Patterico's Pontifications

7/23/2020

Trump Cancels RNC Convention Events In Jacksonville Due To Covid Concerns

Filed under: General — Dana @ 2:58 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Unexpected, but sure makes sense:

President Donald Trump said Thursday he is cancelling the Jacksonville portion of the Republican National Convention that had been planned next month because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“The timing for this event is not right,” Trump said. “There’s nothing more important than keeping our people safe.”

Trump said that he would hold a speech of some kind to formally accept his party’s nomination for president.

Trump said convention delegates will still gather in North Carolina and formally nominate him for re-election.

“We will still do a convention speech in a different form, but we won’t do a big crowded convention, per se,” Trump said. “I care deeply about the people of Florida and everywhere else, frankly, in this country and even in the world who would be coming into the state. And I don’t want to do anything to upset it. They will be doing very well very shortly.”

It was not only the right decision for Trump to make, but it’s also the decision that a majority of Floridians would prefer:

A Thursday Quinnipiac University opinion poll of Florida voters shows that 62% of respondents thought it would be unsafe to hold a convention in the state, compared to 34% who thought that it could be managed safely.

–Dana

8/27/2020

Republican Convention Open Thread

Filed under: General — Dana @ 5:27 pm



[guest post by Dana]

In case you want to talk about the haps tonight, this is the place.

The main attraction will be Trump accepting his party’s nomination after daughter Ivanka introduces him. Word on the street is that Trump will take direct aim at Joe Biden in his acceptance speech:

Trump is expected to go after the former vice president on everything from the economy to trade. He will also talk about Biden’s record on China, immigration, crime, and his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies, or two agendas,” Trump is expected to say. “We have spent the last four years reversing the damage Joe Biden inflicted over the last 47 years. At the Democrat convention, you barely heard a word about their agenda. But that’s not because they don’t have one. It’s because their agenda is the most extreme set of proposals ever put forward by a major party nominee.”

Trump’s attempt to fault Biden’s response to the coronavirus could be especially tricky, given the president’s authority over the country’s actual response. The president’s team has attempted to argue that Biden was slow to sound the alarm as the virus gained steam in the United States.

[Ed. Wait. What?? Exactly how does Trump go after Biden for his response to the pandemic? Has Trump forgotten that *he* is currently the sitting President of the United States and that, for better or worse, he is in charge of the U.S. pandemic response?? Maybe he should hit Biden up for some of those magic drugs he suspects him of taking to improve his memory during the primary debates. Gad, the show hasn’t even started and I’m scrambling for an adult beverage of choice from just imagining Trump criticizing Biden for his pandemic response. Without the slightest hint of self-awareness, there is no doubt that the president really would be that dumb and tone-deaf… ]

The president is also set to inject some optimism into his speech as he talks about the Republican Party going forward:

The Republican Party goes forward united, determined, and ready to welcome millions of Democrats, independents, and anyone who believes in the Greatness of America and the righteous heart of the American people.

This towering American spirit has prevailed over every challenge, and lifted us to the summit of human endeavor.

Scheduled speakers include:

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell
Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton
House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy
New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew
Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser
Ja’Ron Smith, deputy assistant to the president
Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff for communications and director of social media
Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and Trump’s personal attorney
Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse
Carl and Marsha Mueller, parents of American hostage Kayla Mueller, who was killed by ISIS
Alice Johnson, criminal justice reform advocate and former federal inmate
Ann Dorn, widow of slain retired police Capt. David Dorn
Pat Lynch, president of the Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York
Dana White, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Wade Mayfield, small business owner who received a personal protection program loan
Debbie Flood, president of a Wisconsin manufacturing and steel company

–Dana

8/24/2020

Trump, The RNC, And The Big Week Ahead

Filed under: General — Dana @ 9:17 am



[guest post by Dana]

With the GOP convention beginning today, the RNC has decided to back the Trump agenda of “core priorities” rather than adopting a new platform for 2020. Reports says that the break from tradition is the result of pandemic protocols restricting convention practices.

