Citizen Cartwright

Note to readers

Where has the summer gone? I’m going to take next week off. See you on Tuesday, Sept. 8.

GOP convention, day 4: The politics of fear

"No one will be safe in Biden’s America,” President Trump said on Thursday as he accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for another term as president.

 

"Biden is weak,” Trump said. "He takes his marching orders from liberal hypocrites who drive their cities into the ground while fleeing far from the scene of the wreckage.”

 

“Your vote will decide whether we protect law-abiding Americans, or whether we give free rein to violent anarchists, agitators and criminals who threaten our citizens,” Trump said, adding that the “American way of life” is on the line in his race against Biden.

 

The protests throughout the country over police brutality against African Americans have been largely peaceful, though there have been instances of looting and violence, says an Associated Press analysis.

 

But fear long has been used by politicians, in part because it works, says AP. Richard Nixon, who ran on a similar “law and order” message in his 1968 presidential campaign, once said: “People react to fear, not love. They don’t teach that in Sunday school, but it’s true.”

 

Trump also has falsely said Biden supports efforts to defund police departments, casting his rival as willing to let violent protests consume the country. Biden in fact has proposed more money for police, conditioned on improvements in their practices, AP says.

 

While Trump’s comments energize his loyal supporters, his real target is Republican-leaning voters who may be eyeing Biden, a moderate Democrat, as a viable alternative. Timothy Naftali, a presidential historian and professor at New York University, says Trump’s message to those voters is that it’s okay to stick with a candidate they may not like but see as tough on crime.

“The argument is, he may not be beloved but he’s necessary,” Naftali says. “But he’s only necessary if the consequences of him not being there are apocalyptic.”

 

The emphasis by Trump and his campaign on law and order comes as he aims to win back suburban voters who supported him in 2016 but fled the GOP in the 2018 midterm elections, says Fox News.

 

Several other speakers at the convention on Thursday decried violence in American cities and attacked Democrats as anti-police, including Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal attorney; and Police Benevolent Association President Pat Lynch.

 

Hours before Trump’s address, Biden said in interviews on two of the three major national cable news networks that Trump is "rooting for more violence, not less” and that the president "just keeps pouring fuel on the fire."

 

Here is a transcript of Trump’s speech, from NPR.

 

And here is a fact-check of Thursday's convention speeches, from AP.

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GOP convention, day 3: Law-and-order, Trump’s caring side

“The hard truth is you won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America,” said Vice President Pence on Wednesday night.

 

"Let me be clear: the violence must stop – whether in Minneapolis, Portland, or Kenosha,” he said.

 

"Joe Biden would double down on the very policies that are leading to unsafe streets and violence in America's cities,” Pence said.

 

Many of the speakers Wednesday night reinforced the law-and-order message, warning that electing Biden would lead to violence in cities spilling into the suburbs, a message with racist undertones, says The Associated Press. Trump’s campaign believes the aggressive response will help Trump with suburban women who may be concerned by the protests — although it may only deepen his deficit with African American voters.

 

Throughout the convention, speakers repeatedly have warned of lawlessness on America’s streets, pointing to the sometimes violent protests over police killings of African Americans. 

 

For example, the party gave a platform on Monday to the McCloskeys, a St. Louis couple made famous for waving guns at a Black Lives Matter protest outside their home. Mark McCloskey accused Democrats of “no longer” seeing the “government’s job as protecting honest citizens from criminals but rather protecting criminals from honest citizens.” 

 

And Donald Trump Jr. on Monday described the race between Trump and Biden as “shaping up to be church, work and school versus rioting, looting and vandalism.”

 

Some historians and political observers say Trump is using the same law-and-order tactics that helped Richard Nixon seize the White House from Democrats in 1968, AP reports.

 

Meanwhile, a consistent feature of the speeches by close Trump associates is the implication that the president is a different and more sympathetic person in private than he appears to be in public. Pence told viewers Wednesday that he's “seen him when the cameras are off,” and that he believes Trump is a man of principle.

 

And Republican women told personal stories on Wednesday night about ways Trump has provided them with professional opportunities or showed kindness in difficult times, as the campaign attempts to narrow the gender gap with Biden, reports The Hill.

 

Here is the text of Pence’s speech.

 

And here is a fact check of Wednesday night’s speeches, from AP.

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Sens. Warren, Blumenthal, Markey call for investigation of Trump politicization of coronavirus

 

Justice Department seeking data on nursing home coronavirus deaths in 4 Democrat-led states

 

ACLU sues Trump administration alleging illegal arrests of veterans, others in Portland

Three dozen former staffers from Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign sign letter backing Biden

 

NYTimes: We should minimize how much data we share with our apps. Here’s a how-to.

 

FDA authorizes first rapid coronavirus test that doesn’t need special computer equipment to get results

 

Clues to why coronavirus hits men harder than women

 

Dying brain can respond to sound, even in an unconscious state, up to last hours of life, researchers say

 

Study offers insight into ways some people’s bodies naturally suppress HIV

GOP convention, day 2: ‘Gauzy’ events with a White House backdrop

"In an abrupt swerve from the dire tone of the convention’s first night, Mr. Trump staged a grab-bag of gauzy events and personal testimonials aimed in particular at female and minority voters,” says The New York Times.

 

"Tuesday’s gauzy prime-time programming amounted to an airbrushing of some of the darker and more controversial episodes of Trump’s nearly four years in office — an effort to urgently address the vulnerabilities that have imperiled his reelection prospects,” says an Associated Press analysis.

 

For example, in videos recorded at the White House, Trump pardoned Jon Ponder, an African American man convicted of bank robbery, and swore in five new U.S. citizens, all of them people of color, in a miniature naturalization ceremony.

