I'm no Clinton supporter, far from it, but even I have been taken back by the tone at Trump's convention. Never have I seen such a scorched earth nomination, including Democrats of the '60s and 70s. Criticize the opponent, yes, but these scripted and staged events have always been about the party's view forward and what is their platform. Haven't seen much of that in the Globe, even less so on the tube, so maybe the fault is mine. I can no longer stomach the stuff.
I will discuss more of my feelings below, but let's start with Ted Cruz first:
"Crowd boos as Cruz avoids Trump endorsement" by Matt Viser and Annie Linskey Globe Staff July 21, 2016
CLEVELAND — Senator Ted Cruz, who was the most potent threat to Donald Trump in the Republican primary and became the vessel for the anti-Trump movement, Wednesday night delivered a prime-time address in which he withheld any explicit endorsement of the party’s nominee.
Until someone in the room said "What are we doing here? President Cruz?"
That's worse than, you know.
His remarks — which overshadowed vice presidential nominee Mike Pence’s bid to shore up Trump’s conservative support with a Reaganesque vision — triggered a shower of boos.
It could be the press, and I only caught a snippet of Ted changing channels.
After a topsy-turvy night, Pence, showing his Midwestern style, did what he was supposed to do: He praised Trump, casting some of the nominee’s harsh rhetoric as quintessentially American. “Where else would an independent spirit like his find a following than in the home of the free and the land of the brave?” he said.
He got that backwards, it's land of and home of, but what I noticed after yesterday's Trump stop was how little Pence was covered in my Globe. Were it not for the web additions....
Cruz, by contrast, delivered a coherent case for conservatism in what could provide the baseline for another presidential campaign much as Ronald Reagan’s 1976 convention speech did for him.
WTF, Globe?
Trump hasn't even accepted the nominated and already they have started the 2020 campaign and made Cruz into Reagan reincarnated!
“To those listening, please. Don’t stay home in November,” Cruz told the Republicans gathered for the party’s convention, in his most prominent remarks since dropping out in May. “Stand and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution.”
Hundreds of pro-Trump delegates grew restless and vocally urged Cruz to endorse Trump as his speech wore on. Just as he was wrapping up, Trump himself entered the back of the convention hall and took a seat, drawing cheers.
Great speaking slot and Ted does this?
“Wow, Ted Cruz got booed off the stage, didn’t honor the pledge!” Trump tweeted at 11:45 p.m. “I saw his speech two hours early but let him speak anyway. No big deal!”
Pence, an Indiana governor with little national name recognition, spent the early parts of his own speech introducing himself. “I’m a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican. In that order,” Pence said.
It's what he did not say that is noticeable.
Btw, I'm an American first and foremost.
He joked about his low profile, prefacing some of his biographical remarks by saying, “For those of you who don’t know me . . . which is most of you.”
He also blasted Hillary Clinton as a person who should be disqualified from being president because of the fatal attack on the diplomatic compound in Benghazi while she was secretary of state.
Is this all red meat theater or what? Trump has rubbed elbows with the Clintons, given them money.
At the conclusion of Pence’s speech, Trump came on stage, began to embrace Pence, and then directed an air kiss toward his running mate. Then Pence’s family came on stage to smile for the audience.
While the evening was tense after Cruz’s speech — which reportedly caused his wife to be rushed out of the hall amid protesters, and backstage confrontations with Cruz himself— Trump had greater success among other former presidential primary rivals, who urged the party to unite behind Trump.
Some painted a dire picture of what a Clinton presidency would mean for the future — with the stakes being Democratic choices to fill Supreme Court vacancies, threats to the security of the nation’s secrets, or concentrated power in a corrupt Washington. Other former rivals referred to the pledges they took to support whoever emerged as the nominee.
I'm not doubting that; however, it's the expansion of empire and suppression of secrets that concerns me.
As a measure of the potency of Cruz’s remarks, Newt Gingrich, speaking moments after Cruz, went off his script and made some attempts to reframe the Texas senator’s remarks as an unstated endorsement.
“Ted Cruz said you can vote your conscience for anyone who will uphold the Constitution,” Gingrich said.
