The RNC: A Fear-fest Devoid of Ideas

I’ve been a good boy, I have. Despite my intense distaste for all things Trump, I’ve been sampling the RNC—Republican National Convention.

It hasn’t been easy. I felt the Democrats did not do an adequate job of explaining their ideas last week—what they stand for and what their agenda is—but the Democratic National Convention did have a platform, and Joe Biden, at least, did have some substance in his speech.

The RNC? Platform, schmatform. Ideas, scmideas. Let’s point out that Joe Biden is a commie socialist atheist who, along with the evil liberal media, hates mom, apple pie and ’Merica.

There has bene an odd insurgent theme to the first three nights of the RNC. The Trump campaign hasn’t had an original idea since 2016, and it shows. It’s all “MAGA.” But, hasn’t the orange dear leader been president for more than three years? Before 2018, didn’t the GOP control both houses of Congress? Why didn't he Make America Great Again already? What, then, is the GOP insurging against?

America and the future, I suspect.

The speakers have been a motely crew. The Trump campaign (this is really just an informercial for the Trump campaign) is shameless and brazen. It has speaker after speaker spout bizarre conspiracy theory and outright lies, and them moves on.

Last week, I wrote about my favorite DNC speeches. There isn’t a lot to like at the RNC, and there is one more night, although I will be shocked if I like the orange one’s speeche. So, rather than speeches that resonated with me, this is more a rundown of what I found most weird at the DNC.

First, if you follow me on Facebook, you can skip down a bit. One example of an RNC speech that stood out to me was one I wrote about already on Facebook. It was not just the whole bucket of crazy that was in this speech, it was the odd, strident, angry tone with which it was all shouted.

Speech 1: Kimberly Guilfoyle from night 1:



My previously published (on Facebook) analysis: Kimberly! Holey smokes! All that we need is the sound of 20,000 boots hitting the ground as 10,000 storm troopers goosestep by. And there is so much BS to unpack here--neither Harris nor Biden are socialists. Pointing out that California is our richest state doesn't support your thesis. American cities are messy and messed up in both blue and red states--our deep urban problems are not a partisan issue. Kamala is a former prosecutor, too; Joe Biden does not support de-funding the police (who are mostly paid for by state and local taxes that the president does not influence). Puerto Ricans are Americans at birth by law since 1917--thus your mother was not an immigrant. Our current chaos and economic downturn aren't things that Trump will fix--they are the conditions that this incompetent president helped bring about. The riots and lawlessness you so fear are features of Trump's dysfunctional America. You're right on one point--this is a battle for the soul of America. I hope most Americans can recognize evil when they see it's tribble-headed symbol and shouting allies, and it's also is why I'll vote against that soulless orange demon who plays at being president and doesn't understand the job. I was already a reluctant Biden voter anyway--thanks for strengthening my resolve. This was a cynical speech, GOP fearmongering at its worst and fearmongering was the main feature of night one of this this week's RNC. Way to shout it proud and loud--I can hear the crazy. Golly.

I think that sums up my feelings. Next, that couple that aimed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters in Saint Louis.

Speech 2, Mark and Patricia McCloskey from night 1:



Well, this one is a bit complicated. The McCloskeys are being a bit coy about their own actions, even though they are lawyers. They live on a private street—the gate that they accuse the protestors of smashing wasn’t on their yard or lawn, it was the gate to the street itself. When they waived guns at the protestors, it’s not clear any were on their lawn. They say they were threatened—and they were, but it may be because they were pointing guns at people. The BBC provides a good report on that confusing events of that night. The McCloskeys then follow the GOP line of extrapolating to the lawless wasteland that a Biden president would bring, ignoring that the lawless wasteland they live in is during the Trump presidency. Patricia McCloskey, in particular, makes a specific false claim—that Biden would somehow end (white) suburbs, a claim debunked by PolitiFact.

