By Hank Silverberg (updated)
I watched President Trump's very lengthy Republican National Convention acceptance speech with some interest last week. There were a few reasons.
As someone who teaches Public Speaking at the college level I wanted to see if he would break with his mono-toned delivery that usually occurs when he reads off of a teleprompter (a very bad style), or whether he would unleash his free-flowing, insult filled, attacking campaign stomp speech (filled with factual errors and poor word choices).
It was a combination of both, and the second longest "acceptance speech" in U.S. history.
The speech was laced with inaccuracies and outright lies, but any good political observer would know that was nothing new.
The Washington Post found 25 major fallacies in the speech. But since Trumpites always say that very respected newspaper is biased, I looked for a bi-partisan source. FactCheck.org fits that bill.
They found five major lies, though there were certainly a lot more.
*Trump falsely labeled COVID-19-related restrictions on flights into the U.S. from China and Europe as a “travel ban,” and falsely claimed the policies were put in place “very early.” A government study, for example, said the restrictions on Europe were too late to mitigate the introduction of the virus.- *He exaggerated when he said “[w]e developed a wide array of effective treatments,” including convalescent plasma, which he claimed “will save thousands and thousands of lives.” There are only a few known treatments for COVID-19, and convalescent plasma has not yet been shown to be effective.
- *The President again falsely claimed that he built the “greatest” and “strongest” economy in “the history of the world.” The U.S. economy has grown faster under other presidents — and so have jobs.
- *Trump claimed that Biden has pledged “a $4 trillion tax hike on almost all American families.” Biden said he won’t boost income taxes for anyone making less than $400,000 a year.
- *The president falsely accused Biden of condemning rioters only after the Democratic convention. Biden repeatedly condemned violent protests before the convention.
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/08/video-factchecking-trumps-big-speech/
There were many more inaccuracies. If I listed them all, this blog would be longer than Tolstoy's "War and Peace." .
If you know someone who is going to vote for Trump and run these fallacies by that voter, you will get total denial. "It's the media," they will tell you, and the "Democrats" who are lying.
They won't budge. Mr. Trump has developed what many political scientists will call a "cult of personality."
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From the Miriam Webster Dictionary:
Definition of cult of personality
Trump has created the kind of propaganda used successfully by totalitarians like Mao and Stalin. It's called "the big lie theory." If you use the same lies often enough, people will start believing them.
Trump can do no wrong in the eyes of his supporters.
It doesn't matter to them that he broke the rules and used the White House as his political convention location.
It doesn't matter to them that he calls hundreds of thousands of peaceful protesters "rioters and looters," even when the rioting and looting was limited and caused by a few dozen agitators.
It doesn't matter to them that the 1,500 people in the audience for that speech violated social distancing rules and were not wearing masks (there were only a few with masks). He said there will be a vaccine by the end of the year, which most experts says is not likely.
It doesn't matter to them that the taxpayers may end up footing most of the bill for the use of the National Mall, a national park, for the fireworks display and Fort McHenry, a national monument, for Pence's speech, without paying for that use. (The cost to the taxpayers has not been added up yet.)
And it doesn't matter to them that he lies almost every day on twitter and elsewhere.
My point in all this: you are not going to convert any of his cult members to change their vote. It's not worth trying. What you must do if you want him out of office, is to make sure YOU vote, any way you can and to make sure your like-minded friends, relatives and neighbors cast their ballots. I have added a sports phrase that should be used in this campaign. We must run up the score, win big and "LEAVE NO DOUBT!"
And then there is this: Shy polls
Though many political polls show Democrat Joe Biden with a big lead over Donald Trump as the election approaches, there is a new on-line study out from CloudResearch that casts some doubt. It indicates that 11.7% of Republicans say they would not report their true opinions about their preferred candidate in a phone poll. Only 5.4% of Democrats fit that same category.
And here's the real shaker: 10.5% of Independents, who often swing elections one way or the other, also said they would not speak their true intentions to pollsters.
(Check out the study here:)
https://www.cloudresearch.com/resources/blog/election-2020-poll-respondent-honesty/
The reasons were telltale. Some sample comments from the research:
“Well I probably wouldn’t give my opinion period, but if pushed, I would not give my real opinion for fear of reprisal if someone found out.”