“In this election there is only one candidate who will uphold the Constitution. So to paraphrase Ted Cruz, if you want to protect the Constitution this fall, the only possible vote is the Trump-Pence ticket.”
In a convention that has been marked by accusations that Trump’s wife, Melania, plagiarized from a speech that Michelle Obama delivered in 2008, the party tried to move toward more favorable terrain.
C'mon, Globe, let that go. No one votes for the wives.
One of Trump’s sons, Eric, touted his father’s business record and bragged about how he reshaped skylines and turned “dreams into reality his entire career.”
“It’s time for a president who understands the art of the deal and who appreciates the value of a dollar, our tax dollars,” Eric Trump said.
I saw a few minutes of the proud son, talking America first, and the ZNN cameras flashing up to Trump's box as he tried to look humble, and still looked smug.
The uniting principle behind the convention remained opposition to presumptive Democratic nominee Clinton. For the second night in a row, the dominant chant of the night was “Lock her up! Lock her up!”
You see, those kind of statements from the rabble are going to get some people really riled up.
I'm not saying she should not be behind bars, she should, along with her husband; however, you need a DEMOCRAT to do that! Obama could have; instead he made her his sec-of-state and became a war criminal himself -- so now we have to wait for the next Democrat, unless Hillary has to abort her campaign for some reason and we get Sanders.
I know the Repugs reading won't like this, but what Trump has to do is BRING CHARGES against the BUSH REGIME -- and he just might given his attitude toward that long-time crime family.
Laura Ingraham, the conservative talk radio host, worked the crowd into a frenzy with a fiery speech that urged the party to show more backbone. She then spoke to Trump opponents who are still resisting him, a comment that seemed particularly aimed at Cruz.
“Even all you boys with wounded feelings and bruised egos — we love you, we love you,” she said. “But you must honor your pledge to support Donald Trump now. Tonight.”
I'm not that crazy about her, either.
Earlier in the day, Cruz threw a thank-you party for his supporters at a waterfront bar, with the crowd at one point urging him to run again in four years, chanting “2020! 2020! 2020!”
There will be more parties down below.
“And I don’t know what the future is going to hold,” he said. “Every one of us has an obligation to follow our conscience.”
Just as Cruz was telling the crowd that “our party now has a nominee,” Trump’s airplane, arriving back from New York, flew behind the stage. The crowd let out long, loud “boos.”
“That was pretty well orchestrated,” Cruz said. Cruz turned to his former campaign manager Jeff Roe and asked, “Jeff, did you e-mail them to fly the plane right when I said that?”
A conspiracy!
The flyover was part of a grand entrance. After his plane landed on the Lake Erie shore, Trump boarded a helicopter emblazoned with Trump, just like his plane, and did two fly-bys for a crowd assembled near the Cleveland Browns stadium while loud opera played on speakers. When he landed near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he was greeted by Pence, as well as all of his immediate family members except his wife.
It's like a presidential, so he's used to that at least, and look at the pre$$ trash it.
“He certainly knows how to make an entrance,” said Sandy King, chair of the Yates County Republicans in upstate New York. “It’s a good thing. We need this type of presence in the world, and we just don’t have that right now.”
The lingering distrust between Cruz and Trump supporters was evident Wednesday, and one of the signs that the party remains divided as Cruz and others quietly lay the groundwork to reemerge if Trump loses in November.
“Donald Trump doesn’t stand for the values that we as a party have stood for,” said Nancy Allen, a North Carolina delegate and Cruz supporter. “I don’t think he’s even read the Constitution. Trump does not bring the basic values of the party to the presidency. And he’s definitely not bringing the character.”
She pointed to the negative way the convention thus far has been run, with Trump using the party establishment to shut down delegate dissent on opening day. “That set a bad tone for the week,” she said. “We were not treated like part of the party at this convention.”
???????
The delegate dissent was fomented by the party establishment!
Hello!!??
Under Trump, she predicted, the party will remain divided. Allen, 69, said she’s voted in every election since turning 21. For the first time, she is considering sitting out in November. “At this point, I just don’t know what I’ll do.”
Me neither.
--more--"
So what's the road ahead?