Speech 3 and 4: And now a twofer: Two Iowans featured, Gov. Kim Reynolds (night 2) and Sen. Joni Ernst (night 3):





As for Governor Reynolds, as an Iowan I am disgusted with her slow and languid response to the COVID-19 crisis. She refused to issue a mask mandate early on, and Iowans are dying as a result. And she has been rather slow on the derecho response, although that’s an ongoing story and my feelings are not as strong there. However, Trump’s trip to Cedar Rapids was a sad joke, he distinguished himself mostly because he didn’t chuck paper towels at us. While here, Trump met only with loyalists—our Democratic representative in Congress lives in Cedar Rapids, but was not invited to be among the officials who met Trump during his brief stop at the airport, although he did include her empty-suit GOP opponent (a tasteful lady empty suit, both the representative and her opponent are women). Shame. And Joni Ernst, to me, suffers from the same problem—both of our main female officials represent important gender steps forward in Iowa—our first female senator and governor—and both are pathetic Trump apologists. Senator Ernst was going to “make them squeal,” but has refused to call out some of worst and harshest lies of Donald Trump. The state is a mess, thanks to Governor Reynolds. The state is ashamed. More because of Rep. Steve King then Sen. Joni Ernst, but Senator Ernst doesn’t help much. So, as an Iowan, I was not so much motivated by our dynamic duo as full of dread and shame.

Speech 6: Tiffany Trump, night 2.



Representing oppressed, rich law school graduates of America, Tiffany was an OK speaker for a Trump kid. Junior and Erich maybe should taken notes, they were much angrier and more strident in their respective ads for Donald Trump. Tiffany, however, was still a bit weird. She complained about how hard it is to find a job. Heck, child, some of your family have done just fine for years without discernible employment, and others (looking at you Jared and President Trump) are in jobs they are wildly unqualified for. Don’t worry. He’s not as rich as he claims to be, but Daddy’s loaded. I suppose that’s a bit snarky. I felt myself just feeling snarky during her speech. She didn’t shout at me like crazy Kimberly, but she did not feel warm and genuine, either.

I didn’t see all the speeches, but this is a sample of the tone and quality of what I saw. The RNC is full of rage and fear and darkness, and yet complains that the Democrats are the party to be afraid of.

But two speeches were, to me, a bit more interesting and different:

Bonus speech 1: Melania Trump, night 2:



I know, I’m sorry, it’s not the full speech. I couldn’t take it and didn’t watch the full speech—but not because she said the wrong things. I was just too tired and she put me to sleep. The interesting thing about Melania is that she was willing to say many of the right things that nobody else would say. The sample here is about the pandemic, which she didn’t call the “China flu.” She expressed sorrow and sympathy. Well, kudos, it’s the kind of thing I wish many more speakers had said. But I didn’t watch the whole thing because the whole speech was rather dull. She had little energy and displayed little passion as she stood there, stiffly reading the right words. It was an odd example of how the right notes may fall flat when delivered badly. And I was angry. Not at Melania—she was the best—but at the setting. The Trump campaign has turned the White House into a political prop—and no, during campaigns, previous president didn’t typically do that. So Melania, odd, stiff and dull as she was, still stood out in the Rose Garden--totally the wrong setting

Bonus speech 2: Nicholas Sandmann, night 2:



He’s young, very young, and I won’t critique his speaking style. (Sorry, Tiffany and Melania, you’re both adults, which makes your style fair game). This young man does have a legitimate beef with the American media. A couple of years ago, he attended a March for Life in Washington DC, and ended up in a confrontation with protesters during a visit to the Lincoln Memorial. His version of evens is a bit one-sided—see Vox analysis of the speech and its aftermath. But he’s got a valid point. Isolated videos often go viral, and we leap to conclusions without waiting for context—a bad habit we’ve seen on display over and over. But, frankly, that’s not a sin of the left. The left isn’t innocent, but misrepresenting video snippets happens all the time on the right, too. And where Nicholas Sandmann goes astray is when he ties his treatment to President Trump's. No ,Trump is not a victim as Sandmann is. Trump is a President who lies constantly, and we see his lies. President Trump doesn’t respect the constitution and doesn’t respect the free flow of information. And at least CNN and the Washington Post reported a settlement with Sandmann--has Trump ever admitted he was wrong? Nicholas Sandmann is right to feel he was unfairly canceled. But he’s completely wrong on Trump. Still, it’s good to see that a young man does express himself. Sir, you’re almost completely incorrect. But thank you for joining the discourse.

Night 4 has started. Some sports wild bald sport dude is shouting at me. Anyway, I’m a bit surprised I saw nothing worth noting on night 3—I promise I did watch the prime-time stuff. I guess Mike Pence is just a ghost who can pass by without making an impression.