Here is Trump’s second-term agenda, which the campaign says “build on the incredible achievements of President Donald J. Trump’s first term in office… under the banner of “Fighting for You!” I’m posting the full list of goals:

Create 10 Million New Jobs in 10 Months
• Create 1 Million New Small Businesses
• Cut Taxes to Boost Take-Home Pay and Keep Jobs in America
• Enact Fair Trade Deals that Protect American Jobs
• “Made in America” Tax Credits
• Expand Opportunity Zones
• Continue Deregulatory Agenda for Energy Independence

ERADICATE COVID-19
• Develop a Vaccine by The End Of 2020
• Return to Normal in 2021
• Make All Critical Medicines and Supplies for Healthcare Workers in The United States
• Refill Stockpiles and Prepare for Future Pandemics

END OUR RELIANCE ON CHINA
• Bring Back 1 Million Manufacturing Jobs from China
• Tax Credits for Companies that Bring Back Jobs from China
• Allow 100% Expensing Deductions for Essential Industries like Pharmaceuticals and Robotics who Bring Back their Manufacturing to the United States
• No Federal Contracts for Companies who Outsource to China
• Hold China Fully Accountable for Allowing the Virus to Spread around the World

HEALTHCARE
• Cut Prescription Drug Prices
• Put Patients and Doctors Back in Charge of our Healthcare System
• Lower Healthcare Insurance Premiums
• End Surprise Billing
• Cover All Pre-Existing Conditions
• Protect Social Security and Medicare
• Protect Our Veterans and Provide World-Class Healthcare and Services

EDUCATION
• Provide School Choice to Every Child in America
• Teach American Exceptionalism

DRAIN THE SWAMP
• Pass Congressional Term Limits
• End Bureaucratic Government Bullying of U.S. Citizens and Small Businesses
• Expose Washington’s Money Trail and Delegate Powers Back to People and States
• Drain the Globalist Swamp by Taking on International Organizations That Hurt American Citizens

DEFEND OUR POLICE
• Fully Fund and Hire More Police and Law Enforcement Officers
• Increase Criminal Penalties for Assaults on Law Enforcement Officers
• Prosecute Drive-By Shootings as Acts of Domestic Terrorism
• Bring Violent Extremist Groups Like ANTIFA to Justice
• End Cashless Bail and Keep Dangerous Criminals Locked Up until Trial

END ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION AND PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS
• Block Illegal Immigrants from Becoming Eligible for Taxpayer-Funded Welfare, Healthcare, and Free College Tuition
• Mandatory Deportation for Non-Citizen Gang Members
• Dismantle Human Trafficking Networks
• End Sanctuary Cities to Restore our Neighborhoods and Protect our Families
• Prohibit American Companies from Replacing United States Citizens with Lower-Cost Foreign Workers
• Require New Immigrants to Be Able to Support Themselves Financially

INNOVATE FOR THE FUTURE
• Launch Space Force, Establish Permanent Manned Presence on The Moon and Send the First Manned Mission to Mars
• Build the World’s Greatest Infrastructure System
• Win the Race to 5G and Establish a National High-Speed Wireless Internet Network
• Continue to Lead the World in Access to the Cleanest Drinking Water and Cleanest Air
• Partner with Other Nations to Clean Up our Planet’s Oceans

AMERICA FIRST FOREIGN POLICY
• Stop Endless Wars and Bring Our Troops Home
• Get Allies to Pay their Fair Share
• Maintain and Expand America’s Unrivaled Military Strength
• Wipe Out Global Terrorists Who Threaten to Harm Americans
• Build a Great Cybersecurity Defense System and Missile Defense System

In an unusual move, Trump will be speaking every night of the convention to defend himself and push back against the attacks made by Democrats at their convention last week. In another unusual move, the president is scheduled to accept his party’s nomination on Thursday night from the White House. Democrats are complaining about the decision, with Pelosi saying that using the White House for a political event “degrades” it. (It should be noted that Roosevelt accepted his party’s nomination in a televised broadcast from the White House.) There are also concerns that federal employees involved with preparing the President’s speech might be violating the Hatch Act:

Democrats, and even some Republicans, have expressed concerns that federal employees who would be assisting Trump with the speech would essentially be campaigning for the president, a violation of the Hatch Act.

