It’s July 4th as I write this article. I have reached the age where this day is one where I anticipate what is to come the rest of the summer. Politically I am wondering which will be the bigger circus; the Republican National Convention or the Rio Olympics. If nothing else the remainder of the summer appears to offer plenty of laughs and head shaking moments.
I’m not criticizing the decision but, how do you have a true international competition in 2016 without the participation of Russia? If nothing else the 2016 Olympics are an “asterisk Olympics” before they even begin.
We should be “entertained” by competitors literally swimming in human refuse (gotta keep it PG rated). The Rio Olympics may also have a legacy of currently undeterminable length and severity with the risk of contracting the Zika virus. That is to say nothing of Brazil’s political instability and social unrest.
Enough about sports; my readers come to this site for political commentary and there should be plenty of material generated in Cleveland later this month!
While the mystery of who the nominee will be has been removed from both conventions, (except for some hard core people who are currently unwilling to accept reality), The GOP gathering in Cleveland promises to be anything but the usual affair. Recently conventions have effectively become 4 day infomercials telling us about what a great and regular guy the nominee is. (It’s always been a guy up until 2016.) We have a steady parade of all the Party’s most prominent elected officials with a few rising stars mixed in. Remember it was Barack Obama’s 2004 keynote address to the Democratic National Convention in Boston that launched an obscure State Senator to two terms in the White House.
Many key Republicans have already made public the fact that they won’t be in Cleveland this July. Funny how those “scheduling conflicts” arise. The reality is that the pros know Donald Trump is toxic and those who can are avoiding being seen with him or singing his praises. The GOP establishment expects him to lose and lose badly. They see no need to go down with him and give future opponents fodder for ads and speeches.
While Trump himself is enough to keep fact checkers working overtime and knowledgeable watchers rolling their eyes when not screaming at the television, I can only imagine what the warm-up acts will looks like. It may have Republicans yearning for the “good old days” of an obviously over-the-hill Clint Eastwood holding a conversation with an empty chair. (Symbolically, if not in other ways, the chair won.)
We are certain to see many members of the Trump family including daughter Ivanka who is currently being sued by Italian shoe designer Aquazzura for allegedly stealing several shoe designs. Her brother Donald, Jr. and Eric will probably grace the stage. That will give them a break from soliciting donations from foreign nationals. (Yes, that is illegal).
There haven’t been any reports of it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the homophobic County Clerk from Kentucky Kim Davis. Got to keep that element of Trump’s coalition placated. What Trump gathering would be complete without Howie Carr doing a war whoop after talking about Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren?
There are certain to be several long-in-the-tooth celebrities. Among them I expect Ted Nugent a/k/a the Motor City Madman. Hillary Clinton has Jennifer Granholm to introduce her in Michigan; Trump has Ted. No contest on political knowledge and experience there! I also expect to see Gary Busey. Busey was involved in a brain damage causing motorcycle accident. He was not wearing a helmet. It has causes him to speak and act impulsively.
Cleveland is disparagingly referred to as the mistake by the lake. The 2016 Republican National Convention may take that moniker away from it. All that said, the Rio Olympics have an edge in the biggest circus of the summer contest – it last 17 days as opposed to 4.
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