My favorite part of the big political conventions is when each state, as is custom, gives a little spiel about how amazing their state is and why just before it names its nominee. For example, Kentucky talks about how all the great bourbon comes from Kentucky. Michigan talks up the auto industry and the great lakes. Ohio, well, I’m not sure what Ohio says, but I’m sure it has something to do with how everyone lives here at some point but then moves away for very understandable reasons and they suppose it’s nice enough a place to be from even if it’s rather boring to actually live here.
While other parts of the conventions aren’t so wonderful — maybe I’m in the minority in not being a big fan of party leaders calling for the summary extrajudicial jailing and/or killing of one’s political opponents – but the little state speeches are all show and theater and a little bit of fun.
In their runup to nominating Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention yesterday, the speaker from the Great State of Kansas (they’re always “The Great State of [whatever]”) called Kansas “home of the greatest fans of the reigning World Series champions, the Kansas City Royals.” That rankled the Missouri delegation, who said, “Kansas, I love you, but Missouri is the home to the World Series champion Kansas City Royals.”
Like so much else at a political convention, this little dispute involved people speaking past one another in an effort to make the point they wanted to make while not really listening to the other side. Maybe the best Royals fans ARE in Kansas! Who is to say? Meanwhile, we can all agree that they play in Missouri. Like so much in the world of politics, maybe this isn’t actually a dispute!
All I know is that it wasn’t too terribly long ago that the Missouri people probably would’ve let this one go and just talked up their love of the Cardinals, forgetting about the little American League team way over there on the left side of the state. How things have changed.