“For the president of the United States to degrade once again the White House, as he has done over and over again, by saying he’s going to completely politicize it, is something that should be rejected right out of hand,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during an interview on MSNBC last week.

In the agency’s [OSC] initial letter, officials wrote that while Trump could deliver the speech from the White House since he is exempt from the Hatch Act, there could be Hatch Act implications “for those employees, depending on their level of involvement with the event and their position in the White House.” In the follow-up letter on Monday, the agency said it is prohibited from issuing advisory opinions on the criminal provisions of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, an apparent response to a question from the committee.

And here’s an interesting tidbit:

Also appearing at the convention this week will be:

Mark and Patricia McCloskey are set to participate in the convention on Monday…The McCloskeys garnered national attention in June for brandishing their guns at Black Lives Matter protesters outside their home in St. Louis…Nick Sandmann, a former student of Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, is also expected to speak Tuesday…the parents of humanitarian aid worker Kayla Mueller, who was killed by ISIS in 2015; as well as Alice Johnson, a woman who was serving life in prison until Trump commuted her sentence…

In spite of all this, I am reminded:

–Dana

7/20/2020

Security For GOP Convention In Doubt, Given Inadequate Number Of LEO’s, Among Other Things

Filed under: General — Dana @ 4:31 pm



[guest post by Dana]

After the GOP convention was moved from North Carolina to Florida due to a conflict over safety measures, the event is now scheduled to take place in Jacksonville on Aug. 24-27. In the mean time, Florida remains a hot mess of Covid-19 cases. The state now has 53 hospitals without ICU beds. With that, Duval County Sheriff Mike Williams has expressed doubts about being able to provide necessary security at the convention next month:

As we’re talking today, we are still not close to having some kind of plan that we can work with that makes me comfortable that we’re going to keep that event and the community safe.

It’s not my event to plan, but I can just tell you that what has been proposed in my opinion is not achievable right now … from a law enforcement standpoint, from a security standpoint.

According to the report, the GOP has been slow to officially lock down the particulars for various events, which has made it difficult to plan for security:

Williams, a Republican, wouldn’t definitively say that there is no way the event could be held. But he said he had grave doubts about it, especially in an era of heightened protests concerning police use of force.

Williams said the event, scheduled for Aug. 24-27, was announced in June, giving his agency little time to plan and prepare. The Republican National Committee has not yet nailed down which convention events will be at which venues, making it more challenging. And a pledged $50 million grant has been paired back to $33 million and, Williams said, there are strings attached that make letting contracts too difficult.

And there is this:

In early July, the Florida Sheriffs Association asked departments in the state’s 67 counties for 2,000 officers… But only 500 were able to go, Bob Gualtieri, president of the association and Pinellas County Sheriff told POLITICO over the weekend. Williams also asked the Florida Police Chiefs Association for help, but he’s still coming up short.

“We do need law enforcement officers and we’ve gotten commitments, but not to the level that we thought we needed. And a lot of that is people having virus concerns from their communities, and I understand that,” Williams said.

“But there’s a lot of things that need to happen: an event schedule nailed down, and being able to sign contracts and spend money so that we can prepare for this event. And none of that has happened yet,” he said. “So here we are inside of 40 days, and I haven’t really pulled the trigger on anything RNC-related when it comes to finances or contracts and so, you know, only related to security, mind you, nothing, nothing related to any of this.”

According to Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood, who would rather there be no in-person convention, he knows that the president would not react well if told that, as things currently stand, there isn’t the necessary time to plan for adequate security, nor the necessary manpower to ensure the safety of those in attendance:

There’s a fear of telling him no because anyone who tells the president no, it’s like, off with their heads.

