RNC @ MSG: Ron Silver

Alrighty, then. The Republican National Convention, night one.

Four basic highlights:

Ron Silver. Wow. First thing I thought was, “Hey, wasn’t he the same guy who complained about military aircraft flying overhead at Clinton’s first Inaugural only to be told by a companion that, ‘It’s okay, those are our planes now”? So what was he doing at the Republican Convention?

Only delivering what was arguably the best speech of the night, wherein he confessed to being a 9/11 Democrat and took his fellow Hollywoodies apart, brick by extremist brick.

I want to thank the President and the Republican Party for holding this event in my hometown, my father's hometown, my grandfather's and great grandfather's birthplace.

Just over 1,000 days ago, 2,605 of my neighbors were murdered at the World Trade Center - men, women and children - as they began their day on a brilliantly clear New York autumn morning, less than four miles from where I am now standing.

We will never forgive. Never forget. Never excuse!”

If this was artifice, it shows how good an actor he is. To me he came across as genuinely outraged. What better reminder of what was done to us on 9/11? We should all still feel that way.

We are again engaged in a war that will define the future of humankind. Responding to attacks on our soil, America has led a coalition of countries against extremists who want to destroy our way of life and our values.

This is a war we did not seek.

This is a war waged against us.

This is a war to which we had to respond.

“Led a coalition of countries” – beautiful. That should only be repeated several bazillion times over the next couple of months. And what better way to frame this conflict than in those three hammer-blow sentences?

History shows that we are not imperialists, but we are fighters for freedom and democracy.

Take that, Hollywood left!

Even though I am a well-recognized liberal on many issues confronting our society today, I find it ironic that many human rights advocates and outspoken members of my own entertainment community are often on the front lines to protest repression, for which I applaud them, but they are usually the first ones to oppose any use of force to take care of these horrors that they catalogue repeatedly.

Under the unwavering leadership of President Bush, the cause of freedom and democracy is being advanced by the courageous men and women serving in our armed services.

The President is doing exactly the right thing. That is why we need this president at this time!”

By this time I was pumping my fist. Here is that rarest of critters, a genuinely honest liberal who gets it. If “humanitarian” wars were considered a good thing by the left under Bill Clinton, why shouldn’t the humanitarian aspects of the Afghan and Iraqi campaigns be lauded by them as well?

Methinks there are quite a few more 9/11 Dems out there than Big Media is willing to acknowledge. Let Ron Silver, along with Ed Koch and Zell Miller, be their pied piper.