Politics Plus

Yesterday evening, I had the misfortune of turning on the TV to MSNBC, who was spending far too much time covering the Rectumite Rampage in Cleveland.  Fortunately, I made it to the trash can in time.  I heard several speakers. Here is the complete list of everything useful and/or honest that they said:

[end of list]

One of the low points of the evening was the speech by Melania Trump, who made it clear that intellect was not the reason Rump Dump bought her.

The centerpiece of the opening night of the Republican Convention was the speech by Melania Trump, the wife of Donald Trump. But her pleasant performance was soon overshadowed by allegations of plagiarism.

Candidate Trump, the ultimate showman, made an unprecedented and dramatic appearance on the first night of the convention to introduce his wife. Mrs. Trump praised her husband, speaking in a Slovenian accent, to an enthusiastic reception from the delegates. But shortly after the convention wrapped up she became the center of a swirling controversy. Two of the passages she read were strikingly similar to the speech Michelle Obama made to the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

“From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life,” a poised Mrs. Trump said, “that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life.” In her 2008 speech Mrs. Obama said, “And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: like, you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond, that you do what you say you’re going to do, that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them and even if you don’t agree with them.”

Mrs. Trump then added, “We need to pass those lessons on to the many generations to follow… Because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.” Back in 2008, Mrs. Obama added, “Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values and to pass them onto the next generation, because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them.”

Earlier in the day Mrs. Trump told NBC News that she had written the speech.

From <Huffington Post>

Rachel Maddow covered this Republican Crime in two segments.

First:

Second:

I agree that  Melania did not know she was plagiarizing.  She isn’t that bright, and when Michelle gave that speech the most intellectual thing Melania had ever done was strut her butt with a gun next to a Trump plane.  Trump’s speechwriters put Michelle’s words in Melania’s mouth, because Melania has no story of her own to tell, other that that of a rich old man’s trophy wife.

Instead of owning up and firing a speechwriter, the Trump campaign has decided that they did nothing wrong.  The incident, they say,  is Hillary’s fault.

Almost every week, Republicans join a competition to see who can say the most outlandish things, and in the process, they push the envelope on just how delusional InsaniTEA can become.  I trust that you will believe it, when I tell you that last week was no exception.

Newt must have thought he still had a shot.

In a way, we’re almost sad that the Newtster didn’t get the nod in Trump’s veepstakes this week. Think of the dumpster fire around which we’d all be warming our hands by now.

Gingrich did manage to use his brief moments of recent relevance to good effect, reminding us all how this atrocious idiot needs to be jettisoned to his rightful place on history’s dust heap ASAP. Still apparently auditioning for the job he did not get, Gingrich took to the airwaves before the dead in Nice had even been covered in sheets Thursday night, and called for thought policing Muslims in America. Because that’ll show the terorrists.

"Let me be as blunt and direct as I can be: Western civilization is in a war. We should frankly test every person here who is of a Muslim background, and if they believe in Sharia, they should be deported," Gingrich told Fox bobblehead Sean Hannity, who bobbled his head in whole-hearted agreement. "Sharia is incompatible with Western civilization. Modern Muslims who have given up Sharia, glad to have them as citizens. Perfectly happy to have them next door."

Seriously? Do these two idiot boxes really think that will work?

No less hysterically, Donald Trump confirmed that we are indeed at war, and that blaming innocent people fleeing actual war is the right way to go. "We’re dealing with people without uniforms … we are allowing people into our country — we have no idea where they are coming from. They have no paperwork, no documentation," Trump told buddy-boy Bill O’Reilly. "This may be the great Trojan Horse of all time."

This is the calm (but tiny) hand that wants to steer our ship of state.

By Friday Gingrich was acknowledging his idea was a little unrealistic and a little unconstitutional, and tried to assuage the fears of Muslims, saying, "This is not about targeting a particular religion or targeting people who practice in a particular way."

Huh, really? Sure sounded like it

Newt hasn’t lost a step, spewing hatred on cue, but otherwise, he would have never had a chance.  This is the first of five delusional Republican moments listed from Last week alone.  Click through for the other four.

Most Americans will be aware that the Republican Convention will start tomorrow, but for those living elsewhere that news may have been eclipsed by the shocking news of other events such as the horrific attack in Nice or the attempted coup in Turkey. For those who want to do a quick catching up, get some background information, familiarize themselves with this particular convention for the first time or are just interested in a Dutch view on a very American happening, the translated article below may be of interest.

A NEW IMPULSE FOR THE TRUMP BRAND

Monday the Republican Convention starts in Cleveland: a lot of air time for Donald Trump, the most unpopular presidential candidate ever. In the next few days in Cleveland Trump can thoroughly reorganize the party.

By our correspondent Guus Valk in Washington.

“Schedule of the Convention will be announced tomorrow," Donald Trump tweeted last Wednesday. "Let’s talk today about Crooked Hillary and the corrupt system under which we are suffering."

After this tweet eight days of silence set in around Donald Trump. He did produce names of speakers for the Republican Convention in Cleveland, which commences on Monday, let alone come up with a schedule. Only at the end of this a provisional list week was published. That list was more than remarkable, especially because of the many names that are not on it.

