 The President of the United States has nearly unlimited power to pardon or commute the sentences of those accused or convicted of federal crimes. This power is embedded in Article 2, Section 2 of the Constitution, which states that the president has the “power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment”. The framers of the Constitution thought that fear of impeachment, the court of public opinion, or the integrity of the person holding the highest office in the land, would keep any abuses in check. Unfortunately, this has proven not to be the case. The self-serving pardons granted by President Trump in the closing hours of his administration, demand that reforms be explored.  Exercise of the Presidential Pardon: The Constitution provides no standards or guidelines on the use of the presidential pardon, and therefore it can be used for any reason, or no reason. Pardons were deemed necessary to address injustices, at a time when many crimes were punishable by death and haste was of the essence. As Alexander Hamilton argues in Federalist No. 74 (https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/text-71-80), the purpose of the pardon power is to temper justice with mercy, and in order to facilitate reconciliation which is sometimes needed to restore the tranquility of the commonwealth. Examples of this include pardons granted by Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson to Confederate Soldiers, and amnesty granted by Jimmy Carter to Vietnam-era draft evaders.
An 1866 Supreme Court ruling affirmed that the presidential pardon “extends to every offence known to law, and may be exercised at anytime after its commission, either before legal proceedings are taken, or during their pendency, or after conviction and judgement”. This was how President Ford was able to grant Richard Nixon a full, free, and absolute pardon for all offenses against the United States even before he was charged with any.  It is important to note that presidential pardons only exonerate federal crimes. It can not be used to pardon state or local offenses, and it cannot be used to overturn civil judgments. The president does not have the power to pardon defendants in an impeachment trial or anyone who has been impeached. The pardon may be granted even before legal proceedings have begun, but pardons may not be granted for crimes that have not yet been committed.  Can Presidents Pardon Themselves? The Constitution does not explicitly prohibit it, and no president has tried. But as James Madison wrote, “no man is allowed to be a judge in his own case, because his interest would certainly bias his judgement, and, not improbably, corrupt his integrity”. This is a longstanding common-law principle, and many legal experts agree that a self-pardon would not stand up to judicial scrutiny. Richard Nixon may have sought to pardon himself if not for his Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel opinion that a president could not pardon himself. If a president attempted a self-pardon, the matter would most certainly end up in the Supreme Court.  Office of the Pardon Attorney: The Office of the Pardon Attorney, within the Department of Justice (DOJ), was established approximately 125 years ago to assist the president in the exercise of executive clemency. Executive clemency may take several forms. These include full pardon, commutation of sentence, remission of fine or restitution, or reprieve. Requests for executive clemency are directed to the Pardon Attorney for review, investigation, and preparation of the DOJ’s recommendation to the president. The Office of the Pardon Attorney has established procedures and standards for considering pardon petitions ( https://www.justice.gov/pardon).  But the president is not required to follow their recommendations and retains full pardon authority. In fact, President Trump has mostly bypassed the Office of the Pardon Attorney when considering pardon petitions. Instead, petitioners have approached the White House directly through advisor Jared Kushner, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, White House Council Pat Cipollone, or the president himself.  Pardons as Tools of Justice or Personal Gain? President Trump was not the first, and he certainly won’t be the last president to use the executive clemency system to his own advantage. Under Donald Trump, the executive clemency system has been dominated by inside access, and used to serve his personal goals and whims. Analysis by Harvard law professor Jack Goldsmith found that 86 of Donald Trump’s first 94 pardons were “aberrant”’; meaning that they circumvented the normal review process and benefitted celebrities, or people with political or family ties to the president (https://www.lawfareblog.com/trumps-circumvention-justice-department-clemency-process). In 2020, Donald Trump granted clemency to loyal associates Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Michael Flynn, and Rodger Stone. Donald Trump also pardoned Jared Kushner’s father, a convicted criminal, as well as four Blackwater security guards convicted of murdering civilians in Iraq. These individuals were not wrongly convicted, showed little contrition or remorse for their crimes, and do not serve the public good by being pardoned. The pardon system was not established to foster cronyism and to subvert the rule of law. But this seems to be the case in these instances.  