Two words fittingly describe the 2020 Democratic National Convention (DNC) to nominate presidential candidate Joe Biden. It was an attempted exercise in “redemption” and “stealth” that ignored teachings by Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.
Redemption was attempted not in the sense of a party divided over how far left it should tilt, for little effort was made to do so. There was no discussion on how changing a system now – one that has guided us wisely for more than two centuries – is even a good idea. Instead, most speakers simply criticized President Donald Trump.
It is difficult to get excited about a political party that spends more time clamoring “Orange Man Bad” than espousing the principles suggesting why its own ideology is good, offering no solutions for existing problems or even recognizing they exist. This may be due to over one-fourth of DNC delegates voting “no” on the party platform.
So obvious was Trump hatred, former President Barack Obama broke the tradition ex-presidents never attack a sitting president by name. Obama, who may well be guilty of involvement in the Russiagate coup to topple Trump’s candidacy, also spent time trying to repair the damage of his own prior negative comments about Biden and failure to endorse him until Joe was the last candidate standing.
But the word redemption is appropriate because so many DNC speakers epitomized either immoral or criminal behavior – suggesting an exercise in party redemption.
Based upon what has been proven to date, perhaps foremost among these is former President Bill Clinton who lectured Trump on what he should be doing in the Oval Office, undoubtedly leaving Monica Lewinsky chuckling. A CNN panel justified his appearance stating, “We believe in redemption.”
And, based upon what has yet to be proven, pending John Durham’s investigative report into how Russiagate evolved from the unsubstantiated claims of paid Hillary Clinton/DNC “fiction writer” Christopher Steele, perhaps foremost is the former first lady. Steele created an anti-Trump dossier, subsequently discredited, that cast a spell upon the Democratic Party, castrating its ability to function other than to undermine anything Trump does.
Hillary’s speech made clear she was still bitter over her 2016 loss to Trump. The Durham report should detail her role in creating the political turmoil we suffer today. Unfortunately, while she had the chance to voice a call for unity in America, Hillary chose to use her platform to launch more Trump conspiracy theories. (Interestingly, it was recently learned, as secretary of state, Hillary, who has called Trump a “corrupt human tornado,” had hired the nephew of pedophile Jeffery Epstein’s madame, giving him special treatment.) Seeking to wreak more havoc on top of what she has already, Hillary now advises Biden not to concede should he lose the election.
Only time, and Durham’s report, will tell us if two of DNC’s main speakers, Obama and Hillary, were ill-fitted to be party representatives for being afflicted by a personal power lust exercised to overturn the will of the people.
Other DNC speakers with dubious credentials to lecture America included criminal justice activist Donna Hylton. Convicted for the 1985 kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of a New York businessman, Hylton spent almost three decades in prison. An investigator shared the horrendous details, explaining she had “squeezed the victim’s testicles with a pair of pliers, beat him (and) burned him.” The sheer brutality of her crime should not have entitled her to a DNC redemption pass.
Jill Biden spoke after Americans learned she had her own personal baggage. Her ex-husband, although friendly with Joe and Jill, wanted to clarify that Jill had cheated on him by having an affair with Joe. While immorality has become less and less of a concern to the public, it is a consistent trait in Joe’s behavior.
Had there been television coverage of DNC’s daytime activities, viewers would have heard other speakers express outrageous progressive ideas. Transgender activist J Mei called for “a world without prisons” and “abolishing ICE.”
Either little effort was made to substantiate credentials of lesser-known speakers or the DNC simply did not care. It was learned a deported female speaker critical of Trump had not been deported by Trump but by Clinton.
Also not televised was participation in the Pledge of Allegiance during caucuses, twice said with the words “under God” omitted. Telling too was a female speaker who made her reputation disrespecting our flag, professional soccer player Megan Rapinoe.
A long line of Hollywood anti-Trump celebrities spoke, again offering zilch substantively while attacking Trump. This waste of time was even recognized by anti-Trump actor John Cusack who labeled the DNC a “sh**ty celebrity filled reality TV convention: RIP America.” Celebrities provided little glitz to a convention devoid of patriotism and God. Based on low viewer ratings and stagnant post-DNC polling for Biden, it was a “devastating flop.”
As if questionable DNC speakers were an insufficient statement about what the Democratic Party represents, an incident just outside the convention is. Biden supporters violently snatched a MAGA hat off the head of a 7-year old boy, leaving him crying. Yet there has been no effort by the party leadership to condemn the act. (Two female attackers have since been arrested.) Meanwhile, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D.-Fla., made headlines elsewhere giving the Democratic leadership another black eye for abusing children by shoving a 16-year-old volunteer worker supporting an opposition candidate for her seat. And, in an indication child abuse is acceptable to Democratic voters, this month a 19-year-old male won that party’s primary in Kansas after admitting he harassed girls while in middle school to include circulating a nude photo of a 13-year-old.
The convention was also an exercise in “stealth,” underscored by a statement in Biden’s acceptance speech to shed light on darkness. He asserted he would provide the “light” to overcome the darkness cast by Trump. (Unsurprisingly, Biden stands accused again of using someone else’s similar wording as his own.) Yet light was missing as he dodged discussing police defunding and a consequential rise in violent crime.
America currently suffers two plagues – COVID-19 and violent riots in Democratic-controlled cities. As DNC speakers falsely blamed Trump repeatedly for the former, the latter stealthily went unmentioned. Apparently adhering to the fallacy such cities cannot experience violent riots, Democrats insisted they were “peaceful protests.” Unsurprisingly, the DNC even provided passes to groups responsible for such violence – BLM and Antifa – to attend the convention.
Perhaps the closest the DNC came to recognizing, albeit totally unintentionally, the ongoing destruction in their cities was its repeated playing during the three day affair of the Bruce Springsteen song bearing the ironic title “My City of Ruins.”
An exercise Democrats did avoid was one encouraged by Freud: “Being entirely honest with oneself is a good exercise.”
And, as Aristotle noted, “At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice, he is the worst.”
Sadly, both Freud and Aristotle would have found the DNC exercise lacking in both honest reflection and nobility.
