At seventy-six minutes it was too long by at least a third and basically consisted of a meandering laundry list of promises to fix perceived ills in the country. As expected, he hit law and order, and terrorism hard. The most moving part of the speech when was when he talked about his meetings with parents who have had kids murdered by illegal aliens. I had my bride, who is an informed voter but does not follow politics with the microscopic analysis that I do, watch it, since she is neither pro-Trump nor anti-Trump. Throughout the speech she made comments: “how are you going to do that?”, “specifics!”, “well he just gave some specifics”, etc. At the end she thought it was a success and that Trump came across as honest. With a voter who doesn’t follow politics closely, and who has been fed a diet by the media that Trump is some sort of combination of Satan and the anti-Christ, Trump probably did do himself some good. Heaven knows it wasn’t great oratory, but it was workmanlike and delivered with a fair amount of intensity. Compared to most of Trump’s efforts, it was a good speech.
My personal reaction was rather meh. I have a great love of grand political oratory, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, FDR, William Jennings Bryan, and Trump will never be in that category or come even close. However, I, and other political junkies, were not his target audience, and I think Trump last night did what he had to do to make himself appear an acceptable alternative to Hillary Clinton.
For myself, I kept waiting for the Republican response speech after Trump’s speech. What Trump is selling has little connection to conservatism or Republicanism since Reagan. At best Trump might be compared with an old style liberal Republican in the Richard Nixon mode, although his isolationism and America First populism seems straight out of the thirties of the last century. I think he will defeat Clinton and then after he becomes President we will find out where he really stands, although I will be shocked if he has any interest in reducing the size and power of government, or doing anything that a conservative president would attempt to do.
Judged strictly by oratory, the wrong Trump may be running. I was curious as to whether Ivanka Trump would live up to her hype. She did:
Trump was smart to highlight his kids. Twice divorced, he must have done something right as a dad to have his kids turn out as well as they apparently have.
Here is the text of Ivanka’s dad’s speech:
Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
Together, we will lead our party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to safety, prosperity, and peace. We will be a country of generosity and warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order.
Our Convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead our country.
Americans watching this address tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally, some have even been its victims.
I have a message for all of you: the crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on January 20th 2017, safety will be restored.
The most basic duty of government is to defend the lives of its own citizens. Any government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.
It is finally time for a straightforward assessment of the state of our nation.
I will present the facts plainly and honestly. We cannot afford to be so politically correct anymore.
So if you want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the media myths the Democrats are holding their convention next week.
But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.
These are the facts:
Decades of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this Administration’s rollback of criminal enforcement.
Homicides last year increased by 17% in America’s fifty largest cities. That’s the largest increase in 25 years. In our nation’s capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60% in nearby Baltimore.
In the President’s hometown of Chicago, more than 2,000 have been the victims of shootings this year alone. And more than 3,600 have been killed in the Chicago area since he took office.
The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50% compared to this point last year. Nearly 180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.
The number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so far this year already exceeds the entire total from 2015. They are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.
One such border-crosser was released and made his way to Nebraska. There, he ended the life of an innocent young girl named Sarah Root. She was 21 years-old, and was killed the day after graduating from college with a 4.0 Grade Point Average. Her killer was then released a second time, and he is now a fugitive from the law.
I’ve met Sarah’s beautiful family. But to this Administration, their amazing daughter was just one more American life that wasn’t worth protecting. One more child to sacrifice on the altar of open borders. What about our economy?
Again, I will tell you the plain facts that have been edited out of your nightly news and your morning newspaper: Nearly Four in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58% of African American youth are not employed. 2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the President took his oath of office less than eight years ago. Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.
Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000. Our manufacturing trade deficit has reached an all-time high – nearly $800 billion in a single year. The budget is no better.
President Obama has doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing. Yet, what do we have to show for it? Our roads and bridges are falling apart, our airports are in Third World condition, and forty-three million Americans are on food stamps.
Now let us consider the state of affairs abroad.
Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they have lived through one international humiliation after another. We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian captors at gunpoint.
This was just prior to the signing of the Iran deal, which gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us nothing – it will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever made. Another humiliation came when president Obama drew a red line in Syria – and the whole world knew it meant nothing.
In Libya, our consulate – the symbol of American prestige around the globe – was brought down in flames. America is far less safe – and the world is far less stable – than when Obama made the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America’s foreign policy.
I am certain it is a decision he truly regrets. Her bad instincts and her bad judgment – something pointed out by Bernie Sanders – are what caused the disasters unfolding today. Let’s review the record. In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on the map.
Libya was cooperating. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq was seeing a reduction in violence. Iran was being choked by sanctions. Syria was under control. After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region, and the world. Libya is in ruins, and our Ambassador and his staff were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt was turned over to the radical Muslim brotherhood, forcing the military to retake control. Iraq is in chaos.
Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now threatens the West. After fifteen years of wars in the Middle East, after trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is worse than it has ever been before.
This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: death, destruction and weakness.
But Hillary Clinton’s legacy does not have to be America’s legacy. The problems we face now – poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad – will last only as long as we continue relying on the same politicians who created them. A change in leadership is required to change these outcomes. Tonight, I will share with you my plan of action for America.
