In Case You Missed it (v51)

It was VERY busy around here last week, so go grab your cuppa whatever and dive in!

Sunday School brought us interviews with Currently Acting and Maybe Soon Confirmed DHS head Chad Wolf, who was in the CNN SOTU classroom with Jake Tapper, and former FBI Director James Comey, who was in the Face the Nation classroom with Margaret Brennan.  Among other things, Wolf said that he's not authorized to send DHS law enforcement officers to police polling places, which was a good thing as far as Comey was concerned, as we learned in his 'speed round' answers.

• He trusts "state, local and federal law enforcement to honor their oath to the rule of law and to not be part of suppressing votes." so thinks LEOS and US attorneys and the like will not be present suppressing votes in November.

• He "can't imagine" that he's a target of US Attorney John Durham's investigation and he's "not worried at all about that investigation of the investigation. Next, I'm sure will be an investigation of the investigation of the investigation..."

My classroom visits sparked a Sidebar highlighting Jake Tapper's commentary at the end of his show on Sunday. He said, in part 

Now, empathy and decency are of course not the only measures by which one makes a decision about an election. There is policy and acuity, feelings of safety and security, a host of other factors. But it is pretty clear there's a profound empathy and decency gap between President Trump and Joe Biden.

And what's important to keep in mind at this point in our nation's history, a politician bereft of empathy and decency, that's someone by definition who is willing to literally do anything, to sink to any depth to win.

I also sat down at the Update Desk, after more news came out about Rev. Franklin Graham's intentions, which I discussed in an Irony Board post from the week before,

And, there is, of course, the well-known history of Biden's personal life, losing his wife and daughter in a car accident, losing his son to brain cancer, and how it was his faith that got him through those tragedies. Ignoring all of that smacks of a person who has a specific message he wants to deliver, but won't come right out and say it.

Yet. I'm sure he's saving it for next week.

Well, it seems that I was right. Rev. Graham has been announced as one of the speakers for the Republican National Convention. 

After those couple of twists and turns,  finally got to the David Muir/Robin Roberts interviews with the Democratic ticket, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for your Sunday School Extra Credit. Much of the conversation centered on the pandemic, and on the debates and comments made then, and how she was eventually picked and how she felt about being the choice.

Harris was comfortable signing on as  VP choice, pointing to a number of policies that are "about translating the pain we collectively should feel as a country" and turning that pain into action on multiple fronts, including the Green New Deal - and that setting goals and timelines would be priorities there, along with a million new jobs.

And then, it was time for the convention, and the speeches, in all of their insufferable glory. And the president, who, you know, did presidential stuff as part of the convention, because just as he can't separate his presidency from his business interests, he can't separate his candidacy from the presidency.  Raise your hand if you're shocked about that...

• From the opening night, which included a call for no birth control (Charlie Kirk), a blatant misunderstanding of our country and immigration (Most Favored Son's Girlfriend and $180,000/year campaign shill Kimberly Guilfoyle), and a complete lack of understanding of how the Republicans are not the party of free speech (Guilfoyle's boyfriend) and how they don't think cancel culture is "dangerous and wrong (Nikki Haley, who's in the battle against Ivanka to be the first woman president, it would seem). And there Sen. Tim Scott, the only black Republican in the Senate, who at least was honest.

Trust me though, after seven years in the Senate, I know I’m not the only one in Congress who failed civics.

• From the second night, which brought us libertarian/Republicans Rand Paul, who at one point was honest about Trump and now is somehow one of the biggest fans of the self-aggrandizing fake conservative; the 'it takes one to know one' view of criminals from Pam Bondi, registered foreign lobbyist and former FL AG; the least son, who pleaded for attention from his daddy, and the ever pompous, unethical, afraid-of-strong-women SecState, speaking to us from a direct violation of his own State Department policy just issued in July; and the empathetic other daughter, who knows how it feels to not have a job, and about mental manipulation by the media.

This manipulation of what information we receive impedes our freedoms, rather than allowing Americans the right to form our own beliefs, this misinformation system keeps people mentally enslaved to the ideas they deem correct.

• From the third night, which brought us politicians, first responders, people with pre-existing conditions, political candidates, sports heroes, and more - including someone accused of insider trading, 

which I thought was pretty cool for the 'Law and Order' party, although I'm sure the arrest of the speaker earlier this month was all part of the grand deep-state hoaxspiracy to bring down the Chosen One, or something. What is it they say, W1GOTDEWAGOTDE (When One Goes Off the Deep End, We All Go Off the Deep End)?

• And then, it was Thursday, the final night. (The emphasis here is mine.) Kevin McCarthy and Mitch McConnell spoke (those were fun), as did Ja'Ron Smith, who incomprehensibly managed to bucket together Ahmaud Arbery, (murdered for jogging while black), George Floyd (murdered while being arrested while black) and LeGend Taliferro (a four-year old child senselessly murdered in a non-racially-motivated beef between LeGend's family and a man with whom his aunt had a relationship); and of course, the penultimate speaker (who if everything she said is true, might actually be the first woman president), the first daughter. Among the things she told us about her daddy in her introduction? 

