The Circus Came to Town

This past week, the Republican Party held its convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

It was a well-organized clown car that did not discuss policy but focused on the “claimed” failed policy of the Biden/Harris administration.

The pièce de résistance was to be the acceptance speech of Donald J. Trump. It had been reported that after the assassination attempt on Saturday, Donald Trump was a new man and would offer a speech of unity.

As a prelude to Trump’s appearance, they actually played “Macho Man” by the Village People. Maybe they forgot to vet the song’s intention because they liked calling Trump a Macho Man. No matter, the Macho Man with his bandaged ear appeared.

The speech began with him stating, “I’m running to be president for all of America, not half of America, because there is no victory in winning for half of America.” Then he pivoted to say he I’m not supposed to be here tonight. I stand before you, here in this arena, only by the grace of Almighty God.” 

Next was his story of the assassination attempt. He said he could tell the story of his assassination attempt only once because it would be too painful to share twice. 

He honored Corey Comperatore, who was killed at the rally while shielding his family from the gunfire. Trump kissed Comperatore’s fire helmet, which was on the stage. Trump said he’s helped to raise $6.3 million for the Comperatore’s family and the two men who were injured.

Then he drifted into the same false claims he and the Republican Party like to claim*:

1. Trump claimed he oversaw the best economy in the history of the U.S. Unfortunately, that is not true. The economy under Biden is far better and was built from the rubble of the COVID economy with an average growth rate of 3.6%.
2. Trump claimed he had the lowest unemployment rate ever. Unfortunately, not true. In February 2020, a month before the COVID pandemic affected the economy, the unemployment rate stood at 3.5%. That was low, not the lowest. When Trump’s term ended, the unemployment rate was 6.3%. Unemployment fell to 2.5% under President Biden. It is currently at 4% after being lower than the best months in Trump’s term.
3. Trump claimed he would finish the border wall, most of which he had already built. Actually, barriers were built at roughly 23% of the total length of the border—nearly 2,000 miles long. 450 miles of barriers replaced old, outdated barriers, while 52 miles of new wall were built.
4. Trump claims the Biden administration would quadruple taxes. That’s not true! President Biden wants to extend tax cuts for families earning under $400,000 annually and said nobody earning under $400,000 would face higher taxes. TMr. Biden plans to raise tax revenues by bumping up the corporate tax rate and increasing taxes on the top 1% by 9.7%. A long way from quadrupling taxes.
5. So many more verbal illusions were shared. There is no choice in this election. One candidate lies, misleads, misdirects, and asks you to not pay attention to the truth. Research and read the facts – you won’t find the facts on FOX News, One American Network (OAN), NewsMax, the Sinclair Network, or Truth Social.

There is one direction: elect Democrats up and down the ticket from the White House down, and we can strengthen our Democracy and neuter the forces of the Christian Nationalist movement and White Supremacy movement, which have infiltrated what used to be the Republican Party.

The stakes are High. Don’t Capitulate. Don’t Surrender.

* https://www.cbsnews.com/news/2024-rnc-day-4-fact-check-republican-national-convention-trump