The biggest abuse of the system is the large number of pardons issued in the final hours of a presidency, leaving little time for scrutiny. This is exemplified by Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich who was indicted for tax evasion and racketeering. Rich and his wife were large donors to Hilary Clinton’s Senate campaign and to the Clinton Library Foundation. The fact that Rich was a fugitive from law living overseas, did not prevent him from getting a “get out of jail free” card.  On his final day in office, President Trump pardoned 74 people and commuted the sentences of 70 others. I’ll let you decide how many of these meet the Constitution’s intent of the pardon clause. Here is a full list of the 144 people receiving clemency: (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/full-list-trump-s-last-minute-pardons-commuted-sentences-n1254806). Many of these last-minute pardons are rotten to the core, but perfectly legal. So, what can be done about it? Nothing, without some type of reform.  Possible Reforms: If you assume, as Alexander Hamilton did, that all presidents would show “prudence and good sense” in the exercise of the pardon authority, then nothing needs to be done. But as recent history has shown, not all presidents are the principled gentlemen that the framers of the Constitution had envisioned. Here are a few suggestions for reforms that would better align the president’s pardon authority with how it was originally intended:
The president’s pardon authority was not intended to excuse injustice, but to do justice. The Constitution gives the president nearly unfettered authority to issue pardons. There is very little transparency in the process, and many of the most questionable pardons occur in a president’s final hours in office. It is time to reform the pardon system and restore it to the purpose for which it was intended. If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776 @gmail.com. Thanks, Armchair American
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 For all intents and purposes the 2020 presidential election is finally over. The Electoral College met on December 14th in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and cast their electoral votes. The Electoral College has spoken and the winner of the 2020 presidential election is (drum roll please), Joe Biden! It was a very contentious election, and President Trump and his allies have tried every legal maneuver possible to have the election results overturned. But the numbers don’t lie. Here is the election scorecard, which even the most hardened partisan cannot overlook: 2020 Presidential Election Score Card Votes/Challenges Trump Biden Popular Vote 74,223,753 (46.9%) 81,283,495 (51.4%) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recounts in Wisconsin and Georgia √ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lower Courts Lawsuits (50+) √ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Supreme Court Rulings (2) √ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Electoral College Votes 232 306 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Winner √ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Even before all of the votes from the November 3rd election were tallied, the President’s campaign and his allies, began filing over 50 lawsuits in various jurisdictions. The lawsuits contested the election outcome due to alleged fraud or voting irregularities. Some of these lawsuits are still pending, but the majority were thrown out or decided in Joe Biden’s favor due to lack of evidence. The first Supreme Court challenge, to reverse the election results in Pennsylvania, was denied due to lack of merit. The second Supreme Court challenge, filed by the Texan Attorney General, was denied due to lack of standing (he didn’t have the legal right to sue other states over their election laws). Much to the chagrin of President Trump, the separation of powers is still working. Here is a reference to all of the legal challenges: https://www.9and10news.com/2020/12/10/status-of-election-related-legal-challenges/. The partial recount in Wisconsin and the full hand recount in Georgia, both went in Joe Biden’s favor.  On the floor of the Senate today, Leader Mitch McConnel acknowledged Joe Biden’s victory in the Electoral College. He went on to congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris on their victory. On January 6, 2021 Congress will meet in joint session to count the electoral votes and declare the winner of the presidential election. For the sake of the country, let’s hope that Donald Trump and his millions of admirers accept the outcome of the election so that we can work together on the challenges ahead.  If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776 @gmail.com.
