Between JD Vance being tapped as Trump's VP and Amber Rose taking the stage, I break down the circus that is the 2024 Republican National Convention:The Warning with Steve Schmidt is a reader-supported publication.
CNN is all in for Trump and the gang. Don’t forget about the Trump town hall that they packed with MAGA supporters. They’ve lost their way. And so how much of the media. It’s not about educating, informing, truth, it’s about getting you to watch, ratings, clicks which means mo money for them. It’s truly sad.
First, have been laughing off and on all day about that prop on Trump’s ear. Listening to this video and the seeing the images, I couldn’t help but laugh more.
Thanks for this, Steve. Stunning time we are living in. I have been moving further away from the news, reading, but not watching. Everyday, I go outside wondering what the hell happened to us
Hi Susan, I started laughing today, too. It is all so completely bananas! Is this a tragi-comedy, a horror show, what the hell happened? These people don't even look real to me. The bandaid prop! Amber's head tattoo at the 'conservative' convention. Seriously?
I'm spending a lot of time outside with the sane deer, birds, clouds, trees, and bugs. Best:-)
Tuning into the news last evening......What is so stunning about the GOP convention is ALL those people confirming Tr**ps "lies". Really? Do they want history remembering this dismal time?
We are watching American history being made as the RNC national convention unfolds. As I’ve watched it (as much as I could stomach), I continue to wonder if a majority of Americans realize they are watching the devolution of a major political party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, into an anti-democratic political institution. I have to wonder if we understand that fact, and that it’s happening in real time before us in public view. And worse, the MAGA GOP is unashamed about dismantling our democracy and placing what effectively is a monarch to rule over us. In fact, they proud of it. Just when you think our politics can’t go lower, it does. Vladimir Putin must be ecstatic right now. He’s watching us destroy our own democracy and he didn’t have to fire a shot. We cannot abide our democracy’s destruction. We simply cannot. Time to draw a line in the sand and speak truth to power and speak it to America in general. The time to exercise our civic duty is now. There is no time left.
Those of us on this site, with the exception of one juvenile and uninformed troll, understand how awful life will become in a Putin-style fascist America led by the most unlikely dictator ever, con man Donald J.Trump. How he got this far is something I will never fully understand, but it has something to do with a strong belief in patrarchy and "tribalism," manifested in the modern world as blind ethnic, cultural, and religious nationalism. Except for admonitions against shellfish and pork, the MAGAts are more closely aligned with the Old Testament tribal god Yahweh than J.C. He was jealous of other gods, notably Baal, and brutally violent toward the enemies of his people. This fits very nicely into the worship of Trump by extremely "religious" idiots like Mike Johnson, people governed by ancients fears and prejudices.
Perhaps, the best approach to weakening their dangerous attack on America is to continuously remind them of true Christian morality, the call to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and welcome the stranger.
I am a "none" but I do believe that most of the New Testament morality, having roots in ancient teachings, basically do onto others as you would have them to onto you, should be thrown constantly in the face of these petty tyrants, people like Vance and Carlson, Roman Catholics, and wingnut evangelicals like Mike Johnson and Mark Robinson.
All tribal gods, modern and ancient, were created for the same purposes, to give the tribe an identity, a feeling of unity and disdain for 'outsiders,' a sense of superiority, and false hope and of course, to make them obedient to those in power.
You say this exactly right. Years ago, a friend and I who considered ourselves liberal to moderate were talking about our other friends who were conservative. My friend remarked — they’re Old Testament guys. Which seemed so prescient. This was ten years ago or so.
In other news, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey was convicted on all counts of bribery and serving as a foreign agent. Justice served. As I remember the buffoon from Manhattan, I also remember Menendez as just plain corrupt. The conviction confirmed it.
Too ugly and absurd for the Greek tragedies, which were written and performed as art.The current events brought to us by Trump are stupid (ugly and absurd) instead—And stupid as only America can do stupid!