And while GOP Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel assured Americans that the convention will be held in conjunction with input from the Florida State health officials, she made no mention of security concerns as recently as this past weekend:

So, we’re going to have a combination of testing and temperature checks and PPE, scaling things down, using more outdoor venues, and really putting the health and safety of the convention-goers first and foremost. But, also balancing that with a great celebration.

Because there will be a lot of people there — even with just the delegates that’s 2,500. The final night it will be the delegates, alternates, guests. It will be a big event for the president’s final speech. So, we think we’re putting the perfect blend of safety and health together with the opportunity to highlight why President Trump deserves another four years.

On a side note, Trump absurdly claimed during a telephone rally on Sunday night that North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper warned him he would limit rally attendees in the arena at the convention to just “10 people”. Oh sure… This an arena that seats 19,000! Per Trump:

But Roy Cooper said you can’t have people meeting in a room. He actually told me the most you can have meeting — we have a 19,000-seat center as you know — and he said the most you can have is 10 people because that’s what the rules are, 10 people. He actually said that, I don’t know. I guess he meant it. He thought he could start negotiating from there, but he didn’t really want to negotiate. He wanted to give it up.

Today Cooper pushed back on the the president’s claims:

“That is incorrect,” Cooper spokesman Ford Porter told CNN in an email on Monday, when asked about Trump’s claim.

“The Governor and state health officials worked with the RNC to safely hold their convention and asked for written plans for keeping attendees safe. Instead, beginning on Memorial Day, the President and RNC staff demanded a guarantee that they could hold a full convention without social distancing or face coverings. This was not a guarantee the Governor could make, particularly months in advance.”

Note: Cooper has imposed a general 10-person limit on indoor gatherings, and he publicly told Republican officials that the convention would need to be “scaled back” because of safety concerns. But Cooper’s spokesman said the governor never told Trump, Trump’s campaign or Republican officials that there could only be 10 people present in the arena.

Who’re you gonna believe?

–Dana

7/8/2020

Sunshine State: Covid Rates Spike, Disney World To Reopen, GOP Convention Set For Jacksonville

Filed under: General — Dana @ 11:57 am



[guest post by Dana]

In three days, Disney World Orlando will reopen:

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., will welcome back visitors on Saturday even as coronavirus cases in Florida remain high. In doing so Disney is stepping into a politicized debate surrounding the virus and efforts to keep people safe, where even the wearing of masks has become a point of contention.

On Wednesday, Florida reported more than 9,900 new cases, bringing the state’s total to 223,775 cases over the course of the pandemic.

Visiting Disney World will be different: Parades, fireworks and most indoor shows have been suspended. There will be no opportunities to hug any costumed characters. Fingerprint scanners will not be used at park entrances.

“Covid is here,” Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s theme park chairman, said. “We have a responsibility to figure out the best approach to safely operate in this new normal.”

Would you feel safe enough to go?

Meanwhile, President Trump’s re-election campaign moved the GOP convention to Florida after first-choice North Carolina’s governor made it clear that there would be social distancing protocols in place by only allowing “a scaled-down convention with fewer people, social distancing and face coverings.”

As a result, Jacksonville, Florida has been selected as the host city for the convention:

In a television interview with… Trump suggested the format for the Aug. 24-27 event would depend on the severity of the outbreak in the Sunshine State.

“Well, we’re always looking at different things,” the president said on Tuesday. “When we signed in Jacksonville, we wanted to be in North Carolina. That almost worked out, but the governor didn’t want to have people use the arena, essentially. And so I said, ‘Too bad for North Carolina.’”

Trump said that when the RNC announced it was changing venues, Florida “looked good.”

“It’s spiking up a little bit,” he told Van Susteren. “And that’s going to go down. It really depends on the timing. Look, we’re very flexible. We can do a lot of things, but we’re very flexible.”

Imagine, here we are in the middle of a pandemic where the infection rate is climbing, and not only does the President of the United States not want to hold a convention in a state because their priority is to keep people safe and try to limit the rate of transmission, but he backhands them for doing so!