“Because most polls released to the public are slanted and aren’t scientifically based. So, they are messing with the results of the survey from the beginning by knocking down one party or the other. I’m just trying to right the ship.”
“I am hounded day and evening by phone solicitors. They interrupt me all the time; sometimes my irritation takes over, and I don’t answer correctly.”
“My answers could be recorded so I don’t really trust such phone conversations.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-28/new-study-suggests-polls-are-missing-shy-trump-voters
Republicans and Independents also expressed their distrust more than Democrats that their answers would be shared with others.
Also among those "shy voters" who did not totally want to reveal their support, there was heavy distrust of the media and specifically all those political pundits who are now cluttering the airwaves.
Many polls failed to predict the actual election results in 2016, and this may be the reason why.
Another Kind of Poll :
Mr. Trump is always bragging that he has unwavering support from those serving in the Military, but a new poll in the Military Times says otherwise. Half the military members contacted for the poll have an unfavorable view of President Trump showing a continued decline since he took office in 2016. Only 42% approve of the job he is doing and 50% have an unfavorable view. In 2016, just after his victory, only 37% had a negative view.
Military members tend to vote republican in recent years.
On a specific question on how Trump is doing on military issues, nearly 48 percent surveyed said they had an unfavorable view which is a significant drop from 2018 when 59% were happy with how he handled military issues
Trump is far more popular with enlisted men than with officers. He polled a 43% favorable rating with the rank and file but only 33% of the officers had a positive view.
Of Note:
Many of Donald Trump's businesses have failed in the past. Most notably "Trump Steaks," which was a bust and the now defunct "Trump University," which has been labeled a "massive scam." (Trump settled three class action lawsuits over the school in 2016 for $25 million.) Now the Vancouver Sun is reporting that Vancouver's Trump Hotel is closing for good, the victim of the pandemic. The hotel is actually owned by a Malaysian company, which pays fees for a license to use Trump's name. The $360 million complex opened in February of 2017, with several members of the Trump family on hand. The Canadian locals never liked the name and there were protests back at the time. Now it's insolvent and hundreds of employees are losing their jobs.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/vancouvers-trump-hotel-closes-doors-for-good/ar-BB18tddw
Three other hotels which had licensed the Trump name have already cut ties with the brand and reopened with other names. Much of Trump's corporate money these days comes from licensing the Trump brand rather than actually owning property.
Trump's hotel in D.C., just a few blocks from the White House which his family does own, has also been hit with hard times after raking n $40 million 2018. The room rates are among the highest in the city, and Mr. Trump has often steered foreign dignitaries and lobbyists there. That's among the issues that prompted accusations that he is violating the Emolument's Clause of the U.S. Constitution. But the hotel is not making that kind of money any more. The pandemic has hit there, too. The Trump family has let it be known the hotel can be purchased for the right price.
It's unclear if any deal would include the Trump name. My guess, probably not.
FAKE STUFF
It's hard to believe much of what you see posted on social media these days. But this one was particularly egregious.
The Associated Press checked out the photos of four injured police officers that were supposed to have been attacked by protesters in Portland and other Northwest cities ( I won't post them but you can see them on the link below).
It turns out all four of those officers were from Australia and were injured in several different protests there dating back to 2012.
And you can't believe many of the campaign ads, either.
An ad for the Trump campaign which talks about the "Chaos and
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| (This photo is part of the video from Kyiv in 2014, NOT the U.S.) |
Violence" of the protests that have been going on around the country actually uses an old 2014 video from events in Ukraine as its depiction of what is happening in the U.S. Check it out for yourself in this link.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-chaos-violence-ad-ukraine-protest_n_5f184c66c5b6296fbf3c473f
Update: I have written in the past on the debate going on in a lot of places about confederate monuments. This past week there may have been some divine intervention on that issue, or maybe it's just irony.
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| This is the statue (Courtesy of @davantlewis on twitter) |
After some protests and debate, the local government in Lake Charles, Louisiana, had voted 10-4 just a few weeks ago to keep what is known as the South's Defender's Monument in front of the Parish Courthouse because of "history," they said. But Hurricane Laura came along with 150 mile an hour winds this past week and knocked the statue to the ground. There is no indication yet if the statue will be returned to its base. Lake Charles, which was badly hit by the hurricane has many other priorities at the moment.
(Your suggestions and comments are welcome)
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