In Milwaukee, Trump Again Shows Why He's Beatable
The 90 Minutes' Hate Doesn't Sell Well
Donald Trump is who we knew he was. His Castro-like ramble last night reminded all Americans that this dotard should never be within a country mile of the White House, or any responsibility, ever again. Trump belongs nowhere but his own golf courses, where his cheating may annoy those around him, but causes little other damage.
But, Reed, you say, the first 15 minutes was ‘spellbinding’ as he described surviving an assassination attempt. Eye glazing, maybe. Trump reading from a teleprompter has the same effect as mixing quaaludes and LSD. Everything is out of focus and you’re not sure if what you’re seeing is real. Either way, you’re very sleepy.
“Unity”
When Trump and his campaign said this week’s Republican National Convention would focus on “unity” they weren’t lying, but too many people misunderstood what they meant. The goal in Milwaukee was not to bring America together, but to formally and finally absorb the GOP into MAGA. Up to now there had been outliers, apostates, and controlled opposition. That’s all gone now. GOP = MAGA. MAGA = GOP. They both equal TRUMP.
Trump ‘unifying’ message lasted only as long as his diffuse cerebral atrophy would allow him to focus on the teleprompter. Once his frontal cortex was exhausted from reading the words on the screen, he hit ‘Play’ on his greatest hits mix tape.
It wasn’t quite Nuremberg 1935, but it had the same effect of uniting party faithful around “the Leader.” The fire marshal wouldn’t allow the torches inside the arena, so they had to settle for fist pumps and “Trump! Trump! Trump!” chants instead.
Trump IS Beatable
Despite Democratic infighting since last month’s debate, there is a reason why Trump can’t gain escape velocity: He’s nuts and the majority of Americans know it. Last night only reinforced the image of an unhinged old man, flop sweat glistening off his orange pancake makeup as he rambled and ranted incoherently like my step-grandfather used to.
Americans know what they get with Trump, and many of them, even now, aren’t buying what he’s selling. We as the pro-democracy coalition must take the (metaphorical) gloves off and remind our fellow Americans day in and day out, what Trump’s return means for all of us.
We Have to Talk About JD
The people around Trump didn’t want Senator JD Vance (R-Peter Thiel) as the VP nominee. They made that plain in press reports around the pick. Don Jr. and Eric (the Uday and Qusay of the clan) leaned on Doddering Don to pick the freshman senator and erstwhile hillbilly*.
*I was born in a hillbilly town so I don’t want to hear any of your guff about me looking down on hill people.
Vance is the first vice presidential nominee to get an immediate endorsement from the Russian foreign minister. Sergei Lavrov, Putin’s overseas butler said the following about Vance:
"He's in favor of peace, he's in favor of ending the assistance that's being provided and we can only welcome that because that's what we need - to stop pumping Ukraine full of weapons and then the war will end," Lavrov told reporters.
Under a Trump-Vance administration, there will be no daylight between Russia’s foreign policy and America’s. Vance has been vociferous in his opposition to Ukraine’s fight for freedom and democracy.
Connect these dots for me: Paul Manafort + Donald Trump + Donald Trump Jr. + JD Vance…
Vance himself is an unreconstructed neo-fascist. Among other things, he said he wanted to ‘free women’ from the burden of working (though his wife is a super lawyer) and believes women should stay in abusive relationships.
It’s a curious pick for Trump for another reason. The addition of someone like JD Vance to his administration means that, if he does win on November 5th, Trump is a lame duck on November 6th.
That’s not to say Trump and his Project 2025 goons won’t do their worst in four years, but Vance’s presence puts a definite end-date on Trump’s presidency. Once Trump figures that out, he may remember that taking advice from a vacuum cleaner like Don Jr. was a bad idea.
Question Time
Now that Trump and Vance are officially nominated, it’s time for the questions to begin.
First, Vance clearly wasn’t vetted in any real way. There are and will be more questions about his background that are both fertile and legitimate territory. I’ll start: Vance served in the US Marine Corps, but never talks about it. Why not?
Next, and this is specifically for my friends in the media, ask what Trump and Co. mean by “Mass Deportation.” Don’t let them get away with something like, “taking our country back.”
Ask them specifically what they mean by the phrase and the objective. I’ll help you:
How are you going to identify who gets deported?
How will you distinguish between undocumented immigrants, naturalized citizens, and native-born Americans?
Who will carry out this program? What will their rules of engagement be?
Will you deputize state and local law enforcement to assist? What if the governor refuses to cooperate?
Once you’ve identified them, how are you going to take them into custody?
What happens if they refuse to go peacefully?
What happens to their property: Homes, cars, personal items, post-detention and deportation?
Once you’ve taken them into custody, where will they be housed before deportation?
Assuming you’ll need holding facilities, where will they be and who will maintain their security and sanitary conditions? How will you ensure families are not (again) separated?
If a federal court enjoins your administration from carrying out the deportations, will you abide by their ruling, or proceed anyway?
What vehicle (car, plane, boat, spaceship, arc) do you plan to use in the deportation of 10 million people?
What happens if the country to which you’re sending these people refuses to accept them?
How will you account for the economic wreckage caused by millions of people being taken out of both the taxpayer and consumer populations?
They shouldn’t be allowed to use a sterile expression like “Mass Deportation.” Make them define the act for what it is: Ethnic Cleansing.
News and Notes:
I want to thank so many of you for the comments and words of encouragement on my last post. You can read it here.
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109 Days to Victory!
And probably the biggest wreckage of all: "the workforce"!
How will you account for the economic wreckage caused by millions of people being taken out of both the taxpayer and consumer populations?"
Excellent list of questions. Bet they can’t answer a single one.