The most important difference between our plan and that of our opponents, is that our plan will put America First. Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo. As long as we are led by politicians who will not put America First, then we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with respect. This will all change in 2017.
The American People will come first once again. My plan will begin with safety at home – which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and order. On the economy, I will outline reforms to add millions of new jobs and trillions in new wealth that can be used to rebuild America.
A number of these reforms that I will outline tonight will be opposed by some of our nation’s most powerful special interests. That is because these interests have rigged our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit.
Big business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged system in place. They are throwing money at her because they have total control over everything she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the strings.
That is why Hillary Clinton’s message is that things will never change. My message is that things have to change – and they have to change right now. Every day I wake up determined to deliver for the people I have met all across this nation that have been neglected, ignored, and abandoned.
I have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and women of our country. People who work hard but no longer have a voice.
I AM YOUR VOICE.
I have embraced crying mothers who have lost their children because our politicians put their personal agendas before the national good. I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens.
When innocent people suffer, because our political system lacks the will, or the courage, or the basic decency to enforce our laws – or worse still, has sold out to some corporate lobbyist for cash – I am not able to look the other way.
And when a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can’t see her crime, puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and faces no consequence – I know that corruption has reached a level like never before.
When the FBI Director says that the Secretary of State was “extremely careless” and “negligent,” in handling our classified secrets, I also know that these terms are minor compared to what she actually did. They were just used to save her from facing justice for her terrible crimes.
In fact, her single greatest accomplishment may be committing such an egregious crime and getting away with it – especially when others have paid so dearly. When that same Secretary of State rakes in millions of dollars trading access and favors to special interests and foreign powers I know the time for action has come.
I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves. Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders – he never had a chance.
But his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest issue: trade. Millions of Democrats will join our movement because we are going to fix the system so it works for all Americans. In this cause, I am proud to have at my side the next Vice President of the United States: Governor Mike Pence of Indiana.
We will bring the same economic success to America that Mike brought to Indiana. He is a man of character and accomplishment. He is the right man for the job. The first task for our new Administration will be to liberate our citizens from the crime and terrorism and lawlessness that threatens their communities.
America was shocked to its core when our police officers in Dallas were brutally executed. In the days after Dallas, we have seen continued threats and violence against our law enforcement officials. Law officers have been shot or killed in recent days in Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan and Tennessee.
On Sunday, more police were gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three were killed, and four were badly injured. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all Americans. I have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our streets and the safety of our police: when I take the oath of office next year, I will restore law and order our country.
I will work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law enforcement officials in the country to get the job done. In this race for the White House, I am the Law And Order candidate. The irresponsible rhetoric of our President, who has used the pulpit of the presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more dangerous environment for everyone.
This Administration has failed America’s inner cities. It’s failed them on education. It’s failed them on jobs. It’s failed them on crime. It’s failed them at every level.
When I am President, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated equally, and protected equally.
Every action I take, I will ask myself: does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Ferguson who have as much of a right to live out their dreams as any other child America?
To make life safe in America, we must also address the growing threats we face from outside America: we are going to defeat the barbarians of ISIS. Once again, France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism.
Men, women and children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A nation in mourning.
The damage and devastation that can be inflicted by Islamic radicals has been over and over – at the World Trade Center, at an office party in San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon, and a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted our LGBT community. As your President, I will do everything in my power to protect our LGBT citizens from the violence and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology. To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three things.
We must have the best intelligence gathering operation in the world. We must abandon the failed policy of nation building and regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria. Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror.
This includes working with our greatest ally in the region, the State of Israel. Lastly, we must immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms have been put in place.
My opponent has called for a radical 550% increase in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows coming into our country under President Obama. She proposes this despite the fact that there’s no way to screen these refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from. I only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our values and love our people.
Anyone who endorses violence, hatred or oppression is not welcome in our country and never will be.
Decades of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers. We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that works for the American people.
On Monday, we heard from three parents whose children were killed by illegal immigrants Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden, and Jamiel Shaw. They are just three brave representatives of many thousands. Of all my travels in this country, nothing has affected me more deeply than the time I have spent with the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to violence spilling across our border.
These families have no special interests to represent them. There are no demonstrators to protest on their behalf. My opponent will never meet with them, or share in their pain. Instead, my opponent wants Sanctuary Cities. But where was sanctuary for Kate Steinle? Where was Sanctuary for the children of Mary Ann, Sabine and Jamiel? Where was sanctuary for all the other Americans who have been so brutally murdered, and who have suffered so horribly?
These wounded American families have been alone. But they are alone no longer. Tonight, this candidate and this whole nation stand in their corner to support them, to send them our love, and to pledge in their honor that we will save countless more families from suffering the same awful fate.
We are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into our communities. I have been honored to receive the endorsement of America’s Border Patrol Agents, and will work directly with them to protect the integrity of our lawful immigration system.
By ending catch-and-release on the border, we will stop the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go down. Peace will be restored. By enforcing the rules for the millions who overstay their visas, our laws will finally receive the respect they deserve.
Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied – and every politician who has denied them – to listen very closely to the words I am about to say.
On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced. We are going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone.
But my greatest compassion will be for our own struggling citizens. My plan is the exact opposite of the radical and dangerous immigration policy of Hillary Clinton. Americans want relief from uncontrolled immigration. Communities want relief.
Yet Hillary Clinton is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass lawlessness. Her plan will overwhelm your schools and hospitals, further reduce your jobs and wages, and make it harder for recent immigrants to escape from poverty.
I have a different vision for our workers. It begins with a new, fair trade policy that protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat. It’s been a signature message of my campaign from day one, and it will be a signature feature of my presidency from the moment I take the oath of office.
I have made billions of dollars in business making deals – now I’m going to make our country rich again. I am going to turn our bad trade agreements into great ones. America has lost nearly-one third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997, following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of the worst economic deals ever made by our country.
Never again.
I am going to bring our jobs back to Ohio and to America – and I am not going to let companies move to other countries, firing their employees along the way, without consequences.
My opponent, on the other hand, has supported virtually every trade agreement that has been destroying our middle class. She supported NAFTA, and she supported China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization – another one of her husband’s colossal mistakes.
She supported the job killing trade deal with South Korea. She has supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The TPP will not only destroy our manufacturing, but it will make America subject to the rulings of foreign governments. I pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers, or that diminishes our freedom and independence. Instead, I will make individual deals with individual countries.
No longer will we enter into these massive deals, with many countries, that are thousands of pages long – and which no one from our country even reads or understands. We are going to enforce all trade violations, including through the use of taxes and tariffs, against any country that cheats.
This includes stopping China’s outrageous theft of intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping, and their devastating currency manipulation. Our horrible trade agreements with China and many others, will be totally renegotiated. That includes renegotiating NAFTA to get a much better deal for America – and we’ll walk away if we don’t get the deal that we want. We are going to start building and making things again.
Next comes the reform of our tax laws, regulations and energy rules. While Hillary Clinton plans a massive tax increase, I have proposed the largest tax reduction of any candidate who has declared for the presidential race this year – Democrat or Republican. Middle-income Americans will experience profound relief, and taxes will be simplified for everyone.
America is one of the highest-taxed nations in the world. Reducing taxes will cause new companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country. Then we are going to deal with the issue of regulation, one of the greatest job-killers of them all. Excessive regulation is costing our country as much as $2 trillion a year, and we will end it. We are going to lift the restrictions on the production of American energy. This will produce more than $20 trillion in job creating economic activity over the next four decades.
My opponent, on the other hand, wants to put the great miners and steel workers of our country out of work – that will never happen when I am President. With these new economic policies, trillions of dollars will start flowing into our country.
This new wealth will improve the quality of life for all Americans – We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, and the railways of tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions more jobs. We will rescue kids from failing schools by helping their parents send them to a safe school of their choice.
My opponent would rather protect education bureaucrats than serve American children. We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare. You will be able to choose your own doctor again. And we will fix TSA at the airports! We will completely rebuild our depleted military, and the countries that we protect, at a massive loss, will be asked to pay their fair share.
We will take care of our great Veterans like they have never been taken care of before. My opponent dismissed the VA scandal as being not widespread – one more sign of how out of touch she really is. We are going to ask every Department Head in government to provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100 days. The politicians have talked about it, I’m going to do it. We are also going to appoint justices to the United States Supreme Court who will uphold our laws and our Constitution.
The replacement for Justice Scalia will be a person of similar views and principles. This will be one of the most important issues decided by this election. My opponent wants to essentially abolish the 2nd amendment. I, on the other hand, received the early and strong endorsement of the National Rifle Association and will protect the right of all Americans to keep their families safe.
At this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical community who have been so good to me and so supportive. You have so much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws prevent you from speaking your minds from your own pulpits.
An amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson, many years ago, threatens religious institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly advocate their political views.
I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and protect free speech for all Americans. We can accomplish these great things, and so much else – all we need to do is start believing in ourselves and in our country again. It is time to show the whole world that America Is Back – bigger, and better and stronger than ever before.
In this journey, I’m so lucky to have at my side my wife Melania and my wonderful children, Don, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron: you will always be my greatest source of pride and joy. My Dad, Fred Trump, was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. I wonder sometimes what he’d say if he were here to see this tonight.
It’s because of him that I learned, from my youngest age, to respect the dignity of work and the dignity of working people. He was a guy most comfortable in the company of bricklayers, carpenters, and electricians and I have a lot of that in me also. Then there’s my mother, Mary. She was strong, but also warm and fair-minded. She was a truly great mother. She was also one of the most honest and charitable people I have ever known, and a great judge of character.
To my sisters Mary Anne and Elizabeth, my brother Robert and my late brother Fred, I will always give you my love you are most special to me. I have loved my life in business.
But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country – to go to work for all of you. It’s time to deliver a victory for the American people. But to do that, we must break free from the petty politics of the past.
America is a nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group of censors, critics, and cynics.
