The Republican Convention – The debates – The vanishing department store – Hurricane Laura – Evening statistics
The Republican Convention is now over. I’m a bit tempted to brush the matter aside in the same way that Voltaire once deflected an inquiry as to whether Catherine the Great had murdered her husband in order to become the ruler of Russia: “These are family matters in which I do not mix.” There were times when one had the impression of alighting upon a family reunion instead of a political event. This impression was reinforced by Ivanka Trump’s speech on the final night; whenever she referred to various Presidential decisions she consistently used the words “our” and “we.” Embarrassing as it is to admit, I wasn’t aware that the country had elected her as well when Donald Trump assumed office. One lives and learns.
But, no – such excuses are too craven. The task must be faced somehow or other. Writing about headlines and national events from the privacy of one’s home desktop with no accountability whatever to anyone else may appear to be a soft, cushy job; but someone has to do it. To begin, then:
I think that even those most kindly disposed towards the GOP must admit that the Convention was plagued by a certain degree of incoherence. I do not fault it for praising its candidates extravagantly or abusing the opposite party; that, after all, is what conventions do. The Democrats did precisely the same thing a week before. But the Democratic Convention did outline certain policies it intends to pursue and constructed a defined platform, whereas the Republican Convention explicitly renounced defining a platform of any kind and concentrated its energies in demonstrating what a wonderful man Donald Trump must be – and so indeed he is, using the word in its literal rather than its derived sense: it is a wonder that a man such as he could have attained political power at all. No one appears to have reflected that either in 2021 or 2025 Donald Trump will no longer be occupying the Oval Office and that it would have shown a degree of foresight to indicate the direction in which the party will go after this cherished omnipotence of theirs vanishes from the political scene.
The Convention featured several highlights, amongst whom Kimberly Guilfoyle occupies a very eminent place. During her exhortation on Monday, she seemed determined to prove that if she could not be persuasive enough or logical enough or compelling enough, she could at any rate be loud enough. Wagnerian sopranos playing Valkyries must be gaping in awe and envy at her lung-power, and at times I wondered if she had been coached to declaim the entire opera of Götterdämmerung single-handed. Comparisons of her to Rita Repulsa, Malificent, the Wicked Witch of the West, and other histrionic villainesses rapidly emerged via Internet after her speech (Trump’s beloved Twitter, ironically, being a major supplier of these). One commentator, possibly indulging in a touch of hyperbole, claimed that he could have heard Guilfoyle from several miles away without going to the trouble of turning his television on. If she didn’t break the sound barrier, it certainly was not for lack of trying. Not even Dana White, president of the UFC (who spoke or I should rather say shouted on the final night), a sports organization known for its rather emphatic style of delivery, could outdo her in volume.
Many observers honed in on the glassy-eyed stare with which Donald Trump Jr. delivered the speech that followed, speculating on whether cocaine could account for it. The simpler explanation is that he, like his girlfriend, had anticipated delivering his words before a live audience and was disconcerted by being compelled to speak virtually.
Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, defied all rules of precedence by speaking at the convention. Secretaries of State are expected to be non-partisan and to restrict themselves from making political statements of any kind during their term of office. Several of Pompeo’s predecessors defended the independence of their position with passionate intensity. But all is fish that comes to Trump’s net. Whoever acquires an appointment in his administration becomes his crony and automatically does his bidding, with no regard to accepted practice or, it may be added, to personal dignity and self-respect.
Say what you will about Donald Trump, he does not lack for audacity. He delivered the concluding remarks from the Truman Balcony, as if daring anyone to challenge his use of the White House as background for a political convention (and was anyone else reminded of Mussolini making the declaration of the Italian Empire in May, 1936, while speaking from the balcony of the Palazzio Venezia in Rome? No? All right, then, we can move on). As for the actual content of his remarks, it clearly does not become so feeble and inexperienced a pen as mine to venture any sort of comment at all. I shrink from the suggestion of subjecting his words to any set of criteria that is merely mortal. My imagination instead hastens, with dazzled eyes and hesitant pace, to back away quietly, respectfully, and discreetly from the Majestic Presence, not neglecting the obligatory reverent grovels in the direction of our Supreme Leader – oh, wait, that’s the title of a different national head of state.
It would be unfair to present the Convention as a series of blunders. Nikki Haley’s advocacy of Trump’s foreign policy was forceful and energetic, but never over-the-top and, for that reason, she was much more effective than the majority of Trump’s groupies. Jim Jordan took me (and, as I suspect, many others) completely by surprise when he related how Trump telephoned him and condoled with him after the death of Jordan’s nephew in a car accident, speaking to him at length and with great consideration. I am simply astounded to learn that Trump could be capable of such a degree of empathy.