Thanks, Armchair American  In 2016 Donald Trump ran for president as an outsider and disrupter. This helped him defeat Hilary Clinton, a Washington insider with over thirty years of baggage. According to exit polling during the 2016 presidential election, the most important quality identified by voters was that the candidate would bring change (https://cookpolitical.com/analysis/national/national-politics/what-do-voters-want-confrontation-or-compassion). What are voters looking for this time? What qualities do voters look for in a presidential candidate, and what role does leadership play? Leadership Qualities in a Good President: According to many historians, there are several leadership qualities found in good presidents (https://www.ushistory.org/gov/7e.asp). They include the following:
 Leadership in Turbulent Times: We are certainly living through turbulent times. The coronavirus pandemic has killed or sickened millions of people, forced millions out of work, and placed a dark cloud over the economy. There are ongoing protests over racial injustice, and a widening political divide. But history shows us that America has lived through much more difficult times that required great leadership to see us through. No president was faced with a more difficult challenge than Abraham Lincoln who lead the country through a devastating civil war. Franklin Roosevelt came to power during the Great Depression and then lead the country through World War II. At moments of great challenge these presidents were guided by a sense of moral purpose, sought to heal divisions, and had to bring the country together to summon a common purpose.  Doris Kearns Goodwin explores presidential leadership in her book “Leadership: In Turbulent Times”. She discusses the following traits that served several presidents well during turbulent times:
Why We Vote the Way We Do: Research into why voters choose one presidential candidate over another has been going on for many years. It should be no surprise that the single most powerful predictor of a person’s vote choice is his/her political party affiliation (https://pprg.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/10-The-psychology-of-voting.pdf). Party affiliation is usually based upon shared values and preferences on a handful of key policy issues. The second predictor of who a voter will choose is based on the voter’s perception of the candidate’s personality traits (intelligence, knowledge, trustworthiness, and ability to be a strong leader). Since I am not affiliated with a political party, I lean towards this camp. This will be the 12th presidential election that I voted in. In the previous eleven, I voted for the Democratic candidate four times, the Republican five times, and a third-party candidate twice.  Trump vs Biden: Make no mistake, this election is a referendum on Donald Trump. Joe Biden is a secondary character in this drama. Will voters continue to respond to President Trump’s seemingly never-ending chaos and drama? Or will they be motivated by a more steady and stable form of leadership? According to a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, 64% of Republicans like Trump’s willingness to confront and challenge the establishment in government and to shake up business as usual. In contrast, 70% of Democrats prefer a leader, like Joe Biden, who will bring competence and compassion to the way the government operates. Why I Don’t Believe Donald Trump Will Win Reelection: The president has not positioned himself to unify the country at a time when it is much needed. This country needs a beacon of hope due to the pandemic, economic uncertainty, and ongoing protests and anger over racial injustice. Donald Trump has used these issues to divide the country rather than to unite it. He has made no appeal to American optimism and aspirations. According to a recent Yahoo News/YouGov poll, most registered voters believe that in the last four years bipartisanship, race relations, and crime have worsened. Sixty-two percent of registered voters list Donald Trump’s management of COVID-19 as a major failure. COVID cases are surging across the country, and the stock market is sensing a weakening economy as a result. The president has no prescription for either COVID-19 or the weakening economy. In fact, the president has not articulated any vision or policy proposals for the next four years. The American people really don’t know what Donald Trump believes. He will do and say whatever he thinks will get him reelected. Donald Trump has shown scorn for science, puts politics before people, and aligns himself with the worst elements of our society. He doesn’t know the damage he does by not denouncing QAnon and right-wing militias. I’m sure that he doesn’t really believe in what these groups espouse, just like he really doesn’t hold the views of the religious right. But they are part of his base, and that is all that matters. Why I Didn’t Vote for Donald Trump: I didn’t vote for Donald Trump in 2016 because he had never held elected office before, he had no experience in governing, he had little foreign policy experience, and he lacked the temperament and character to lead this country. Donald Trump has now been president for the better part of four years (seems like forty), and my instincts were correct. Here is a list of my top reasons for not voting for Donald Trump in 2020 (but I could have listed many more):
According to taped conversations with Bob Woodward, the president knew the dangers of the coronavirus, but chose to down play them. It is obvious that the president didn’t want to hurt his reelection chances and gambled with peoples’ lives. This was the deal breaker for me. 
 Americans are resilient, and this country will survive and thrive regardless of the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Due to the millions of mail-in ballots, we may not know the winner for many days after the election. We all need to be patient and let the process work itself out. If Donald Trump wins the election, he will not tear up the Constitution and declare himself “President for Life”. If Joe Biden wins, he will not confiscate your guns, impound your gasoline powered vehicles, or turn the suburbs into public housing projects ruled by violent leftists.  I have never seen the American electorate more energized by an election, and this is encouraging. If our “experiment” in self-government is to last, more citizens need to be involved. The electorate needs to champion candidates, for all levels of government, who will truly represent the people, and not just their political party. Yes, we are living through turbulent times, but we have been here before. This country is at an inflection point. It’s time we take stock, learn from the lessons of the past, and move forward with the courage and determination to make this representative democracy work for the vast majority of Americans.
