Friday Funday: Thanks To Those Who Really Built It

While there is some desire to talk about the poor choice of Clint Eastwood, or Mitt Romney's policy-free acceptance speech, we're going to stick to our Friday tradition today, of stepping a bit away from direct political discussion to concentrate on something positive.

Frankly, that's easy to do today. There are a huge number of things we're thankful for, as our staff begins a three day weekend.

To start with, we're thankful for a well-funded and well prepared Federal Emergency Management Agency. We know a few people in Louisiana and Mississippi, and while many there are living through scenes reminiscent of the floods in Nebraska and Iowa in 2011, there have been no mass fatalities, and very few problems, relatively speaking.

We're also thankful that the Republican National Convention is over, though we're certain the event center and service industry workers in Tampa will be cleaning up for a few more days.

This is also the first weekend of college football, specifically Husker Football. The NFL is also gearing up for its regular season, as evidenced by star players finally coming off the bench and getting into the pre-season games. From fan pages and blogs, to Facebook and Twitter, it's obvious that millions of football fans are thankful the semi-official start of Fall is here.

We're also thankful for all those who are still working this weekend, while we enjoy three days off to rest and recharge.

What we're most thankful for, however, are those individuals who came together to build the system of workers rights in America. The very concept of having "time off" is one that was fought for - that some even died for - by Americans who joined together with workers in unions for the better good.

If your pay, or your work schedule is based (even loosely) on the idea of a 40 hour work week, big business bosses didn't do that for you - and you certainly didn't do that yourself. Organized labor and collective bargaining did that. Corporations have fought the 40-hour work week for generations, and they have a long history of trying to get around that rule whenever they can.

Unions also gave us all the eight hour day, and the 40 hour work week with corresponding weekend. Labor unions helped all Americans to get the minimum wage too.

No matter what slogan or out-of-context quote some political hack gins up, the fact remains that there are very few things in America that individuals built completely one-hundred percent on their own, without help from others.

That convention center in Tampa where the GOP faithful gathered? That was built largely with the help of public funds. The one in South Carolina where the Democrats will meet to re-nominate President Obama is no different in that respect. The electricity and communications that flow to both of those buildings wasn't built by a single individual either.

No matter what your current economic status is, or what you think of labor unions and the American working class, without private businesses working together with state, local, and federal government, your life and the lives of millions of people would be drastically different - and likely MUCH worse.

Like it or not, we're all in this together.

Thankfully, there were those who came before us who were willing to work together, who labored to give Americans the kind of modern nation where we can all watch the game together this weekend, even when our staff is scattered around the country.

To those who truly understand none of this is possible by oneself - thank you, and happy Labor Day.

Mitt Romney, Stand-Up

After two days filled with lies - including almost every word from Paul Ryan's mouth last night -  that have been fact-checked to death by those concerned with the truth - and ignored by Mr. Romney and most of the GOP - tonight's the night Mitt Romney has to stop being more than just a cardboard cutout at the RNC.

Frankly, we don't expect anything much from Romney tonight. We're not sure his subroutines are programmed to truly excite people.

If you think we're hinting that Romney is robotic, we are - and he is. If you think Mitt Romney seems unusually stiff, uncomfortable, and plastic for someone running for president, we think you're right - he does.

That doesn't necessarily mean he might not make a decent political leader. After all, the press blasted Al Gore for a similarly wooden nature a dozen years ago. Yet there's little question in our minds, and the minds of most of those in the legitimate political media, that Gore would have made a better President than George W. Bush. Mitt Romney is not Al Gore, though.

In fact, anyone who has actually been paying attention - and who isn't lying to themselves - should have a pretty good idea of who Mitt Romney is. He's been campaigning for president for most of the last six years.

We've had an incredible number of chances to see who Mitt Romney is, and to see who he says he is. That the two don't automatically match up should tell you something already: the REAL Mitt just isn't there. That's been fairly obvious on multiple occasions as Mitt has been both for and against virtually every major topic of importance.