Melania Trump (a much more compassionate person than her husband, which quality came through very clearly during her speech on Tuesday) did her level best to re-enforce this impression, and it is true that he appears to have treated her with fidelity, possibly even with affection. I doubt very much whether his first two wives, had they been allowed to contribute to the proceedings, would have given him such a favorable appraisal.
For all of the fear-mongering directed at the Democrats throughout the four days, Daniel Cameron, the attorney general of Kentucky, delivered perhaps the only genuinely telling criticism of Joe Biden during the entire convention. Referring to Biden’s comment that those African-Americans who did not vote Democratic “ain’t black” he gave this spirited response: “I am not in chains. My mind is my own. And you can’t tell me how to vote because of the color of my skin.” Biden will have to do a bit of back-pedaling during the campaign to come as a result.
Dan Crenshaw never mentioned Trump by name in his brief speech, but he is a formidable presence to have on one’s side, analogous to that of Tammy Duckworth for the Democrats: a former Navy SEAL, who lost one eye as a result of an IED explosion and who was just able to retain sight in the other, but who remained in the Navy for four years after this attack, and who has been awarded two Bronze Star Medals, the Purple Heart, and the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with valor. He is by no means a puppet of Trump; he has publicly criticized the President on several occasions, notably just last year in opposition to Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria. His speech spoke of the heroism of those who serve in armed forces and it included a remembrance of the fellow-soldier who saved his life and who then lost his own a few weeks afterwards in another attack from ISIS, a tribute that even political opponents, if they have any humanity at all, should admit to be moving.
There were fleeting moments during the speeches of Cameron, Crenshaw, Tim Scott, and Madison Cawthorn when I could have imagined myself transported to the Republican Party as it was before it had surrendered to Trumpean captivity: a party that was far from perfect, to be sure, but one which projected a message of optimism and positivity, without a trace of the snarling anger that it now displays towards anyone who ventures a breath of criticism towards its new idol. But the impression was only temporary; for the most part, the convention was dominated by the obeisances and genuflections its speakers were paying as tribute towards the gilded Ba’al that is Donald Trump.
The death toll from the COVID-19 virus (now rapidly approaching 200,000 and showing no signs of ceasing) and the crippling strain our hospital system is undergoing by treating tens of thousands of additional patients were never mentioned: that was more or less a matter of course in an event dedicated to showcasing Donald Trump’s triumphs. Although I’m sure he could have glossed over the matter on this occasion, had he been so inclined. There are so many to whom he could ascribe the mistakes and the irresponsibility, so that after he distributed the due amount of blame to China, the WHO, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama, the CNN network, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Dr. Fauci, Deborah Birx, the CDC, Antifa, and the Democrats generally, there might be a mere trifle of reproach left for himself. Melania Trump, it is true, did say that her husband would not cease in his efforts to obtain a vaccine; other than that, a visitor from another planet who dropped in to watch the convention would have no idea that such a virus existed. For that matter, the attendees grouped upon the South Lawn to hear Trump’s final speech in person appeared as ignorant as my hypothetical extra-terrestrial: there must have been about 1,500 of them, and they were all standing within inches of one another, with few of them wearing masks.
I am interested to see how Mike Pence will do in his debate with Kamala Harris in October. His performance in the Convention was on a par with his service as Vice President generally. Nothing about his speech stood out particularly and it fell far short of that combination of intelligence and vigor that is Harris’s trademark, but it was a moderately good workaday effort. At no point did he ever become as offensive as his superior. In short, he has been the same ethereal shadowy presence within the administration that we have hitherto known, and there was no indication one way or another whether he will be able to cope with someone of Harris’s caliber. Incidentally, Karen Pence, the VP’s wife, steered quite cautiously around the topic of what it is like working in the Trump administration, bestowing upon the President little in the way of praise or dispraise and indeed keeping her references to him to a bare minimum; and I would not be at all surprised to learn that she does not like him very much.
I have discussed the Republican Convention in greater detail than the Democratic Convention – not, as should be apparent, because I favor its candidates but because its quality was somewhat more . . . uneven, shall we say. As I remarked after the Democratic Convention was over, the organizers of the event knew from the start that the speakers would have to speak virtually, and the preparation they made to accommodate this circumstance was evident from the first day onwards. None of the speakers appeared uncomfortable or nonplussed within this new format and they did not resort to rhetorical techniques that would work well before a live audience but would be less effective coming from a person onscreen.