Remember: all of the people telling you that you can’t have the country you want, are the same people telling you that I wouldn’t be standing here tonight. No longer can we rely on those elites in media, and politics, who will say anything to keep a rigged system in place.
Instead, we must choose to Believe In America. History is watching us now.
It’s waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion, and if we will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and strong.
My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: “I’m With Her”. I choose to recite a different pledge.
My pledge reads: “I’M WITH YOU – THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.”
I am your voice.
So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight: I’m With You, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you.
To all Americans tonight, in all our cities and towns, I make this promise: We Will Make America Strong Again.
We Will Make America Proud Again.
We Will Make America Safe Again.
And We Will Make America Great Again.
THANK YOU.
The speech was populist rather than conservative and perhaps well received by the great many middle and working class people who suffer the ill effects of “Globalism”. I’ll leave better analysis of global financial trends to those having studied the dismal science of economics, except to say that a mixture of the economics and progressive politics is a toxic brew.
“I have a great love of grand political oratory, Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, FDR, William Jennings Bryan, and Trump will never be in that category or come even close.”
Speaking only in terms of political oratory, Trump will never reach attain the heights of John Kerry or George H.W. Bush.
Someone on TV said, “I never saw a man yell for 75 minutes.”
.
“. . . John Kerry or George H. W. Bush, or Hillary . . . ”
.
I would have been satisfied with a two-sentence speech. ‘I am not Hillary. I will do the opposite of the evil, nutty stuff she would do.”
.
I’m planning to sell everything and remove to a cave in Montana.
Since this site advertises itself as one about politics from a Catholic perspective, maybe it’s worth mentioning (and lamenting) that Trump couldn’t be bothered to make one explicit statement about the right to life, despite giving the longest convention speech in at least 40 years.
Good point Sancho. One of many reasons why I am leaving the presidential choice on my ballot this fall blank.
You picked up on the Democrat laundry-list of thing’s
Browngovernment can do for you vibe too, eh?.
A couple of days ago, Rush Limbaugh asked rhetorically where are the JFK/Scoop Jackson-type Democrats, his point being that the modern Democrat party might as well be just another so pink it’s red euro-weenie socialist party.
.
Well, I’ll tell you where the JFK/Scoop Jackson Democrats are: they’ve taken over the Republican Party.
What Sancho said.
“One of many reasons why I am leaving the presidential choice on my ballot this fall blank.”
And therefore giving the person who we know is decadently not pro-life a greater chance of winning. Astounding.
I will await guidance from Pope Francis…………………… not really.
Trump’s children are far more impressive than he is.
Long meandering speeches are often the hallmark of totalitarian dictators. That’s one of things that creeped me out about DaDonald’s speech last night. I also found it both annoying and amazing that a man can yell like that for an hour and fifteen minutes. No mention of protecting the unborn. But he did talk about protecting the LGBTQ community. Conservatism, where art thou?
I was shaking my head as the delegates cheered Trump trashing policies the GOP supported. “You will now receive a beating and enjoy it!” “Yaaay!!!” I’m from Mars and the new GOP is from Venus.
Pining for the fjords perhaps?
I’m getting caught up on the news today. Unreal how Trump has gone off the rails already. Make sure to follow links in article.
http://therightscoop.com/its-official-i-am-never-voting-for-donald-trump/
Well, I’ll tell you where the JFK/Scoop Jackson Democrats are: they’ve taken over the Republican Party.
Yep.
(unrelated to the subject: I checked the formatting and removed an extra “strike” that showed up after the closing /strike; I’ll put it back if it wasn’t an accident)
“[I]’ll leave better analysis of global financial trends to those having studied the dismal science of economics, except to say that a mixture of the economics and progressive politics is a toxic brew.”
“Globalism” and federal govt rules/regs have completely gutted the middle class/blue collar job market in my state. It is worse than horrendous.
Thank you for the necessary editing. That’s what I get for being quippy.
“I think he will defeat Clinton and then after he becomes President we will find out where he really stands, although I will be shocked if he has any interest in reducing the size and power of government, or doing anything that a conservative president would attempt to do.”
Unfortunately with Rs we have learned that we never know what we have until they get in there no matter what they are selling when they run.
A conservative president would attend to a strong military and our national security–which he is “saying” he will do.
Oh, I’ve *never* had my formatting go nuts….
…
Dang it, my nose didn’t grow.
“And therefore giving the person who we know is decadently not pro-life a greater chance of winning. Astounding.”
Considering that I live in Illinois, if it is close here then Trump is on his way to winning 45 states in any case. More to the point, I do not trust Trump. I believe he is a liar and that he will do nothing to fight abortion. He praised Planned Parenthood in the midst of the Republican primaries for Heaven’s sakes! I can understand people so repelled by Clinton deciding to vote for Trump. I understand that. However, that course is not for me. I want no part in putting into office a man I think will be bad for the nation. If Clinton is defeated I will be happy. That happiness will likely be short-lived during the chaos of a Trump administration.
The candidate who’s pro-choice? Which one? Which one is for higher taxes, pacifism, government expansion, tribalism, transsexualism? They both are. I wouldn’t vote for either of them, but you know, if my non-vote for Trump costs him the election, good. I’d rather see him lose than Clinton.
