Cromwell

There is no getting around it:  the overriding theme of the first two days of the convention has been that Hillary Clinton belongs in jail.  The most vivid speeches, and the strongest response from the delegates, have revolved around this point.

I don’t think we can safely dismiss this as “truthful hyperbole” anymore.  The GOP is creating an expectation among its supporters that President Trump will send his political opponents to prison.  When you add “Lock her up” to Trump’s promises to violate international law and bring back torture, his unconditional support for the police, his interest in libel law “reform,” and his overall strong man act, you have to take seriously the possibility that he intends to use all of the powers of the Presidency to stifle and even jail his opponents.

That, my friends, is the road to fascism.  Every Republican who stands on the stage in Cleveland and supports this platform is saying, in essence, that he would rather live in a fascist state than one run by Hillary Clinton.  Sad!

Ted Cruz and other losing GOP candidates blame the MSM for their defeat, which they attribute to the amount of free air time given to Trump (Cruz sees this as a liberal conspiracy).  Trump, for his part, complains endlessly about the quality of the coverage he gets, and regularly incites crowds at campaign rallies by attacking reporters.  The MSM have defended the amount and tenor of the Trump coverage by admitting that he makes for good ratings, but pointing to their obligation to check facts.

Who’s right here?  Actually, all of them are, at least to some extent.

There is no doubt that Trump, due to his celebrity and his gift for outrageousness, received far more free air time than his rivals;  without it, his campaign would have been toast.  The coverage of Trump was more critical than the coverage of his rivals, but he brought that on himself by being a blowhard and a liar.  Finally, the MSM are operating in a universe dominated by the internet in which they can no longer serve the public interest gatekeeper function to the same extent that they did 25 years ago.  They’re all just businesses chasing ratings now, so it is hardly surprising that they paid more attention to Trump than to his rivals.

There once was a Donald named Trump.

The MSM made him a grump.

His gaffes and his lies

Cannot be a surprise.

They’ll help Hill get over the hump.

The Trump coronation drags on.

They finally anointed the Don.

Ben Carson was weird;

Chris Christie was cheered;

All Cleveland can’t wait till they’re gone.

The convention has rolled through day two.

The Melania gaffe’s in the news.

Some love from the kids

But the show’s hit the skids

With conservatives singing the blues.

Paul Simon’s “The Werewolf” would make a perfect soundtrack for yesterday’s events at the Republican Convention.  Listen to it and try to tell me I’m wrong.

The GOP delegates know

How to put on an angry white show.

For strength is the answer.

They’ll cut out the cancers

And tell the whole world where to go.

Day one of the Cleveland convention.

The mood is of pure apprehension.

The speakers talk tough

But it isn’t enough

We also require comprehension.

I will leave the irony of her plagiarism to other commentators.  My question is simple:  would an average American woman listen to a speech from a glamorous and absurdly wealthy ex-model with a Slovenian accent and say to herself, “That’s me up there!  She understands me and my struggles!  She feels my pain!”

I have my doubts.

Yes, no, and maybe–it depends on the issue.

Yes, in that I can’t imagine a future candidate relying so heavily on the trappings of celebrity and ignoring the nuts and bolts of a conventional campaign:  a solid ground game; fundraising; a genuinely professional staff; etc.

No, as to the coarseness of the campaign, the extreme position on immigration, and the neo-isolationist foreign policy.  Remember, Mitt Romney ran on “self-deportation” in 2012;  Trump simply picked that up and lifted it to a new level. We are seeing campaign commercials for candidates for state offices who are talking about the wall.   This part of Trumpism isn’t going away anytime soon.

Maybe, on entitlements and protectionism.  These are Trump’s biggest heresies; they pit a large percentage of the GOP electorate against the leadership and the donor class.  I don’t know how that story ends yet.

