# 2020 Virtual convention thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 17, 2020, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353 "2020-08-17T23:18:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 23
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/444 "2020-08-29T03:24:28Z")
Why aren’t Republicans in favor of drug testing presidential sons, I wonder…? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/445 "2020-08-29T03:30:10Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Why aren’t Republicans in favor of drug testing presidential sons, I wonder…? - The _right_ people get a pass on using drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/446 "2020-08-29T03:46:46Z")
Lies and deception from the GOP: > **[NYC tenants say they were misled into RNC video appearance](https://apnews.com/088193ab8e97e227936869c5c9429531)** > > NEW YORK (AP) — Three of the four residents of New York City public housing whose criticisms of Mayor Bill de Blasio were used in a video at the Republican National Convention said they were never told their comments were to be showcased in that... ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/447 "2020-08-29T04:13:50Z")
Trump trades a pardon for a favor: > **[Trump pardons Alice Johnson, who praised him in RNC speech](https://apnews.com/4672b3b09a3f127b11af92e0681dd6df)** > > WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pardoned a woman on Friday who was a featured speaker on the final night of the Republican National Convention and had praised him as a compassionate leader... ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/448 "2020-08-29T04:15:57Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Trump trades a pardon for a favor: - I guess some drug dealers are good people. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/449 "2020-08-29T07:02:31Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > > [@romansperson](#): > > > > Biden’s campaign celebrated the overnight ratings win – and [embraced](https://twitter.com/TDucklo/status/1299390728175587329) it as a potential way to get under Trump’s skin. > > Ha! And Trump had everything going for him attention wise. Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball were all canceled. There was nothing else to watch on TV and Biden still beat him in ratings. Wouldn’t have been close if not for all those child sex slaves who were forced to watch Sleepy Joe’s blithering from their Martian prisons. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/450 "2020-08-29T09:59:43Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Whenever I hear people talk about looting, I 'm reminded of this quote: > > “There are two modes of invading private property; the first, by which the poor plunder the rich … sudden and violent; the second, by which the rich plunder the poor, slow and legal.” You don’t need a psychology degree to understand that human beings are always going to viscerally perceive a physical, bodily threat to their person or their property, as a more dire scenario than a slow, long con involving embezzlement, fraud, and other bureaucratic abstractions. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/451 "2020-08-29T15:25:51Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > > [@Hampshire](#): > > > > > [@romansperson](#): > > > > > > Biden’s campaign celebrated the overnight ratings win – and [embraced](https://twitter.com/TDucklo/status/1299390728175587329) it as a potential way to get under Trump’s skin. > > > > Ha! And Trump had everything going for him attention wise. Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball were all canceled. There was nothing else to watch on TV and Biden still beat him in ratings. > > Wouldn’t have been close if not for all those child sex slaves who were forced to watch Sleepy Joe’s blithering from their Martian prisons. And the Wi-Fi connection from that far away is _terrible_. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/452 "2020-08-29T15:40:26Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > You don’t need a psychology degree to understand that human beings are always going to viscerally perceive a physical, bodily threat to their person or their property, as a more dire scenario than a slow, long con involving embezzlement, fraud, and other bureaucratic abstractions. Nor do you need a political economy degree to understand that successful thieves can use psychology to get away with thievery, and that the grand, legal thievery harms far more people than the petty thievery ever does. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/453 "2020-08-29T15:53:18Z")
Apropos of nothing: do y’all think Melania wore that hideous green-screen dress to make some kind of point that we haven’t figured out yet? Surely someone who was in the modeling business and married to a reality (HA!) TV star would know about green screens? Even little kids know about them–local newscasters always have fun with them on Halloween. Not to mention all the TV people who were covering the convention-- they would have known the effect. Like the time she wore that jacket that said “I don’t care,” or whatever it was. She usually wears tasteful, simple, un-showy gowns on these occasions. I can’t believe that dress was an accident. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/454 "2020-08-29T17:44:17Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Nor do you need a political economy degree to understand that successful thieves can use psychology to get away with thievery, and that the grand, legal thievery harms far more people than the petty thievery ever does. I was trying to explain why white-collar crime is less of an emotional voting issue for people than regular crime. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/455 "2020-08-29T18:15:41Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Like the time she wore that jacket that said “I don’t care,” or whatever it was. She usually wears tasteful, simple, un-showy gowns on these occasions. I can’t believe that dress was an accident. Apparently, we’re going to get the whole story behind the “I don’t care” jacket when the Wolkoff book comes out. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/456 "2020-08-29T18:19:00Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Apparently, we’re going to get the whole story behind the “I don’t care” jacket when the Wolkoff book comes out.