On to the ultimate night. God save the Republic!

‘He Failed Miserably’: DNC Speakers on Trump

I didn’t watch all of the coverage of the Democratic National Convention last week, but I did catch many of the late-night speeches.

And I was impressed on many levels. My one complaint was that I wish the whole thing added up a bit more to a more substantive discussion of policy issues. I know, that may not make compelling prime time TV, but I think one function of these exercises every four years is for the parties to not just feature the personalities that are important, but to emphasize the ideas that they stand for in this election cycle.

“We’re not Trump” does mean something. After all, I’ve seen the “Any Functioning Adult” bumper stickers, too. And Joe Biden was not my first choice, but he’s not my last choice, either.

America suffered some sort of cognitive dysfunction in 2016: The body politic picked a buffoon for president. True, Trump was running against Hillary Clinton, who has enough baggage to fill s steamship, but history will recall that Trump was not a bad president. He (knock on wood, because who knows what’s coming) will go down as the absolutely worst president in American history—the least competent bumbling fool who ever held the office.

So, I guess I am among the choir the Democrats were preaching to, and it’s easy for me to like much of what I saw.

Anyway, I’ve picked out what I think are some of the more interesting or more effective speeches. I’m a speech teacher, among other things, and there were some less effective and some more effective speeches.

I have not included the speeches by Kamala Harris nor Joe Biden. Of the two, I thought both did well but Biden really nailed it. His relatively short acceptance speech hit on key policy themes in an effective way.

But I want to comment on some of the other presentations I saw. A caveat: All of the speeches are actually video presentations, which is something different from a live speech. Still, for various reasons, these videos especially resonated with me.

The videos are from PBS. The quotes I verified using speech transcripts available from CNN. Nothing came from Fox, which did not cover the DNC (and yet will cover the Republican show this week—fair and balanced anyone?).

Braydon Herrington: Harrington is a teen from New Hampshire who encountered Joe Biden and had a story about him to share. Like Biden, Herrington stutters, and did some during his address.

It was an effective address on several levels. For one thing, a theme that the Democrats were pounding at was that Joe Biden is very different from Donald Trump. Both are very old white men, but Biden shows empathy. One cannot imagine Biden publicly mocking a reporter's physical condition, the way Trump heartlessly did during the previous campaign. And Harrington’s speech was all about the empathy Biden showed to him in a personal way.

His presentation:

And what I think is the best quote from it:

“I'm just a regular kid, and in a short amount of time, Joe Biden made me feel more confident about something that's bothered me my whole life. Joe Biden cared. Imagine what he could do for all of us. Kids like me are counting on you to elect someone we can all look up to. Someone who cares. Someone who will make our country and the world feel better. We're counting on you to elect Joe Biden.”

Michelle Obama: The former First Lady, Mrs. Obama is a very sharp lawyer, and her giving an effective speech is not that much of a surprise. But she delivered a blistering critique of President Trump that probably won’t be plagiarized by Trump’s First Lady.

Mrs. Obama emphasized the importance of the moment, the need to vote, because of this year’s sharp contrast. She was articulate and personal, and showed why she is such a popular figure even though she noted that she hates politics.

Her presentation:

And what I think is the best quote from it:

“So let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head. He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”

John Kasich: Kasich, a Republican former governor of Ohio was one of several speakers from his party, as he noted, an unusual move. Some progressive Democrats groused about this Republican getting more time than figures such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for instance. It’s a grouse with some basis.

But I can see why Kasich was featured. He stood at a literal crossroads to talk of the nation at the crossroads. He is not the most passionate nor effective of speakers, but I think his message still resonated. He and the other Republican speakers were there to remind the nation that loyalty to Donald Trump is not the same thing as loyalty to what the GOP has traditionally stood for.

So Kasich may not have been the most dynamic speaker on his own, but I still think is message was effective.

His presentation:

And what I think is the best quote from it:

“I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country. That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen, but these are not normal times.
“I’m proud of my Republican heritage. It’s the party of Lincoln, who reflected its founding principles of unity and a higher purpose. But what I have witnessed these past four years belies those principles.”

