That's politics folks

I've spent far too much of this evening shirking work and indulging my history fetish by watching old convention acceptance speeches on CSPAN2.

If you get a chance, do check it out this week - they're playing them every night.

The end of Reagan's speech is brilliant:

I have thought of something that's not a part of my speech and worried over whether I should do it. Can we doubt that only a Divine Providence placed this land, this island of freedom, here as a refuge for all those people in the world who yearn to breathe free? Jews and Christians enduring persecution behind the Iron Curtain; the boat people of Southeast Asia, Cuba, and of Haiti; the victims of drought and famine in Africa, the freedom fighters of Afghanistan, and our own countrymen held in savage captivity.

I'll confess that I've been a little afraid to suggest what I'm going to suggest. I'm more afraid not to. Can we begin our crusade joined together in a moment of silent prayer?

10 seconds of complete silence through the convention hall, with the cameras panning over the entire hall, ending with a closeup of Reagan breaking the silence with:

God bless America.