If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com. Thanks  On August 8, 2020 President Trump signed the “Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster”(https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/memorandum-deferring-payroll-tax-obligations-light-ongoing-covid-19-disaster/). The memorandum directs the Secretary of the Treasury to “defer certain payroll tax obligations with respect to the American workers most in need”. What’s this memorandum all about, who benefits, and is it a good idea? Like an “Executive Order”, an “Executive Memorandum” has the full force of the law. To learn more about the difference between these two executive actions go to (https://guides.loc.gov/executive-orders/order-proclamation-memorandum). What Does the Latest Presidential Memorandum Do: It allows employers to stop withholding Social Security taxes from employees’ paychecks for the rest of 2020. This would increase take home pay by 6.2%. Employers are still required to pay the 6.2% Social Security tax that they are responsible for. The program takes effect September 1, 2020 and ends December 31, 2020. Who is Eligible: Any employee whose wages or compensation is less than $4,000 during any bi-weekly pay period on a pretax basis, or an equivalent amount if not paid bi-weekly. If an employee’s pay fluctuates, they may participate during any pay period when the maximum is not exceeded. Do the Deferred Taxes Need to be Repaid: Yes, all the Social Security taxes will need to be repaid in 2021. The president's memorandum directs the Secretary of the Treasury to explore ways to eliminate the obligation to pay these taxes back. When President Trump signed the memorandum, he said that he will forgive these taxes and make permanent cuts to the payroll tax if re-elected. But Congress would need to pass legislation to permanently reduce the payroll tax or forgive any taxes not paid under this program.  In order to clarify some of the questions about the Presidential Memorandum, the IRS issued guidance under “Notice 2020-65” (https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-20-65.pdf). The notice provides the following clarifications:
Is the Payroll Tax Deferral a Good Thing: In my opinion no. There are lots of concerns that I have with the program. Here are a few:
 I’m not the only one against the president’s payroll deferral. On August 18, 2020 the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation, National Restaurant Association, and nearly 30 other business groups sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, voicing their concerns. Chief among them were the serious hardships it could place on employees who would receive a large tax bill in 2021. The groups were also concerned about the administrative and legal obligations imposed on employers. These business groups indicated that they would recommend that their members continue withholding payroll taxes as before and not participate in the program. If President Trump is able to enact a permanent payroll tax holiday after January 1, 2021, as he suggested, it would have serious consequences on the longevity of the Social Security Trust Fund. According to the chief actuary of the Social Security Administration, a permanent payroll tax holiday would deplete the Trust Fund’s reserves by the middle of 2023 (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/solvency/VanHollenSandersWydenSchumer_20200824.pdf).  With all of the downsides to the president’s payroll deferral program, why would he even bother? It’s all political! The Congress is in a stalemate over additional pandemic relief spending, and the president wants to show that he is a man of action. The signing ceremony for the Presidential Memorandum was a great photo-op and it brings a lot of news coverage. News coverage of the president being “presidential” is about the best campaign coverage there is, and it doesn’t cost anything. Between now and election day, take any new policy statement or initiative with a grain of salt. We are in the middle of silly season.
If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com. Thanks, Armchair American  This is part 2 of a “Tale of Two Conventions”. The last blog focused on the Democratic Convention and this blog will focus on the Republican National Convention. Both conventions are over and the sprint to the November 3rd election has begun. After watching the two conventions I wondered whether the two parties were talking about the same America. The portrait of America painted by each candidate and their place in it, could not have been more different. It can best be described by that keen chronicler of the human condition Charles Dickens, “It was best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…..” The Republican National Committee (RNC) did not issue a new political platform for 2020 but adopted the 2016 platform, which enthusiastically throws its support behind President Trump and his policies. This pretty much confirms that the RNC is taking a backseat to the politics of Donald Trump. This is no longer the party of Ronald Reagan, and certainly not the party my father would recognize. The RNC provides the vehicle and the stage, but make no mistake, this is now the party of Donald Trump. The convention was produced and paid for by the RNC, but it was written and directed by Donald Trump. Republican National Convention: The convention took place on August 24-27. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, plans for an in-person, large scale convention were called off just a few weeks ago. The convention was originally scheduled to be held at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, but was cancelled in early June due to strict public health guidelines. The location was then moved to Jacksonville, Florida, but was subsequently cancelled due to spikes in the coronavirus. The convention ended up taking place remotely from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. and a few other locations. The official business of the convention took place at the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina. The overall theme of the convention was “Honoring the Great American Story”. Going into the convention, Donald Trump trailed Joe Biden in the national polls by about 9 points. He has received poor marks for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his handling of racial injustice. If the president can change the narrative away from the coronavirus to crime and civil unrest, his polls should benefit coming out of the convention. Trump’s Goals for the Convention:
Highlights from Day One: The theme for the day was “Land of Promise”. With 336 delegates gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Mike Pence was unanimously nominated as Donald Trump’s running mate. During the roll call Donald Trump was officially named the Republican Party’s nominee for president. In contrast to the Democrat’s “Roll Call Across America”, the RNC roll call was a procession dominated by older white men in front of a white background emblazoned with #RNC2020.
