Democrats have tough act to follow

I am grateful to the GOP. The comical diversion that is the Republican National Convention was a welcome distraction from the now routine reports of police abuse, mass shootings, government coups (thwarted and otherwise) and annihilation of civilians by proxy in an ambiguous war on terror.

The shocked disbelief that adults well past adolescence and hysterical reasoning could offer as their choice for President of the United States a bigoted, deal-breaking elitist bully has given way to laughter.

The laughs are a mixture of those had when watching a simple-minded dachshund struggle to get its pointy head out of a mostly empty can of dog food and the nervous guffaws of someone on a roller coaster hurtling, perhaps, to their death.

That the underlying theme of the convention was unity was a joke not lost on those living outside of the city of Denial.
Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump built a loyal, boisterous following on the premise that there is an “us and them” in this country.

In calling for the mass deportation of Muslims in the United States he divides the country and attacks one of its founding principles: that of freedom from religious persecution.

In calling for a massive and egregiously expensive (and ultimately ineffective) wall along the southern border of the United States and Mexico, while insinuating that all Mexicans and Latinos who come here are all rapists and drug mules, he divides neighbor against neighbor.

In reminding us that he has funded his expensive ego-driven campaign to become the president without taking a single taxpayer dollar reminds us that he —unlike the majority or people who will vote for and against him—is among the super wealthy.

That Trump would know the struggle and pain of the middle-class and poor is as laughable as my stating that I know the struggle and pain of delivering twins.

But it’s not nearly as laughable as plagiarizing excerpts from a speech delivered by the current First Lady—who is part of the very administration you are blasting— not long ago at the Democratic National Convention and delivering them on national television, as did Trump’s wife Melania.

And while the final joke was delivered Thursday in Trump’s acceptance speech, his lead in left those of us at home bent over laughing.

After months of personal attacks and belittling him, the Trump campaign asked Texas senator Ted Cruz to speak at the convention. Lyin’ Ted, as Trump calls him, delivered.

Instead of telling his fellow Republicans that it was water under the bridge and he would unite with party leaders and support the bigot Trump, Cruz told voters in the arena and across the country to vote their conscience.
And that was the biggest joke of all, believing anyone who supports Trump has a conscience.