The “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me” Donald Convention August 28, 2020
Donald J. Trump. The nation’s “Narcissist-in-Chief.” So why should any of us have been surprised that this four-day farce of a GOP National Convention was nothing but endless praise to “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me” Demagogue Donald? The GOP, under Trump’s “guidance,” dispensed with writing a party platform, the traditional way to explain its aims and goals for the next four years. Instead, Donald’s wholly-owned Republican Party, via its Republican National Committee (RNC), unanimously stated, “The Republican Party has and will continue to enthusiastically support the President’s America-first agenda (huffpost.com, Visser, 8/24/20).” Translation: “Whatever Demagogue Donald stands for, count us in with no dissent.” Unlike most conventions, when the presidential nominee talks only on the final night when giving an acceptance speech, Demagogue Donald spoke on each night (huffpost. com, 8/24/20). Most media advisers and politicians counseled against such behavior because it could easily overexpose Donald and bore viewers. Trump could care less. “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me” Donald can never get enough of himself. Normally, presidential nominees often have just a few family members, especially spouses and children, talk about the candidate to humanize them. The lineup of Republican convention speakers overwhelmingly featured Trump family members including sons Donald Jr., his screaming girlfriend, Eric, daughters Tiffany and Ivanka, as well as Melania (cnn.com, Collinson, 8/24/20). These family speakers were showcased as if we had never seen them during the past four years (frankly, it feels like the last four centuries). If it’s not Trump, it’s the next “best” thing to him-- putting his family out front to shower him with endless praises. “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me.”
Former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci stated on CNN’s 8/23/2020 “State of the Union” program, “He (Donald) thinks it’s all about him, him all the time. The classic narcissism is to annihilate everybody around you and then show everybody that you can do it all alone, you can do it by yourself (cnn.com Collinson, 8/24/20).” Never mind that such actions by Trump run the risk of highlighting the Democrats’ message that Donald only cares about his own political ambitions instead of the nation’s health, as 1,000 Americans are dying daily from the COVID-19 pandemic (Collinson, cnn.com). What’s really on Donald’s “mind” and always has been? “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me.”
Demagogue Donald promised that the GOP convention nominating him, unlike the Democrats’, would be one of joy, not Biden’s “gloom and doom.” Another lie in the tens of thousands, (who’s counting anymore?), that Donald casually utters. “Team Red’s” convention was painted deep apocalyptic black, portraying a dystopian America should Biden win (See latimes.com, Stokols & Bierman, 8/25/20, Baraback, 8/25/20). Former 2016 campaign strategist and White House adviser Steve Bannon was recently arrested for scamming people out of money who wanted to build Trump’s U.S. Mexico wall. Nevertheless, it still looked like Bannon was choreographing the 2020 proceedings. The 2020 GOP “Trumpvention” employed the same dark images of the U.S. that Donald lifted from Bannon at the 2016 GOP convention and also used at his “American carnage” inauguration speech. Remember Patricia and Mark McCloskey? They were the St. Louis, MO couple who brandished weapons at peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors this past summer. At the 2020 “Trumpvention,” they spoke about “defending” the 2nd Amendment, message, no gun control whatsoever. This “dynamic/dysfunctional duo” declared that only Trump could “defend the suburbs.” Translation: Defend suburbia from “savage/marauding” blacks-- segregationist AL Gov. George Wallace, at his worst. There was little talk or empathy at the “Trumpvention” for the 180,000 plus Americans who had died from the coronavirus. Melania mentioned them briefly, extending her “deepest sympathy (nytimes.com, Burns & Martin, 8/26/20).” Don Jr. made sure to use the racist bullhorn by calling the coronavirus a “spawn of the Chinese Communist Party” and ridiculously labeled Biden “Beijing Joe (See latimes.com, Baraback, Stokols & Bierman, Hook, 8/25/20, nytimes.com, 8/24/20, Karni & Cooper).”