The president broke with tradition and appeared live at the convention center to give his acceptance speech. This was Donald’s party after all, and he made appearances all four days. The speech set the tone for the rest of the convention. The president painted a dark picture of what America would look like under a Biden administration; claimed his coronavirus efforts saved millions of lives; claimed that he resided over the most successful economy in the history of the country, and blasted mail-in-ballots. The president would appear two more times during day one in prerecorded videos from the White House. The first was a conversation with front line health care workers, and the second was an appearance with several former hostages whose releases had been negotiated by his administration. As was the case on all four nights, there was very little social distancing and no one wore a mask. Most of the speeches during the evening were delivered from the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. The speeches coalesced around four major themes: the president is not a racist; the president did a great job handling the coronavirus pandemic; the president created the greatest economy in the history of the country and can do it again; the Democratic Party will take the country down the path of socialism and allow our cities and suburbs to be overrun by mobs of rioting and looting criminals. The speakers of note included Jim Jordan, Herschel Walker, Mark and Patricia McCloskey, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Steve Scalise, Nikki Haley, Donald Trump Jr., and Tim Scott. The McCloskeys are a white couple who live in an exclusive suburb of St. Louis. They received a lot of national attention by pointing guns at passing Black Lives Matter protestors. They were vilified by the left and proclaimed heroes by the right for protecting their property. They made an appearance at the convention via video to warn America that if Joe Biden is elected president the suburbs will be become a lawless wasteland.  Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle both gave angry speeches along the same lines. Donald Trump Jr. said that “Beijing Biden” would cozy up to China, bring in more illegals, repeal the tax cuts, and allow anarchists to flood the streets. Guilfoyle was even more strident in her condemnation of Biden. It was an over the top performance during which she warned that democrats “want to enslave you to the weak, dependent, liberal victim ideology, to the point that you will not recognize this country or yourself.” Donald Trump later called Guilfoyle to tell her it was the best speech that he had ever heard. You decide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErSd_YiRCAs .  Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and President Trump’s first UN ambassador, came across as poised and professional. Being a woman of Indian descent, she pushed back against the claim that Donald Trump is racist. She even said that “America is not a racist country.” This defied logic, but the convention was all about defying logic. It was obvious to anyone paying attention that Nikki’s speech was little more than a kickoff to a 2024 presidential run. Probably the best speech of the night was given live by Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. Scott is the only black Republican Senator and was a pleasant reprieve from the anger and doom and gloom heard all night. He used his own story to show how much racial progress the country has made. In the best line of the night Scott said, “Our family went from cotton to Congress in one lifetime.” Scott also pushed the case for school choice and warned against the democrats who would turn our country into a socialist utopia. Conspicuously absent from the convention was the last GOP president George W. Bush, and Senator Mitt Romney who ran against Obama in 2012. Highlights from Day Two: The theme for the day was “Land of Opportunity”. The White House played a prominent role as a backdrop for many of today’s proceedings. The day was full of Trump family members and the controversy over whether or not the Hatch Act had been violated. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in most political activity inside federal buildings or while on duty. The president and vice president are exempt from the civil provisions of the Hatch Act, but federal employees are not. Federal employees who helped stage certain political events witnessed on this day may be in violation. The following convention events may have violated the Hatch Act:
President Trump’s economic advisor Larry Kudlow led off the prime-time speeches, giving the president credit for the greatest economy in history. We have heard this claim often and it is simply not true. It all depends on how you measure the economy. GDP growth is a common measure, and there have been several instances in the post WWII era (including during the Obama administration) when GDP growth was higher than during the Trump administration. True, the stock market achieved record highs during Trump’s term. But the stock market is not the economy, and 80% of stocks are owned by the 10% richest households in America. Cissie Graham, the granddaughter of Billy Graham, and Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood employee gave voice to Donald Trump’s pro-life stance. Johnson claimed that Donald Trump was the most pro-life president ever. I guess that Ms. Johnson had forgotten that Trump was pro-choice before he decided to enter politics. Nicholas Sandmann delivered a very effective anti-media message from the Lincoln Memorial. Sandmann was a high school student falsely portrayed as the aggressor during a confrontation with a Native American activist last year during demonstrations near the Lincoln Memorial. Sandmann was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat and was vilified on social media and in many main-stream news outlets. As a result, Sandmann and his fellow high school students received death threats, and their conservative High School received various threats of violence. After an investigation cleared the students, they filed defamation lawsuits against several news outlets. Several of the lawsuits are still pending, but the students have won multi- million dollar judgements against The Washington Post and CNN.  