- Oooooo. 👏🏼 Putting out tell-all books about trump & co is a whole separate arm of the publishing industry. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/457 "2020-08-29T18:51:49Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Apropos of nothing: do y’all think Melania wore that hideous green-screen dress to make some kind of point that we haven’t figured out yet? I assumed she wanted to stand out, but far away from the other tacky women wearing bright reds. She found a color that was guaranteed no one else would wear, in a design meant to signify her stately position. (I hated it, personally, but others’ mmv.) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/458 "2020-08-29T18:53:41Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I assumed she wanted to stand out– Hehe. It probably shows up on satellite pictures. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/459 "2020-08-29T19:35:50Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I was trying to explain why white-collar crime is less of an emotional voting issue for people than regular crime. Oh, sure. I agree. Street crime is much more ripe for railing against by demagogues–often by the same demagogues who are engaging in white-collar crime. That said, what you were responding to wasn’t talking about white-collar crime, I don’t think. Rather, it was talking about the rapacity engaged in by landlords and other propertied-class members, rapacity that’s for the most part legal. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/460 "2020-08-30T01:36:13Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > > [@Lamoral](#): > > > > I was trying to explain why white-collar crime is less of an emotional voting issue for people than regular crime. > > Oh, sure. I agree. Street crime is much more ripe for railing against by demagogues–often by the same demagogues who are engaging in white-collar crime. > > That said, what you were responding to wasn’t talking about white-collar crime, I don’t think. Rather, it was talking about the rapacity engaged in by landlords and other propertied-class members, rapacity that’s for the most part legal. The point made by the post Lamoral first responded to, it appears to me, was something along the lines of _‘people should NOT be criticizing those doing looting, etc, because the REAL theft occurs in board rooms’_. Here’s the quote, embedded in Lamoral’s response: > [@Lamoral](#): > > > [@E-DUB](#): > > > > Whenever I hear people talk about looting, I 'm reminded of this quote: > > > > “There are two modes of invading private property; the first, by which the poor plunder the rich … sudden and violent; the second, by which the rich plunder the poor, slow and legal.” > > You don’t need a psychology degree to understand that human beings are always going to viscerally perceive a physical, bodily threat to their person or their property, as a more dire scenario than a slow, long con involving embezzlement, fraud, and other bureaucratic abstractions. In general, the message '_we shouldn’t criticize those doing looting because they live with so much injustice’_ seems to emanate, in the main, from white people. And a profoundly patronizing and condescending message it is, too. Aside from being patronizing and condescending it’s tailor-made to help elect–or re-elect–the most brutal and repressive right-wing candidates available. So there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/461 "2020-08-30T01:38:28Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > In general, the message ’ _we shouldn’t criticize those doing looting because they live with so much injustice’_ seems to emanate, in the main, from white people. [Uh, no.](https://time.com/3838515/baltimore-riots-language-unheard-quote/) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/462 "2020-08-30T01:48:27Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > n general, the message ’ _we shouldn’t criticize those doing looting because they live with so much injustice’_ seems to emanate, in the main, from white people. And a profoundly patronizing and condescending message it is, too. Mostly from white people quoting other white people who never actually said it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2020, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353/463 "2020-08-30T01:48:47Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > > [@Sherrerd](#): > > > > In general, the message ’ _we shouldn’t criticize those doing looting because they live with so much injustice’_ seems to emanate, in the main, from white people. > > [Uh, no.](https://time.com/3838515/baltimore-riots-language-unheard-quote/) That citation doesn’t in any way support your claim. The quotations from Martin Luther King show that he did _not_ excuse looting on the grounds that those doing the looting had suffered injustice. He did _not_ state that no one should criticize looters, because they lived their lives under oppression. Instead, what the quotations show is that King saw rioting, looting, etc. as a legitimate cry for attention: > [@](#): > > But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. King advocated not for violence as a tool of social change, but for economic measures as tools of social change: > [@](#): > > King’s point, though subtle, is clear. He does not support violent tactics, including riots, but he argues that the way to stop citizens from rioting is to acknowledge and fix the conditions that they are rioting against. And in the larger context of that speech, he got a chance to explain how exactly that mending should occur. > The Other America speech is, at its heart, a speech about economics. … The solutions included fair-housing legislation, a federal law ensuring fair access to justice …and the institution of a national guaranteed annual income, which could be paid for by ending the war in Vietnam. There was no “burn baby burn” or “no justice no peace” in King’s speeches or writings. Certainly King said or wrote nothing akin to ‘we shouldn’t criticize those doing looting because they live with so much injustice,’ as you assert. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353.md?page=22) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2020-virtual-convention-thread/918353.md?page=24)