# 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:** 50
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/982 "2016-07-21T20:22:05Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Is this the woman who claimed to have 100,000 employees but actually had zero? I would guess she doesn’t actually know anything about how Obamacare works. Since she claims to be in some sort of fashion design business, I’d guess zero based on that horror show she was wearing. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/983 "2016-07-21T20:43:12Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > After Camp Trump changed their story about Melania’s speech a half dozen times in two days, I wouldn’t believe them for a second when they insist that they knew all along. Good point. Speaking of Melania’s plagiarism, NPR is reporting that a number of delegates in the hall expressed disgust in response to the revelation that she admires Michelle Obama. I knew their final explanation wasn’t going to go over well among the party faithful. (My wife hears more antipathy at work for Michelle than for Barack and Hillary combined–and she works at an elementary school, exclusively with female colleagues.) > [@67java89](#): > > Wow! This was so, so bad you just have to see it for yourself. Right? I was bummed that everyone seemed to be passing it by. Glad it’s starting to catch on, because…words can’t describe it. You just have to see it, especially the last two minutes. Here it is again, for convenience: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/michelle-van-etten-trump-is-ultimate-ringmaster/2016/07/20/ac3b1bec-4ec0-11e6-bf27-405106836f96\_video.html](http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/michelle-van-etten-trump-is-ultimate-ringmaster/2016/07/20/ac3b1bec-4ec0-11e6-bf27-405106836f96_video.html) My 16-year-old son said this was “literally” (big _Parks and Rec_ fan) the worst case of public speaking he is ever seen from anyone over 14, and maybe even under 14. And it was on national TV in primetime, from a lady involved in a pyramid scheme whose bio already looked ridiculous before we even saw her speak. Serious Keystone Kops situation among the people running this convention. > [@Chefguy](#): > > Since she claims to be in some sort of fashion design business, I’d guess zero based on that horror show she was wearing. Yeah, was that supposed to be some sort of miniature cape, like flying squirrel style? :eek: > [@aceplace57](#): > > Donald Trump Jr. Speech. Clearly very nervous. I predict he has a future in politics. If he wants it. > > If my dad have jumped into politics. Would I have delivered a speech this well? Not a chance. All of Trump’s children have turned out remarkably well. I’ve NEVER seen any of them in the tabloids. No drug allegations. Bar hopping. Sex scandals. Sex tapes or the other filth we see in spoiled rich brats like Paris Hilton or Kim K. Nothing. Donald and his wives did something right. > [http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/07/20/rnc-convention-donald-trump-jr-entire-speech-sot.cnn](http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/07/20/rnc-convention-donald-trump-jr-entire-speech-sot.cnn) Clearly MMV, because to me he comes across, as I said, like a parody of a rich '80s douche, _American Psycho_ style. (Is that his real voice?) And the photos of him holding the elephant tail he just cut off will come back to haunt him if he runs for office. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/984 "2016-07-21T20:55:04Z")
> [@Junior\_Spaceman](#): > > This is one of the rare times when one of these "What the hell - that looked like a Nazi salute 😕 " moments looks far worse in the video than in a carefully chosen picture. Yeah. In my head, I know that can’t be what she meant to do and it’s just an awkward attempt at a wave or something, but, watching the video, I’m hard-pressed to consider that explanation satisfactory. There’s just no reason to extend your arm straight out like that, locked elbow and palm down, if you’re trying to wave. Even in the completely innocuous photo of Carter linked above where the arm is straight, the arm is straight up, to be seen from far away, and the wrist is cocked in a wave. There’s just no confusion about what’s going on there. The best I can surmise is that it was some sort of mangled pointing gesture, but really, who screws up at pointing? It’s just so odd. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/985 "2016-07-21T21:00:19Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I mean, my honest impression was that neo-Nazism kind of peaked about twenty, twenty-five years ago. According to most sources the USA’s biggest such organization effectively died ten years ago. Trump’s actual base of voters does not care for or about Nazis except insofar as they serve as villains Indiana Jones can send careening off cliffs. Yes, but having a cadre of neonazi thugs on your side comes in handy when you need the crap knocked out of a would-be tomato-throwing BLM protestor. Or, you know, whatever losers need punched in the face. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/986 "2016-07-21T21:20:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Since she claims to be in some sort of fashion design business, I’d guess zero based on that horror show she was wearing. She sells “franchises” and some of the products they claim to sell are sold by Alex Jones on his radio show. > **[Trump backer speaking at RNC, billed as boss of 100,000, employs zero workers](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/18/michelle-van-etten-republican-convention-youngevity)** > > Michelle Van Etten, billed as small business owner on official schedule, is ‘multi-level marketer’ of nutritional products who says she doesn’t have employees ---
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/987 "2016-07-21T21:22:52Z")