Interestingly, Florida’s Gov. DeSantis now finds himself in a bit of a tight spot:

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a close Trump ally, was forced to roll back the state’s reopening plans, imposing restrictions that include limiting the capacity of indoor facilities to 50 percent.

On Tuesday, DeSantis refused to say whether he would lift the mandate for the convention, which would limit it to 7,500 people. Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, who lobbied for the city to host the event, announced Tuesday that he and his family are in self-quarantine after he was exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19.

The president has not yet commented on the protocols put in place by the Jacksonville 2020 Host Committee. These will include daily coronavirus tests and temperature checks for all attendees. Also, while Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry noted that “there is a statewide executive order that facilities can’t have over 50% capacity,” he said that the city will reassess that order when the convention dates draw near.

Note: Already there are five GOP senators who have said they will not attend the convention, with a few citing concerns about coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Florida hospitals are feeling the strain :

More than 40 Florida hospitals in multiple counties across the state have maxed out their ICU capacity or are close to running out of intensive care beds as the coronavirus outbreak across the Sunshine State worsens, according to the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration.

As of Tuesday, more than 5,000 Florida patients were using roughly 83% of the state’s more than 6,000 ICU beds, according to Florida’s health agency, which is responsible for licensing the state’s health-care facilities. That leaves a little more than 1,000 free ICU beds, compared with nearly 1,400 available ICU beds less than three weeks ago, according to CBS’ local affiliate WTSP.

Overall, the state’s hospitals are now running at 78% capacity, according to AHCA. ICU beds are running out at several hospitals in some of the state’s most-populated counties, including Miami-Dade County, Orange County, Hillsborough County and Broward County, which are respectively home to Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale.

Florida, which has more than 213,700 confirmed cases so far, is struggling with the third-worst outbreak in the country after New York and California.

–Dana

7/19/2016

Melania Speechwriter Rickrolls GOP Convention

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:35 am



Trump’s never gonna give you up. He’s never gonna let you down.

It’s funny, but there are a couple of serious issues that this reveals.

First: whoever wrote that speech is a mole. The insertion of the Michelle Obama plagiarism was no mistake. The speechwriter is trying to embarrass the Trumps. And they don’t mind making it perfectly obvious.

Second: it reveals just how pathetic the Trump campaign’s denials of the obvious plagiarism really are. Here’s the official statement:

Screen Shot 2016-07-19 at 7.28.43 AM

Here’s Chris Christie:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former prosecutor, brushed off the controversy surrounding Melania Trump’s convention speech, saying he wouldn’t be able to make the case for plagiarism, “not when 93 percent of the speech is completely different.”

Here’s Paul Manafort:

“This is once again an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, how she seeks out to demean her and take her down,” Manafort asserted on CNN.

There’s no cribbing of Michelle Obama’s speech. These were common words and values, that she cares about her family, things like that,” Manafort said, according to the Wall Street Journal. “I mean, she was speaking in front of 35 million people last night. She knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama’s words is crazy.

It’s gaslighting, of course, because the speechwriter blatantly did crib Michelle Obama’s words, in much the same manner that a not-so-bright third grader might crib from Wikipedia:

It’s good to know that when they have an active mole inside their campaign, their reflexive desire to deny any and all wrongdoing will compel them to go into Baghdad Bob mode rather than seek out the mole.

Maybe it is part of a master plan. After all, nobody is talking about yesterday’s banana-republic style disregard for the rules today, are they?

UPDATE: It’s being reported that Matt Scully wrote the first draft of the speech. I know Matt Scully. He is a good guy and would not be involved in shenanigans of any sort. He wrote Sarah Palin’s 2008 convention speech, which was fantastic.

7/14/2016

GOP Releases Roster of Convention Speakers

Filed under: General — Dana @ 8:08 am



[guest post by Dana]

What’s perhaps more telling is who isn’t on the list: Gov. Mike Pence, who is reportedly reserving air time in August for his reelection bid in Indiana, and Sarah Palin.

