The circus has come to town! Well, in Charlotte, NC anyway. We knew it would invariably be a freak show...but to what scale was uncertain. I'm talking about the Democratic National Convention of course. So Day 1 from the cantina of what we're to believe are the average people kicked off on Tuesday, and already the language and message of the 2012 Democrat platform has changed from four short years ago. To focus on the new of women's genitalia and redefining 'marriage', Democrats have opted for the 'out with the old' strategy, thus dropping 'God' and 'Jerusalem' from their platform. Even a sinner such as I can see the err in this...
Removing 'God':
Here's the paragraph that was in the 2008 platform:
“We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people, and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential.”
Now the words “God-given” have been removed and restructured for the 2012 platform:
“We gather to reclaim the basic bargain that built the largest middle class and the most prosperous nation on Earth – the simple principle that in America, hard work should pay off, responsibility should be rewarded, and each one of us should be able to go as far as our talent and drive take us.”
As the Brody File has suggested of some critics, "when you have planks in your platform that support abortion rights and gay marriage, then it's no wonder that God's name would be dropped as well." Indeed.
Removing 'Jerusalem':
As the Free Beacon points out, several pro-Israel sections of the 2008 Democratic Party platform have been deleted from this year's platform, notably those on Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, and Hamas...
For Jerusalem, the new platform has been brought into line with the Obama administration’s policy of not recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and supporting its division. Jerusalem is unmentioned in the 2012 document, whereas the 2008 and 2004 Democratic Party platforms declared “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel…It should remain an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths.” The Obama administration’s refusal to recognize Jerusalem has been a point of significant controversy in recent months.
On the issue of Palestinian refugees, the new document has removed language from the 2004 and 2008 platforms specifying that Palestinian “refugees” should be settled in a future Palestinian state, not in Israel. The 2004 platform: “The creation of a Palestinian state should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel.” The 2008 platform: The peace process “should resolve the issue of Palestinian refugees by allowing them to settle there, rather than in Israel.” The 2012 platform contains no language on the matter.
Gone as well is the language from 2008 on the terrorist group Hamas, which currently controls the Gaza Strip. That platform declared, “The United States and its Quartet partners should continue to isolate Hamas until it renounces terrorism, recognizes Israel’s right to exist, and abides by past agreements.” The 2012 platform contains no mention of Hamas.
TheLid comments more on the weakness of this new language, but this shift has even caused one liberal Harvard professor to admit that these omissions are 'deeply troubling'. Ya think?
So just gotta ask...how's this unholy alliance of human freaks appealing to the actual average Americans out there?
ADDENDUM: 'Turbin' Durbin defensive much? God Bless ya, Bret...
UPDATE: Looks like the DNC made a rule change reminiscent of the same manner in which the RNC maneuvered last week...by passing it against the vote! The 'noes' clearly had it...the majority of delegates didn't want 'God' or 'Jerusalem' in their platform, and the chair (along with an apparent panic-stricken committee, who felt the backlash from the general public for taking these out in the first place) ruled against them...telling on both accounts, particularly that of the delegates.