Leave it to Rednecks, originally the Poor Southern Whites who stewed in envy towards Black people and any scrap of favor Blacks ever earned. These Whites carried on all their original views, though many gained money and education, treated as a veneer of such. Yes, “ignorant and proud of it” with continuing stereotypical gender roles and a male dominance, backed up by violence. This is still the culture of the lynch mob, I am sorry to say.
But if you actually lived in these areas and knew many of these people, you would also encounter a lot of humor and a gift for storytelling. Vance did not seem to have either one of those particularly Southern talents, in his dull and labored book, Hillbilly Elegy. It sounded like a good and interesting read, didn’t it—for readers who live somewhere else. Became a NYTimes bestseller. But it was neither well written nor wholly truthful in its substance. Still it served to established Vance’s “grievance creds” for his political ambition, writing about a coalmining area where he had come from, where most of its white families were indeed poor (not his.)
If you want a much better example of Southern humor and anecdotal verve, you would find them in James Carville or the short videos of the “Liberal Redneck”, Trae Crowder.
However most Redneck culture upholds the tradition of “ignorant and proud of it “. And the religious from that large area of country includes many thoroughly trained at church in sexism, racism and a lot of delusional thinking. It is the acceptance of and adherence to invalid logic and deluded thought processes that might be most harmful. Crooked thinking and conmen leaders who enrich themselves ate too common in their “traditional” world, and as dangerous as we at large are now finding them.
My post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek sarcasm. The Republican Party is a tragic organism. Their convention circus is a poorly written / scripted play on the falling of humanity. I am all too familiar with "redneck' culture, having grown up around it. The fear of losing "whiteness" in our republic is ill-fated. White man (mostly men) has done a huge disservice to the human race, what with our murderous and genocidal proclivities. (Just ask any Native American or the average black citizen). We are awash in the blood of others, and the Republicans want to assure the continuation of the blood flow even if only metaphorically. Shame on JD Vance for saddling up with a brown skin. JD is no winner by any measure. His movie “Hillbilly Elegy” stank in its high-yield dysfunctional depression. All those “Jesus loves me more than He loves you” degenerates are ripping apart our country with reckless abandon and no end in sight.
Steve, you already have 50k likes on this The Warning video. It needs to go viral! Way to take down JD Vance and to showcase the carnival of characters at the RNC. Aburdiity. One of your BEST!
The way to set off Trump is to lie and say how much better JD Vance is vs Trump - younger, smarter, better looking than Trump. etc. We have to poke the bear and push his buttons. We should get a another video.
On a related question- can someone Steve or anybody on the tread- please explain to me why the supposed true blue conservatives at Commentary Magazine- such as John Podoretz- and similar, are not fervently condemning Trump and MAGA, instead they spend most of their time bashing Biden ? It seems that they continue to downplay the threat of Trump gaining power again.
Excellent question. I would like to take a shot at answering. I don’t think the conservatives know who they are any longer. They are lost. The old school conservatives — of which I had family members — believed in limited government, opportunity, personal liberty. They were secular people. They did not align with the religious fanatics. Now the conservatives do not know who they are any longer. They are religious cultists. And when that happens, they find it easier to bash others, like Biden, rather than fix their own house.
I listen to the Commentary podcast, (just for a few minutes !) and am waiting for supposed intellectuals to come to their senses but it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna happen. They are fully inoculated with the MAGA virus.
"To know what Fascism really is we must first of all know what it is we are fighting, what the Fascist regimes really are and do, who puts up the money and backs Fascism in every country, and who owns the nations under such regimes, and why the natives of all Fascist countries must be driven into harder work, less money, reduced standards of living, poverty and desperation so that the men and corporations who found, subsidize and own Fascism can grow unbelievably rich."
As usual, you are on the Mark. Question is as individuals, what do we do? This is a hideous lineup of the most horrible people, how do these evil entities rise to the top like this? What is the broken part of our system that allowed this? Any advice?
