A Red, White and Blue Fantasy at the DNC

What to take away from the Democrat National Convention?

Democrats know how to choreograph a convention, tell a story, stay on theme, and quell opposition. On the closing night, they managed to hide the Palestinian flags that flew on previous days and keep the flag-burning on the streets to a minimum. They drowned out the “No More War!” chants of the Sanders die-hards with “USA! USA!” They produced an aura of optimism to a nation that consistently says, in the 65-percent range, that America is going in the wrong direction. The divisive, “punish your enemies,” Obama administration passed the baton of “togetherness” to Hillary Clinton, and the mainstream media — which has always seen itself as more of a cheerleader than a watchdog when it comes to the Clintons — swooned.

Listening to the Democrats invoke the Founders is like hearing Draco Malfoy claim he was always on Harry Potter’s side.

It’s obvious that the Dems have decided that they have no answer to the facts that Trump presented in his acceptance speech.

Things really are as bad as he described them. In fact, they may be even worse.

Before all the confetti was swept up this morning, the country was greeted with more disastrous news: Our second-quarter GDP was only 1.2 percent, far below what had been forecast by economists. “We’re just muddling through,” said Joseph LaVorgna, of Deutsche Bank, according to Bloomberg.

[lz_jwplayer video=”BPVjfu38″ ads=”true”]

But these facts — like all the other facts Trump presented last week — make no difference to the Democrats. Based on Hillary’s speech, it would appear that the Democrats’ only response is to express vague notions of sympathy and make vague promises of change.

In other words, if you like this economy, you can keep it.

No wonder they didn’t talk much about the economic details in Philadelphia. “Our economy isn’t working the way it should because our democracy isn’t working the way it should,” Mrs. Clinton, resplendent in white, insisted. Then the woman who will raise a billion dollars in her quest to win the White House pledged to “get money out of politics.”

In the end, none of Mrs. Clinton’s obvious weaknesses mattered to the Democrats, who are desperate to hold onto power. It didn’t matter that she is unpopular, that she recklessly stored and destroyed government emails, that almost half of their own party voted against her — even if the only other option was a 74-year-old socialist. For all their complaints about Donald Trump’s temperament, the Democrats have nominated someone who is famously one of the angriest, most divisive, and most unpopular people in America.

Last week, at the Republican convention, Donald Trump talked about the the difficult reality facing Americans. He told hard truths about how far this country has fallen, how weak it is, and how much we need to do to recover economically and on foreign policy. By contrast, Hillary talks to Americans as if they were in kindergarten. She claims that we are “stronger together,” but how can We the People be empowered when she won’t tell us her true intentions, and consistently talks down to us? The almost fact-free pablum she handed out last night is an insult to anyone who wants to understand what is happening in this country.

[lz_jwplayer video=”hInIP8A5″ ads=”true”]

Not only did Hillary refuse to tell the truth about what’s facing America — her party didn’t tell the truth about itself. The Democrats engaged in fantasy talk in Philadelphia. Suddenly they’re citing the Founders? Every aspect of their judicial philosophy is an attack on anyone like Robert Bork or Clarence Thomas who urges Americans to trust the Founders. For decades, they have insisted that we have a “living” Constitution and means whatever Lena Dunham and her supporters in the left-wing academy want it to mean. Listening to the Democrats invoke the Founders is like hearing Draco Malfoy claim he was always on Harry Potter’s side.

Suddenly they’re embracing American exceptionalism, when they cheered President Obama’s infamous European apology, and President Obama himself remarked that the British and Greeks believe in their exceptionalism too. It’s embarrassing to see anyone invoke patriotism in an effort to change the subject from his or her own failed policies; it’s particularly embarrassing when the person trying to change the subject doesn’t even believe in patriotism.

After watching the beautifully produced DNC — all that Hollywood money and star power is good for something — it’s clear that Democrats don’t intend to change their policies at all. They don’t care what the voters want or think. They don’t care that the country is getting weaker and weaker. They will continue to serve their special interests and their donors.

Oh, and how curious that, like Barack Obama in his speech, Hillary Clinton never mentioned the Trans-Pacific Partnership. They wouldn’t talk to the voters about TPP, and we’ll never know what they’re promising big business behind the scenes. But it seems clear that if anyone — including the Sanders voters — wants to stop TPP, they better stop Hillary.

Instead of talking about the economy or our declining status in the world, most of the convention was devoted to re-hashing the culture wars: Planned Parenthood, LGBTQ, global warming, new anti-gun measures … the same pet issues they have clung to for decades, but discussed in a gauzy, red, white, and blue backdrop.

[lz_jwplayer video=”NVCfhGVq” ads=”true”]

They claim that Donald Trump will lead to instability. But how stable are things after eight years of Obama? And if things are this bad now, what will they be like after four years of the same policies delivered by a much angrier, and more divisive person?

Now that the conventions are over, Americans are left with a clear choice. If you want things to be different, then Donald Trump is your only option. Hillary Clinton’s campaign rests on the cynical assumption that they can scare unhappy Americans into sticking with the status quo by whipping up fear about Trump. She assumes that the voters will overlook her flaws and failures out of fear — and that they’ll have no choice but to take direction from the Clinton machine (and, as always, its donors). If she’s right, she’ll win. But if she’s wrong, the Democrats have just made an enormous mistake.