“Considering that I live in Illinois, if it is close here then Trump is on his way to winning 45 states in any case. More to the point, I do not trust Trump. I believe he is a liar and that he will do nothing to fight abortion. He praised Planned Parenthood in the midst of the Republican primaries for Heaven’s sakes! I can understand people so repelled by Clinton deciding to vote for Trump. I understand that. However, that course is not for me. I want no part in putting into office a man I think will be bad for the nation. If Clinton is defeated I will be happy. That happiness will likely be short-lived during the chaos of a Trump administration.”
This pretty much expresses my sentiments. However, I am not convinced that Trump will win, let alone handily. Post convention puts him even with Hillary, which amounts to a dead cat bounce. Furthermore, Trump’s pandering to Sanders supporters makes him look weak. This is especially bizarre after he has renewed his attacks on Ted Cruz today. Rest assured Hillary will not trash Sanders. Unlike Trump, she is a tad bit smarter than the average bag of hair when it comes to political strategy. Unless, however, Trump is actively trying to put Hillary in the White House. In that case, his strategy would be one of the greatest strokes of political genius in history.
This is a year Greg in which I think the conventional political rules do not apply. There is a deep and growing anger among the American people and I think that Trump will ride this to the White House. Clinton has vastly outspent Trump to be tied with him in the race, which, considering that Trump normally outperformed the polls in the primaries, may be bad news for Clinton. Trump is clearly not a political genius, but he does seem to have a talent for grasping the essentials of the race which come down to law and order and terrorism. Clinton also simply does not have great political skills. Obama beat her in 2008 and she almost lost the nomination to a 74 year old socialist. I think that Trump will flip Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, perhaps one of the congressional districts in Maine, take Ohio and, perhaps, Michigan. Until we get to labor day however the polls don’t mean much. A lot will depend on the debates and, sadly, whether more cops are murdered and whether we have more terrorist attacks. The most important factor is that in the year of the outsider, Clinton is the ultimate insider.
“I’d rather see him lose than Clinton.”
I disagree with you there Pinky. If I had to choose I would go Trump over Clinton. However my preference would be that they both lose, as impossible as that would be.
I can understand thinking that way, Don. I would have supported any Republican over Clinton in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, we Republicans didn’t nominate one. That’s the amazing thing: the people who have been complaining that there’s no difference between the two parties have finally nominated someone who makes it true. We can survive an evil president, but not without a righteous opposition party. Otherwise it’s just Guelphs and Ghibellines, unprincipled partisans competing for leverage.
Pinky,
I love this site for the topics, but also the commentary. This is really good. I had to re-say and hi-lite what you said:
“Otherwise it’s just Guelphs and Ghibellines, unprincipled partisans competing for leverage.”
Dante wrote The Divine Comedy as a product of his disillusion. God has a way of turning ugliness into beauty, It is up to us, like Dante, to remain faithful. To God and God alone.
One way Trump sounds a lot more pro-life than the bishops — Build That Wall.
Below is information about a distant relative of mine, raped, choked with a dog collar, and killed in her home near Cleveland, Ohio. This guy was illegal with supposedly no prior record. Stopped for a traffic violation not many days before the murder (and other crimes that day), he was NOT DEPORTED.
I watched most of the convention on C-Span. I had hope that this story might be mentioned since the convention was in Cleveland, I didn’t hear anything, although I did see the three parents who lost children to illegals.
Margaret Kostelnik Obituary – Willoughby, Ohio |…
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/margaret-kostelnik-obituary?p...
Funeral Mass for Margaret “Peggy” (nee DeVan) Kostelnik, 60, of Concord Township, will be 10 a.m.. ……
Last year – Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-petite/tragedy-strikes-concord-o_b_7891962.html
March 2016:
http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/03/21/illegal-alien-allowed-to-stay-in-usa-pleads-guilty-to-rape-murder-kidnapping/
Verdict:
http://www.wkyc.com/news/local/lake-county/live-man-sentenced-for-lake-county-killing/155952859
ANY chance of having a court which upholds state restrictions on abortions will be GONE if people sit this one out!! The best chance is to vote Trump…. or just stop talking about what this or that court would do!
I don’t know if I agree with this, but this is Ben Shapiro’s argument:
The chance of Trump nominating a conservative to the Court is 0%. Not 1%, 0%. The Republicans don’t control 60 seats in the Senate, and they’re not willing to use the nuclear option to override a filibuster. So he’ll nominate one of the people on his list, it won’t go anywhere, and then he’ll nominate a really good, really qualified, really qualified, really smart person with no paper trail. He’ll never be able to do by accident where Reagan and Bush only succeeded half the time on purpose.
As for me, I’d rather have the culture than the Court. Tough call, really. But if we elect the embodiment of the Seven Deadly Sins to the presidency, all cultural norms are lost.
Shapiro I think is probably wrong. If the Republicans control the Senate, and if Trump is in the White House, I think that they would follow Harry Reid’s precedent, invoke the nuclear option on judicial appointments, and ram through as many judges as they could. Shapiro hates Trump and I think it is impacting his analysis. A Trumpified Republican party is not what I wish to see, but I doubt it will be reluctant to engage in good and hard payback to the Democrats.