For people fearful about a late stage change, take heart from this that was passed along as anonymous, gleaned from the net: "A significant number of voters don't want to vote for either of these candidates…You take Biden out of this race, suddenly voters don't have much of a rationale to vote Trump and a new candidate wins pretty easily…I believe the party that replaces their candidate will be the party that wins in November."
Amber Rose’s clever messaging and ability to captivate an audience through the camera is the final nail in the DNC’s coffin. She will pull in younger voters. This is a tragedy
My favorite Thoreau story: one day Ralph Waldo Emerson was walking down the street and in passing the jail saw Thereau, who had been encarcerated for refusing to pay taxes to support laws he disagreed with, sitting behind a window with bars. "My dear David," said Emerson, "what are you doing in there?" "My dead Waldo," Thereau responded, "what are you doing out there?"
Yes. And his family’s business was making pencils, so it is even more interesting. I have not had a TV now for four years. I don’t miss it. Though I can watch YouTube and other apps on my iPad if I wish.
I like O’Donnell, too. I have the PBS app and a membership. I have not watch any shows, though, for months now. Why, I just do not know. I will give Bad Faith a try in the near future.
I have been watching on YouTube once a week Jon Stewart. Many moons ago, 40 years now, I worked with Jon for about six months. He left New Jersey and went to LA to do stand up and the rest is history. He was the same back then as he is now.
CNN is all in for Trump and the gang. Don’t forget about the Trump town hall that they packed with MAGA supporters. They’ve lost their way. And so how much of the media. It’s not about educating, informing, truth, it’s about getting you to watch, ratings, clicks which means mo money for them. It’s truly sad.
First, have been laughing off and on all day about that prop on Trump’s ear. Listening to this video and the seeing the images, I couldn’t help but laugh more.
Thanks for this, Steve. Stunning time we are living in. I have been moving further away from the news, reading, but not watching. Everyday, I go outside wondering what the hell happened to us
Hi Susan, I started laughing today, too. It is all so completely bananas! Is this a tragi-comedy, a horror show, what the hell happened? These people don't even look real to me. The bandaid prop! Amber's head tattoo at the 'conservative' convention. Seriously?
I'm spending a lot of time outside with the sane deer, birds, clouds, trees, and bugs. Best:-)
You said it! These people don’t look real. But rest assured they are real and bent on destruction. You have to wonder if they are sane
I find that the ducks, geese, deer, trees, river and even the damn groundhogs make more sense to me also, Lisa
Tuning into the news last evening......What is so stunning about the GOP convention is ALL those people confirming Tr**ps "lies". Really? Do they want history remembering this dismal time?
I sometimes wonder, how do they do it? They are lying and they know they are lying. How do they live this way? What about their families? Their kids?
We are watching American history being made as the RNC national convention unfolds. As I’ve watched it (as much as I could stomach), I continue to wonder if a majority of Americans realize they are watching the devolution of a major political party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, into an anti-democratic political institution. I have to wonder if we understand that fact, and that it’s happening in real time before us in public view. And worse, the MAGA GOP is unashamed about dismantling our democracy and placing what effectively is a monarch to rule over us. In fact, they proud of it. Just when you think our politics can’t go lower, it does. Vladimir Putin must be ecstatic right now. He’s watching us destroy our own democracy and he didn’t have to fire a shot. We cannot abide our democracy’s destruction. We simply cannot. Time to draw a line in the sand and speak truth to power and speak it to America in general. The time to exercise our civic duty is now. There is no time left.
www.tomthedemocratist.com
I have seen it. You’re right, it becomes very clear. Deception often comes from the place one would least expect it.
Also, I recommend the Netflix movie “God & Country”. It lays it out well.
