I’ve been skipping the Democratic National Convention altogether, since I know exactly how it’s going to turn out, making it a farcical charade, and they’re also bringing on a few people who would do nothing but diminish what little fervor I have for supporting the Democrats at all — so have you seen anything interesting or worthwhile? Any substantive policy discussions, or is it just a long-winded coronation?
Unfortunately, I think the Republican National Convention is going to be far more entertaining, like a reality TV show about passengers on a train hauling full used septic tanks chugging towards a toxic chemical plant fire. I’m almost tempted to tune in.
The Aristocrats!
Here’s a few ways to make the GOP convention much better:
(a) all in-person
(b) masks are banned
(c) gun open-carry REQUIRED
So that’s Pride, Sloth, Greed, Lust, Envy and Wrath sorted. I guess Trump himself is the representative for Gluttony.
I can see how Kid Rock might still be relevant among my age group. He did a decent job of blending hiphop and southern rock in a manner having broad appeal way too long ago that makes me feel old. Sadly he apparently went full Nugent politically.
But Scott Baio? In what universe is Chachi/Charles in Charge apropos of anything? Scott Baio? Really? Were James Woods or Jon Voight busy?
We laugh, but the redneck trash in the rank-and-file GOP/Right love these stupid shits because ‘MURICA, and JESUS, and OWNING THE LIBTARDS! They’ve finally grasped the reality that to please their base, the Republicans can’t back away from and make excuses for their loons. Instead, you have to embrace them and double-down on the insanity they spew. The hicks love it and are eager to cast their vote each and every election cycle.
Meanwhile, our side quibbles over whether or not a candidate is “too liberal.”
Hmmm, Kid Rock and Tommy Lee had gotten into a scrap at the VMAs:
http://www.mtv.com/news/1569305/kid-rock-tommy-lee-battle-at-vmas-watch-the-video/
They both had relationships with Pamela Anderson. I guess social distancing may keep Kid Rock and Scott Baio apart, given the latter too had a relationship with Pamela Anderson at one point.
This will be the mainstream GOP very soon. Which means they’ll win elections at various levels very frequently. We won’t be able to recover from this.
@ Saad:
Soon???
I’m with Saad on this. I never underestimate the ability of Democrats to lose to these clowns. Biden would be very lucky to win against Trump.
the DNC has been far more interesting and informative than any previous convention. Being remote, each speaker is able to be very focused, without continual cheers and noise interrupting them. Lack of live crowds means far fewer distractions and raucus sideshowing.
I know the gun toting couple will be featured, I question especially the Covington jerk, and Scott Bayo*. Has Bayo ever said anything worth hearing? Isn’t he the banana sex guy?
I see why PillowGuy and DemonDoctor would be there, Kid Rock, maybe a musical interlude, depending on your definition of music
––-_
* deliberate
He doesn’t have to. All the has to be is be famous and sing Trump and ‘Murcia’s praises.
Edit: All he…
Now taking PZ’s OP with grain of salt:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/diamond-silk-gop-convention/
@9- Are you sure you’re not thinking of Kirk Cameron on the banana thing? Washed up Tiger Beat heartthrobs are easy to confuse.
Lest you forget; these kooks are dangerous.
” ‘Right-wing extremists’ are responsible for 100% of political murders during last two years: CNN’s Begala https://www.rawstory.com/2020/08/right-wing-extremists-responsible-trump/
This lineup is missing huge parts of the GOP base!!!
Typical GOP incompetence.
.1. Where are the Nazis?
Definitely needs some Nazis.
.2. Where are the Proud boys street thugs?
Actually, I’ve heard Gavin McInnes the founder/leader will be there.
If he can get across the border. He’s a Canadian.
.3. Where are the misogynists?
I’m sure Jordan Peterson would be a major presence.
.4. Where are the oogedy boogedy fundie xian witch doctors?
I’m sure that is the other half of the lineup, and the god they made in Trump’s image will be there.
.5. Where are the thugs from Homeland Security?
This is a must have, the heavily armed, masked military units of ICE, Border Patrol, Federal Marshals, and whichever units are in charge of overthrowing the government if Biden wins.
.6. Last but not least, QAnon.
Lately the up and coming GOP faction is QAnon, the one that is threatening to arrest all the pedophile-cannibals of the Democratic party.
Several future elected GOP officials are from the QAnon faction.
lotharloo @ 8
Some polls already show the gap closing.
Because the Democrats are doing the same error as in 2016: Running as Republicans.
The Biden is too idologically rigid to consider popular ideas like medicare for all, and too devoid of empathy to consider the plight of people without health insurance coverage.
This is ftom Britain, but itis the same general idea. “How to be a pathetic, terrified Little Englander” https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/how-to-be-a-pathetic-terrified-little-englander-20200820199608
If Trump loses, Q will be the nominee for 2024.
lotharloo, #8
Trump will remain in office and in 2024, Stephen Miller will have himself appointed as the next president.
Where’s Ted Nugent?!
@slthey tove “the banana guy” is Kirk Cameron. Baio just seems to be a right wing jerk, while Cameron has had heavy involvement in the Religious Right side of things.