Demagogue Donald did not disappoint. On the “Trumpvention’s” first day, 8/24/2020, Donald, personally spoke for more than an hour in a drop-by to delegates gathered in Charlotte, NC where not everyone wore masks. That speech was double the time of Biden’s entire acceptance speech. Trump kept popping back in prime time in a series of videos repeatedly praising his own achievements (latimes.com, 8/25/20 Barabak). “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me.” In his Charlotte speech, Trump accused Democrats of using COVID-19 “to steal the election.” Donald accused NC Democratic Governor Roy Cooper and other “Team Blue” governors of enacting virus restrictions “simply to hurt his re-election chances.” While millions of Americans are out of work and begging for Trump’s GOP ally Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to pass an aid package, Trump bragged about soon “breaking the all-time stock market record (nytimes.com, Karni & Cooper, 8/24/20).” Top 1% “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me.” When the crowd started yelling “Four more years,” Donald declared, “If you want to really drive them crazy, you say 12 more years (nytimes., Karni & Cooper).” Authoritarian/ignore the Constitution “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me” Donald. Trump continued his non-stop attack on voting by mail and repeated unfounded accusations that it was part of a “Democratic plot to hand the election to Biden.” Wow! Narcissistic and paranoid Mr. “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me.”
The GOP speakers constitute one zany crew summoned from the political netherworld. Nicholas Sandman, the teenager from a Catholic high school in Covington, KY, was given an 8/25/2020 “Trumpvention” speaking slot. Sandman sued the NY Times and multiple media outlets for allegedly misrepresenting his encounter with a Native American protestor during a 2019 demonstration on the D.C. National Mall. At the “Trumpvention,” Sandman criticized the media for what he depicted as “unfair treatment of the president.” Sandman presented himself as an example of those who are “silenced by the far left (nytimes.com, Burns & Martin, 8/26/20).” Give me a break! Former GOP FL Atty. General Pam Biondi delivered many misleading and exaggerated accusations against Biden and his family for profiting from politics (nytimes.com, Burns & Martin). Cassie Graham Lynch, a granddaughter of the late evangelist Billy Graham, attacked transgender people. She accused Democrats of pushing schools to “allow boys to compete in girls sports and use girls locker rooms (nytimes.com, Burns & Martin).” Anti-abortion activist speaker Abby Johnson believes that a woman living at home with a man should not be able to vote! Johnson also has argued that police should racially profile her black adopted son because he is “statistically more likely to commit a crime than her white one (@American _ Bridge, dailykos.com, 8/25/20).” At the last minute, Mary Ann Mendoza, who was supposed to deliver remarks about her police officer son who was killed by an illegal immigrant drunk driver, was axed from the “Trumpvention.” Why? Because she had retweeted a thread promoting anti-Semitic QAnon conspiracy theories from the notorious forgery “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Trump, however, had previously praised fringe QAnon because they “like him very much.” (“Me, Me, Me” again). Narcissistic Donald formerly endorsed a GA GOP QAnon congressional candidate primary winner who also dabbled in anti-Semitic tropes. At the last minute, some folks advising Trump realized that letting Mendoza speak at his convention was a tad too much (See LeBlanc, cnn.com, 8/25/20, Kampeas, 8/25/20, jta.org). Yuh think?
Never has an American Chief Executive and his followers so blatantly staged actions for political gain or have been so nonchalant about violating longstanding rules such as the Hatch Act (cnn.com, Vazquez & Liptak, 8/26/20). That 1939 law forbids federal executive employees from participating in or contributing to any presidential or congressional campaign (“The Great American History Fact-Finder,” Yanak & Cornelison, 1993). A Trump administration official noted, “What are the consequences? No one gets punished.” Trump decides what punishment to dole out, and he has joked that “he would excuse anyone found to be violating the act on his behalf (cnn.com Vazquez & Litptak).” “Bu lee ve” him. Last month, Sec. of State Mike Pompeo forbade his staffers from “using one’s official position or official resources for partisan political purposes, or engaging in partisan political activity while on duty (Kampeas, jta.org, 8/25/20).” However, Pompeo gave a pre-recorded speech from Jerusalem’s King David Hotel speaking of Trump’s support for Israel, more to please conservative evangelicals than Jews (nytimes.com, 8/26/20, Burns & Martin). Melania spoke from the newly renovated Rose Garden, an area where she chopped down roses and other flowers that previous First Ladies had planted going back over 100 years. Trump made sure to show himself holding a naturalization ceremony for five people of color and pardoned a Nevada man for bank robbery on the convention’s second night (cnn.com, Vazquez & Liptak, 8/26/20, nytimes.com, Burns & Martin, 8/26/20). Trump gave his 8/27/2020 acceptance speech from the White House’s South Lawn, another questionable move under the Hatch Act, but great for mixing business and politics to help oneself (Cillizza, cnn.com, 8/27/20). Again, it’s “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me,” and nothing else for Narcissist Donald.
