About that little gathering in New York...

I'd say the BBC has been quite muted. Obviously there's a lot of politicking involved- you are not getting a glimpse into anyone's soul- but from the BBC you would think that the whole thing was hollow as an easter egg.

Take what were generally regarded as quite powerful speeches on the opening night. Rob Watson had his own way of presenting them.

On John McCain, he said 'what John McCain has done, when faced with a choice, is stick with his party.'

No cynicism there then.

On the generally rapturously received Rudi Guiliani, he had another formula ready,

'The Republican Party faithful did not come to New York to hear nice things about John Kerry.
They came here to see the other side get bashed, and tonight John Kerry got a good bashing.

And he got that bashing from a man seen as a moderate Republican, former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani.'

You have to notice that phrase 'seen as a moderate Republican' to appreciate what Watson is about here. It'd be wrong to suggest that there really was such a thing as a moderate Republican.

For a real, though partial, take on the Guiliani speech I thought Powerline did very well.

If you're going to talk about a moderate Republican, you have to say first of all how weird and extreme the unmoderate ones are. For that we can turn to Michael Buchanan, who gives some helpful hints:

'The written platform of the party remains solidly conservative, but the moderates have been on display during the convention. Some moderates, such as the gay Log Cabin Republicans, have spoken out against positions against same-sex marriage and gays in the military.'

On the subject of 'bashing', referred to above, I am brought to reflect on the oddity of the BBC's notion of impartiality (which is not impartially applied, I ought to add). It seems that because Bush-bashing, involving Bush-Hitler type mudslinging, undeniably exists (and has for ages), the anti-Kerry stuff must be de facto 'bashing' Kerry. The fact that most Bush-bashing has been for years been practically worthy of an asylum, but criticism of Kerry is relatively recent and based in undeniable facts about his voting record- and his boasting record- seems to go over the BBC's head.

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