"Donald Trump is at the wheel, and road looks rocky" by Matt Viser and Tracy Jan Globe Staff July 20, 2016
CLEVELAND — The keys to the Republican Party now belong to a onetime Democrat, a man who has lambasted top Republican Party leaders, a man who diverges from the party’s longstanding orthodoxy on an array of central issues.
It’s Donald Trump’s party now.
And the Globe is ruining it.
And his party is one of anger and division, one that is sick and tired of the status quo and skeptical of all elected officials. It is one that is proudly vulgar, one that peddles in innuendo and conspiracy, and one whose members will speak of shooting the presumptive Democratic nominee for treason or chant in unison, “Lock her up!” It is one that is short on specifics but adamant about bumper sticker promises about building a wall to keep out illegal immigrants and about making America great.
I look at some of the posts I wrote years ago and have so toned it down. I only swear when I lapse now; otherwise, it's all clean.
Nicholas Kemper, a 20-year-old delegate from Texas who supports Trump, said, “He’s taken some unconventional stances,” Kemper added. “He seems to be indifferent about abortion and marriage. It’s going to be an adjustment. It will attract new voters but will also certainly repel some.”
Some Republicans fear that they could lose voters for decades, and that the grip Democrats have on the growing segment of minority voters will only get firmer. They worry that the Republicans’ majority in the Senate is at risk, and possibly the House majority, too.
If Repugs lose the House it's a massive rig job, but I really don't know what fall scenario has been scripted for us yet.
Others no longer recognize what their party is becoming.
They kicked me out years ago. Wouldn't even let my guy in building! That's why I dislike what Ted did.
“I’ve made the decision not to watch except for highlights on the morning news,” said Seth Klarman, a Boston billionaire who was the biggest donor to Republicans from New England in the 2014 election cycle.
“What I’ve read and seen has reinforced my decision neither to support Republican candidates who have supported Trump, nor the party itself, because so many Republicans have chosen to put party ahead of country. Donald Trump is completely unqualified for the highest office in the land.”
Klarman, who is an independent, just cut a $5,400 check to Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
What you will have come November is the neocon war wing of Repugs vote Hitlery and Reagun Democraps roll to Trump so the electoral map will look funny as opposed to recent elections.
One day after Trump officially secured the nomination, Republican delegates in Cleveland Wednesday spoke openly with pride — as well as apprehension — about their party’s new standard-bearer, illustrating the divide that’s plagued the primaries ever since Trump glided down an escalator in Trump Tower last year and announced he was running for president.
Some continued to criticize Trump’s negative tenor and divisive rhetoric and expressed concerns about the party’s ability to attract younger voters, especially minorities and women.
Problem is he has turned out a lot of first-time voters; that's why the nomination could be stolen from him.
Melissa Richmond, a 29-year-old delegate from Virginia who is Mitt Romney’s former director of donor relations, fears that under Trump, “the trickle-down racism and misogyny that Romney talked about will come to fruition.”
“He uses language that tears down other people and appeals to our basest instincts,” she said. “He doesn’t set a good tone for our country. It’s not the Republican Party I know. It’s super discouraging.”
Your candidate is not there and had his chance, so....
Richmond, vice president of Running Start, a nonpartisan organization focused on encouraging young women to run for office, said about half the people she trains are women of color. She worries that a Republican Party led by Trump will not only discourage minority women from joining the GOP, but also turn them off to politics, period.
See: "The peak came in 2004, during the reelection effort for George W. Bush. That year, nearly 7 percent of the Republican delegates were black."
No wonder she felt alone. Look, they have to go to the meetings you know.
You can't win if you don't play, as they always say.
“I wish I could be more excited being here at the convention,” said Richmond, who plans on writing in a candidate in November, probably Romney.
“I would love to feel proud to be able to say, ‘Oh, I wish you’d been at the convention. It was the best thing ever.’ But I’m not.”
More than halfway through the convention, the party seems to be what Trump might have called “low energy,” the phrase he once used to describe Jeb Bush. Some attendees have already left, and the seats have never been completely full in the arena where the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play.
During the first two nights, most delegates had filed out by the time the final speakers took the stage.