He’s so unapologetic about his beliefs that he has caused me and countless Americans to take a hard look at our own convictions and ask ourselves, (How the hell did we elect a celebrity conman as president of the greatest country in the history of the world?)  What kind of America do we want to leave for our children, (one championed by a bully who lies through his teeth on a daily basis, brings out the worst in the worst of us, and has so lowered the bar that underground limbo is now a thing)?

I must say, it was all so bigly huge and patriotic, I took an extra day to get the TGIF post out, which included word-for-word the Pence and Trump acceptance speeches, without comment.

It was a historic and truly veritable pastiche last week, I've got to say. 

I'll be back later with today's Sunday School. 

Highlights from the RNC: Day Two

Yep - I'm back, with a few brief  but carefully curated highlights (and commentary) from Day Two of the Republican Convention, starting with Kentucky's junior senator, Rand Paul.

Donald Trump and I met many years ago, before he was running for anything. When I first met him, I recall being struck by how down to earth he was. He seemed like just a normal guy. Okay, a normal guy with his own plane and helicopter, but who’s counting?  A few years later, we were opponents, both running for President. We all know how that turned out. ("The truth telling is bluster, the truth-telling is non-sequitur, self-aggrandizement, but is there really anything substantive coming out of saying that people are fat, people are stupid?"  "The question for conservatives is whether Donald Trump is a real conservative or not. I think he's a fake conservative." "While some people are excited by fat jokes and stupid jokes, there are a lot of people in the general election— independents as well as women voters — are not that entertained by this.What we'll end up with is a reality-TV star as a nominee if we're not careful." "If no one stands up to a bully, a bully will just keep doing what they're doing."  I do believe, Senator Paul, with your help, that's exactly what happened.)

Pam Bondi, Registered Foreign Lobbyist

As a career prosecutor and former Attorney General of Florida, I fought corruption, and I know what it looks like, whether it’s done by people wearing pinstripe suits or orange jumpsuits.  (But not orange hair? Remember when Bondi refused to investigate Trump University for fraud, when other state AGs were doing exactly that, after she received that $25,000 campaign contribution from Trump? Oh, wait - the contribution didn't come from Trump, it came from his charitable foundation - you know, making it illegal, leading to a fine? Yeah, that foundation, which he basically shut down after agreeing not to take any more contributions. And let's not forget the value of having a registered foreign lobbyist - a swamp-dwelling career, if there ever was one - speaking on behalf of the American president.)

Tiffany Trump.

As a recent graduate, I can relate to so many of you who might be looking for a job.(is she looking for a job, or is being a Trump enough of a career?)  People must recognize that our thoughts, our opinions, and even the choice of who we are voting for may, and are being manipulated and visibly coerced by the media and tech giants. If you tune into the media, you get one biased opinion or another, and what you share, if it does not fit into the narrative that they seek to promote, then it is either ignored or deemed a lie, regardless of the truth. This manipulation of what information we receive impedes our freedoms, rather than allowing Americans the right to form our own beliefs, this misinformation system keeps people mentally enslaved to the ideas they deem correct. (And yet, somehow, the freedom-impeded, manipulated-information recipient knew about #blackouttuesday and#justiceforgeorgefloyd, hashtags that were not likely to be used by any other Trump family members.) Oh - a few more things: my father my father my father my dad my father my father. 

Eric Trump. 

My father my father my father my father my father my father my father my father my father my father my father my father Dad I love you.

Mike Pompeo.

I’m speaking to you from beautiful Jerusalem, looking out over the old city. I have a big job. (“Senate-confirmed Presidential appointees may not even attend a political party convention or convention-related event.” “In my case, as a Senate confirmed Department official, I will be sitting on the sidelines of the political process this year, and will not be attending any political events, to include the national conventions.” “Presidential and political appointees ... are subject to significant restrictions on their political activity; they may not engage in any partisan political activity in concert with a partisan campaign, political party, or partisan political group, even on personal time and outside of the federal workplace.“ The secretary of State’s appearance at the Republican convention also comes as he faces an ongoing inspector general’s investigation into whether he and his wife, Susan, have improperly used State Department resources for personal purposes. Pompeo’s successful move to engineer the firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick amid this still-ongoing probe has led to more scrutiny about his role as secretary from Democratic lawmakers.)

Melania Trump. 

Like all of you, I have reflected on the racial unrest in our country. It is a harsh reality that we are not proud of parts of our history. I encourage people to focus on our future while still learning from our past. We must remember that today, we are all one community comprised of many races, religions and ethnicities. Our diverse and storied history is what makes our country strong, and yet we still have so much to learn from one another. (Now, if she can convince her husband about our diversity being a strength...)

Night three highlights coming your way tomorrow.