> [@Junior\_Spaceman](#): > > This is one of the rare times when one of these "What the hell - that looked like a Nazi salute 😕 " moments looks far worse in the video than in a carefully chosen picture. I thought the opposite. I think it looks worse in a still frame, esp from the side. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/988 "2016-07-21T21:32:07Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > …and apparently he or his campaign sent out word to boo Cruz after his people read the speech… The word “apparently”? Does that mean you assume this is so, or that you have explicit evidence? Reason I ask is, just as you point out, the wording of the thing is not really inflammatory, it simply doesn’t directly “endorse”. Now, I could easily buy a rumor floating round about Cruz’s intentions. Pro-Cruz folks might well have thought it was better than Trump deserved, and prepared to bask in his gratitude. Anti-Cruz folks would want to insist on hearing the actual word “Endorse!” And, of course, if the speech give to the RNC was, in fact, different that the one Cruz actually gave, that would be easy to prove, they would have done it already. ---
**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 21, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/989 "2016-07-21T21:43:28Z")
I wonder if the Republican Leadership will bring themselves to say “Radical Cruzlamic Terrorism”? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/990 "2016-07-21T21:43:48Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The word “apparently”? Does that mean you assume this is so, or that you have explicit evidence? Reason I ask is, just as you point out, the wording of the thing is not really inflammatory, it simply doesn’t directly “endorse”. > > Now, I could easily buy a rumor floating round about Cruz’s intentions. Pro-Cruz folks might well have thought it was better than Trump deserved, and prepared to bask in his gratitude. Anti-Cruz folks would want to insist on hearing the actual word “Endorse!” I want to see Bernie Sanders wholeheartedly endorse Hillary Clinton at the Democratic convention – prompting a cheery note that the ‘expert dealmaker’ was dumb enough to believe people would keep the promises he thought he’d haggled for, while our future president actually gets, y’know, _results,_ by wisely convincing people to put aside their differences and cooperate. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/991 "2016-07-21T21:47:05Z")
If we can discuss policy for a moment: it’s interesting to hear how enthusiastically all the Republicans seem to be endorsing the concept of bring our manufacturing jobs back from overseas, by re-negotiating trade deals. The GOP has traditionally been the party of Big Business, whom I’m sure are perfectly happy with having their manufacturing done in Bangladesh sweat shops. Has anyone resolved this disconnect? ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/992 "2016-07-21T21:53:51Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > The GOP has traditionally been the party of Big Business, whom I’m sure are perfectly happy with having their manufacturing done in Bangladesh sweat shops. Has anyone resolved this disconnect? Sure. They’ll just remove all of those pesky regulations that keep Americans from being treated like Bangladeshi sweatshop workers. Yay? ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/993 "2016-07-21T22:00:07Z")
Isn’t it tradition for the Speaker of the House to be standing up there on the podium running the convention? Who’s doing that for this one? ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/994 "2016-07-21T22:42:37Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Isn’t it tradition for the Speaker of the House to be standing up there on the podium running the convention? Who’s doing that for this one? Paul Ryan. He made the big pronouncement that the Donald J. Trump and Michael X. Pence are officially the nominees of the Republican Party. A pundit on NPR said that he was blinking “torture” in Morse code while doing it. ---
**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 21, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/995 "2016-07-21T22:45:25Z")
> [@duality72](#): > > Sure. They’ll just remove all of those pesky regulations that keep Americans from being treated like Bangladeshi sweatshop workers. Yay? “Good news! We tripled our workforce and still reduced the total payroll!” ---
**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 21, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/996 "2016-07-21T22:54:21Z")
> [@Peanut\_Gallery](#): > > That’s where you are wrong. And that’s why I expect Trump to win. The overconfidence of Democrats and reasonable people thinking they are not outnumbered by WWE-Americans. > > Last night on Maher’s show, a guest (Trump’s ghostwriter, good perspective) said “This is a guy who hasn’t read a book all the way through for his entire adult life!” Michael Moore had to point out to him that while he says that with (justifiable) derision, he is talking about more than half of America right there. And that’s why the race is tied. I used to work in telephone directory distribution for over 20 years - my family owned one of the largest distribution companies, doing from 10 million to 40 million books every year, from 1985 to 2012. I did everything from delivering books myself to retrieving books out of innumerable dumpsters to corporate sales with ATT, Sprint, Verizon, etc to running the entire back office operation (7 departments, 125 employees): pretty much everything one can do in such a business, I did it. As you can imagine, phone book delivery isn’t one of those insanely complex things - hell, my family’s business was noted for having the top 3 people having had college degrees - and the nature of the job itself is not at all attractive to people with, shall we say, more attractive