I was already in bed.
After months of opposing Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell both took the stage Tuesday night, declaring their support for the nominee. McConnell was booed, and Ryan — a onetime wunderkind of the Republican Party — was received tepidly as he gave a speech rich on policy. And on Wednesday, former rival Ted Cruz spoke, but declined to endorse Trump.
Brought a smile to my face.
While each day has had a theme, there is little cohesion among the speakers, and the name Clinton is uttered far more often than the name Trump.
Ben Carson, one of the Republican speakers, said the presumptive Democratic nominee had sympathy for Lucifer.
Oh, she offered the VP slot to Cruz?
A top RNC official blamed Clinton for not standing up for those who accused Bill Clinton of sexual improprieties. One of the most animated moments of the convention came when delegates chanted over and over: “Lock her up! Lock her up!” and “Guilty!’’
Yet, in an interview this week, Anne Copp, a New Hampshire delegate from Danbury, pushed back on the notion that Trump is sexist and racist.
“I’m offended by that,” Copp said. “I’m not an uneducated, low-class woman, and I’m for Trump.”
In fact, she said, Trump is making the GOP more inclusive.
“He’s widened the party,” she said. “It’s no longer going to be leaning toward the establishment.”
Other delegates credit Trump for expanding the party base to appeal to blue-collar union workers who have traditionally voted Democrat by focusing on international trade and prosperity, as well as voters disenchanted with the Republican establishment.
“I didn’t get the appeal at first,” said Chris Ager, a New Hampshire delegate from Amherst who had supported Scott Walker and Marco Rubio.
But Ager said his two sons, ages 26 and 30, who had never voted in their lives, quickly became Trump fans because he’s a brash, straight-talking “billionaire who can’t be controlled by anyone.”
I'm not a "fan" of anyone.
Some social conservatives say they are even willing to overlook Trump’s more moderate positions on traditional Republican stances on gays and abortion because they would rather see the next Supreme Court justice appointed by Trump than his Democratic rival.
In other words, they agree with him on enough to make him acceptable, especially when compared with Hillary Clinton.
“I have opinions that differ from Donald Trump in socially conservative ways,” said Steve Goddu, a New Hampshire delegate from Salem who had originally supported Cruz. “But if you get 80 percent, that’s a good day.”
Who agrees with anyone 100%, and if you do you are a psychophant.
“I am very hopeful in the direction that Trump can take the party,” said Curtis Hill, the Republican nominee for Indiana attorney general. “He has captured a movement and brought energy to the campaign and he wants to make America great again. What is wrong with that?
“He is different than most Republicans and his campaign is different, but this country is stuck and we need a new direction.”
Georgia activist Debbie Whelchel is concerned about what direction Trump will take the party.
“Yes, of course I am worried,” said Whelchel, who backed Marco Rubio in the presidential primary. “He is a loose cannon, and who knows what he will do or say?. He is an outsider, but we are a conservative party. We like tradition and rules, and he doesn’t.”
Yeah, but at least he hasn't committed an war crimes yet.
--more--"
So what are the Globe critics saying?
"Trump hasn’t delivered in his prime-time moment" by Don Aucoin Globe Staff July 20, 2016
If “The Donald Trump Show,’’ a.k.a. the Republican National Convention, were a television program — and in a sense, of course, that’s exactly what it is — it exposes who is ready for prime time and who is not, and the Trump forces clearly were not. This would be a problem for any candidate, but it is particularly so for Trump because his star power and his presumed mastery of the medium, as the former host of NBC’s “The Apprentice,’’ was a key part of the rationale for his candidacy.
Maybe.
Then again, maybe the guy just took a look around at what was happening to this country and realized he is in the cla$$ that can actually do something?
I'm not saying that is why he did this. Maybe he did do it for ego, but why? Why bring grief and headache upon yourself when living the good life?
Yet now that it’s time to put on the most important TV show of his life and connect with a nationwide viewing audience, Trump hasn’t been able to deliver. Straining for Big Moment grandeur on the convention’s opening night, he descended into cheesy absurdity instead, materializing backlit in silhouette amid bluish haze, more WWE wrestler than statesman, while Queen’s “We Are the Champions’’ pounded over the sound system. Then Trump strode forward, applauding himself or perhaps the delegates, while repeating the refrain: “We’re going to win so big.’’
