Too many of the Serious People bloviating about the convention in our media are deranged, incompetent, out of ideas, wrong about everything, and they don't care about the little people. Unfortunately, that's not really news, so I guess they get a pass for not covering it, hmmm?

I thought the funniest moment of last night was PBS' Jim Lehrer clarifying that "not all veterans are Democrats." That's obviously true, but General McKinney, Beau Biden and the rest of the Veterans for Obama made such an impressive case, I can't hold it against someone for thinking it needed to be said. But how's the convention watching been treating you, any highlights or press lowlights on your mind?

Update [2008-8-28 6:33:22 by Natasha Chart]: And if the network you were watching didn't show Beau Biden's introduction of Sen. Biden, I recommend it. While he only alluded to the fact that he'll be deploying to Iraq this fall with his Army National Guard unit, he made a point of saying that his father had written the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

VAWA told thousands of victims of domestic violence that the federal government had their backs, that they didn't have to stay in abusive partnerships. It's legislation that not only bettered lives, but doubtless saved lives. And it's important that it be brought up not only for its own sake, but in illustration of the fact that feminist and women's issues also include safety in public and private, basic human dignity, access to education, fair pay and health care.

Conservatives would like to equate even women's right to vote with abortion, as if there was only that one issue. An issue that they use to show their contempt for women by saying that our lives are worth less than a single cell and that our moral agency is so poor that we need others to make our medical decisions. An issue spawned of their own racist condescension and lack of concern for everyone who's already been born. An issue that's been easy for them to demonize. 'Oh, those feminist harpies, they just hate babies.'

Why listen to a monster like that, even if she talks about equal pay, children's health care, or getting nutritious food to impoverished new moms? She's a monster, after all. It must be a trick.

When alleged liberals join the fun by reducing women's issues to one thing, albeit a very important one, abortion, they indicate to me that they haven't been paying attention. (Even the reproductive justice debate is broader than that, as we've seen with the Bush administration's opposition to contraception.) When they bring it down to one issue, they show that they have just as one-dimensional a view of feminism, and of women's needs, as conservatives. But the speakers at this year's DNC know better, the Obama campaign clearly knows better, and Joe Biden seems to have known better for a long time.

I have problems with stances that both Obama and Biden have taken on related topics, but their showcasing of several important gender equity issues leads me to believe that in these, they will try to act out of respect and good faith. It's a laudable improvement over the travesties supported by John McCain and the rest of the George Bush Republicans.