Reagan GOT "Out-Reaganed"!

We watched the DNC last night and will watch every night, just as we did the RNC. Our fear was the same as many in this country, that some sort of violence would erupt and it may still. However, young people, while being essentially the same as we were in the 1960's are of a different generation and I think a bit LESS prone to physical violence that we were.

Certainly booing the invocation prayer seemed to be an indication of things to come. The came Al Franken in a rare "comedy act" with Sarah Silverman that started to disarm the audience. When asked to stretch their time as Paul Simon finished setting up, they seemed at a loss for words and the Bernie supporters seized this, beginning to make noise, until the turning point of the entire Convention came as Sarah Silverman ad-libbed, "To the Bernie or bust people, can I just say this? You're ridiculous!"

Their guards were down because of the light comedy and the fact that Silverman was a huge Bernie supporter. Her comments went to their core. Paul Simon, a legend of rock, sang Bridge Over Troubled Waters, missing many age-adjusted notes.... no one cared...... and then came the speech, not of a lifetime, but of a century! It came from another President's wife and she spoke calmly and quietly about her family and of the greatness of this country NOW, not lost.

I saw the DNC in 1968 in Chicago and lamented the violence. I saw Ronald Reagan in 1976 and 1984 and was blown away. I saw Barack Obama in 2004 and saw the next President.

Last night I saw and HEARD Michelle Obama, remind us in simple, everyday anecdotes, that we live in the greatest civilization this planet has ever seen. I had hoped for a "speech of a lifetime", to see Reagan, out-Reaganed. I did not expect to see and hear it come from Michelle Obama..... I did not expect to see a fractured Party come together in just a few minutes! Even the Trump people won't attack THAT speech, so perfect was it for the day!

The role call vote that is coming later today, I fear will again bring disunity and if there is a chance of violence, it is during that. The role call will finish, quietly or with dissent. Then a number of Bernie supporters will, sadly, go home, foregoing the rest of a convention that is historic. I was in their shoes once. No one who is 63, or 68, or 74 years old, magically jumped to that age. We all walked through every age on Man. We all felt the fire in our bellies that the dawning of adulthood brings and we all reacted to it the same way, though the actual actions reflected to times we came of age in. Many forget how that time felt, I don't and I feel rejuvenated seeing this process through their eyes.

I protested some in the '60's & '70's, my Mother never know or I would have been punished, but I did! I was angered by politicians serving corporate masters and their own selfish interests. But I voted! A few times it was for the lesser of two evils, a couple times for a third party,which ended up getting the greater of two evils elected, but I voted and I accepted the will of the majority. This is Democracy, this is compromise and this is America. It's not perfect, but even with the flaws of every generation, it is and remains, the greatest country on the planet and one that welcomes those who ask to live here willingly!

So as we wait for the roll call vote and hope for the best, a LOT of young, passionate  people at the convention are also waiting to voice the fire in their bellies. The right to voice that, is one of the fundamentals of this Republic and those who lived through 1968, 1972 and even 1948, need to remember and allow this moment. For the protesters of 2016, will become the leaders of 2060 who will stand, white-haired, listening to the youth of that time speak from the same "fire in their bellies!"