The Republican Convention

“What starts out here as a mass movement ends up as a racket, a cult or a corporation.”
— Eric Hoffer, “The Temper of Our Time” (1967)

Well, it's over. That's probably the kindest thing that can be said. Long time readers of this blog will know I am not a fan of what the GOP has become over the last decade-plus, so I will keep this brief. One would be hard pressed to find a similar example of near endless mendacity coupled with sheer idolatry in the context of a political rally, outside of totalitarian states like Russia, China and N. Korea. The only thing missing was a golden calf with Donald Trump's likeness for its head. Trump's acceptance speech was agonizingly long and rambling, even for him. Filled with his usual litany of lies and grievances, excepting his cult followers and sycophants in the right wing press/media, it is likely to be recorded as among the worst acceptance speeches in modern American political history. By contrast, and as much as I detest Trump, I have to concede that his 2016 speech was actually pretty good as political theatre. 

And then there is the mess in the Democratic Party. Sometimes, it is difficult not to conclude that this country is under some especially harsh divine judgement.