@Marcus Ranum
I was wondering why Nugent wasn’t there. Maybe to on-the-nose as a choice…
I watched bits and drabs of the convention.
The Obamas are both powerhouse speakers and writers, and they went hard at Trump.
Gaby Giffords has come along way since she was shot. I have to admit that she had me tearing up at the end of her presentation.
Kamala gave a so-so talk. Or so it seemed to me.
@PZ
depends on what you mean about policy. They hit on the party planks, for example, as per Gabby Giffords, guns weren’t short shrifted.
I’m still not fully awake yet, so short on details, but it was the platform you probably would expect.
Sadly, former Trump advisor Steve Bannon will not be at the convention. He’s been indicted for fraud, having allegedly bilked thousands in Trump’s wall-building scheme.
@ 14 raven
I’ve heard Gavin McInnes the founder/leader will be there. If he can get across the border. He’s a Canadian.
My info may be out-of-date but I think he has been hiding out in plain sight in New York City.
He may feel safer as Canada has anti-hate laws. Getting over the wall might be more difficult than getting over h]the border.
The list I saw said Ted Nugent is going to be there.
PZ’s list is only a partial one.
The USA has way more kooks, fascists, and idiots than that and the GOP has quite the collection by now.
Since when is that a problem for the GOP?
If you took all the con-people and criminals out of the GOP, the US congress would be less than half its size. The White House would be empty. The GOP convention could be held in a McDonalds.
Besides, Trump will just pardon him anyway.
It is a fundamental goal of mine to not let myself become cynical and hardened, mostly for my kids and one grand kid (so far). I thought that both Obama’s speeches were extraordinary, but President Obama’s speech was a civics lesson writ large with a candid, honest assessment of how imperfect we are, let alone the Democratic Party.
I strongly believe that a core goal of Trump and the Republican party is cynicism and hatred. My Republican neighbors and family members use that cynicism to justify their votes. My Democratic friends do the same thing when they don’t vote. There is a lot of hard work to do. Our government is us.
Correction. “Both Obamas’ speeches…
Since lysergic acid is not toxic at any level, you could have fun pumping it in as an aerosol and see if it makes any difference for their speeches.
I don’t think it will matter for the demon sperm doctor.
….and hand out free Uzi’s at the entrance, while you are at it. It will make the pushing and shoving at the line to the buffet really entertaining.
Someone posted this meme on FB last night, and someone then wondered if it was a joke. So, I tried to find out who’s scheduled to speak at the GOP convention next. One of the major news services listed a bunch of Republican senators and other mainstream operatives. Melania is speaking the first night. Pence is on the schedule for the last night. Trump of course. Some of the kids. The only one of this group that I saw on the list was Baio.
The big flap is where they are speaking. Trump wanted to accept his nomination from the White House, but I think they’ve moved that though to another Federal location that’s questionable to use for a political event. Pence is scheduled to speak from Ft. McHenry…bombs bursting in air, you know. The kids are scheduled to speak from the White House but that might be a violation of the Hatch Act. But hey, that’s a can of beans to these corkers.
The GOP convention is shaping up to be more reality entertainment than a political convention. All the business, such as there is in any of these things, is on the first night. The rest will be singing Humpy Dumpy’s, the GOP’s, and Murica’s praise.
re @12 & @20:
Thank you for the details.
I had them munged together, that Kirk Cameron was the producer with Baio as the performer of the oped film refuting evolution.
I wanted to sort it out, so that’s why I threw the question out there.
Thanks again
looking at that snopes link up there, seems this entire lineup is all satire that went viral for some reason, by gullible people who have no sarcasm detection ability.
what I have seen of it has been fine. I do not miss the huge crowd scenes. The message has been mostly “We the People” and many of the speakers have left me with wet cheeks.
Another positive note agent orange has reacted most reliably negative and even in all caps to Obama, very gratifying. The more crazy he reacts the better keep pushing he can not holdup, he has already come out praising qanon .
while the southern strategy did help give the margin the republicans needed they can not win with only that and they are clearly not keeping the reliable “main street republicans” nor I think the Goldwater nor the fiscal conservatives.
The democrats are clearly of 2 minds about much except getting rid of this ignorant amoral incompetent bigot
it looks like we are going through a political realignment of some kind. I want to spin what little facts I think I know into a story with a happy ending but I can not tell the future much farther then after breakfast
uncle frogy
Trump has achieved what seemed impossible. He has united the Democrats in a common cause. Of course, once the election is over there will be the splits and divisions that normally identify the Democrats, but for now there is but one goal.
Personally, I am extremely disappointed that the GOP is not having a large, nay jam-packed-crowded event in Jacksonville. I was really, really hoping that Trump, most of the GOP higher-ups, and lots of other people would be crowded together for several days in an indoor venue. Hey, the virus is gone! I saw a bunch of nitwit GOP types in a diner in New Jersey say so today. C’mon, guys, get together!
For the most part I have ignored the convention, but I do think the two speeches by Michelle and Barack Obama were quite good. They both made good points that we need to take the nation in a different direction.
@33 slithey tove
I thought Ray Comfort was banana guy and Kirk Cameron was crocoduck guy. Of course it’s entirely possible that one or both of them were just recycling the other’s schtick. Creationists haven’t had an original thought since about the 19th century.
