Empty room.

You may recall from last week that I skipped most of the Democratic National Convention. Well, I gave equal time to the Republicans, though the thing they were broadcasting this week didn’t even pretend to be a nominating convention in the true sense. That process took place during the day on Monday in North Carolina, where the RNC was originally going to happen. I believe it consisted of a vote to not have a party platform, to simply endorse Herr Trump in all his glory, then to nominate him formally before getting to the main event: Trump giving a rally speech, full of the usual wild claims, distortions, and outright lies. The man should have a laugh track.

What was billed as the RNC is a long infomercial to white aggrievement that kicked off with Charlie Kirk from Turning Point USA calling Trump the “body guard of Western Civilization” – i.e. white people. It always amazes me to watch these grifters attack the Democratic party from the left on trade, as it Trump represents any departure from globalized neoliberal capitalism. Of course, as soon as they’re done decrying outsourcing, they start in on socialism, communism, Marxism, whatever they’re calling it at any given time. Kind of a contradiction for those of you keeping score at home, but that won’t slow them down. If Republican conventions are mostly about owning the libs with nasty quips and jabs, they’re having a great week.

Many of the speakers – both pre-recorded and live – are speaking in a large, ornate, empty hall in Washington D.C. Watching them talk as if the Coronavirus has subsided, I thought of all those who have died as a result of Trump’s historic incompetence, and pictured their spirits populating those empty seats, bearing witness to this pathetic spectacle. Of course, so many things in the actual world seem to evade their notice. Police brutality, global warming, wealth inequality, exploitation of labor, etc., etc. … none of it made its way into the various remarks. Pence articulated a vision of law and order, channeling his Nixonian forebears, in hopes that they might repeat the 37th president’s landslide re-elect. That seems a tall order, though they still might squeak by.

Lord know … if we had a decent opposition party, this race would be over by now.

luv u,

jp

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