THE UGLY REPUBLICAN SHOW

After the Democratic "deliberative" convention, the Republicans chose a different format, built around an arc of lies and shouts. The unholy first family closed ranks around their anointed Godfather.  The GOP of old Buckley/Kissinger days is history. The current power stakeholders are generally white, old and clinging to a man they often despise but are too scared to counter, since his departure would even shorten what is left of their pathetic lifetimes.

The Republican performance was yet again all about appropriation. Trump used every decor and trick to enhance his appearance. The president always came before the candidate. Even Melania re-appropriated the Rose Garden for her own sulky benefit. Soon we might see Trump in bathrobe again (as in his former heyday casino pictures) in the Lincoln Bedroom.

For diversity, the convention paraded various bona fide props-- gun addicts, sleep addicts (Ben Carson), a misplaced secretary of State (who had nothing to do there) and some family members  (except the ones who have trashed the president.) Only Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager and Trump enthusiast who killed an unarmed protester in Kenosha (Wisconsin), couldn't make it in time. The Trump base must have loved it.

The gloves are off. There is nothing wrong by adhering to a conservative agenda or to have a religious belief. The Second Amendment belongs to the American psyche and nobody should stand in the way of its intent, which has nothing in common with its excess. Racial and LBGT discrimination should already be a shared concern for all. Healthcare chaos has to end. Archaic remnants--the Electoral College and voter suppression--stand in the way of democracy. There is so much more to argue in foreign affairs: the Trans Pacific Partnership, WHO, climate, Putin's hand, Chinese rise...all tombstones in Trump's graveyard.

A hybrid civil war looks unavoidable. It doesn't make that much difference if Trump wins or loses. Either he will continue unhindered or he will booby-trap the sequence (Maduro style). What is at stake is America. It will take time to recover from these four fraudulent years of family and geriatric rule. The lies have almost exhausted the phreatic water that is needed for truth to grow.

Unfortunately the time for gallant dispute is over. Trump's God lovers and gun addicts are beyond salvation. There can no longer be sympathy for a sect of losers. If they choose for contrition, so be it. If they don't, get ready for confrontation. There is a formidable, growing American left in a holding pattern, that might surprise the world.