Florence Welch had me from the first few notes of “Ceremonials.”  Mostly, it’s because I’m a sucker for great operatic pop;  after all, I’m also a huge fan of The Who, Bruce Springsteen, and U2.  The more I learned about her, however, the more she resembled my mother as a young woman:  brilliant; passionate; otherworldly; and courageous enough to live her life with her heart on her sleeve in a world that runs on irony.  She even performs in her bare feet!  Her music makes my mother’s absence easier to bear.

Flo is a tremendous singer, particularly in her lower register.  She is a good, but not great, writer.  As a performer, she has improved by leaps and bounds over the years;  if you watch tape of her from 2010, she’s probably singing off-key, but she fixed that problem years ago, and today, she’s nothing short of amazing on stage.  Her energy is off the charts, and the overall effect can be euphoric.

By contrast, the first time I listened to Lana Del Rey’s “Honeymoon,” I thought it was music to commit suicide by.  The characters in the songs are so filled with ennui, they can barely summon the energy to take drugs and go to parties.  The package is so downbeat, I can’t imagine hearing it live.  It just wouldn’t work.

On the second listening, however, it became clear that the characters in the songs were personas, and that the songs themselves were memorable and well-crafted. On the third listening, I started to become aware that most, if not all, of the songs were inspired by Hollywood movies, and that the plots were both dark and vivid. In that respect, the record is extremely, and admirably, ambitious.

Both Flo and Lana wrote and performed songs for “The Great Gatsby.”  I can remember reading comments at the time in which their respective fans were talking trash to each other about the quality of their work.  The great thing about music, however, is that you don’t have to choose:  you can enjoy them both, even if they are extremely different.  And I do.

                The Greatest Show on Earth

The greatest show on earth has come to town.

The one that’s light on laughs, but big on clowns.

They’re here to give the biggest one a crown.

For years to come, they’ll have to live it down.

 

Quicken Loans, the site of famous duels.

The Jordan shot–he takes Ehlo to school.

The playoff Cavs; LeBron of many tools.

The place has never seen so many fools.

Dear MC:

Greetings from Cleveland!  There’s an incredible winning vibe in this city.  Trump and LeBron:  that’s the ticket!

Speaking of winning–we need to talk.

I know, the last few decades have been tough on you.  The cost of health insurance has skyrocketed, while your wages have stagnated.  But you know who’s to blame?  The worthless, lazy, shiftless minorities who keep picking your pocket and insisting you should feel guilty!  Illegal immigrants who want to steal your job and make you speak Spanish!  Foreigners who sneer at your help and screw you over!  And uppity women who think they have a right to tell you what to do!

You have a choice:  you can align yourself with a band of losers who will take your money and call it “justice,” or you can vote for a group of winners who will protect you from the pickpockets and put the country back in safe hands again. Yes, it’s true that the rich will get a lot more out of this than you do, but at least it’s their own money, not yours.

Together, we can make America great again!

Love,

The GOP

 

As my regular Sandersday feature winds down, the question now is what impact Bernie’s campaign will have on the Democratic Party in the future.  Here are my projections:

1.  Break up the big banks!  The role of the big banks in the economy is not an issue that resonates with the average American on a daily basis.  The statute of limitations has run on this one.  Barring a new crisis and bailout, banks will not be a big issue in future campaigns.

2.  Free public college for all:  This is a really bad idea, partly embraced by the Clinton campaign (alas), that will not get through Congress.  I suspect and hope that it, too, will disappear in the future.

3.  Single-payer:  Single-payer is an excellent idea that is simply politically impossible, because it treads on too many powerful vested interests.  The best hope for a kind of single-payer system would be to adopt the public option and see if it overwhelms the competition.

4.  Expanding social security:  The Clinton campaign has accepted this in a small way.  It will be on the table in the future.

On the whole, while most of Bernie’s ideas for the expansion of the welfare state were unsophisticated or impractical, I give him credit for at least beginning the discussion.  I think the UBI and EITC expansion will be seriously debated in 2020.

I suggested Pence as a VP pick in a post back in April.  I would love to take credit for it, but somehow I don’t think Trump reads this blog.