Those of us on this site, with the exception of one juvenile and uninformed troll, understand how awful life will become in a Putin-style fascist America led by the most unlikely dictator ever, con man Donald J.Trump. How he got this far is something I will never fully understand, but it has something to do with a strong belief in patrarchy and "tribalism," manifested in the modern world as blind ethnic, cultural, and religious nationalism. Except for admonitions against shellfish and pork, the MAGAts are more closely aligned with the Old Testament tribal god Yahweh than J.C. He was jealous of other gods, notably Baal, and brutally violent toward the enemies of his people. This fits very nicely into the worship of Trump by extremely "religious" idiots like Mike Johnson, people governed by ancients fears and prejudices.
Perhaps, the best approach to weakening their dangerous attack on America is to continuously remind them of true Christian morality, the call to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and welcome the stranger.
I am a "none" but I do believe that most of the New Testament morality, having roots in ancient teachings, basically do onto others as you would have them to onto you, should be thrown constantly in the face of these petty tyrants, people like Vance and Carlson, Roman Catholics, and wingnut evangelicals like Mike Johnson and Mark Robinson.
The MAGA extremist cult is more aligned with the ancient Middle Eastern god, Baal. Child sacrifice, don't you know. Gun violence = child sacrifice.
All tribal gods, modern and ancient, were created for the same purposes, to give the tribe an identity, a feeling of unity and disdain for 'outsiders,' a sense of superiority, and false hope and of course, to make them obedient to those in power.
You say this exactly right. Years ago, a friend and I who considered ourselves liberal to moderate were talking about our other friends who were conservative. My friend remarked — they’re Old Testament guys. Which seemed so prescient. This was ten years ago or so.
I totally agree. Religion is a tool they use to keep control over the fearful and feeble minded.
In other news, Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey was convicted on all counts of bribery and serving as a foreign agent. Justice served. As I remember the buffoon from Manhattan, I also remember Menendez as just plain corrupt. The conviction confirmed it.
He is only the Democrat that did not do a good enough job hiding his corruption.
More like a Greek tragedy wrapped in an American flag.
Too ugly and absurd for the Greek tragedies, which were written and performed as art.The current events brought to us by Trump are stupid (ugly and absurd) instead—And stupid as only America can do stupid!
Leave it to Rednecks, originally the Poor Southern Whites who stewed in envy towards Black people and any scrap of favor Blacks ever earned. These Whites carried on all their original views, though many gained money and education, treated as a veneer of such. Yes, “ignorant and proud of it” with continuing stereotypical gender roles and a male dominance, backed up by violence. This is still the culture of the lynch mob, I am sorry to say.
But if you actually lived in these areas and knew many of these people, you would also encounter a lot of humor and a gift for storytelling. Vance did not seem to have either one of those particularly Southern talents, in his dull and labored book, Hillbilly Elegy. It sounded like a good and interesting read, didn’t it—for readers who live somewhere else. Became a NYTimes bestseller. But it was neither well written nor wholly truthful in its substance. Still it served to established Vance’s “grievance creds” for his political ambition, writing about a coalmining area where he had come from, where most of its white families were indeed poor (not his.)
If you want a much better example of Southern humor and anecdotal verve, you would find them in James Carville or the short videos of the “Liberal Redneck”, Trae Crowder.
However most Redneck culture upholds the tradition of “ignorant and proud of it “. And the religious from that large area of country includes many thoroughly trained at church in sexism, racism and a lot of delusional thinking. It is the acceptance of and adherence to invalid logic and deluded thought processes that might be most harmful. Crooked thinking and conmen leaders who enrich themselves ate too common in their “traditional” world, and as dangerous as we at large are now finding them.
My post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek sarcasm. The Republican Party is a tragic organism. Their convention circus is a poorly written / scripted play on the falling of humanity. I am all too familiar with "redneck' culture, having grown up around it. The fear of losing "whiteness" in our republic is ill-fated. White man (mostly men) has done a huge disservice to the human race, what with our murderous and genocidal proclivities. (Just ask any Native American or the average black citizen). We are awash in the blood of others, and the Republicans want to assure the continuation of the blood flow even if only metaphorically. Shame on JD Vance for saddling up with a brown skin. JD is no winner by any measure. His movie “Hillbilly Elegy” stank in its high-yield dysfunctional depression. All those “Jesus loves me more than He loves you” degenerates are ripping apart our country with reckless abandon and no end in sight.
