Trump's Acceptance Speech

 

    

 

 

Our political arena seems to change as rapidly as a summer storm, and even though President Biden has now withdrawn from the race, I still would like to post on Trump's speech at the RNC.

My wife and I stayed up to watch the whole of Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Frankly, it proved to be disappointing. I could only give him a C+: C because it was average, but + for its stirring and emotional beginning when he gave his account of the assassination attempt on the previous Saturday. 

 

Let’s take the high-point first. For the first time we heard him describe what it was like to be a victim of a shooting. It was a riveting account of the incident from his own perspective. It was especially moving when he described his attempt to show the stunned crowd that he was ok. It got even better when he praised the Secret Service agents who rushed to the stage to shield his body with their own. He wisely chose to avoid casting any blame. He was truly magnanimous. He topped it off mentioning the other victims of the attack one of whom lost his life by shielding his own family from the bullets. He pointed out that he had visited the families and that millions of dollars have been raised for them. 

 

In these first 30 minutes he was gracious, kind, and thankful. He showed true humanity. Who can fault someone who had come within an inch of his life for believing it was a miracle or that divine providence was at work. He could have ended the speech right there, and it would have been a rousing success.

 

Nevertheless, he went on and on for an hour more, and still missed a golden opportunity. He had indicated after the shooting that he planned to make major changes in his speech, changes that would reach out to more than his base and call for national unity. After thanking the assembled delegates for their support, he could have said something like the following.

 

“I want to thank you all for your support and enthusiasm, but I would like to pause our celebration for a few minutes to speak to those in our country who can’t stand me or what I stand for. Not only do they dislike me, but they also fear that I will be a dictator and bring an end to democracy in our country. Some have even called me Hitler. To those people I would just say that rather than imagining what a Trump administration would look like, just go back and consider what my first administration was like. 

 

Dictators routinely arrest, imprison, and execute their political opponents. Nothing like that ever occurred during my Administration. Do you remember how my supporters demanded that Hillary Clinton be locked up? During my term in office, she was never investigated, much less indicted. We had more important things to do. Today, I will go even further and promise that during a second Trump administration, there will be no prosecution of the current President or his family. Joe will be able to retire to his Delaware estate, drive his Corvette, and never worry about Federal agents invading his home in the middle of the night.

 

We brought peace and prosperity to this country. There was no bloody war in Ukraine, ISIS terrorists were defeated in Iraq, and there was peace in the Middle East. We even brokered the Abraham Accords where for the first time, Arab states recognized the right of Israel to exist. No one was a greater supporter of Israel than myself, and antisemitism did not rear its ugly head in our country during my Administration. And yet, I’m called Hitler, and my supporters Nazis or Fascists.

 

You may disagree with my policies, but you must admit that we had prosperity as well as peace during my administration. Wages were at all time highs, and there was virtually no cruel inflation to wipe away these gains. We were energy independent, and gas and oil prices were half what they are now.

 

Please, you don’t have to imagine and fear what a Trump administration would look like. You just have to look back and see what we actually accomplished from 2016 to 2020. Despite incessant and unprecedented political opposition, and a pandemic, there was peace and prosperity at home and abroad. If elected, I will dedicate myself to peace at home and abroad, and not to senseless political revenge and retribution."

 

PS. We had company the first three nights of the Convention, and only tuned in on Thursday night for Trump’s speech. To me the highlight of the evening was the appearance of Melania Trump. She reminded me of the advice St. Francis gave to his disciples. “Preach always but use words only when necessary.” She did not say a word but was the epitome of beauty, dignity, and decorum.  

 

Melania Trump Speech

                                          

Last night my wife and I both watched the first night of the Republican Convention mainly to hear Melania Trump’s speech. Although we worried that the beautiful but inexperienced speaker might somehow mess up, I have to say that that she hit the proverbial ball out of the park. It wasn’t just her striking appearance but what she said was simple, direct and a refreshing change from some of the harsh rhetoric of the preceding speakers.

She mentioned her Slovenian heritage but said that she loved her adopted country and was proud of her American citizenship. She praised her husband as a kind, loving man who was also a wonderful father to his children. But he was also a man who gets things done and never quits.

What else was there to say? As so often happens, the messenger was more important than the message. Her appearance on stage made every one else, both male and female, in the huge convention hall seem like they were on the second team. Her confident, assured delivery matched her appearance. Her smile was winning. My wife put it best when she said that despite Melania’s wealth and glamour, she could not help but like her.

We were certainly surprised afterwards when the commentators on PBS could not bring themselves to admit that Melania had done a good job. They all believed that she should have revealed more personal information about her husband, but it was her reticence in this regard that appealed to us. Not one mentioned how the speech was received by the crowd in the convention hall, or how it might have been received by the millions watching on prime time.

I have to admit that the preceding speeches were a mixed bag. Although Rudy Giuliani was on fire, I thought that Senator Cotton from Arkansas was the best. I was a little embarrassed by the speech of the Italian immigrant who gained wealth and fame in America as a model for Calvin Klein underwear. Like most immigrants he loves America but does it ever occur to him to wonder why it was legal for him to come to this country from Italy but illegal for other Latins to come from Mexico?

Stay tuned to the Weekly Bystander for more reports on what promises to be an interesting and exciting convention. After last night’s speech one friend wrote to me and said that he now prefers Melania to Hillary. I replied that I suspected his feelings might be shared by Bill Clinton.

I was born today 77 years ago. Here is a picture of Miss America from 1939. A lot has changed since then but the more things change, the more they seem to stay the same. Then, as now, a pretty girl is still like a melody. ###