There are hardly any party public figures on the list. Former presidential candidates Mitt Romney, John McCain and Bob Dole will not attend. The whole Bush family is absent. There are just as many Trumps who speak as senators do (both six). Only four of the 31 Governors are willing to give a talk. The list is supplemented by speakers from the network TV world, where Trump feel at home. TV stars will be speaking, such as former model Antonio Sabàto, Jr. and Kimberlin Brown of The Bold and The Beautiful.

This is not a Republican Convention.

Donald Trump will have himself crowned this week in the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland as presidential candidate for the Republican party. But of that party there’s hardly a trace. Republicans who can afford to stay away, won’t show. Instead outside the motorcycle club Bikers for Trump will drive around, complete with weapons and flag-waving. They’re going to "guarantee the safety" of the visitors, said a spokesman. "Paid rioters on Trump-meetings throw eggs and become violent. We won’t permit that here."

Four days of Trumpism

American political parties organized Conventions until well into the twentieth century to decide who could lead the party. This task has slowly faded into the background. Conventions became applause machines, tailored to primetime TV.

That is why Conventions last four days these days: those are four nights of free advertising on all networks. The week after the Republicans the Democrats will show how that’s done: applause, balloons, confetti and no hassle around the candidate, Hillary Clinton.

This Republican Convention is different. This is no celebration of conservatism, this is four days of Trumpism. Trumps ideas are miles off from the Republican consensus, they are often even contradictory to it.. The party leadership is deeply embarrassed by the candidate who has won the primaries, and rather sees the coming Convention as an advertisement against the Republicans. In November not only a new president is elected, but also a large part of Congress. The party leadership fears losing the majority in the Senate and see Trump as a great risk.

However, the party is not a mechanism to dump Trump. The Democrats have built in the mechanism of 'super delegates', unpledged public figures with voting rights, through which the elite can smother the chances of any unwanted candidate. Republicans don’t have this escape. They have to make do with the candidate whom the voters, often not even tied to the party, decide on. The horrified party leadership saw how Trump managed to defeat sixteen competitors.

Donald Trump is having himself crowned as presidential candidate for the Republican Party at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

Gap between top and voter

This is not unique to the Republicans. Whenever political parties in Western democracies allow their constituencies to choose a leader, this may well go wrong for party leadership. Just think about Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn: unpopular with his fellow party members in the House of Commons, and not seen as a leader who brings in votes for the party. Yet someone who retains his position because he does well with active constituents.

Trumps situation is similar. He benefits from the huge gap between party leadership and Republican voters. Speaker Paul Ryan of the House of Representatives, de facto party leader, wants the party to modernize. Republicans need to stick to the core conservative ideas, such as a small government, low taxes and traditional family values. In addition the party must open itself up to a changing America. Latino-voters, African-Americans, young women should also feel at home, he says, because the base (older white men) is shrinking.

Donald Trump has cut across this strategy completely. He became popular because he took aim against 'political correctness'. He took on his own party as well as Democrats. Trump is not in favor of free trade, calls for preservation of the Welfare State and is not at all against government intervention. That is, as long he leads that government. He’s insulted virtually all groups in American society, making it impossible for Paul Ryan’s broad coalition ever to succeed. Trump's support among black voters is around 1%.

Trumps natural base consists of lower educated white voters who believe that they are the losers of Barack Obama's America. That has been a mighty group during the Republican primaries, but not for November, when Trump will have to convince floating voters.

Although the dissatisfaction with Trump is large, there may be in Cleveland virtually nothing more can happen to dethrone Trump. Of course, the #NeverTrump movement is still alive. This initiative is led by influential conservatives who think Trump is without principles. They were active this week in subcommittees on party rules, those nobody normally pays attention to. They tried to change the rules for the Convention.

This was the plan: at the moment delegates must vote for the candidate who won in their district, their own opinion does not count. The anti-Trump-camp wanted to turn it into a 'conscience vote': delegates should be able to vote whichever way they want. That way Trump’s position might crumble. But Trump’s stalwarts saw through the intrigue and swiftly put an end to it.

What now? Riots? Chaos? Everything is possible, like as a ' 1976 ' scenario. That also was a year of great internal unrest. The party leadership wanted to nominate president Gerald Ford again, but conservative populism haunted the party. Ronald Reagan tried to depose Ford at the Convention in Kansas City and just failed by a narrow margin.

As was the case in 1976, behind the current division an ideological conflict is hiding. Today’s Reagan, Ted Cruz, will speak at the Convention, while still not openly supporting Trump. Many conservative Republicans see him as their last hope. Perhaps Cruz can become the present day Reagan. Because admittedly Reagan lost at the Convention, yet won the nomination four years later.

Chaos lies in wait

Many Republicans still think of Trump as passer-by, and that his followers will disappear of their own accord. Maybe congressional elections will turn out better than expected in November. And if Trump loses the White House, that's no disaster either. Everything will return to normal even faster after November. Even a chaos at the Convention – riots, anarchy, shouting – suits the elite just fine.

But the next few days in Cleveland Trump has the opportunity to thoroughly reorganize the party. There is a new party platform to vote on, in which Trumps ideas will play a large role.

Opponents barely get the stage. For a whole week Trump will have ample opportunity to give a new impulse to the Trump brand.

Which is desperately needed, because he is by far the unpopular presidential candidate in modern history (Clinton is in second place). But, as ally Newt Gingrich worriedly noted this week, chaos is lurking. "This is all new to him. He is someone who thinks he can cobble together a Convention in a few days."

This article was published in the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad on Saturday, 16 July 2016, page 16-17