I just couldn't resist doing a little cut-and-paste comparison of the ridiculous inconsistencies we've heard in the last 36 hours from the Republican party at the convention. All quotes are from transcripts posted online at CNN.
Here's what the GOP had to say about community organizing-- which, I believe, is generally considered to be a form of service to one's community:
Giuliani (9/3/08):
He worked as a community organizer. What? He worked -- I said -- I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume.
He worked as a community organizer.
(BOOS FROM CROWD)
Palin (9/3/08):
I guess -- I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.
But Candidate McCain takes a different view on the same topic. If you listened to his speech, you might get the sense he supports working for the betterment of your town and community.
McCain (9/4/08):
My friends, if you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you're disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. Enlist...
Enlist in our Armed Forces. Become a teacher. Enter the ministry. Run for public office. Feed a hungry child. Teach an -- an illiterate adult to read. Comfort the afflicted. Defend the rights of the oppressed.
Our country will be the better, and you will be the happier, because nothing brings greater happiness in life than to serve a cause greater than yourself.
In general, the GOP used its convention (when it wasn't genuflecting for the cameras in the face of Hurricane Gustav) to unleash its "pitbulls" (both with and without lipstick-- what shade Rudy wore is open for speculation) to foament partisan rancor:
Romney (9/3/08):
This is no time for timid, liberal, empty gestures... Democrats want to use the slowdown as an excuse to do what their special interests are always begging for: higher taxes, bigger government, and less trade with other nations.
It's the same path Europe took a few decades ago.
Giuliani (9/3/08):
I'm sorry -- I'm sorry that Barack Obama feels that her hometown isn't cosmopolitan enough.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm sorry, Barack, that it's not flashy enough. Maybe they cling to religion there.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
Well -- well, the first day -- as far as I'm concerned, the first day she was mayor, she had more experience as an executive than -- than Obama and Biden combined.
Palin (9/3/08):
This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting and never use the word "victory," except when he's talking about his own campaign.
(APPLAUSE)
But when the cloud of rhetoric has passed, when the roar of the crowd fades away, when the stadium lights go out, and those Styrofoam Greek columns are hauled back to some studio lot...
(APPLAUSE) ... when that happens, what exactly is our opponent's plan? What does he actually seek to accomplish after he's done turning back the waters and healing the planet?
(APPLAUSE)
The answer -- the answer is to make government bigger, and take more of your money, and give you more orders from Washington, and to reduce the strength of America in a dangerous world.
(AUDIENCE BOOS)
America needs more energy; our opponent is against producing it. Victory in Iraq is finally in sight, and he wants to forfeit. Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay; he wants to meet them without preconditions.
Al Qaida terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America, and he's worried that someone won't read them their rights.
(APPLAUSE)
Government is too big; he wants to grow it. Congress spends too much money; he promises more. Taxes are too high, and he wants to raise them. His tax increases are the fine print in his economic plan.
And let me be specific: The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes, and raise payroll taxes, and raise investment income taxes, and raise the death tax, and raise business taxes, and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. (AUDIENCE BOOS)
But wait! Here comes Candidate McCain to set everyone, including his own running mate straight-- and also explains what his team of inside-outsiders is fixing to do during their administration.
McCain (9/4/08):
The constant partisan rancor that stops us from solving these problems isn't a cause. It's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not for you. [emphasis mine]
Thanks for clearing that up, Senator.
There you have it, folks, straight from the candidate's mouth: They're going to work in Washington for themselves.