Here is the list:

The Rev. Mark Burns
Phil Ruffin, Las Vegas businessman
Rep. Ryan Zinke, Montana
Pat Smith
Mark Geist, Benghazi survivor
John Tiegen, Benghazi survivor
Rep. Michael McCaul, Texas
Sheriff David Clarke
Rep. Sean Duffy, Wisconsin
Darryl Glenn, Senate candidate from Colorado
Sen. Tom Cotton, Arkansas
Karen Vaughn, mother of Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan
Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Arkansas
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, New York City
Melania Trump
Sen. Joni Ernst, Iowa
Kathryn Gates-Skipper
Marcus Luttrell, retired Navy SEAL
Dana White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship
Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Arkansas
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge, Arkansas
Former U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey
Andy Wist
Sen. Jeff Sessions, Alabama
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
Alex Smith
House Speaker Paul Ryan, Wisconsin
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, California
Kerry Woolard, Trump Winery general manager
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia
Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate
Co-Chair Sharon Day
Natalie Gulbis, professional golfer
Kimberlin Brown, actress
Antonio Sabato, Jr., actor and model
Peter Thiel, Silicon Valley investor
Lt. Col. Eileen Collins, former NASA astronaut
Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Georgia
Michelle Van Etten
Lynne Patton, Vice President of the Eric Trump Foundation
Eric Trump
Harold Hamm, oil billioniare
Rep. Chris Collins, New York
Brock Mealer
Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee
Gov. Mary Fallin, Oklahoma
The Rev. Darrell Scott
Lisa Shin, Korean-Americans for Trump
Gov. Rick Scott, Florida
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, Wisconsin
Tom Barrack, real-estate investor
Ivanka Trump
Attorney General Pam Bondi, Florida
Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University
Rabbi Haskel Lookstein
Chris Cox, National Rifle Association
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
Tiffany Trump
Gov. Chris Christie, New Jersey
Donald J. Trump Jr.
Gov. Scott Walker, Wisconsin

Interestingly:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has lobbied tirelessly to be Trump’s running mate, is billed as appearing separately from the billionaire businessman’s yet-to-be-announced “nominee for vice president” on the third night of the convention.

Weirdly:

Each of the four convention nights will highlight a specific election-year theme, including an evening dedicated to the September 11, 2011, terrorist attacks on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya. There will also be a presentation on former President Bill Clinton’s stories history of sexual misconduct, according to sources familiar with the details of next week’s convention.

And since we’re talking lists:

Untitled

–Dana

7/7/2016

Ted Cruz Confirms He Will Speak At Republican Convention

Filed under: General — Dana @ 2:09 pm



[guest post by Dana]

Remember when Donald Trump told the New York Times that he would not invite Republicans to speak at the Republican convention if they didn’t endorse him?

“If there’s no endorsement, I would not invite them to speak,” Trump said in an interview, adding that former rivals like Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. John Kasich should not expect to address the convention if they continue to withhold their support.

Apparently, like with any number of claims he’s made on the campaign trail, Trump has flip-flopped on this one as well. This morning, it was announced that Ted Cruz will be speaking at the Republican convention – at the invitation of Donald Trump and without having endorsed the “pathological liar”:

Sen. Cruz and Donald Trump had a good meeting this morning. There was no discussion of any endorsement. Mr. Trump asked Sen. Cruz to speak at the Republican convention, and Sen. Cruz said he would be happy to do so. Mr. Trump also asked Sen. Cruz for his counsel on future judicial nominations, and Cruz responded he would continue to do everything he can to help ensure principled constitutionalists on the courts.

Given that Cruz had already won the necessary states to guarantee him a speaking slot at the convention, how does this decision benefit him? Is he going to try and re-focus Republicans to unite behind Trump (and do what Trump has been utterly unable to do)? Or, is he thinking about a likely run of his own in 2020? Or, could it be as simple as saying “thank-you” to his 600 delegates?