On 8/26, 2020, the “Trumpvention’s” third night, “Team Red” notched up the warnings of violence and lawlessness they claim Biden’s Democratic leadership would bring. They aimed to create white backlash over the Kenosha, WI unrest caused by the senseless shooting by a police officer of African American Jacob Blake in front of his three children. Remember, GOPers, this violence happened on Trump’s watch. And never mind that Biden has strongly condemned such “needless violence,” just as he did after George Floyd was killed by the police in Minneapolis (cnbc.com, Breuninger, 8/26/20). Blake is paralyzed from the waist down. A white supremacist 17-year old individual who had previously attended a Trump rally in IA has been arrested for killing two of the demonstrators and wounding a third (See nytimes.com, 8/27/20, Martin & Burns, buzzfeednews.com, Alcindor @yamiche, 8/26/20). The GOP could care less. During this “Trumpvention,” the GOP additionally made appeals to social conservatives by attacking abortion. They even played the religion card. GOPers accused Joe Biden and many of his fellow Democrats of being, “Catholics in name only.” Wow! Biden, a devout Catholic, educated in elementary and parochial high schools and strongly influenced by his faith, carries his late son Beau’s rosary with him to give him strength (See nytimes.com, Martin & Burns, 8/27/20, Biden, “Promises To Keep”).
The “Trumpvention” was loaded with lies. What a surprise! Up-and-coming first-term GOP TN Sen. Marsha Blackburn stated, “If the Democrats had their way, they would keep you locked in your house until you became dependent on the government for everything. This sounds a lot like Communist China to me (Cillizza, cnn.com, 8/26/20).” Huh? Press Secretary and Trump loyalist Kayleigh McEnanay argued that that Donald couldn’t be anti-health care and “stands by Americans with pre-existing conditions.” After all, Trump called her when she had a preventive mastectomy in 2018 to wish her well. McEnanay’s personal story was an attempt to hide the actual truth. Donald has repeatedly supported undoing Obamacare’s protections for people with pre-existing ailments (nytimes.com, 8/27/20). Departing White House aide Kellyanne Conway, who managed Trump’s 2016 campaign, stated that under Donald “we (women) are on equal footing with the men (nytimes.com, Martin & Burns).” One “ y uu ge” lie from Kellyanne who initially coined the term “alternative facts.” Kellyanne completely ignores the overwhelmingly male upper ranks of Trump’s administration (See Martin & Burns, nytimes.com). Trump’s super lap-dog, VP Mike Pence, in addition to invoking the law and order card, briefly spoke in serious terms about the COVID-19 pandemic. However, his talk of this “time of testing” was quickly overtaken by images of how little Pence, his wife Karen, Trump, and Melania really care about the seriousness of this pandemic. These convention pictures showed the First and Second Couples shaking hands with people at a crowded rope line. Neither Trump, Pence, their spouses, nor their supporters were wearing masks (nytimes.com, 8/27/20, Martin & Burns). Another big lie. Trump and Friends continue to belittle the suffering of millions and the deaths of over 180,000 Americans. It remains “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me” time for Donald.
