By Sid Schwab / Herald Columnist
At last week’s Democratic National Convention, Kamala Harris’ and Tim Walz’s speeches were far from the characterizations that followed from Donald Trump and Trumpists (Socialist! Communist!).
Her statements on foreign policy and military support were mainstream Republican positions until Trump. Health care for all? More affordable housing? Only communist ideas? She’s a mainstream liberal, is what she is. Thankfully, America has always had them.
Most of the country is ready to leave behind the grievance-fueled, insult-driven, truth-avoidance of Trump and his eponymous ism. The Republican National Convention was a festival of those things. And Trump. Sent from God Trump. Lying Trump. Weirdly-bandaged-ear Trump. Yes, Democratic delegates cheered their speakers, too; but less for who they are than for what they said.
The RNC was insular. The DNC was outsular. It was about love of country, positivity, freedom. And football. Welcoming everyone. It voiced concern even for Trump voters while encouraging them to reconsider their support. As reverend and senator Raphael Warnock said, a vote is a kind of prayer. For true conservatives, it ought to be for an end to the cult of Trump, for America, a plea to raise from the dead the Republican Party of old. Harris won’t end the rule of law. Trump tried once and has promised to again.
In Chicago, the DNC showcased its current and past leaders. In Milwaukee, the RNC purposefully turned to division, disparagement of all things not-Trump, and avoided mention of its former heroes. Which makes sense; the party of Trump has no respect for any of them. In part, that explains why of 44 members of Trump’s presidential inner circle, 40 refused to attend and most are stating he should never be president again. At the DNC, we heard some of the reasons why.
Fox “news” refused to show the speech of Republican Adam Kinzinger, who urged fellow conservatives to vote for Kamala Harris; not, he said, in agreement with her policies but as an act of true conservatism: preservation of the Republic, bringing their party back to the party. Most people reading this will have seen it, but for those who haven’t and would allow themselves to think outside the Fox, here’s a link: (YouTube: tinyurl.com/appeal2u).
If Kinzinger had become a party outsider, former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham was as inside as it gets; considered part of Trump’s family, spent holidays at Mar-a-Lago. Carefully taught to reject truths that threaten their cultish adoration, Trumpists will dismiss her as a liar, including her revelation that Trump refers to his supporters as “basement dwellers.” (YouTube: tinyurl.com/stephanie4u). But his disrespect for them, evident from the confidence he has in their believing his lies, has been obvious for years, at least since his Barack Obama birth certificate con. I’ve sent operatives to Hawaii, he asserted, and they’re finding “amazing” things. The first was a lie. The second never happened. But it took hold and, for many MAGAs, lives on. That’s Trumpism.
In his DNC speech, Pete Buttigieg succinctly characterized the contrast between Vice-President Kamala Harris and Trump, in what might be the most telling words heard at the convention: leaders matter, he said, “because they bring out the good or the bad.” MAGA’s intentionally cruel responses to Tim Walz’s son Gus’ tearful delight while watching his father speak made clear which leader does what. And it wasn’t only the odious Ann Coulter (YouTube: tinyurl.com/gus4u). As if we hadn’t already known who’s who, watching Trump’s rallies and seeing his sociopathic nastiness get the biggest cheers. MAGA cruelty comes from the top and feeds the bottom.
The Harris/Walz ticket may well win, but Trump won’t lose. He and his family have made millions from his “presidency,” and the grift continues. His latest is a video not unlike those late-night “but wait, there’s more” commercials, though delivered with decidedly less energy; selling his weird superhero “digital cards,” for the low, low price of $99. It’s an easy laugh, but it’ll collect containers of cash from the corruptly conned. Hawking goods like a carnival barker, by a person who once held the job considered the world’s most prestigious, till him. How can anyone consider that presidential? An embarrassment is what it is (X: tinyurl.com/fakecards4u).
But wait: there is more. Faker than flag-hugging, he made a look-at-me trip to Arlington National Cemetery to pretend he honors the fallen. Forcing his way into an area off-limits to campaigning (NPR: tinyurl.com/noplace4u), he got himself photographed behind a tombstone with an inappropriate, thumbs-up, s-e grin (Irish Star: tinyurl.com/thumb4u). Convinced?
Even more: Conservative Juleanna Glover, who worked for several honorable Republican politicians when there were some, spent months tracking down shady, Trump-created shell corporations to which his campaign has sent untraceable and unaccountable millions. (YouTube: tinyurl.com/shells4u).
After seeing the two conventions, it ought to be obvious what to do. Unlike overlooking Trump’s dangers and deceptions, a vote for Vice President Harris doesn’t threaten America’s rule of law and its place in the world. If they don’t like what they see in four years, and if one shows up after the end of Trumpism, Republicans can vote for a real conservative next time.
Email Sid Schwab at columnsid@gmail.com.
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