The other notable speeches of the evening were given by Trump’s children Tiffany and Eric, and the first lady Melania Trump. It was interesting that neither Tiffany nor Eric (and Donald Jr. for that matter), attempted to the portray the president as a kind and loving father, or attempt to humanize him in any way. Tiffany used her speech to rail against the main-street media. Eric expounded on his father’s accomplishments and the dangers of a Biden presidency. Eric stated that “Biden has pledged to defund the police and take away our cherished Second Amendment”. This is a false claim. Melania Trump’s speech was notable for taking place live from the White House Rose Garden, which had recently been renovated for the occasion. To her credit, the first lady expressed thanks to the front-line workers who have risked their lives during the pandemic, and offered sympathy for those grieving the loss of loved ones to COVID-19. The speech came across as Melania’s reintroduction to the American people. Unlike the speeches of Jill Biden and other Biden family members, there was little attempt to soften Donald Trump the man, or to humanize him in any way. Highlights from Day Three: The theme for the day was “Land of Heroes”. Most of the speeches for day 3 were delivered form the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. The night was capped off with a live speech by Vice President Pence delivered from Fort McHenry in Baltimore. There were lots of America flags present during every speech and the backdrop of Pence’s speech was a nod to the military and patriotism. Women’s suffrage was celebrated, and there was an effort to portray President Trump as a champion of women. Many women spoke in praise of Trump, including his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, Kelly Ann Conway, Kayleigh McEnany, Kristi Noem, Marsha Blackburn, Elise Stefanic, Joni Ernst, and Karen Pence. The women provided a softer tone than the previous days, but there was still the steady beat of doom and lawlessness under Democratic leadership. There was also the appeal to social conservatives with a clear pro-life message. The message was effectively delivered by Sister Didi Burn, who was a military physician before becoming a nun. She made a passionate plea for the dignity of all life, particularly the unborn. But she lost me when she claimed that Donald Trump was the most pro-life president, in all stages of life. I guess the Sister hadn’t received the memo on Trump’s prior pro-choice stance and his support of the death penalty. Madison Cawthorne delivered some of the most rational lines of the night. Cawthorne is the young Republican nominee in North Carolina’s 11th District. He urged politicians to do more listening and less talking. “To liberals I say, let’s have a conversation”, he said, and “to conservatives, let’s define what we support and win the argument in areas like healthcare and the environment.” Cawthorne is confined to a wheelchair as a result of an auto accident and finished his speech by rising to his feet with the aid of a walker. This young man is going places.  The best speech of the night was delivered by Mike Pence, surrounded by American flags in front of a live audience. The backdrop of Fort McHenry was quite impressive. Pence gave an articulate rendering of the triumphs of the Trump administration and came across as the loyal and stoic number two. Pence was fairly moderate in his remarks but threw plenty of red meat to the base. According to Pence, we won’t be safe in Joe Biden’s America. "Biden is a cheerleader for communist China and a Trojan Horse for the radical left". It was a well delivered speech, written with rose-colored glasses, and absent any sense of what was really happening on the streets of America. You would never know that most pro sports weren’t taking place due to player boycotts and racial protests were intensifying due to new police shootings. At the end of the speech Pence was greeted on-stage by President Trump. You didn’t think the president could let Pence have all the lime-light? If there was any social distancing taking place, it all vanished when the audience rushed the fence-line to get closer to Trump and Pence. There were no face masks to be seen in this crowd. It certainly fit the narrative of the entire convention, that the pandemic was in the rear-view mirror.  Highlights from Day Four: The theme of the final day of the Republican convention was “Land of Greatness”. All the speeches and film clips were a leadup to the day’s main event, President Trump’s speech. We heard from some of the president’s most ardent supporters, most of whom where men. These included Mitch McConnel, Dana White (President of UFC), Ben Carson, Rudy Giuliani, Tom Cotton, and several others. The tough on crime theme permeated the speeches, punctuated with a little criminal justice reform. The president’s daughter Ivanka delivered a speech live from the South Lawn of the White House. The speech was billed as the introductory speech for Donald Trump. But it was more like a checklist of Ivanka’s accomplishments and a rationalization of why her advisory position as first daughter should be elevated to a cabinet position.
