Musings: Trump and the RNC Convention – Bait and Switch – by Daniel Smith

The RNC convention in Milwaukee is history and it was one for the history books

The most heard line from Trump’s acceptance speech: “Nobody’s ever seen anything like it…”

Typical Trump hyperbole/characterization; whether it’s about how good the economy or some other aspect of his term has been, or how terrible some aspect of the Biden administration, or Democratic politics, or liberal causes are. It’s a catchphrase that’s been part of his verbal lexicon for years, always overblown, always exaggerated, and usually self-aggrandizing, while ultimately always, always a lie.

I noticed that the first part of his speech was muted and even a bit uncharacteristically self-reflective. When he was talking about his near-assassination at the Pennsylvania rally, he told the audience, some of whom were moved to tears, that it was God who saved him.

After preliminary reports indicated that the theme of the final night of the convention would be unity, the speaker list, after the eloquent family member Eric Trump, was a bit like something out of a Fellini film. Speakers included his golf caddy, fired Fox host Tucker Carlson, rapper Kid Rock and former pro wrestler Hulk Hogan, who went on an emotional rampage before ripping off his shirt to reveal a Trump T-shirt as an introduction.

Trump appeared before a garish, huge, lighted backdrop with his name on it and walked to the podium to loud applause and cheers. He seemed humbled and grateful for the reception. The uniform of retired Fire Chief Corey Comperatore was displayed on stage. He died, shot behind Trump while protecting his family. Trump walked to his fire helmet and kissed it.

After initially going into detail about what he experienced during the assassination attempt and saying that “every day on Earth is a gift from God,” Trump briefly touched on a theme of toning down the divisive rhetoric he’s known for on both sides, before resuming his caustic style (calling Nancy Pelosi “crazy”) and spending the better part of the longest acceptance speech in history rehashing the litany of lies, exaggerations and demonstrably false claims about how good things have been during his term and asserting that the Biden administration is the worst ever.

If you didn’t see it (or, like me, found the reruns boring and left early), Trump promised he could “stop wars with a phone call”; he undertook the largest deportation effort in U.S. history of illegal aliens and others, again using stories of crimes committed by immigrants to stoke fear, and vowed to “not let these murderers and criminals into our country” by completing the southern border wall.

He also made sweeping promises to end inflation, secure the border, end the push for renewable energy to combat climate change and build electric vehicle charging stations, saying the “drill, baby, drill” expansion of fossil fuel energy would begin “on day one,” building a missile defense system like Israel’s Iron Dome here, refocusing infrastructure efforts and imposing steep tariffs on imported products. He also promised to bring in a “golden age unlike any other.”

Of course, the bombastic rhetoric lacked any details about plans and policies, but the grand promises were nonetheless cheered by the adoring RNC attendees.

Tellingly, there was no mention of the extremist Project 2025 plan put together by the Heritage Foundation, recently unveiled as a plan to dismantle basic systems of governance and replace them with an authoritarian state. If you have not examined this document, it is vital that you see the threat it represents and why Trump has now attempted to distance himself from the plan.

Also notably absent from the speech was any mention of the overturning of Roe v. Wade by Trump-appointed Supreme Court justices, something Trump had previously happily taken credit for, but now, in the face of national outrage and the backlash from a majority of Americans, the cheers have been muted and tempered to a vague declaration that the issue should be decided by the states. Backtracking personified.

New York Times columnist David Brooks commented on the rest of Trump’s speech: “There is no cure for narcissism. The part after the assassination attempt was one of the truly awful and self-righteous political performances of our time. My brain has been beaten to a soporific exhaustion.”

Vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance’s acceptance speech was better written and delivered, and his backstory, first told in his autobiography “Hillbilly Elegy,” was well received, as were his later playbook details affirming his loyalty, which echoed much of the usual MAGA rhetoric, including ending support for Ukraine while defending himself against the Russian invasion.

The only “unity” within the GOP ranks this time was in the hands of the extremist MAGA party that it has become. Absent were any of the GOP stalwarts of the past, such as former President Bush or former Vice President Mike Pence, nor any of the dozens of former administration officials who have distanced themselves from the man who would become king.

The divisions within the Democratic Party will certainly need to be resolved before their party convention in Chicago, but the RNC event clearly shaped the choices for many Americans.

I wanted to step away from politics for a moment to comment on what is being called the largest IT outage in history, which recently wreaked havoc on business, finance, transportation, healthcare, and much of the world’s technology systems. A simple code update gone awry, creating the kind of chaos we feared would only come from an organized cyberattack. It highlights our vulnerabilities with the Internet of Everything and the need to address them quickly at the government and technology levels.

Then I would like to encourage all readers to Ark Valley Voice and our independent journalism, especially now during our crucial “Christmas in July” fundraising campaign to keep our journalists working for you in our community.

As with most non-profits, public support and funding is vital to survive in a challenging environment. Dozens of news outlets, online, broadcast and print, have recently closed after advertising dried up. Communities lose their sense of community when journalists are not there to report and comment on what affects their lives. It is a pillar of our democracy that needs your protection.

I have worked in my field for about 50 years at the local, regional and national levels in print and broadcast (Denver Post, Rocky Mountain News, wire services and network radio) and I can tell you that news is labor intensive and not cheap to deliver. I am proud of the work that I and the staff under Managing Editor Jan Wondra have done for our community for six years, and as I have told some of you, often in the face of nefarious attempts to undermine and sabotage our business.

Thank you for reading my Musings column and for your report. Help us sustain our hard-working, independent journalistic efforts to keep our community well-informed.