Donald, your comments are spot on, but I go back and forth on whether I would prefer a Trump to win over Hillary. Trump will damage the GOP and conservatism. Look what he’s done already just in the convention, slamming good policies the GOP previously supported and convincing the party to abandon cultural issues.
People say he’ll nominate a pro-life judge to Supreme Court, but I have my doubts. I can easily see Trump bargaining with the Senate, giving us a terrible nominee as part of a compromise, and coming to the people and saying “The system is rigged. This is the best candidate I could get with any chance of getting through.” I see Trump folding on many issues, e.g. repealing Obamacare. And, the GOP and conservatism becoming weaker and weaker.
Hillary is a very galvanizing figure. She winning would become a focal point for resistance. She becomes a rally point for the GOP and conservatism, a reminder of what we are not. She helps to keep the movement strong. And, none of her terrible decisions are hung around the neck of the GOP or conservatives.
The only flaw in my theory is assuming this would cause the GOP politicians to grow a back bone during a Hillary term. Exhibit A: Their work under Obama’s terms. Obama has energized the GOP members and conservatives as it would under Hillary. Look at the anger at out there. This is what happens when you have a movement with leadership ineffective in enacting its objectives. Its the tea pot reaching the boiling point.
If only the people focused their energies on getting more Ted Cruz’s and Mike Lee’s in office and less McConnell’s and McCain’s. Bold colors.
In the end, we have a choice between 2 candidates who will not roll back Obama’s policies (Trump will do a few little ones for show.) and do damage to the country by advancing progressive policies (Hillary by conviction. Trump by bargaining and tapping his NY values.). But with Trump, his poor judgments will do serious harm to the GOP and conservatism, which for the former will please much of Trump’s base who wish the GOP dead.
Good points Kyle. I guess I come down to two irreconcilable conclusions:
1. I am convinced that Clinton would be a disaster for the country and I think that Trump would probably be a disaster for the country. That gives the edge to Trump.
2. I cannot support Trump because I believe he is a liar and that his purported conservatism is a thin disguise he has put on for the election. Now after a bruising campaign he will probably hate the Democrats and that bodes well for him initially supporting a Republican agenda. However, my fears for what would happen afterwards, and my general distaste for Trump, makes my support for him an impossibility, although I am sure that in the months to come the Democrats will do their worst to convince me otherwise.
FOUR MORE YEARS
SAVE THE DATE!
Democrat Convention Schedule
Monday, July 25, 2016
11:15 AM
Free lunch, medical marijuana, and bus ride to the Convention
Forms distributed for Food Stamp enrollment.
1:30 PM
Group Voter Registration for Illegal Immigrants.
3:15 PM
Address on “Being the Real You”
Rachel Dolezal, former Head of the Seattle NAACP and
Caitlyn Jenner
4:30 PM
“How to Bank $200 Million as a Public Servant and claim to be broke”
Hillary Clinton
4:45 PM
How to have a successful career Without ever having a job, and
Still avoid paying taxes!
A Seminar Moderated by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson
5:00 PM
Medals of Freedom presentation to Army deserter Bo Bergdahl
For serving with Honor and Distinction
National Security Adviser Susan Rice
5:30 PM
Invitation-only Autograph Session Souvenir photographs of Hillary and
Chelsea dodging Sniper Fire in Bosnia
6:30 PM
General vote on praising Baltimore rioters, And on using the terminology “Alternative Shoppers” instead of “Looters”
7:30 PM
Breakout session with Bill Clinton For women on avoiding the upcoming draft
8:30 PM
The White House “Semantics Committee” Meeting General vote on re-branding “Muslim Terrorism” as “Random Acts of Islamic Over Exuberance”
9:00 PM
“Liberal Bias in Media“ How we can make it work for you! Tutorial sponsored by CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS, The Washington Post and the New York Times
With Guest Speaker, Brian Williams
9:15 PM
Tribute Film to the Brave Freedom Fighters Still incarcerated at GITMO
Michael Moore
9:45 PM
Personal Finance Seminar – “Businesses Don’t Create Jobs”
Hillary Clinton
11:00 PM
Short film, “Setting Up Your Own Illegal Email Server While Serving in A Cabinet Post and How to Pretend It’s No Big Deal”
Hosted by Hillary Clinton
11:30 PM
Official Nomination of Hillary
Bill Maher and Chris Matthews
It seems our current dilemma is largely owing to widespread ignorance throughout the population. The progressives win elections by appealing to the narrow interests of disparate groups. Conservatives struggle to persuade the voters at large to consider the larger picture but so many lack the prerequisite knowledge and formation to see it. “Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a provoking house: who have eyes to see, and see not: and ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a provoking house.”
I didn’t see much of this past week’s convention, but was it really so different that what Jerry just described as the DNC? The Dems may not say “Muslim extremism”, but on the other hand I’ve rarely heard them praise Erdogan as fawningly as Trump just did. They may give out food stamps, but Trump has said he won’t reform entitlement programs. As for the pro-life movement, we all know just how high that is on Trump’s agenda. Clinton is likely to be better on NATO, and better on trade.
