# The Republican national Convention **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 18, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729 "2016-06-18T21:53:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/501 "2016-07-19T20:19:55Z")
If they’d plagiarized from Nancy Reagan or Laura Bush, I highly doubt anyone would even notice. I’m a political junkie and have watched every convention since 1988 and I can’t remember any of the spousal speeches . The only one I’ve even been slightly interested in was Theresa Heinz Kerry. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/502 "2016-07-19T20:21:19Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Donald isn’t taking it at all. What is there for him to take? It wasn’t him talking, and anyway, there was no plagiarism if he believes there wasn’t. You’re not thinking like Donald Trump: > > 1. Nobody caught me personally doing anything wrong. > 2. I’ve decided it wasn’t plagiarism. Therefore, it wasn’t. > 3. Wife 3 served her purpose. > > So Melania gets flak, so what? She’s a tool. If Trump would lose with her alive, but would win if she was painfully assassinated in October and he got some pity votes, he’d pay the assassin to do it if he could get away with it. I am not exaggerating. That’s literally true. > > If someone was mean to MY wife I’d be furious and I’d punish them. But I am not a sociopath and I love my wife. Presumably you are also not a sociopath. You and I are, like the vast majority of people, possessed of empathy, the characteristic of feeling emotions because other people are feeling them. The strength of the empathetic response is usually proportional to the closeness of one’s relationship with the party feeling the emotion; hence, we are sad and angry when our spouses or children are sad and angry. You’re thinking in those terms, and naturally perceive someone else who would NOT react the way you would as being a wimp. If someone felt empathy for their wife but did nothing about it that suggests weakness, cowardice, or some other negative thing. Here’s the point: Trump’s supporters feel the same way, even more so, given their patriarchal tendencies. To them, having him stand around not punishing anybody for humiliating his wife goes against their vision of Donald Trump, family man. Hell, “defending your family” is the very definition of manhood for many of his supporters. I’ve taken this discussion to two threads now and didn’t mean to do that, my point is simple: Melania Trump was humiliated and Trump’s supporters saw that he allowed this to happen. This is a point that can be used to drive a wedge between Trump and those people who don’t care for policy or data, but wants to elect a President “like me, just more successful.” ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/503 "2016-07-19T20:28:58Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Clearly, it is the other way around. Michelle stole it from Melania. Got to say, that’s a pretty irresponsible use of the [Grover Cleveland Presidential Time Machine.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19488797&postcount=395) Given that Obama can’t serve another term (on pain of not only defying Amendment 22, but also of never getting into Michelle’s pants again), it would make more sense to find out the Powerball numbers for this Wednesday night and buy the ticket that has them. They would have a year to claim the jackpot, so he’d already be out of office. No problems. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/504 "2016-07-19T20:39:57Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > [CNN explains rickrolling.](http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/19/politics/melania-trump-michelle-obama-speech/index.html) (The last part of the article.) > > For the three people who don’t know what it is. \<\\> Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/505 "2016-07-19T20:43:28Z")
So, its [NorthernPiper@AOL.com](mailto:NorthernPiper@AOL.com) ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/506 "2016-07-19T20:45:25Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Unsurprisingly, her [backstory](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/rnc-2016-melania-trump-biography-225781), now getting some attention, is as fictitious as her husbands. Can you imagine if Michelle Obama had pulled anything like this? But Melania’s sooooooo classy!! ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/507 "2016-07-19T20:46:43Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > MSNBC anchor Tamron Hall had Scott Baio on and really castigated him over his claims to being a Christian after posting disgusting imagery of Michelle Obama and Hillary. He did not appreciate it. > > [WATCH: MSNBC interview gets heated when Tamron Hall confronts Trump-loving actor over sexist tweets - Raw Story](http://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/watch-msnbc-interview-gets-heated-when-tamron-hall-confronts-trump-loving-actor-over-sexist-tweets/) Wait. He says he “posted it WITHOUT COMMENT.” Sorry, Scott, but ISTM that “This may be the best meme out there” is, in fact, a fucking COMMENT. You fucking piece of shit, lying ASSHOLE. That’s it. anybody who’s interested, come on over to the Marketplace forum, for a really good deal on a five-season boxed set of _Charles in Charge_ DVDs. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/508 "2016-07-19T20:54:10Z")
