I've just watched about two hours of the Wednesday night session of the Republican National Convention on broadband from C-Span. The Green Party of California described the convention as a "Fascist Infomercial". Informercial it certainly is. And today we saw a speech from the prime fascist himself, Vice-President Dick Strangelove.

There were the heartwarming video clips hosted by attractive young Hispanic and African-American women, proof no doubt that the GOP is not a party of WASP males. We had speeches.

A speech from the Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney: "I don't believe Senator Kerry is the leader our country needs. I respect his four months under enemy fire in Vietnam. It's John Kerry's record in his nearly 40 years since Vietnam that's the question." That set the theme for the evening - "Let's Put The Boot Into John Kerry".

A speech from Romney's deputy, and a variety of other GOP pollies. And then, get out your handkerchiefs! The Tribute to Ronald Reagan. What a tearjerker. And what a coverage of his foreign policy. H.Kissinger: "Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War", followed by RR's famous utterance "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

No testimonials, alas, from a couple of the better known beneficaries of Reagan foreign policy: his good mate in Iraq, Saddam Hussein, or his CIA-trained mujhaddin leader in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden.

And, like any good infomercial, we were told where to go to buy an extended version of the Reagan tribute, including Footage Not Seen On TV. (It's here if you really must.)

This led us in to a speech by the Reagan son who's not a Democrat Animal Planet compere.

Then we came to Democrat Senator Zell Miller of Georgia. "In this hour of danger, our president has had the courage to stand up. And this Democrat is proud to stand up with him." Ah yes, he's retiring from the Senate in January. This is the guy who tried to introduce the Beethoven for Babies program in Georgia a few years ago. "Ode to Joy"... let me whistle a few bars of "Duelling Banjos" instead...

And that brought us to the highlight of the evening, Vice President Strangelove. Let me just post a few excerpts from Herr Halliburton's speech (source, Washington Post):

CHENEY: Senator Kerry began his political career by saying he would like to see our troops deployed "only at the directive of the United Nations."

AUDIENCE: Booo.

CHENEY: During the 1980s, Senator Kerry opposed Ronald Reagan's major defense initiatives that brought victory in the Cold War.

AUDIENCE: Booo.

CHENEY: In 1991, when Saddam Hussein occupied Kuwait and stood poised to dominate the Persian Gulf, Senator Kerry voted against Operation Desert Storm.

AUDIENCE: Booo.

Where's Punch and Judy when you need them?

CHENEY: Senator Kerry also takes a different view when it comes to supporting our military. Although he voted to authorize force against Saddam Hussein, he then decided he was opposed to the war, and voted against funding for our men and women in the field.

AUDIENCE: Booooo.

Flip-flop. Flip-flop. Flip-flop.

(APPLAUSE)

You haven't lived until you've heard a Madison Square Garden-full of Republicans chanting "Flip-flop! Flip-flop! Flip-flop!" for a couple of minutes, while clapping their hands with thongs on them.

And I'm still pondering the Jimi Hendrix-style rendition of The Star Spangled Banner at the end of the evening.

Speeches and video from the RNC at (among other places, no doubt) the Washington Post. I'll try and catch up on some of the accredited bloggers and other related blogs shortly. MSNBC's Hardblogger is at the RNC and contains links to all the accredited bloggers on-site at the MSG.

Also coming in this thread, I'll have more to say on the RNC, recap my views on the Democrat Primaries and DNC, and say who I'd vote for if I were an American... and his initials aren't JFK.