And what a doozy downer Donald’s 8/27/2020 acceptance speech was! His official acceptance speech was the second-longest one in history. The longest? His 2016, “I alone can fix it (America’s failure)” address (dailykos.com, Nir, Rachel Maddow, 8/27/20). His 2020 speech was more like his State of the Union laundry lists of promises with all his “golden oldy” themes thrown in from the past four years. Donald’s 2020 speech was one big epic undertaking in revisionist history, loaded with lies, racist fear, endless tributes to our “Me, Me, Me” Narcissist-in-Chief and pandering to his “Red Meat” MAGA base (See latimes.com, Barabak, 8/27/20). In Donald’s alternate world, the coronavirus was on the way out with a vaccination just around the corner and our country has the “best” testing system in the world. Lies, lies, lies (Maddow, 8/27/20). While coronavirus keeps on raging, Donald had a crowd of 1,500 people listening to him on the White House South Lawn, with no masks and packed cheek to jowl. Yet, Donald claimed he was following scientific advice (cnn.com, Cillizza, 8/27/20, nbcnews.com, Trump speech). In a Freudian slip, Donald stated “we have ‘pioneered’ the fatality rate.” He sure was correct on that comment. He repeated for the umpteenth time that he had signed the Veterans Choice Act, when Obama had done that. Donald had the absolute nerve to say that he would protect patients with pre-existing conditions, as well as Social Security and Medicare. Neon sign lies. Donald has repeatedly tried to gut pre-existing Obamacare conditions and is fighting before the Supreme Ct. to abolish this key protection. He and his party want to destroy Social Security and Medicare (Maddow & Kos, 8/27/20).
Demagogue Donald, who has always used racist ranting to rev up white fear, did it again to the thousandth power. He first lied that he had done more for blacks than any President since Lincoln. He deliberately ignored voting rights protector and original KKK fighter Ulysses S. Grant, (“Grant,” Chernow, 2017), as well as 1960’s President Lyndon Baines Johnson. The rest of Donald’s speech could have been written and approved by his white supremacist fans. He called the COVID-19 pandemic the “China Virus (Trump 8/27/20 address).” Trump went on to attack moderate-progressive Biden as a “Trojan horse” for “socialism.” In a clarion call to racism, Demagogue Donald declared the “most dangerous aspect of the Biden platform was its ‘attack on public safety, which would release 400,000 criminals onto your streets and into your neighborhoods (Trump address).”’ Translation: black rioters, illegal Mexicans, and the Central American MS-13 gang will destroy white suburbia. Donald falsely accused Biden of defunding the police and condoning violence. He falsely accused “Democrat-run” cities of being crime-run hell-holes. He mocked the demonstrators, most of whom are non-violent, as “so-called peaceful demonstrators” who could under Biden get hold of “every level of U.S. government (Trump address).” Trump does not understand that peaceful protestors, under our Constitution, have every right to condemn senseless police violence against their fellow black citizens. Trump added, “As long as I am President, I will defend the absolute right of every American citizen to live in dignity, security, and peace. Trump told his audience to always remember: “They are coming after ME, because I am fighting for YOU… I left my former life behind, and a good life it was, I have done nothing but fight for YOU. (Trump address).” “Me, Me, Me, Me, Me,” the #1 Racist-in-Chief.
Trump laid it on for his MAGA base. He would fight for the unborn. He spoke of the pioneers, driven by their Bibles, who moved west to tame the “Wild Frontier.” His true heroes-- those who used their guns, Wyatt Earp, Annie Oakley, Davey Crockett, and Buffalo Bill. These “major” heroes, according to Trump and his NRA (National Rifle Association) pals, truly built U.S. churches, communities, towns, and industrial centers. These are the “real Americans” who built the future and “we don’t tear down the past (See Trump address, 8/27/20).” Bullhorn call: We don’t and must not tear down those monuments to Confederate soldiers, “very fine people” who tried to destroy our country to maintain white supremacy.
Yes, most pundits rightfully panned Demagogue Donald’s awful acceptance speech. However, this address hit all the “right” buttons for his fanatic MAGA base. They will come out strongly from their swamps to vote. The only way to end this era of government by the racist/Narcissist-in-Chief and his “Team Red” enablers? Get out and vote in droves plus. Vote early by mail or at the polls with masks on to protect you and your fellow citizens. There are more of us than them. This is the election of our lifetimes. Our democracy depends on it. Biden/Harris, a Democratic Senate, House, and “Blue” state legislatures must triumph.