The president’s 70-minute speech was delivered live in front of 1,500 people on the South Lawn of the White House. It was an impressive scene, with the White House behind the president and the Washington Monument in the distance. I just hope that those 1,500 spectators got tested for the coronavirus after the speech. There was no social distancing and I could count on one hand the number of people wearing masks. Periodic shouts of “four more years” didn’t help matters. It had all the makings of a “super spreader” event. But the president got his live audience and the use of the White House as a prop for his reelection bid. The administration later claimed that the Hatch Act was not violated because the South Lawn was not inside a federal building. True, but campaign signs were everywhere and the “People’s House” was clearly used as a prop in a campaign rally. If not technically illegal, it certainly broke with tradition and blurred the lines between politics and government. The speech was too long and came across as a “State of the Union” speech. The speech was more notable for what it didn’t say than what it did say. There was no positive vision for the future, no real agenda for the second term, and little mention of how to tackle the coronavirus, get the economy back on track, or address the social injustices rocking the country. The speech was a laundry list of the president’s accomplishments and a summation of the things we had heard all week about why the country should fear Joe Biden and the radical left. The speech was delivered without much passion and the president’s energy level was low. I wonder if the speech was written by Kelly Ann Conway because it could have been titled “Alternative Facts”. The president tried to hammer home his administration’s successful efforts at combating COVID-19. According to the president “We developed, from scratch, the largest and most advanced testing system in the world”. He made the claim that the US “has among the lowest case fatality rates of any major country in the world”, and the US “has developed a wide array of effective treatments”. But even more startling was the statement that his administration focuses “on the science, the facts and the data” to handle the coronavirus pandemic. “If we listened to Joe, hundreds of thousands more Americans would have died”. You get the point. The president accused the democrats of rewriting history, but the speech tried to do exactly that. The president’s speech kept the fact checkers busy all night with his claims about the economy, “massively lowering drug costs”, pushing healthcare premiums “way down”, passing the Veterans Choice bill, and others. But my favorite claim of the night was the assertion by the president that he had done more for the African American community than any other president since Lincoln. I know that it’s difficult when you don’t know what you don’t know. I guess the president forgot (or didn’t know) about the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act signed into law by Lyndon Johnson. If Joe Biden could do everything that Trump claimed, he would not be our next president, he would be our first king! Here’s just a few of the things that Biden would do as president: He would eliminate borders, remove charter schools, take away your guns, eliminate the suburbs, release 400,000 criminals onto the streets, destroy American jobs and American greatness. Scary stuff! 
The president looked relieved when the speech was finally over; I know I was. Not to be outshined by her husband, Melania Trump wore a bright lime green dress. It was hard to miss her in the crowd and got her a lot of attention at the convention and on the internet. That green dress provided a perfect green-screen for memes and Photoshop shenanigans. She walked right into that one, but she is the fashion expert afterall. he best part of the night was the spectacular fireworks display over the national mall which illuminated the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. You just had to know that the Republican’s fireworks display would dwarf that of the Democrats.  Did Trump Achieve his Convention Goals?
Final thought: On Thursday of this week Donald Trump called on North Carolina voters to vote twice. Once by mail and once in person, to test the system. Why not make it simpler Mr. President, just bring in the Russians as poll monitors. If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776@gmail.com. Thanks, Armchair American |
AuthorThe Armchair American. 
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