And did anyone notice Trump on religious liberty? He thinks it’s about pastors being allowed to endorse candidates. I wonder how he got that idea? He was probably in a room with a bunch of pastors telling them that he’d be a great president so they should endorse him, and they said they can’t. So the simpleton thought that’s what religious liberty was about. He has no idea what any issue means, and he doesn’t have an ideology to help him understand them.
“but was it really so different that what Jerry just described as the DNC?”
The platforms of the two parties read like night and day. Trump is bad news but let’s go overboard here. I would note too that all we can judge Trump on is his rhetoric. Since he has never held public office it is impossible to say how he would govern. That could be good or bad or neither, but it is a factor to keep in mind.
William, Pinky, great points. Jerry, funny because it has truth.
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Donald,
Now after a bruising campaign he will probably hate the Democrats and that bodes well for him initially supporting a Republican agenda
I read an article covering a history of Trump’s actions and Trumpisms. His ego does take offense to any disparaging comment. But, how he handles is based on context. He shuns the offender if there is no business with the offender pending. If there is business associated, i.e. something satisfying his self-interest, he chalks it up to just part of doing business. This is why he and Cruz see the insults so differently. For Trump, the knives drawn during primary is just a part of doing the business of the primaries. Trump thinks Cruz should accept the below the waist shots just as he would.
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Trump may show he takes offense by the Democrats’ shots; it’s part of the show. In the end, should he get in the oval office, it’s mostly history. “They were just doing what they needed to do to get elected. Hand me my checkbook so I can give a few donations to my favorite Democrats to show no ill will.”
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A related question: Do platforms really matter, especially in this age? Politicians do what they will. What purpose does a party platform serve? It’s more of a fanciful brochure than a statement, like the brochure showing a beautiful seaside resort with cute huts on the beach looking out to a beautiful sunset. You get there, and it’s actually a lagoon with a couple of porta-potties.
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A couple of more great articles… George Weigel weighs in and expresses what others have said here. We’re homeless when it comes to the presidency.
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Blog/4940/homelessness_partystyle.aspx
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Steve Deace nails what I was saying about the GOP accepting their beatings from their new leader and enjoying it.
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/07/enter-trumpenstein-the-monster-created-by-a-feckless-political-gop
The Republican nominee didn’t mention pro-life once in his acceptance speech for the first time since Roe v. Wade, but he did congratulate Republicans on not being for the execution of homosexuals after all. He spent several minutes wooing socialist Bernie Sanders voters, but only mentioned the Constitution once. He said he was going to cut taxes more than anybody, but that authoritarian government can fix all our problems because “I alone” know how to save us. Beforehand, his daughter gave a speech on identity politics that could’ve been given verbatim next week in Philadelphia when the Democrats gather.
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And Republicans on the floor seemed to cheer it all. The very simplistic and statist notions they’ve spent decades as a party mocking and railing against (but never really doing anything about) they were now lapping up live a herd of Pavlovian dogs. The only speaker some of them seemed to take issue with was when Cruz actually gave the Republican response to the Republican convention.
“Do platforms really matter, especially in this age?”
Usually they do. Certainly the abortion platforms accurately reflect how Democrats and Republicans vote on legislation.
“Trump thinks Cruz should accept the below the waist shots just as he would.”
I don’t think so or Trump would not have doubled down on his crazy assertion that Cruz’ dad was involved in the assassination of JFK. This only hurts his present campaign, and reflects his vengeful attitude towards opposition. He is going to endure the worst insults in his life from the Democrats and he is going to have a lot of vengeance to exact if he is able to.
As for Mr. Deace he left the Republican party in March. Some of the Never Trumpers strike me as deranged in their own way as the Trump forces. One candidate is nominated that we dislike and that is reason to commit political seppuku? I disagree with that.
In 1992, being a bit disillusioned with Bush 41, I jumped on the Ross Perot bandwagon. Perot received 19% of the popular vote and zilch electoral votes. So in effect, I didn’t vote for Clinton, but by not voting for Bush 41, I helped elect Bill Clinton.
I think what Kyle is saying is that Trump is infecting the conservative movement with deadly poison. He is turning conservatives into something else, as they cheer for things once thought unthinkable.
Hillary is a political opponent. As bad as she is, we know what she is and we can opposite it.
But Teump is worse. Trump is an infection injected into something crucial, which is the conservative ideal, now in danger of being lost in an ocean of conservative-labeled liberal proposals and outright lies.
On other sites, not this one for sure, I have witnessed some really strange things coming out of erstwhile conservative allies. Divisiveness and anger directed inward. Strange, strange times.
I worry, like Kyle, that the conservative movement, its ideals, is in danger of being lost with the emotional Trump tide.
Don – We can agree on the important things:
Run time: 2 hours 17 minutes. Directed by David Lynch. A Dino De Laurentis Production. Rated PG-13. $4.99 in the discount CD bin.
