

And he wasn't the only one. At least three other speakers, including John McCain, referred to Bush's only good moment. For the majority of America though, memories of Bush's reaction to Sept. 11 come from very different images. There's Bush, sitting in a classroom while the towers burned and school kids read "The Pet Goat." There's Bush, flying aimlessly around the country on Sept. 11 to avoid a threat to Air Force One -- a threat that Karl Rove and Ari Fleischer trumpeted and the White House later quietly disavowed. And there's Bush, invoking the attacks of Sept. 11 to launch a war against a different enemy in a different place. No one was hearing from Bush then.

The focus on Sept. 11 is just a way to avoid talking about the war abroad or safety at home. In almost four hours of speeches devoted almost exclusively to the attacks of Sept. 11, Osama bin Laden wasn't mentioned once from my count. Giuliani should be ashamed of himself for using 9/11 for political purposes. He spoke of seeing people jumping from "the fires of hell" and described in a way that did "all but include the SPLAT," according to Al Franken.

Maureen Dowd referred to last night's constant 9/11 references and Iraq distortions "repulsive, yet effective." That's what pisses me off more than anything. They used our troops last night as a political prop. They linked Saddam with 9/11. They attacked John Kerry and misrepresented his statements. And it might all work!

But it wasn't all cheerleading and canned applause. The one time the crowd came alive was when John McCain mentioned "a disingenuous filmmaker," referring to Michael Moore (or Mel Gibson, I'm not sure just yet). The crowd exploded in chanting and howls and such vociferous screams that I could feel the palpable hatred through my TV set

The entire night was focused on false “leadership” and absent “courage.” They constantly beat the drums of fear and safety as if the two go hand-in-hand. We should be fearful of the constant dangers of terrorism, but don’t worry our homeland is secure? I don’t think it works that way. You want to secure the homeland? Then provide proper funding to areas of greatest risk like New York. Stop pissing off the world, especially the Muslim communities by invading other countries who pose no threat and spitting on our global commitments and treaties. Create an America where education is not only funded till 12th grade, but encouraged for everyone at all ages. Make sure everyone can afford not decent healthcare, but the world’s finest healthcare. Protect our environment and support civil rights for all minorities and take care of our elderly and lift people up rather than kicking them when their down. Then and only then will you get a secure homeland.

God, I miss Boston.