But winning the hearts and minds of home viewers, also known as voters, requires more narrative verve and discipline than the unfocused Trump coronation has so far been able to muster. A variety show is nothing without variety, and there has too often been a numbing sameness to the televised presentation. Wednesday night was undeniably livelier, but the picture that came through the TV screen was of a nominee struggling to maintain control of his own convention: After Trump’s campaign granted former rival Ted Cruz a hefty chunk of speaking time, Cruz pointedly withheld his endorsement, igniting boos from the crowd. (Trump entered the hall near the end of Cruz’s speech and joined his family.)
There was a sharp decline in the TV audience from the first night to the second night of the convention. No sooner had “The Donald Trump Show’’ hit the airwaves Monday night than it began to threaten to capsize beneath the weight of sheer rhetorical excess. Speaker after gloom-and-doom speaker seemed to be auditioning for jobs as scriptwriters on “The Walking Dead,’’ with the prize perhaps going to former Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell, who said: “The world outside of our borders is a dark place, a scary place.’’ It was as if Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,’’ had morphed into “Make America Scared Again.’’
Take a look in the mirror and who you work for first.
For all the fervent talk, though, the reaction among delegates on the convention floor in Cleveland has come across on TV as rather tepid, even when the candidate made an appearance by satellite Tuesday night.
I'm told they are just “going through the motions.’’
Only the mention of Hillary Clinton’s name seemed to really animate the delegates, who chanted “Lock her up!’’ at every opportunity. Despite Clinton’s unpopularity with a large segment of voters, it was perhaps not the most rational face the party could present to a nation watching at home. Apart from Clinton animus, this convention has not been able to stay on message — Tuesday night’s theme was jobs, but you wouldn’t have known it from most of the speeches — and build momentum.
Well, when the ma$$ media is still hanging on to the Melania story.... !!
A compellingly forceful speech by Donald Trump Jr. Tuesday night was diluted by the speakers who followed him, including Dr. Ben Carson, who rambled on about “Rules for Radicals’’ author Saul Alinsky, Clinton, and . . . Lucifer. You could almost hear the “Huh?’’ emanating from homes across the nation. Melania Trump’s poised and graceful speech on Monday night was quickly ruined by the ensuing comedy of errors, when it was revealed it had been plagiarized from an address given at the Democratic National Convention in 2008 by Michelle Obama.
Even Trump couldn’t seem to stop himself from sabotaging his own show.
It’s puzzling. Seldom has a major-party nominee been so thoroughly a creature of television, so completely shaped by reflexes developed on TV, so dependent on the medium for his understanding of the world. (When asked last year where he got military information, Trump famously replied, “Well, I watch the shows.’’)
What about Reagan?
He was an actor, for God's sake!
As for our dependence for understanding the world, then the pre$$ and ma$$ media are also guilty as charged! Where do you think I'm getting it?
He has long promised that his convention would be a blockbuster. But the evidence onscreen so far suggests that the star and executive producer of “The Donald Trump Show’’ doesn’t understand how to use this made-for-TV event, the ultimate prime-time showcase, to shape his story and message and energize his campaign. He has one more night to figure it out.
Tell me about it tomorrow.
--more--"
I want to get to the party tonight!
"The parties around the Grand Old Party" by Annie Linskey Globe Staff July 21, 2016
CLEVELAND — A man was wrestled to the ground by security. Delegates queued for more than a hour to get in. Oh, and Lynyrd Skynyrd played.
Welcome to the nightlife at the Republican National Convention.
The bars and restaurants that ring the Quicken Loans Arena here are hosting a dizzying array of parties where food and alcohol flow freely while lobbyists and lawyers linger, doing their utmost to keep current clients happy and look out for new ones.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a lowly alternate delegate from Alaska or a TV personality — everyone is asking each other the same two questions: Where are you staying, and what parties are you attending?
“I get invited to everything, it seems,” boasted New Hampshire state Representative Fred Doucette, a Trump campaign cochair from a politically important swing state.
