Convention schmonvention

I don't watch TV, and frankly my time is too valuable to waste hours of it on the Tampa fib-fest, but there's been some worthwhile coverage on the net which can be read in a fraction of the time.

TPM has the biggest myths from the convention and from Ryan's speech.  Gin and Tacos has been unimpressed.  For rank-and-file Republican reactions, see threads here and here (notice how much they complain about the audience seeming bored).  On the lighter side, Progressive Eruptions has the convention schedule and Parsley's Pics has Romney's biography.

Liberal Values has a post for each day:  Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.  He makes a couple of key observations:

The Republicans now claim that social issues are a distraction. They are not a distraction – they are fundamental issues of individual liberty.

Ryan also spoke of freedom, but it is the conservative version of freedom which has nothing to do with the actual freedoms this nation was founded upon. Ryan supports the freedom of religious fanatics to impose their views upon others. Ryan supports the freedom of the ultra-wealthy to plunder the wealth of the nation and destroy the middle class.

This point can't be emphasized enough.  The Republicans advocate using the force of law to micro-manage individual reproductive and sexual behavior, and to impose the taboos of a particular religion on everyone.  This is totalitarianism, and the Republicans are now a totalitarian party.

Their laissez-faire economic stance boils down to de-legitimizing government intervention in the economy and asserting that whatever ends up happening in the absence of such intervention is inherently the right outcome.  This is no different than condemning medical intervention in the course of disease as unnatural and declaring medieval levels of disease and death to be the right outcome simply because they are what happens in the absence of conscious interference.

Finally, a reminder of what we're fighting for, not just against (found via Smartypants):