As the late Senator Ted Kennedy once said of Mitt, "Mitt Romney isn't pro-choice or anti-choice, he's multiple choice."

That lack of conviction has been evident for most of Romney's political career.

When Mitt governed, he did it with a center-left state legislature in Massachusetts - and he did what they wanted, just as he's done what everyone else has told him to do, all along. When his father told him he should go into business, he did. When his family said he should become a leader in his church, he did.

When the political winds have shifted over the years, no matter what Mr. Romney's personal beliefs have been, he's changed positions for everyone from interest groups and political consultants to - recently - the racist, ignorant faction of the GOP. Mitt has effectively become a political standup cutout for the Republican Party, something that potential voters are happy to pose next to for a picture - but in whom they have no real solid faith.

As Ezra Klein of The Washington Post noted this week, that Mitt got this far at all is a major achievement in itself.

For us, however, it's not enough.

It's always been obvious that more than anything, Mitt has wanted to win the race to be President. But being President isn't about winning.

It's about governing.

Real Debate, Fake Debate

As you may have guessed, we're barely covering the Republican National Convention this week and we don't really plan on covering much of the Democratic National Convention next week, either. In a world of twenty-four news cycles and a hyper-partisan electorate, the last thing most Americans need is a three or four day infomercial, with a fake internal debate, for a political brand they've already made their final decisions about.

Political polling over the next two weeks won't serve as an escape for political media folks either. The last polls taken before the conventions were released yesterday and held no serious surprises. Most polls for the next two weeks will be effectively worthless, as each major event temporarily convinces the most wishy-washy and emotionally needy people to cheer for their side.

That leaves those of us involved in politics and media who wish to remain ethical to focus on something worthy of being called "news."

For Nebraskans - both current residents and state-level expats - as well as other political junkies, the kind of news we're tackling today is something you might have missed in the run up to the RNC; the recent Kerrey-Fischer debate for U.S. Senate.

Unlike the RNC on Tuesday, where some participants were not allowed to debate and others were treated with serious disrespect, both the former U.S. Senator from Nebraska Bob Kerrey, and the current state Senator Deb Fischer, acted with a general sense of decorum at their debate.

The first debate of their U.S. Senate contest - still the only debate that Fischer has officially agreed to and finalized details for - had its share of jabs from both candidates, though only one of them gave many details.

Kerrey, consistent as he's always been, promoted his ability to find compromise, pledging to "put country first, always." Kerrey also promised the crowd he'd, "shake up Washington, D.C., and challenge Harry Reid as often as I annoy Mitch McConnell."

Fischer, for her part, attempted to sell herself as a staunch conservative. Unfortunately for her, she came off more than a bit hollow to those who know her record in the Nebraska Legislature. In a pleasant surprise, even though Fischer's false attempt to paint Kerrey as an outsider has been a hallmark of her campaign, she refused to discuss that issue at the debate.

Kerrey didn't. He went headlong at the false "carpetbagger" issue ginned up by GOP strategists, and knocked that issue into the dirt where it belongs.

Fischer consistently spouted answers that seemed as though they were written by producers from Fox, with lots of sloganeering, but no details. As you can see on the replay, Kerrey had plenty of details, both about his own plans and about the plans and history of his opponent.

From immigration to climate change, from debt and taxes, to Medicare and healthcare, Kerrey consistently showed a depth of knowledge and thoughtful answers that showed he'd weighed all the facts and chose his own approach - one that doesn't fall along strict Democratic Party lines. Fischer simply towed the Republican Party line, somewhat uncomfortably.

We'd love to see another debate between the two candidates to see if Fischer can relax and be a bit more honest and natural. Chances are, though, like most modern Republican politicians, she'll hide and cower, avoiding another chance to potentially make a mistake in a debate with the more experienced Kerrey.

It's a shame, really, since there's nothing of any real significance importance going on in politics right now, nationally or in Nebraska.