Steve, you already have 50k likes on this The Warning video. It needs to go viral! Way to take down JD Vance and to showcase the carnival of characters at the RNC. Aburdiity. One of your BEST!
The way to set off Trump is to lie and say how much better JD Vance is vs Trump - younger, smarter, better looking than Trump. etc. We have to poke the bear and push his buttons. We should get a another video.
On a related question- can someone Steve or anybody on the tread- please explain to me why the supposed true blue conservatives at Commentary Magazine- such as John Podoretz- and similar, are not fervently condemning Trump and MAGA, instead they spend most of their time bashing Biden ? It seems that they continue to downplay the threat of Trump gaining power again.
Thank you
Andy, that's the best and most important question we all need to yell from the roof-tops!
Excellent question. I would like to take a shot at answering. I don’t think the conservatives know who they are any longer. They are lost. The old school conservatives — of which I had family members — believed in limited government, opportunity, personal liberty. They were secular people. They did not align with the religious fanatics. Now the conservatives do not know who they are any longer. They are religious cultists. And when that happens, they find it easier to bash others, like Biden, rather than fix their own house.
Thank you John - agree.
I listen to the Commentary podcast, (just for a few minutes !) and am waiting for supposed intellectuals to come to their senses but it doesn’t seem like it’s gonna happen. They are fully inoculated with the MAGA virus.
Steve, Thank you.
"To know what Fascism really is we must first of all know what it is we are fighting, what the Fascist regimes really are and do, who puts up the money and backs Fascism in every country, and who owns the nations under such regimes, and why the natives of all Fascist countries must be driven into harder work, less money, reduced standards of living, poverty and desperation so that the men and corporations who found, subsidize and own Fascism can grow unbelievably rich."
- George Seldes
Can anyone say first and foremost Elon Musk?
111 days; we have to work hard to secure a victory for democracy!
As usual, you are on the Mark. Question is as individuals, what do we do? This is a hideous lineup of the most horrible people, how do these evil entities rise to the top like this? What is the broken part of our system that allowed this? Any advice?
For people fearful about a late stage change, take heart from this that was passed along as anonymous, gleaned from the net: "A significant number of voters don't want to vote for either of these candidates…You take Biden out of this race, suddenly voters don't have much of a rationale to vote Trump and a new candidate wins pretty easily…I believe the party that replaces their candidate will be the party that wins in November."
I agree with this.
Amber Rose’s clever messaging and ability to captivate an audience through the camera is the final nail in the DNC’s coffin. She will pull in younger voters. This is a tragedy
I have no TV in this home and rely on Steve and my periodical subscriptions for updates on the circus. Henry David Thoreau is my hero.
My favorite Thoreau story: one day Ralph Waldo Emerson was walking down the street and in passing the jail saw Thereau, who had been encarcerated for refusing to pay taxes to support laws he disagreed with, sitting behind a window with bars. "My dear David," said Emerson, "what are you doing in there?" "My dead Waldo," Thereau responded, "what are you doing out there?"
I love it. Thanks.
Yes. And his family’s business was making pencils, so it is even more interesting. I have not had a TV now for four years. I don’t miss it. Though I can watch YouTube and other apps on my iPad if I wish.
I like O’Donnell, too. I have the PBS app and a membership. I have not watch any shows, though, for months now. Why, I just do not know. I will give Bad Faith a try in the near future.
I have been watching on YouTube once a week Jon Stewart. Many moons ago, 40 years now, I worked with Jon for about six months. He left New Jersey and went to LA to do stand up and the rest is history. He was the same back then as he is now.