He said he hung out with Newt Gingrich until the wee hours of the morning at one party Tuesday and is busy trying to figure out whether he could see Kid Rock play here Thursday night.
Just keeping track of all of the potential social engagements is a bit of a chore, though some organizations log invites on speadsheets that have made the rounds. The Boston Globe obtained a list of 339 events taking place in Cleveland around the convention — including breakfasts, lunches, and golf outings.
Related:
"Golf and tennis fees were paid, whitewater rafting and trout fishing guides were contracted, and limo drivers and photographers were hired. Flowers worth about $1,300 decorated tables filled with food.... RNC’s expenditures for office supplies during the same period topped $773,000... including jelly beans for Steele’s office and thousands of dollars’ worth of liquor and wine.
Yup, politics is ONE BIG PARTY, huh?
And the Dems are no better:
"Party committees spend roughly two-thirds of the money they take in on the care and comfort of committee staffs and on efforts to raise more funds, with lavish spending on limousines, expensive hotels, meals, and tips.... vast sums are consumed with limited accountability.... hefty expenditures in categories such as “office supplies’’ and “tips’’ that consume tax-exempt party funds.... pamper prospective donors with luxurious getaways and gifts... 59 percent of total Democratic revenue of about $100 million.... There is a class of [political] donors who expect to be wined and dined and who expect to have gala receptions.... spending on charter flights, limousines, entertainment, food, and beverages at party headquarters."
See what your campaign contribution is being used for?
Political conventions have always included lively after-hours events sponsored by companies, but watchdog groups fear that this year companies have even more power than usual because Congress stopped allowing public financing of party conventions.
It's a corporate government anyway.
That removes the veneer of the convention purely serving the public interest because the political parties must rely solely on private donors and corporate America to pay for the coronation of their candidate.
That was removed years ago!
This in turn makes a near seamless dynamic where delegates flow from a corporate-sponsored breakfast to the corporate-convention space to a corporate-sponsored after party.
“It is raising huge concerns for us,” said Lisa Gilbert, the director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division, which is closely monitoring the parties. “It is a great way for companies to get access to elected officials and would-be elected officials.”
That's our $y$tem, best ever devi$ed!
There’s another trend this year — some big companies such as Coca-Cola decided not to participate in the convention because of inflammatory statements by Donald Trump.
Corporate clients kept a lower profile, with fewer logos and less branding, said Will Milligan, who organized nine events this week for various clients. “The corporations, the lobbyists, they are here to do business. And business is still getting done.”
You liking the $how behind the curtain?
He's noticed that some companies are minimizing exposure to Trump by holding events at the beginning of the convention. On Wednesday and Thursday, as more attention focused on Trump, the business interests became more scarce.
But they want to keep acce$$.
Traditionally the most exclusive party is the one thrown by former House speaker John Boehner. Scoring a coveted invite — a small plastic placard worn around the neck — causes ripples of jealousy.
Boehner a big drinker is he?
The party, held at a warehouse in Cleveland, included two live bands and multiple bars. And the real big shots had access to a VIP lounge where celebrity bartenders were flown in for the occasion.
Many of the parties are jointly sponsored by a company and a charity. These events provide cover for congressional staffers to attend without crossing any ethical lines. Attendance at charity events doesn’t trigger disclosure, but wolfing down a free salmon dinner at a corporate dinner does.
That was the case for a concert given by country star Lee Brice on Wednesday night. The invitation has a special marker on the lower right-hand side that reads “Concert for Cause.” It was difficult, from the plastic credential that serves as an invite, to determine exactly what cause was benefiting — but 16 companies had their logos printed on the back.
Ummm, excuse me, where is the bathroom?
On Wednesday morning, Caitlyn Jenner appeared at the “Big Tent Brunch” — an event sponsored by a Republican gay rights group called the American Unity Fund.
Just an hour after that cleared out, the ultra conservative Georgia delegation was holding a lunch in the same spot. “Oh, I would have no part of that, I’m sorry,” said Andrew Clyde, an alternate delegate, visibly shaken that a reporter assumed he’d been at the earlier brunch.