This is not to say that no speakers stood out. Who can forget Michelle Obama’s eloquent tribute to her husband’s achievements as President and her withering description of the shameful contrast made by his successor? Jill Biden, in a more understated way, brought out the basic decency and honorability that has characterized Joe Biden from the onset of his career. The speech by Gabrielle Giffords could not fail to be poignant by the very circumstances under which it was delivered: here is a woman who was shot in the head nine years ago and who fought steadily to make a lengthy and painful recovery, presenting the longest speech she has made since the shooting took place. It would have been understandable if she faltered or hesitated at times. But she did not. People behind the scenes said that she worked tirelessly to ensure that her delivery would be seamless onscreen, and seamless it certainly was. “Inspiring” can be an overused word, but in this case there simply is no other that can describe so flawless a triumph. And Biden himself, as I noted, shone during the final night. He was incisive and fiery and energetic, delivering his remarks without a trace of the “sleepiness” Trump continues to ascribe to him.
Occasionally, too, effects fell flat. Some of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s jokes were distracting rather than humorous. John Kasich’s use of a crossroads background while delivering a speech about the nation standing at a crossroads was heavy-handed, and it inspired a minor Internet meme as a result. Tony Evers, the governor of Wisconsin, wobbled a bit in his brief speech on the third night. But, in general, there were no major errors and no one gave the impression of being caught by surprise when confronted with the task of speaking before an audience that was not live.
The Republicans, by way of contrast, were in many cases visibly struggling with the new format. It is easy to make facetious remarks about Guilfoyle’s performance, as I did just a few paragraphs earlier and as many others have done on social media, but there can be no doubt that while she was speaking she had an image of herself being spurred on by a cheering crowd. She probably would have been ludicrous in any case, but she might have been less so if she were speaking in front of a live audience that was gradually being whipped up into a frenzy by her impassioned words. (Actually, the picture that that supposition conjures is a bit frightening.) More typically, however, the speakers seemed simply rather uncomfortable speaking without the presence of others in front of them to provide springboards through their emotional responses: Kristi Noem, for instance, whose delivery at times seemed zombie-like. Donald Trump himself, during his acceptance address, was clearly ill-at-ease speaking with the aid of a teleprompter, fettered because he was unable to indulge in his characteristic freewheeling antics in a crowded stadium crammed to the rafters with spectators.
There is poetic justice in this outcome. For months Trump has denied the significance of the virus and has persistently declined to follow the guidelines of Dr. Fauci and the CDC. Even after the failure of the rally in Tulsa during late June, he continued his attempts to hold a live convention, first at Charlotte and then, after the governor of the state resolutely demanded that the attendees observe the restrictions in effect with regard to large gatherings (social distancing, continual use of face masks, etc.), moving the location to Jacksonville, which eventually proved to be a hotbed of infection to which delegates were unwilling to travel. It was only a few weeks ago that he caved in at last and realized that the convention must be done virtually if it were to be held at all. The participants were caught offguard and had to revamp their presentations hastily, and as a consequence of Trump’s obstinacy the Republican Convention seemed clumsier and even at times amateurish in comparison with its Democratic counterpart.
The Convention has dominated much of the week but while today is relatively relaxed the next two months will be swept up in the turmoil of the upcoming election. Thankfully, Biden has refused to be swayed by Nancy Pelosi and will encounter Trump at all three debates. The schedule is:
- Presidential Debate 1, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH – September 29
- Presidential Debate 2, Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, FL –October 15
- Presidential Debate 3, Belmont University, Nashville, TN – October 22
- Vice-Presidential Debate, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT – October 7
They will be odd affairs. The participants will be set at podiums at least six feet apart and will have to take care not to invade one another’s body space – a restriction that is bound to make Donald Trump chafe. Biden, of course, has undergone one debate under such conditions when he contended with Bernie Sanders for the nomination. Interestingly, Trump has sent mixed signals as to whether or not he will participate. He has said that he did not trust the Commission on Presidential Debates (it’s a nonpartisan entity). But since then he has claimed to be “looking forward” to debating with Biden, and there was even talk in June about setting up a fourth debate. In short, no one knows at this point which course Trump will take; probably Trump himself knows least at all.
The virus has claimed yet another casualty. Lord & Taylor, a department chain store that has supplied products for nearly 200 years, has declared bankruptcy and announced that all of its remaining stores will close. Retailers such as Lord & Taylor were struggling against the shift to online shopping even before the COVID virus caused sales from stores like them to decline – dropping 8.7% in March alone. More than 250,000 stores that sell non-essential merchandise – such as Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Nike –have been shuttered since mid-March, accounting for 60% of the U.S. retail square footage.
Hurricane Laura did not prove to be “unsurvivable,” as it was described before it made landfall, but the damage it caused in Louisiana and to a lesser extent in Texas was severe. Over 700,000 residents have no electric power and eight million are still under a flash flood watch. It is projected to reach our area tomorrow evening. By this time the wind speeds have dropped down to 35 MPH but the storm still may create tornadoes in its wake.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 24,887,997; # of deaths worldwide: 840,424; # of cases U.S.: 6,094,220; # of deaths U.S.: 185,866.