The editors of the Washington Post summarize their view of the Republican National Convention and President Trump in their editorial on the last night of the RNC:
His acceptance speech Thursday night, a seemingly endless recital of by-now familiar falsehoods, was notable principally for when and how it took place: before a crowd of more than 1,000 mostly unmasked people on a White House lawn festooned with campaign insignia. Mr. Trump managed to merge contempt for public health with desecration of a public monument, the final and most jarring of the convention’s exploitations of the perks of public office for political purposes. Earlier in the week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke from Jerusalem, where he was traveling on government business, and the president granted a surprise pardon and staged an on-screen naturalization ceremony, two of whose participants-turned-props weren’t even aware they’d be starring on national TV.
The speech elevated the darkest themes of the convention. The Republican National Committee chose not even to adopt a platform this cycle. In other words, the party no longer stands for anything. So it was unsurprising that, relying on a mixture of hyperbole and lies, both Mr. Trump and the speakers preceding him highlighted what they’re against. Joe Biden, Mr. Trump said, is a “Trojan horse for socialism†in whose America “no one will be safe.†Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) summed it up earlier in the week: “The woke-topians will . . . disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home and invite MS-13 to live next door.†All this scaremongering was accompanied by outright slander of Mr. Biden, against whom Republicans leveled unsubstantiated corruption charges — and whose record and platform alike Mr. Trump distorted into almost a parody of radicalism.
Meanwhile, bereft of a positive record or a second-term agenda, Republicans created a mythical present in which the coronavirus is vanquished, the economy is booming, our “brave soldiers†are “on the way home†from the Middle East and, astonishingly, Mr. Trump is bosom buddies with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. In this fictional realm, a man who lauded white supremacists as “very fine people†becomes a champion of racial comity, and a leader who ignored warnings about the pandemic actually sets the global standard for disease response. Mr. Trump touted selective statistics about the country’s purported success confronting covid-19; he neglected to mention the more than 177,000 Americans who have died so far, or the more than 1,000 who died on the day of his address.
I find both today’s Republicans and the editors of the WaPo and by extension the Democratic Party trapped in their own narratives about what is happening. Where the Democrats see peaceful protests, Republicans see cities in flames, where Democrats see characteristic American welcoming of immigrants, Republicans see borders open to criminals, where Democrats see prudent measures to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, Republicans see authoritarian micromanagement of everyday life. There’s a kernel of truth in each side’s narrative, overlaid with an enormous amount of fear and mistrust.
I think it was psychologist Yuri Bronfenbrenner who first applied the principle of psychological projection—attributing undesireable feeling, emotions, or motives to others rather than dealing with them in yourself—to foreign policy and politics. I think there’s an unhealthy dollop of that here and neither political party is particularly attractive right now.
Largely in agreement here. Both parties are problematic, its just that the GOP is worse right now. If Biden is elected I can guarantee you that you wont hear me going on about how Biden is awesome and only he can save the country. I still do not understand that hero worship thing.
Steve
No hero worship here, I just know that a Biden victory brings everyone from the Obama years moving back into their jobs. Kerry, Clinton, Comey. A return to yesteryear and that won’t satisfy the squad. It’s looking more and more like the BLM platform will be the final Biden platform.
The squeeky wheel, you know.
After reading the Washington Post excerpt posted, I just sighed. How do you even address, let alone counter such harsh assessments of another party?
Putting a 177,000 death toll, arising from a pandemic not seen in a hundred years, onto a sitting president, is similar to saying the death toll/casualties/damage done from a massive natural catastrophe is the fault of one human being. Blaming the violence occurring around the country onto a president, whose help has been soundly rejected by mayors and governors calling the shots in those violated regions, is equivalent to political assault and battery. Using COVID 19 as a constant wedge issue, having both parties sparring, trying to game and blame everything associated with this virus on someone/something else: the usage of certain antivirals vs others: vaccine urgency and efficacy; what guidelines are more effective vs those most injurious; lavish praise on a governor with the highest case and fatality rates, while excoriating other governors with much lower fatality/case rates, but dealing with virus spikes – it all seems like a tediously dishonest effort, by 2 different parties, to gain political advantage in an election year.
Consequently, Dave’s one-liner, about dueling parties bring “trapped in their own narrative,†seems like a sane deduction. In my own “partisan†perspective, I would like to see the Dems less combative in their finger pointing, and more on board with “fair†solutions. I also think Republicans could dilute the current toxic brew of recriminations by toning down accusations of socialism being around every corner. This being said, I continue to see denying police the ability to adequately police out-of-control violence is absurd, oppose exchanging government-run health care for the right to chose private healthcare, see greater tax burdens as negatively effecting the middle class, and shutter at the possibility of VBM mandates, in the midst of outdated, inaccurate voter registration rolls, coordinated by inexperienced, understaffed state agencies, as being an invitation for fraud and chaos – and, may indeed be unlocking the door to more of a government-run society than one managed “freely†by the people.
“After reading the Washington Post excerpt posted, I just sighed. How do you even address, let alone counter such harsh assessments of another party?”
I believe someone raised the issue of projection. However, one must admit that its clear Trump is a traitorous Russian spy. Its true. Spread it…… snicker
“As violent rioting continues across Democrat controlled cities, Kamala Harris’ comments from June are striking: Protesters “should not” let up.â€
And now, with bad polling, she has an epiphany. Projection? Falsehoods? How about her own damned words? And worse. How about her real view?
‘And worse. How about her real view?’
The end justifies the means. And if the means aren’t working, switch means.
The thing that really gets me infuriated about Calamity is not her ‘will to power’ (plenty of politicians have exhibited that, including OMB). It’s her unethical methods. Including not filing one charge against known pederast priests, hiding exculpatory evidence, during trials and refusing to reverse course after sentencing when said evidence is revealed, and keeping prisoners past their time served for their cheap labor. The last is something I would expect from a Bull Conners, not a heroine of the Left.
Tars….I’ve posted those same incredibly unjust acts of Harris, and no Dems here blink or disavow. If there is a response it’s usually something negative about Trump, as if throwing sludge on his character bleaches any egregious slime on Harris’s record.
That’s easy. Like many politicians she has no real views. In fact I think it’s actually pretty rare when politicians have closely held principles. What were Obama’s? Clinton’s? AFAICT Reagan had one: he was an anti-communist. Bush I? Bush II?
So Dave. I know you view Trump as just transactional. I disagree but that’s for another day. Do you not feel he has a worldview today? Does he not express it daily? That’s a primary complaint about him; he tells you what he thinks, in your face. He doesn’t shuck and jive like Obama or others.
Does his opponent have any core values, or just what the polls of the day dictate? And his opponents’ running mate? Can there be a bigger chameleon?
“Tars….I’ve posted those same incredibly unjust acts of Harris, and no Dems here blink or disavow.”
We just recognize concern trolling when we see it. (And assume half of the claims are not true.)
Steve