RNC Impressions

I've crawled out of my hole. I admit I didn't go cold turkey like I promised, I took occasional hits of convention news from Huff Post and Talking Point Memo, but I stayed away from the hard stuff like the network coverage. What I saw.

Ingraham Salute

Sure looks like the traditional fascist salute followed by waving at the crowd. Her defenders say she was just visually misquoted so let us take a step back. Where was she facing when she snapped off that famous stiff armed hail?

Okay. She was saluting a bigger than human image of her Leader. From this angle there can be no mistaking the message. She was throwing red meat to the rabid white supremacists who worship Trump and signaling that she and he were unified with them.

'Lock Her Up'
In what sort of country does one political party promise to imprison and execute the leaders of the opposition party? Yet that exact thing was the theme of much of the convention. The Trump Republican Party is promising an authoritarian rule where opposition to Trump is treason.

The Baltic States
Trump clearly signaled to Vladimir Putin that under Trump, the United States would stand aside if Putin wants to rebuild the old Soviet empire by reconquering the independent Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia. The irony is that for seventy years the Republican Party has aggressively, frequently crazily, fought against Russian expansionism. Republicans under Trump are now a meek and subservient kitten to the Russian bear.

Trump also criticized the United States for preventing Korean unity. This is bizarrely true. Were it not for American interference North Korea's invasion of South Korea in 1950 would have succeeded and the entire Korean Peninsula would be under the brutal control of Kim Jung-Un.

That Cruz Thing
Ted Cruz's non-endorsement of Trump went off just like Trump wanted. He wanted a second virulent lynch mob display like the previous "lock up" Clinton frenzy. It was a World Wrestling Federation type of frenzy that Trump considers the height of entertainment.

Conclusion
It was worse than I thought possible. This was a rally of enthusiasts clamoring for an authoritarian dictatorship.These four days in July are the days that laughter died.