Elizabeth Warren: Sen. Warren was among the many former rivals for the nomination who spoke in support of Joe Biden, and hers was the most memorable endorsement from a rival, to me. She spoke clearly, passionately and in the perfectly chosen setting—a childcare center where blocks in the background were a clear shoutout to the Bureau of Land Management. (JK, #Blacklivesmatter).

And I thought Senator Warren told a compelling personal anecdote (used pathos) that tied into a compelling policy issue on childcare (some logos there) and then followed it up with one of the best zingers of the convention on President Trump: “COVID-19 was Trump’s biggest test. He failed miserably.”

So much for bragging about passing a cognitive test, Don.

Her presentation:

And what I think is the best quote from it:

“Donald Trump's ignorance and incompetence have always been a danger to our country. COVID-19 was Trump's biggest test. He failed miserably.”

Barack Obama. The immediate past President of the United States Barack Hussein Obama gave a slightly long-winded speech, but one was that startling and riveting.

For three and a half years, Mr. Obama has bit his tongue. Former presidents don’t normally criticize present presidents. But these are unusual times, and as Mr. Obama noted at some length, Donald Trump is not just a terrible president. Trump and Trumpism is an affront to the very democratic fabric of our republic—it’s not hyperbole to wonder if the American experiment is being withered from within by Trump and his Republican enablers.

So, in a sharp convention speech, Mr. Obama finally let his tongue go. And go it did. It was, for Mr. Obama, who is all about light and hope, a rather dark speech because it was a clarion call, a warning about dark times.

Re-electing Donald Trump would be a disaster was the subtext. And the text made it clear what Mr. Obama really things of Donald Trump. Trump, Mr. Obama says, is using the presidency as a reality TV show to gain personal gratification. Trump is not trying to lead a contry; in fact, Trump doesn’t even understand what the job of the president is.

I put Mr. Obama’s speech last because I think it had, for me, the most impact. It was a sharp reminder of what a president can do with words if he can speak them, as Donald Trump can’t. And because Mr. Obama is a writer with a way of words, I’ll feature two quotes from his speech.

His presentation:

And what I think are the best two quotes from it:

Quote one: “I did hope, for the sake of our country, that Donald Trump might show some interest in taking the job seriously; that he might come to feel the weight of the office and discover some reverence for the democracy that had been placed in his care.
“But he never did. For close to four years now, he's shown no interest in putting in the work; no interest in finding common ground; no interest in using the awesome power of his office to help anyone but himself and his friends; no interest in treating the presidency as anything but one more reality show that he can use to get the attention he craves.
“Donald Trump hasn't grown into the job because he can't.”

Quote two: “But more than anything, what I know about Joe and Kamala is that they actually care about every American. And they care deeply about this democracy.
“They believe that in a democracy, the right to vote is sacred, and we should be making it easier for people to cast their ballot, not harder.
“They believe that no one -- including the president -- is above the law, and that no public official -- including the president -- should use their office to enrich themselves or their supporters.
“They understand that in this democracy, the Commander-in-Chief doesn't use the men and women of our military, who are willing to risk everything to protect our nation, as political props to deploy against peaceful protesters on our own soil. They understand that political opponents aren't 'un-American' just because they disagree with you; that a free press isn't the 'enemy' but the way we hold officials accountable; that our ability to work together to solve big problems like a pandemic depends on a fidelity to facts and science and logic and not just making stuff up.
“None of this should be controversial. These shouldn't be Republican principles or Democratic principles. They're American principles. But at this moment, this president and those who enable him, have shown they don't believe in these things.”

I will try to pay the same attention to the Republicans this week, but it will be tough. I’m not entertained much by hatred and ignorance, and I’m afraid appeals to our worst demons will be way more common than appeals to the better angels of our nature.

But, unlike Fox, I’ll attend to both conventions. So if you want to, watch a week from now for my highlights from the next political summer funfest.

And before I am done, two little clips from the DNC that I enjoyed very much, although they don’t count as speeches. First, the Biden granddaughters speak, and steal the show. Their message to Joe Biden was, to quote one of them: “Get in that race.” What a contrast these young people are to that scary tribe named "Trump." And the final word goes to The Chicks who aren’t gas-lighting us with one of my favorite renditions of our (our, not Democrats’, not Republicans’) national anthem.