options than trying to deliver 500 pounds of books with a Toyota Tercel. What I’m saying is, the entire industry is full of WWE-Americans. I have dealt with them from 1984-2013 (when I finally got out of the industry for good), and there is one thing I am confident of: lazy-ass WWE-watching redneck boys and girls don’t vote. Oh, they bitch, they complain, they fuck and fight and fuck again, they love to go to rallies where they can drink beer, kick shit, and yell up a storm… but to actually go out and do something as prosaic as voting? Not the people I worked with. Here’s what happens when push comes to shove to typical Redneck Man: “You gonna go do \?” “Not today honey, my disability’s kickin’ up.” “But, Gene…” “I said NOT TODAY HONEY!” So Trump can play to the WWE crowd all he wants, they won’t turn out for him. This isn’t just one person’s observation, class bias in American voting patterns are deep rooted. > [@](#): > > In the 2012 election, 80.2 percent of those making more than $150,000 voted, while only 46.9 percent of those making less than $10,000 voted. This “class bias,” is so strong that in the three elections (2008, 2010 and 2012) I examined, there was only one instance of a poorer income bracket turning out at a higher rate than the bracket above them. (In the 2012 election, those making less than $10,000 were slightly more likely to vote than those making between $10,000 and $14,999.) On average, each bracket turned out to vote at a rate 3.7 percentage points higher than the bracket below it. [http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/income-gap-at-the-polls-113997#ixzz4F5PI5uYa](http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/01/income-gap-at-the-polls-113997#ixzz4F5PI5uYa) ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/997 "2016-07-21T23:29:31Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > If we can discuss policy for a moment: it’s interesting to hear how enthusiastically all the Republicans seem to be endorsing the concept of bring our manufacturing jobs back from overseas, by re-negotiating trade deals. > > The GOP has traditionally been the party of Big Business, whom I’m sure are perfectly happy with having their manufacturing done in Bangladesh sweat shops. Has anyone resolved this disconnect? It’s true about the establishment. But opinion polls find that Democrats support trade deals significantly more than Republican voters, and ironically (given Bernie) young Democratic voters support them most strongly of all. So we are seeing the politicians shift to where the votes are. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/998 "2016-07-21T23:32:36Z")
I would assume that “class bias” in voting also comes from a sense of hopelessness and helplessness, more time pressures, and the difficulties of rural areas in stuff like infrastructure. ---
**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 21, 2016, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/999 "2016-07-21T23:46:40Z")
Trump’s speech was leaked to DNC by insider. > **['Republican source' leaks Trump speech to Dems](https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/rnc-2016-donald-trump-speech-leak-hillary-clinton-pac-225981)** > > 'If I were them, I would be a little freaked,' says Clinton ally David Brock. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1000 "2016-07-21T23:47:27Z")
> [@slash2k](#): > > My honest opinion is that the explicit “we call ourselves Nazis” school is likely on the wane, but the less explicitly Third Reich version is on the rise, and has been for a number of years. “European America is under attack! Those others, those Mexicans and blacks and Muslims, are all rapists and thieves and terrorists. They didn’t build this country, and they don’t deserve to have what we have built. We White Americans have to defend our homeland from the assaults of those Others Who Aren’t White, who are trying to take from us what we built! When America was dominated by White Americans, the country was great, and we will make it great again!” Oh yes, those ideas are very much what Mr. Trump is tapping into, and if those don’t represent Naziism and white supremacy and bigotry, what term would you use? Agreed. Practically nobody actually self-identifies as a Nazi, or a KKK member, or any of that other nonsense. Some of the recent KKK “rallies” that have made the news have been completely farcical in terms of their single-digit turnout. …AND YET, the idea that America is under siege by minorities and immigrants is powerful. The idea that America needs to return to some kind of mythological golden age is exactly what people like Trump appeal to. On almost a weekly basis we see police officers murder or assault black people for no identifiable reason whatsoever, and literally millions of people are voting for a candidate who promises a fascist government. Because that’s what we’re talking about. It doesn’t matter whether anyone actually gets up in the morning and says, “I am a fascist.” 50% of Americans still support a political party built from the ground up on racist, fascist, and anti-intellectual ideology, they just choose to call it “Republicanism.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729/1001 "2016-07-21T23:47:31Z")
Y’know, I could almost buy the narrative that Trump deliberately approved the speech just because he was raring for a fight, and wanted someone to punch at the convention… but if that’s the case, then the last thing he should have done was admit that he approved the speech. Admitting that is admitting that he wanted someone to beat up on him. That’s not the image of strength that he’s trying for. And was that circus lady drunk? It looked to me like she was on the verge of passing out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=49) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-republican-national-convention/757729.md?page=51)