Sorting through the lies of a Republican National Convention has always been something of a trial, but rarely have they formed such an integral part of the RNC’s proceedings. A sense of surrealism filled both floor and stage as many wondered how it had come to this.
How had the party of Lincoln chosen as their standard bearer, a man with approval ratings so low that they look like an inside leg measurement?
In a room filled with the static charge of 125,000 suspended balloons, they waited. Waited for a miracle, for a long-overdue moment of statesmanship, self-control and perhaps, even humility. As Trump took to the stage, the sense that disappointment awaited was hard to shake.
The familiar incoherence of Trump’s speeches was absent, replaced instead by a careful, scripted message, one spoon fed via a technology that Trump has long insisted he does not use, one he has lambasted others for using. To the gathered faithful, the teleprompter was yet another reminder of double standards.
Self-Congratulations
He opened on a note of self-congratulation, promised to ‘speak both plainly and honestly,’ and then proceeded to do the opposite. Deceptions, far subtler than Trump could have devised, leapt from the prompter with a considerable lack of restraint.
The assembled, desperate for solutions, desperate for answers, endured. Few seemed willing to accept that Trump peddled mere snake oil, nor that the price of admission to his America was the wholesale abandonment of reality.
Crime figures, twisted out of recognition, seemed to present a picture of society on the brink of collapse.
Foreign policy analysis, once reduced to a series of price tags and anecdotes, became a meaningless diatribe. An office in Benghazi became a consulate, and human tragedy transformed into the kind of selective finger-pointing that would have made the late Senator Joseph McCarthy (D-Wis.) blush.
Half- truths Mixed With Lies
No mention of the fact that the majority of the fall occurred under the Bush administration when Trump said:
“Household income, is down $4000 dollars since the year 2000.”
Still, why bother with details when one has boogeymen to demonize? Hatred of Clinton was one of the few moments of genuine unity on display.
Trump whipped the crowd into a paroxysm of naked tribalism, and chants of “Lock her up,” filled the hall, demonstrating that popular sentiment carried more support than the actual letter of the law as far as the RNC was concerned.
Not to be outdone, the GOP’s very own Moby Dick emerged from the depths to raucous boos. President Barack Obama; a man responsible for everything from the collapse of western civilization to grandma’s stubbed toe. He was mentioned no fewer than nine times. Effigies might have been set alight were it not for modern day fire safety regulations and yet, the name carried undeniable power. They feared Obama, and what he represents, as openly as they despised him.
Broken America
Trump painted a picture of a country palsied by self-loathing, by elitism, by modernity itself. The audience lapped it up even as Trump lamented:
“Our roads and bridges are falling apart.”
Despite such gloomy proclamations, he was comfortable proposing:
“The largest tax reduction of any candidate who has declared for the presidential race this year.”
After all, Trump added as the rapturous applause died down:
“America is one of the highest taxed countries in the world.”
At least these words were met with uncomfortable silence. Was this finally, one lie too many? Perhaps, some wondered, how Trump was going to pay for his vision of fortress America?
Walled to the south and protected elsewhere by a revitalized military, it sure didn’t sound like a bargain basement kind of deal. He made no mention of the tax foundation’s warning, that his plans would reduce revenue by some $11 trillion.
Reality Check
In truth, the USA is far from the highest taxed country in the world. In a 2014 report conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED), America placed 27th out of 30 developed countries in terms of tax revenue by Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The same report placed the USA 17th out of 29 when it comes to tax revenue per capita. The great tax lie, the staple diet of Republican commentators for decades, informed another deception. Trump’s promise to simplify the tax code will never come to pass. The tax code must remain opaque. If not, people might start to look more closely at capital gains tax and offshore havens.
Trump is correct about one thing; infrastructure is crumbling.
Unfortunately, in typical Trump fashion, having identified the problem, he moved to an area almost guaranteed to exacerbate the situation. The rigged economy, propped up by a regressive tax system lies at the heart of the problems Trump insists he will tackle, yet his plan of action, includes tax concessions to corporations that are limber enough to avoid paying any in the first place and to continue a policy of seeing the defines budget as an endless black hole with a voracious appetite for greenback luncheons.
Check out this skewering of Trump by John Oliver:
https://youtu.be/Dsw1vUpc6Ug
Featured Image: Screenshot Via YouTube Video.