Just for kicks, I’ll just throw this little tidbit to chew on:

Months after Donald Trump appeared to seal the Republican nomination for president, anti-Trump forces still have one last chance to force a vote on the party’s convention floor that would throw open the GOP contest again.

It’s a long shot, but by some counts they are remarkably close to getting past the first hurdle next week in Cleveland.

Mr. Trump’s intraparty foes, led by a group of rogue delegates, are waging an intense behind-the-scenes effort to push the Republican National Convention’s Rules Committee for a vote on freeing delegates to back whom they wish, rather than being bound to Mr. Trump.

The presumptive nominee’s team is fighting back just as vehemently, with an organized campaign of dozens of aides and volunteers. It’s a power struggle that has prompted threats of reprisals and left many Republicans anxious that it could hurt the party’s prospects in November.

The anti-Trump camp needs the backing of 28, or one-quarter, of the 112 Convention Rules Committee members, in order to place the issue before the full convention. A Wall Street Journal survey suggests it could be close.

In interviews, 20 members said they are willing to consider allowing delegates to be unbound, while 59 support Mr. Trump. The other 33 panelists couldn’t be reached or did not respond to repeated messages.

Others counting votes have their own tallies. Internal surveys of the Rules Committee conducted by RNC member Randy Evans of Georgia, who is whipping votes trying to help Mr. Trump fend off the insurrection, found at least 18 committee members open to voting to unbind. The Trump campaign’s count shows about 15 leaning toward the so-called conscience clause, according to people familiar with the campaign.

Kendal Unruh, a Colorado schoolteacher on the committee leading part of the anti-Trump movement, said she has private commitments from more than 30 committee members, but that many aren’t willing to admit so publicly.

Though a majority of the convention delegates are bound to support Mr. Trump, Mr. Evans’s count shows just about 890 delegates are personally loyal to the New Yorker. Another 680 oppose Mr. Trump. That leaves 900 delegates who are presumed to be “in play,” he said. The stop-Trump forces would have to take nearly two-thirds of them to block his nomination.

PS: Ben Sasse has made it clear he has better things to do than attend the convention:

Sen. Sasse will not be attending the convention and will instead take his kids to watch some dumpster fires across the state, all of which enjoy more popularity than the current front-runners.”

–Dana

3/28/2016

Open-Carry At GOP Convention: A Sound Or Misguided Idea?

Filed under: General — Dana @ 2:33 pm



[guest post by Dana]

A few days ago, a blog called Hypernationalist began an online petition to allow the open-carry of firearms at the GOP National Convention in Cleveland this July:

In July of 2016, the GOP will host its convention at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Though Ohio is an open carry state, which allows for the open carry of guns, the hosting venue—the Quicken Loans Arena—strictly forbids the carry of firearms on their premises.

According to the policy on their website, “firearms and other weapons of any kind are strictly forbidden on the premises of Quicken Loans Arena.”

This is a direct affront to the Second Amendment and puts all attendees at risk.

The petition currently has 45,000+ supporters.

Referencing a 2012 report by Forbes that listed Cleveland as the ninth most dangerous place to live in the U.S., and by not allowing open-carry, sponsors of the petition believe that both the GOP and Quicken Loans Arena will be putting citizens at increased risk, both inside and outside the arena, by not allowing open-carry. They also cite the possibility of an ISIS attack as another reason to allow attendees to be armed. Consider that the arena holds 20,000 people, and the GOP expects 50,000 attendees over 4 days of the convention, thus if there were an attack and the attendees were unarmed and unable to defend themselves, the loss of life could be enormous. Post-Belgium, GOP organizers and law enforcement have stepped up efforts to make sure the convention will be secured.

And today, in response to the petition, the Secret Service announced that convention attendees will not be allowed to carry guns into the arena.

Over at NRO, Charles Cooke, passionate defender of the Second Amendment, explains why he believes the move for open-carry at the convention is misguided. Here is a sampling:

First: There is no Second Amendment violation here. The Second Amendment is a check on government, not on private entities. The Quicken Loans Arena is a private corporation. If the arena’s rule is no firearms, then those who wish to use it must abide by that rule. And if they don’t like it, they can go somewhere else.