Been listening to the Cleveland Police/Interop special event forces scanner for the past hour, as things are starting to heat up in Public Square with protesters. It’s an extremely tense thing to listen to (although they are doing a great job so far). > **[Broadcastify](https://www.broadcastify.com/webPlayer/23204)** > > The worlds largest source of public safety, aircraft, rail, and marine live audio streams ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/509 "2016-07-19T20:56:15Z")
So, the GOP has moved on to trying the My Little Pony defence: > > [@](#): > > Melania Trump said: “The strength of your dreams and the willingness to work for them.” > > Twilight Sparkle, from My Little Pony, said: “This is your dream; anything you can do in your dreams you can do now.” Ok, setting aside the fact that the MLP quote is no where near as close to Melania’s as Michelle’s… Twilight Sparkle’s quote is not supposed to be uplifting or aspirational. She’s speaking **literally**. In context, they are actually in a dream. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/510 "2016-07-19T20:59:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > … So Melania gets flak, so what? She’s a tool. If Trump would lose with her alive, but would win if she was painfully assassinated in October and he got some pity votes, he’d pay the assassin to do it if he could get away with it. I am not exaggerating. That’s literally true. … All day yesterday I considered posting the theory that Trump might be a big fan of _The Manchurian Candidate_ and might be picturing himself heroically holding up the bleeding corpse of his wife on that convention stage, and receiving the adoration of the crowd for his courage. Of course the assassin would have been promised riches and a private island after being ushered out of the hall, but would have received a quick bullet to the head, instead. I even had a post-to-reply-to picked out–one that discussed movie parallels to this Convention. But I started to worry that if it actually happened, the authorities would certainly want to talk to me. (Also that the humor was extremely dark.) He’d do it, though. She’s already past the age at which he discards his wives. And it could win him tens of thousands of votes–both from those who’d be struck with sympathy for him, and from not a few women who’d be dreamily imagining comforting him and becoming Wife #4. As the screenwriters for the 1962 film put it: > [@](#): > > And [Trump] will leave those microphones and those cameras with blood all over him, fighting off anyone who tries to help him, defending America even if it means his own death, rallying a nation of television-viewers into hysteria to sweep us up into the White House with powers that will make martial law seem like anarchy. With one change; from [The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film) - Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Manchurian_Candidate_(1962_film)) > [@JohnT](#): > > Here’s the point: Trump’s supporters feel the same way, even more so, given their patriarchal tendencies. To them, having him stand around not punishing anybody for humiliating his wife goes against their vision of Donald Trump, family man. Hell, “defending your family” is the very definition of manhood for many of his supporters. > I’ve taken this discussion to two threads now and didn’t mean to do that, my point is simple: Melania Trump was humiliated and Trump’s supporters saw that he allowed this to happen. This is a point that can be used to drive a wedge between Trump and those people who don’t care for policy or data, but wants to elect a President “like me, just more successful.” I agree. I would suspect that there might be a few Trump supporters who will unwittingly allow themselves to have the thought ‘this _wasn’t very nice of Trump, to let her be embarrassed this way_’…and that it could chip away at their certainty that Trump is Savior. More will probably ‘lalalalalala’ it away, though, and not permit themselves to have the thought. Still, it’s a game of numbers. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/511 "2016-07-19T21:04:32Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Having fun with Melania’s accent (or any other element of her immigrant background) isn’t _about_ Melania either. It’s about the hypocrisy of Donald’s playing to xenophobic nativism. Yeah, but, she’s white – that’s what matters. In the eyes of someone like Steve King, Melania is more American than blacks, Asians, or Latinos who were born here. I’d say that he’s probably just reflecting the private views of many other republicans and conservatives as well. I know I’m not supposed to over-generalize, but it’s getting harder and harder to conclude that republicans and conservatives’ voting decisions aren’t significantly influenced by race. I don’t think it’s always a conscious thing, but there are just too many coincidences, and too many blatantly bigoted people find homes in the republican party. I’m really amazed that Melania’s snippets of borrowed text is somehow more consequential than the hate fest that was the first day of the republican party convention - a day in which a pastor’s invocation basically referred to democrats and liberals as ‘enemies’, in which a sobbing hysterical woman basically suggested that Hillary Clinton slaughtered her son, in which a former high commander of the military said that Clinton needed to be locked up, in which a has-been actor repeated the false claim that Obama is a closet Muslim and that he’s an enemy of the state, and last but certainly not least, a day in which a high ranking republican congressman attempted to make arguments for white supremacy. How again is the media doing it’s job? ---