 

"The new push to humanize Trump, like much of the GOP convention, is not aimed at winning over Biden supporters,” says a separate AP article. It's an effort to win back some of the voters whose support Trump has lost, as well as to motivate non-voters to turn out for the president or not vote for Biden.

 

As the White House becomes a backdrop for the convention, The Washington Post and other media are reporting on ethics concerns.

 

Under the Hatch Act, civilian employees in the executive branch are prohibited from taking part in any partisan activity while on the job, notes AP. The president and vice president are largely exempt from the rules.

 

Diplomats say they're appalled by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's decision to address the convention, breaking with long-standing traditions aimed at isolating American's foreign policy from partisan battles at home.

 

It would be problematic enough, current and former U.S. diplomats say, if Pompeo simply showed up at the convention to speak. But Pompeo used a stop in Jerusalem during an official overseas trip to record his speech broadcast Tuesday night. 

 

The House Foreign Affairs Committee’s panel on oversight has told the State Department it’s launching an investigation into Pompeo's action.

 

The coronavirus pandemic was largely confined to parenthetical comments within the speeches until first lady Melania Trump addressed it directly in the final speech of the night and extended her “deepest sympathy” to people who've lost loved ones. Like her husband, she enlisted the trappings of the presidency for her remarks, speaking from the White House Rose Garden.

 

Here is a fact check of the second day of the convention, from AP.

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Group of former GOP Justice Department appointees endorses Biden

 

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New Trump administration coronavirus mandates for nursing homes, hospitals get pushback

 

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GOP convention, Day 1: Trump achievements, warnings about Democrats

"Republicans nominated President Trump as their candidate at a scaled-back convention in North Carolina and Washington, with the president and his allies offering ominous warnings about electing Democrats in November,” says The Wall Street Journal.

 

"A rising generation of Republican stars offered an optimistic view of President Donald Trump’s leadership but was undermined on the opening night of the GOP’s scaled-back convention by speakers issuing dark warnings about the country’s future and distorting the president’s record, particularly on the coronavirus pandemic,” says The Associated Press.

 

"President Trump and his political allies mounted a fierce and misleading defense of his political record on the first night of the Republican convention on Monday, while unleashing a barrage of attacks on Joseph R. Biden Jr. and the Democratic Party that were unrelenting in their bleakness,” says The New York Times.

 

“Despite a pledge from his campaign that the Republican convention would offer a breath of optimism — and despite an email from the campaign in the middle of the first night describing the Democratic gathering as “the darkest, angriest, gloomiest convention in history” — speaker after speaker offered remarkably grim assessments of what might be, should Trump lose in November,” says a Washington Post analysis.

 

Trump achievements:

 

The convention kicked off with speakers addressing Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which Karl Rove, former senior adviser to President George W. Bush, told “Hannity” is vital to the incumbent's credibility, Fox News reports.

 

“Democrats built most of their case around ‘Donald Trump is a bad person and coincidentally he bungled in response to the coronavirus,’" Rove said. "And laying out the case and letting people know exactly what the president did is a very important part [of] establishing credibility on the issue and diminishing Biden's lead on it.”

 

The convention showcased a video featuring key moments during the pandemic and the president's quick action to lessen its impact, says Fox News. Rove said the rebuttal certainly “does damage” to the Democrats’ stance.

 

Ohio GOP Rep. Jim Jordan, ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, was among those telling the convention that Trump did what he said he'd do: cut taxes and regulations and grow the economy. 

 

Warnings:

 

“Don’t let the Democrats and their socialist comrades take you for granted,” Trump campaign adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle said. “Don’t let them step on you. Don’t let them destroy your families, your lives and your future. Don’t let them suppress future generations, because they told you and brainwashed you and fed you lies that you weren’t good enough!”

Democrats “will disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home and invite MS-13 to live next door,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., said. “And the defunded police aren’t on their way."

The McCloskeys, a couple from St. Louis who got national attention after confronting peaceful protesters with a rifle and a handgun, warned that Democrats want to destroy American suburbs.

“Forced rezoning would bring crime, lawlessness and low-quality apartments into thriving suburban neighborhoods,” they said, presumably speaking from their mansion.

 

The Republican National Committee adopted a resolution Monday declaring it won't adopt a policy platform for the election but stated the party's "strong support for President Donald Trump and his Administration" and its opposition to "policy positions of the Obama-Biden Administration."

 

Here is a fact check, from The Associated Press.

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Postmaster to testify again; McConnell calls House bill passage a ‘stunt’

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies in the House on Monday, after telling a Senate committee on Friday he wouldn't restore mailboxes and sorting equipment that had been removed.

 

As DeJoy testified Friday, a coalition of six states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit against him, the Postal Service and the chairman of its board of governors, asserting that the recent changes at the Postal Service have caused widespread delays and could impede state efforts to conduct “free and fair elections.”

 

In all, about 20 states and several voting rights groups are now suing, says The Associated Press.

 

On Saturday, the House passed legislation to reverse the changes and provide $25 billion to shore up the agency in the runup to the election. The vote was 257-150, with 26 Republicans breaking with President Trump and GOP leaders to back the bill.

 

Moments after the bill passed, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., issued a statement calling the House action a “stunt.” He's been considering a $10 billion postal rescue as part of the next coronavirus relief package.

 

A bill co-sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., would provide the Postal Service with up to $25 billion to cover revenue losses or operational expenses resulting from the coronavirus. The bill has at least 22 co-sponsors, including at least nine Republicans. Three of the co-sponsors — Collins, Montana’s Steve Daines and Colorado’s Cory Gardner — are among the GOP’s most vulnerable incumbents this fall.