Second: As absurd as the idea of “gun free zones” is in a country with this many firearms, there are certain circumstances in which it is prudent to try to limit the presence of guns. It has always been ridiculous to hear progressives predict that widespread concealed carry would lead to frustrated shoppers shooting each other in the supermarket or to irritated customers opening fire at the bank; and it has been hilarious to witness the freakout we see each year when the press learns that NRA members may pack heat at their annual convention. But a political convention strikes me as being less akin to those examples, and more akin to, say, the circumstances that obtain at a polling place. And the argument against carry strikes me as being less “people will shoot each other for no reason” and more “we need to make sure that the results aren’t marred by charges of intimidation.” From the early days of the American Republic, certain “time and place” restrictions have been imposed upon the right to bear arms, especially when the integrity of democracy was perceived to be at stake. Delaware’s 1776 Constitution, for example, made clear that:

“To prevent any violence or force being used at the said elections, no person shall come armed to any of them, and no muster of the militia shall be made on that day; nor shall any battalion or company give in their votes immediately succeeding each other, if any other voter, who offers to vote, objects thereto; nor shall any battalion or company, in the pay of the continent, or of this or any other State, be suffered to remain at the time and place of holding the said elections, nor within one mile of the said places respectively, for twenty-four hours before the opening said elections, nor within twenty-four hours after the same are closed, so as in any manner to impede the freely and conveniently carrying on the said election: Provided always, That every elector may, in a peaceable and orderly manner, give in his vote on the said day of election.”

This does not strike me as an unconscionable “affront” to the right to keep and bear arms, nor as a rule that is likely to “puts all attendees at risk,” especially given that security will already be tight in Cleveland.

And then there is the issue of trust and risk:

Third: Given the brazen manner in which Donald Trump has encouraged physical violence against those who have protested at his rallies — “next time, we might have to kill him,” one Trump fan warned a man he sucker punched — there is pretty much no incentive for the Quicken Loans Arena team to be generous here. Generally speaking, I am of the view that trying to stop shootings by putting up signs is the most abject of human folly. But with this guy? As is the case with most of the pillars of free and civil society, liberalized carry laws presume a certain degree of responsibility and trust — a degree that has, alas, not been on display from Trump and the more excitable among his followers.

As far as I can tell, Donald Trump is the only GOP candidate who has been asked about the petition. Trump, who warned of possible rioting by his supporters if he doesn’t leave the convention as the nominee*, would like to know the details before making a full comment:

“I have not seen the petition. I want to see what it says. I want to read the fine print.”

(*When asked whether he would tell supporters that he doesn’t want to see violence at the convention, Trump said “Of course I would, 100 percent. But I have no control over the people…” Full quote at the link.)

–Dana

8/27/2012

RNC Protester Arrested with Machete

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 12:01 am



The fringe left does its protests differently, huh?

A Republican National Convention protestor was arrested while he allegedly carried a machete strapped to his leg, according to deputies.

According to Hillsborough County Sheriff’s officials, Jason T. Wilson, of Tallahassee, was arrested as he walked in the RNC Event Zone carrying a “full size” machete.

The Rauhauser/Kimberlin trolls have all reanimated lately, by the way. There are at least five separate unusual occurrences surrounding these folks — troll accounts starting; old trolls resurfacing; people who were always quiet suddenly popping off; longstanding accounts making weird declarations; Pastebins containing silly rants surfacing; etc.

Is it connected to the RNC? I don’t know. Lucky thing none of these folks is a psychopath . . .

P.S. In an unrelated (?) note: an Anonymous hacker was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison recently. I bet that hacker had no idea it was coming until they knocked on his door.

P.P.S. Is Obama using sock puppet accounts Rauhauser style? Or just buying Twitter followers the way certain people do? Either way, he has a lotta fake followers.

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