In one hour and fifteen minutes of red-faced, shouting rage, neo-fascist demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump spoke to his audience and gave them what they wanted to hear: overnight solutions to complex problems to be delivered by a strongman figure; a dark, dystopian and fictional vision of America; ugly slurs directed at Hillary Clinton, and the old dog whistle "law and order" red meat that gets the howling rednecks on their feet. As Paul Begala noted, it was a "midnight in America" speech, in contrast to Rethug icon St. Ronnie of Hollywood's sunny (if cynical) optimism. It was also fact-free for the most part, with either false or highly misleading or twisted statements that were intended to paint a bleak picture of America under President Obama and Secretary Clinton, one which is far from true. For those of us who have a grip on reality, it was a disturbing to see the crowd in the arena eat it up in a worshipful frenzy. It's become more than a tribe; it's a cult of personality, not unlike those around Rump's admired Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un.
The foreign affairs editor and deputy editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal (in no way a progressive institution) had these tweets on Rump's moment of darkness:
This speech is a relentless, unyielding, humorless, hectoring appeal to fear and loathing.— Bret Stephens (@StephensWSJ) July 22, 2016
Indeed.David Duke on Donald's speech: "Couldn't have said it better." Need we say more? https://t.co/Y5E18ltz45— Bret Stephens (@StephensWSJ) July 22, 2016
BONUS: The wonderful John Dingell:
Make America Loud and Sweaty Again— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 22, 2016
This guy reads slower than I walk.— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 22, 2016
Just drop the damn balloons already.— John Dingell (@JohnDingell) July 22, 2016
(photo: John Moore, Getty Images)
