A Compelling Story Of The Republican Convention

I guess you can watch the mainstream television channels, and get an hour of the conventions every night for the duration. You will see the featured speakers. The popular representatives of the party. They will wax poetic, stir the crowd, elicit chants of USA USA USA.

But do they tell the real story of the man who would be President? Do they give an honest measure of the man? Do they give you anything other than a 15 minute paid infomercial of the man who wants to be the leader of the most powerful nation on the planet?

Probably not.

There are those who would call these folks shills for the party. Those from the opposite party look for reasons to call them liars, and they do, every chance they get. They go to places like factcheck.org, and politifact.com, and look for those folks to debunk everything their political opponents say.

They pick the fact checker that suits their narrative the best, and annoint them the expert of that particular day, as long as their "facts" tear down the "right" candidate. It happens all the time. It happens every single day, after every single campaign speech.

Most folks really only listen to the highlights of the day. They hear only the highlights of the convention speeches. They hear that Mitt said this, and Ryan said that. They hear that one lied, or one stretched the truth.

The opposition uses Factcheck or Politifact, or "whateverfact" , to suit the narrative of those who fund their "non-partisan" group.

So who do you believe? The liberals will tell you to believe the mainstream media, or cable networks like MSNBC. The conservatives will tell you to believe FoxNews.

I lean towards CSPAN. No narrative. Just the words of those speaking. I make up my own mind based on what I hear. Just like my local township board meetings, I look em in the eye, and decide for myself if they are being straight with me or not. I don’t need Chris Mathews or Sean Hannity to help me out.

Instead of the one hour of "mainstream media" convention coverage of the Republican Convention, I watched all of it on CSPAN. Many do not have the patience for that sort of thing, but I am a proud American, and I take my privilige to vote seriously.

I am actually very anal about the whole thing. I have been known to record FoxNews, MSNBC, and actually watch it on CSPAN, and then go back to the others to see opinion from both sides. I guess that makes me a political junkie, which for me is the better kind of junkie, but I digress.

Now, let me tell you what you would see if you were to watch every person who spoke at the convention. Not the media darlings, but the middle class, everyday folks. The people who were impacted by the man who would be President.

A couple, Ted & Pat Oparowski stepped to the stage today. Ted is a retired firefighter, and they are your typical middle class family.  They had known the Romneys in the 1970’s from church. They told the story of their 14 year old son David, who in 1979, at the age of 14, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease.

Mitt Romney, with 4 boys of his own at the time, visited David regularly at the hospital, and according to David’s mother, had developed a "loving relationship" with this young man.

David’s cancer was terminal, and he knew it. David also knew that Mitt had gone to law school, and one day asked Mitt to help him write a will. He had some prized posessions, as every 14 year old does, and he wanted to make sure that his closest friends and family got them.

Mrs. Oparowski went on to tell of how the next time that Mitt went to the hospital, he showed up with a pen and a yellow legal pad, and they did "what no child should ever have to do." Mitt and David made his will, and David’s Mom said "it gave David peace of mind."

Mrs. Oparowski went on to say, "that after David’s death, we were able to give his skateboards, his model rockets, and his fishing gear to his best friends. He also made it clear that his brother peter should get his .22 Ruger rifle."

David’s Mom went on to tell how "he also helped us plan his funeral." She said "he wanted to be buried in his Boy Scout uniform, and he wanted Mitt to give his eulogy, and Mitt honored that request."

Mrs. Oparowski asked, "how many men do you know, that would take the time out of their busy lives to visit a terminally ill 14 year old, and help him settle his affairs?" She ended by saying that "they will be ever grateful for his love and concern."

"You cannot measure a man’s character based on the words he utters before adoring crowds during times that are happy," said David’s Dad. "The true measure of a man is revealed in his actions during times of trouble-- the quiet hospital room of a dying boy, with no cameras and no reporters."

To me, this is the story of the Republican Convention. It is a story of a man’s moral fiber. It tells about his true character.

It is a story Clint Eastwood can’t tell. It is a story Condi Rice can’t tell. Marco Rubio can’t tell it, and Paul Ryan can’t tell this story.

All sorts of impressive people spoke this week, and there were some very great speeches. Every one of them will be fact checked to death by those paid to do so.

Only David’s parents can tell his story though, and we don’t need a soul to fact check it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZlB7aR-2h8