**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:** [July 19, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/512 "2016-07-19T21:05:41Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Sky news just reported of shorts fired at a police transport vehicle in Cleveland This post went by at noon-ish today without comment. Um…_shorts_? Are people throwing underwear? Boxers or briefs? ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/513 "2016-07-19T21:09:59Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > This one is more serious. > [At least a dozen California GOP staffers quarantined in virus outbreak at convention](http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-california-republicans-norovirus-20160719-snap-story.html) > We’ll probably be seeing conspiracy theories about Obama and germ warfare. They were staying at the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky. It’s a big water park outside of Cedar Point. I suspect that’s where my niece caught whooping cough last December. The local doctor believes that they brought the disease with them but who knows how many people they spread it to. > **[California Republican staffers in Ohio develop Norovirus symptoms](https://www.rawstory.com/2016/07/california-republican-staffers-in-ohio-develop-norovirus-symptoms/)** > > Nearly a dozen staffers from the California Republican party have developed severe gastrointestinal symptoms that could be Norovirus at a resort in Sandusky, Ohio, about 65 miles (100 km) from the site of this week's Republican National Convention in... > [@](#): > > “It looks like Norovirus. We’re not 100 percent sure,” said Peter Schade, the Erie County health commissioner who is investigating the outbreak. He said test results for the virus were still pending. > > Schade said the staffers were showing symptoms of the disease when they arrived. “They brought whatever they had with them,” he said. > > The staffers arrived at the Kalahari Resorts in Sandusky on Thursday to handle logistics at the hotel and became sick with Norovirus-like symptoms, which include stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea and vomiting. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/514 "2016-07-19T21:11:04Z")
Lol shots, and Sky News later admitted it was nothing, just a loud noise ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/515 "2016-07-19T21:22:10Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’m really amazed that Melania’s snippets of borrowed text is somehow more consequential than the hate fest that was the first day of the republican party convention That was the plan all along! To rile up the base with most of the speeches, and do something else in one particular speech that would get the other side riled up about and ignore what they were talking about the rest of the day! ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/516 "2016-07-19T21:28:40Z")
It looks like there’s going to be a repeat of what happened in 2012, where only one candidate’s votes will be “officially” counted by the secretary…in part because Ted Cruz apparently doesn’t want his name put into nomination, even though it is possible. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/517 "2016-07-19T21:32:30Z")
I assume someone has selected the songs the house band plays during these hurry up and wait segments. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/518 "2016-07-19T21:33:15Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > If he is willing to work for any nation that pays him, he is a mercenary. The vast majority of DOD civilians and contractors are not, and are therefore not mercenaries. Sounds like the distinction between a streetwalker and a call girl. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/519 "2016-07-19T21:37:30Z")
> [@Ferris](#): > > Just a random observation, you can anagram ‘republican national convention’ into: > > ‘Non-viable, ancient puritan colon’. If you add “the” it can be “uninnocent tan con-ape hilt-bloviater”. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/520 "2016-07-19T21:38:35Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I’m really amazed that Melania’s snippets of borrowed text is somehow more consequential than the hate fest that was the first day of the republican party convention - I think it’s because the hate-fest was expected. Stealing from your worst enemy and passing off as something good for your side was not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=27)