POE’s Law strikes again.
@#9, slithey tove (twas brillig (stevem)):
I suppose “informative” is true in the sense of “the DNC is giving more speaking time to the guy who literally was the mouthpiece for the Bush administration’s lies to start the Iraq war than to AOC, a bona fide and extremely popular Democrat, and also having another Republican, Kasich, not only speak but say out loud that Biden won’t actually turn the government left from the way Trump has been running it, and I would not have believed that that was true unless it actually happened”. Basically, the convention was exactly as much of a middle finger aimed at anybody to the left of Ronald Reagan as I expected it to be, and I am increasingly infuriated with people who think this is at all acceptable or good.
Hey, Vicar, if you think you can do better, RUN FOR OFFICE.
WMDKitty @ 41
Nah, Vicar’s schtick is to piss and moan about how godawful the Dem establishment is (does he even concede they’re the lesser of two evils?) while being blind to his privilege allowing him to sit out the election. He carries water for Trump but isn’t smart enough to realise he’s doing it.
I just glaze over his comments nowadays. Purity beyond compare and the cleanest hands ever to fondle a keyboard.
Steve Bannon was supposed to be there. Oh well.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say I don’t really mind Biden. I mean, fuck him, but still, I don’t dislike the guy. That much. And you know what? Dusty, stale vanilla doesn’t seem so bad after the overly spiced putrid meat of the Trump administration.
I haven’t watched the convention, either, but I can appreciate some of the guests. And the cold-blooded calculation of letting a ton of republicans in to speak makes sense. After all, the only people who are on the fence right now are those who are not already committed. The illusion of bipartisanship may be just what is needed to get their votes.
And PZ, when has a modern national party convention ever been anything other than a coronation? If they engaged in a substantive policy debate, all the idiot on-the-fence voters would tune them out for their “elitism”, plus it wouldn’t change much. Policy debates, if they matter, only matter when there is a choice of candidate. So back when the primaries had been competitive, and then during the general election. But the only debate we’ll see is between…oh, I can’t even say it.
@The Vicar
How long do you think Kasich and Powell spoke for? How long do you think Sanders spoke for? How about Baldwin, Duckworth?
I watched all 8 hours…the DNC tried to be as inclusive as many factions as possible.
You cannot both believe that
Trump is a singular, existential threat
and
not willing to take any votes that come your way.
Can we get back to mocking Baio and confusing him with Cameron (or Comfort?)? There’s some signal for MAGA hat kid and gun happy couple speaking at RNC 2020.
Would love to see celebrity grudge match between Kid Rock and Baio instead. But Kid Rock made interesting music. Not as good as Creed and yeah there is a story there. Sinner versus sin I guess.
https://www.eonline.com/news/54797/stapp-settles-lawsuit-scuttles-sex-tape
IMO Creed was pretty good (in a POD sort of way) and Stapp bashed as an Eddie Vedder wannabe. I like my Florida bands including especially Sevendust. But Stapp had an ironic and sad downfall.
Stapp was not in Vedder’s orbit nor Creed Pearl Jam level. I did used to mock Pearl Temple Garden in early 90s. I turned around on Pearl Jam especially after Ticketmaster War.
And WTF with My Pillow guy and fucking oleander extract? I took some botany in college and oleander is right there with water hemlock and castor. Castor was implemented with umbrella no?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_umbrella
Wonder if Navalny is ok. Apparently green paint wasn’t enough.
And on Pearl Jam front:
https://youtu.be/aDaOgu2CQtI
Based on a book where a gorilla instructs a human about what’s fucked up with us: “With man gone, will there be hope for gorilla?“
So much for vague Christian moral theme of Creed. Pearl Jam does deep dive for a…ummm…pearl of wisdom.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmael_(novel)#Plot_summary
@Badlands
Naw The Vicar openly admitted to supporting Donald Trump. Its not that hes too dumb to realize he’s doing it. Its that he’s too dumb to realize that doing so is a bad idea. he thinks having Trump win a second term would magically push the democrats to the left. Even tho that’s never happened. When Reagan won the democrats didn’t go to the left and I don’t think there was ever an example of that happening in the past. Maybe After the disastrous economics of Coolidge, but that’s stretching it and it was clearly a different time, and to top it off it required still voting for the DNC to accomplish the change.
He’s also dishonest. Like…you know we can see the convention ourselves right @TheVicar? Like, we can see that they gave all factions of voters equal time right? We see that bro. But of course you will cherry pick specific instances and extrapolate dishonest rhetoric about it in order to push your purity politics bullshit.
Hahaha what a circus.
This one will be better!
https://peoplesparty.org/
Others don’t. I can’t see any marked change over the past six weeks. I’m not saying Biden has it in the bag by any means – there’s certainly very little enthusiasm for him, but he’s held a definite poll lead for months, because he’s not Trump.
I heard they also invited Brock Turner, yes, that guy.
AOC told us about all the good things Bernies faction would have done.
Obama’s and Clintons pointed out how shit Trump and supporters are.
Some horrendous god bothering was included.