I simphatize with the Trump is not a conservative argument. But neither were McCain or Romney, yet we were told to hold our noses and vote for them. Now, when it’s your turn to hold your nose, you don’t like it. Being part of a family, an ideology, a movement, or a party means that sometimes you have to do stuff you do not like. We often criticize the Catholics that pick and choose, and only follow the “rules” they like. How is being a NeverTrump any different?
Please do not be offended. I struggle with getting the tone right online. Maybe I’m too old for this!
I don’t think so or Trump would not have doubled down on his crazy assertion that Cruz’ dad was involved in the assassination of JFK. This only hurts his present campaign, and reflects his vengeful attitude towards opposition. He is going to endure the worst insults in his life from the Democrats and he is going to have a lot of vengeance to exact if he is able to.
He doubled down because
a) he honestly believes he doesn’t need Cruz or his supporters (He has no business to conduct with them, nothing to gain.),
b) he believes it energizes his supporters, i.e. play them like a fiddle (and it works),
c) unifies people behind him.
The attacks by Democrats are different. It’s part of doing business. In his eyes, part of negotiation, the art of the deal. He’s looking for something to gain eventually.
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When people say they are leaving the Republican party, I think they mean they are no longer registered Republicans, not that they want vote Republican anymore. It a sign of showing just how disgusted one is with the party. It does raise an interesting question of how to handle the party when the party has transformed into something you no longer recognize. Has the party reached the point of where you say I didn’t leave the party; it left me? I don’t think it’s at that point, but prolonged exposure to Trump could do grave harm.
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Brian, Bingo.
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Gusto,
You’re tone sounds fine. 🙂 Trump differs from Romney and McCain in that those two were milquetoast conservatives and had no history of greasing the palms of Democrats. (Trump was a lifelong Democrat until 3 years ago.) Trump’s conservative positions come off as insincere and his behavior is vile. He does what is in the interest of Trump, the man trying to make the deal of his life with the American people
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Cafeteria Catholics reject what they disagree with. But what if discipline, doctrine, and dogma changed so much so that the Church would not be recognizable? That’s more akin to what is happening with the GOP. And it’s not like they are completely rejecting the GOP, just the guy on the head ticket.
Gusto, T
o me it is that the time for half-measures is over. McCain and Romney were symptoms of a deep-rooted disease. Trump is a moment of clarity. With him we are presented with a full on Statist who will strongly advance the cause of liberalism. He is a Statist Liberal with an R next to his name. I am swayed not by those who say otherwise. My eyes see what they see. And he is also an angry, nasty, vindictive man to boot. And worse, with al that he represents conservatives. He is thus a dagger at the heart of conservatism.
I will not vote for him because I care about the cause of conservatism; not Republicans per se. I want Trump to fail mightily because I want a strong, vibrant conservative movement that can persuade people of conservatism’s rightness and put its principles boldly into the public square as an answer to what ails us. Trump will, and is, killing the cause I most care about.
That explains Cruz’s speech, and it is what I believe.
When confronted with a Hobson’s Choice, I think it is prudent to make the choice that does least harm. Hillary will do more harm than Trump. Hillary must never get an opportunity to replace Justice Scalia with an anti-Constitutional ideologue. . Trump would be more easily restrained if Republicans keep the House and Senate. Trump, as a political neophyte, is somewhat trainable. I hope.
William P. Walsh, the phrase “winning the fight, but losing the war” comes to mind. Perhaps we win a four year term. At what cost?
Over on NR, Kevin Williamson has an interesting piece on Trumpish Chavism, in which the various forces of conservatism supply the media narrative required to convince conservatives that Statism is the best solution to economic problems. As an example (NR’s Kevin Williamson’s), Sean Hannity discussed broken, bankrupt, poverty ridden Detroit. Suffering 50 years of socialist D monopoly rule. Instead, Hannity presented NOT free markets and competition as the best solution, but iD preferred Statist protectionism FROM competition. IOW, more of what broke Detroit in the first place under D rule. But now proposed afresh by Rs. We want to emulate D’s and arguably Hugo Chavez!
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438251/detroit-auto-industry-decline-free-trade-nafta-arent-blame
Now Hannity will never call it Statism, Socialism, Chavism etc. His audience would revolt. He calls it conservatism, but the label is indeed attached to a steaming pile of Statism, nevertheless. It’s what it is. Trumpism has successfully redefined what it means to be a conservative. Conservatives watch Fox, nod their heads, and agree: “we DO need to reduce competition and use State power to protect chosen industries”.
No one is left to make the conservative case!
A fatal dart, to the heart of conservatism. That is Trumpism.
While I care a good deal about conservatism it is not the principle focus of my concern not to do harm by my vote or non-vote. The recent scandals involving Hillary’s “extreme carelessness” with sensitive data and state secrets raise the possibility of blackmail at the international level by our nation’s enemies. In addition, various of her policy decisions have directly and indirectly caused many persons their lives. Based on what we have come to know, and can reasonably suspect, she poses a grave danger given the vast power and influence of the Presidency. Trump would be much fettered and restrained by his colleagues in office. Hillary would interpret her winning as a mandate. She’ll be as insulated from impeachment by her sex as much as Obama is by race.
Please excuse error: caused many persons their lives. s/b cost many persons their lives.