Even in this age of smartphones, people seemed to be relying heavily on word of mouth to figure out where different parties are being held and how to get on the list.
See: Candidates want your data, along with your vote
That's a different kind of invite, and it's part of the corporate data collection for security purposes.
Nintendo earnings soar on the popularity of Pokemon Go
Do you think they had any characters hidden inside Quicken Loans Arena?
Hanging out Tuesday afternoon at the Westin hotel was reality TV star Omarosa Manigault, a Trump surrogate. Between doing various TV interviews to help change the topic from her candidate’s latest scandal, she spotted a friend. She deployed the unofficial convention greeting:
“Are you going to the 5 o’clock cocktail party?” she asked.
If so, I'm late!
--more--"
The talk at the watering hole:
GOP economic plan based on disregarding climate change
I'm going to disregard what he said.
The GOP’s race problem
Token Ben?
The GOP’s alternate reality
Consider what it is I'm reading on a daily basis.
I’m so sorry, Mitt Romney
He owes us an apology!
Demonizing Clinton can backfire for Trump
Yeah, she's a feminist hero and you can't say certain things:
"Trump adviser says Clinton should be ‘shot for treason’" by Jim O’Sullivan Globe Staff July 20, 2016
A New Hampshire state representative who advises Donald Trump on veterans’ issues called Tuesday for Hillary Clinton to be “put in the firing line and shot for treason” for her handling of the Benghazi terror attack.
No, I made clear the other day that I didn't want that for anyone. I simply want them moved to a place where they can't harm anyone. If that is a prison, fine.
Btw, all the talk of potential assassination has centered on Trump. For the record, I wouldn't want to see such a thing happen to Clinton, either. That would be a terrible thing for this country, and judging from past experience plenty of questions would need asking.
I suppose my policy is rather simple. No assassinations, no wars.
What's complicated about that?
Appearing on WRKO radio from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, state Representative Al Baldasaro, a Londonderry Republican, called the presumptive Democratic nominee “a piece of garbage.”
Baldasaro likened Clinton to Jane Fonda, the actress who famously visited Hanoi as part of her opposition to the Vietnam War.
“She is a disgrace . . . for the lies that she told those mothers about their children that got killed over there in Benghazi,” Baldasaro said of Clinton. “She dropped the ball on over 400 e-mails requesting backup security. Something’s wrong there.”
“This whole thing disgusts me,” Baldasaro said. “Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.”
That's where I'm at. Disgust.
The retired Marine first sergeant, who has scolded the political media for what he called unfair coverage of Trump, has been an outspoken supporter of the GOP nominee since before his home state’s first-in-the-nation primary in February.
Asked Wednesday in a telephone interview if he stood by his comments, Baldasaro replied, “Without a doubt.”
“When you take classified information on a server that deals with where our State Department, Special Forces, CIA, whatever in other countries, that’s a death sentence for those people if that information gets in the hands of other countries or the terrorists,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, that’s information for the enemy. In the military, shot, firing squad. So I stand by what I said.”
Where does this guy think he is, Texas?
In the Constitution, treason is defined as “levying war against [the United States], or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.”
Baldasaro added, “Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing. I spoke my mind about how I feel. She’s not above the law. Any other State Department employee or veteran did the same thing, they’d be in jail.”
Well, there is that speech thing, yeah.
A Clinton campaign spokeswoman pointed to Trump in response to Baldasaro’s remarks, saying in a statement that the nominee’s “overtaking of the Republican Party — and his constant escalation of outrageous rhetoric — is in danger of mainstreaming the kind of hatred that has long been relegated to the fringes of American politics where it belongs.”
“This week at the Republican convention, we’ve seen the clearest embodiment yet of this dangerous phenomenon,” she said.
I'm afraid a lot of America will come away with that perception. They are behaving like a fascist mob.
In an e-mailed statement to the Globe, a spokesman for the Secret Service said the agency was aware of the comments and would “conduct the appropriate investigation.”
Get ready for a visit, Al, if you haven't gotten one already.
Need to put a silencer on it because....
♫I don't need your civil war, it feeds the rich while it buries the poor.... !!!!♫
You know where that's from, right?
--more--"
Good night, folks.
