Meeting in Salt Lake City on Friday, the Republican National Committee (RNC) passed a resolution declaring that the actions of the Insurrection of January 6, 2021, including the violent attempt to overthrow the elected government of the United States and the defilement of the Capitol building, were “legitimate political discourse.” The resolution (co-authored by Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel) was passed by voice vote, without debate, so individual Republican leaders could avoid personal (and legal) responsibility for this outrage against two centuries of American democratic values. They’re not just fascists, they’re weasels.
More:
“Republican party calls January 6 attack ‘legitimate political discourse,’” Martin Pengelly, The Guardian
“GOP leaders approve resolution that says Jan. 6 was ‘legitimate political discourse,’” Bryan Schott, Salt Lake City Tribune
“G.O.P. Declares Jan. 6 Attack ‘Legitimate Political Discourse,’” Jonathan Weisman and Reid J. Epstein, New York Times
Updates:
“Murkowski criticizes RNC calling Jan. 6 attack ‘legitimate political discourse,'” Caroline Vakil,The Hill
“‘Legitimate Political Discourse’ Is Now an Official Republican Party Description of the Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol,” Ryan Bort, Rolling Stone
On Sunday the 2020 Republican National Committee announced that the 2020 GOP presidential campaign will not have a political platform, just a pledge of fealty to Donald Trump. Perhaps the Republican Party should now be called a Cult of Personality Disorder.
More:
“The GOP Has No Party Platform. Literally.” Cristina Cabrera, TalkingPointsMemo
“GOP Will Not Write a 2020 Platform, Pledges Undying Trump Support Instead,” Jonathan Chait, New York Magazine
“Why Republicans didn’t write a platform for their convention this year,” Andrew Prokop, Vox
“It’s official: Trump is the GOP. And the GOP is Trump.” Paul Waldman, Washington Post
“The Trump MAGA-verse consumes the RNC,” Tina Nguyen, Politico
Image (“Trump Triumphalism at 2020 RNC, after an 1885 Varanasi painting”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Trump real estate, resorts, and “universities” are sold through Fear of Missing Out. In this sulfurous speech, the Trump presidency is being marketed though fear of marauding hordes of barbarians and brigands, a dystopian future American hellscape. How can we be saved? “I am The Way the Law and Order candidate,” declares The Donald.
But we all know that Mr. Trump is no statesman, he’s a Reality TV star. So how did his astounding diatribe rate as entertainment?
“Donald Trump’s Acceptance Speech Paints Apocalyptic Vision From a B-Movie,” Maureen Ryan, Variety
More:
“Donald Trump’s Caesar Moment,” Jeff Greenfield, Politico
“Why Trump sounded more like a strongman than a movement conservative,” James Hohmann, Washington Post
“Trump paints a grim portrait of the U.S. and casts himself as its only savior in GOP acceptance speech,” Mark Z. Barabak and Noah Bierman, Los Angeles Times
“Donald Trump’s RNC Speech Was a Terrifying Display of Nightmarish Authoritarianism,”Peter Suderman, Reason
“Trump conjures a mythical vision of a dark America as he doubles down on campaign themes,” Gwynn Guilford, Quartz
Lisa Shin, optometrist, of Korean Americans for Trump (founded in April), who formed a new non-certifying optometry association and then resigned from it; one of very few non-blonde women speaking at the Convention
Melania Knaus Trump, Slovene-American former model and the incumbent Mrs. Trump
During this week’s GOP Convention in Cleveland, you can’t carry tennis balls or water pistols near the event arena, but you can carry a gun. Ohio is an “open carry” state. What could possibly go wrong?
But don’t try to carry firearms into Quicken Loans Arena, though. Republican conventioneers may not care about the safety of ordinary citizens, but they’re concerned about their own hides, especially if they can put the “gun-free zone” blame on those “Nanny State” Secret Service killjoys. Actually, privately owned Quicken Loans Arena never allows patrons to carry any weapons, but Republicans aren’t going to blame a business for saying what happens on its own premises.
More:
“Cleveland Police Union Asks Kasich To Suspend Open Carry Laws For RNC,” Sara Jerde, TPM Livewire
“Journalists are getting trained like war correspondents to cover the US conventions,” Maria Muriel, The World (PRI)
“What’s a University For? Case Western Suddenly Shuts Down to House Riot Police,” Belt Magazine
“Your Guide to Cleveland’s Security Nightmare,” Eric Levitz, New York Magazine
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Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com
Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Congress gave Cleveland $30 million for event security, so the Ohio town is really gearing up to greet the 50,000 visiting GOP conventioneers, including Donald Trump’s legion of goons, bikers, and KKK followers. Suburban law enforcement will lend officers to bring the Cleveland force up to 5,000, but maybe Governor Kasich can have his confetti bomber on call for emergency crowd immobilization, just in case.
Republicans were nuts to ask him to speak at their National Convention, says Clint Eastwood. “If somebody’s dumb enough to ask me to go to a political convention and say something, they’re gonna have to take what they get,” Eastwood told interviewer Jerry Penacoli.
More:
“Clint Eastwood: Republicans Were ‘Dumb’ To Ask Me to Speak at RNC,” TMZ
“After the chair: Clint Eastwood’s tormented legacy,” Andrew O’Heheir, Salon
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