Donnie Loves Chachi

     Vociferous anti-Trump protests in Cleveland so far overwhelm in energy the one pro-Trump rally reported on by MSNBC today.  At the latter, a woman screaming into a microphone about the greatness of Trump, name repeated over and over again like the key element of a spell, about a hundred people sat or stood on a grassy bank by a body of water, possibly Lake Erie.
     I picnicked by Lake Erie with my family in 1967, when that water was a byword for pollution.  It's improved a great deal since then, but there are many kinds of pollution, including the twisted beliefs of Americans who believe in a man who claims omniscience but doesn't know shit about missing a meal.
     The Republican National Convention starts today in Cleveland.  The city's police department was granted fifty million dollars by the federal government to strengthen its security.  Given the recent killings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, there's a tense expectation in this country of impending trouble in Cleveland.  Cleveland, with its fifty million dollar gift, now has bicycle cops acting as rapid deployment crowd control personnel.  From a distance they look like ordinary bicycle cops.  Up close, they're a cross between something one might see in Star Wars and Tron.
     I grab William S. Burroughs' Cities of the Red Night, lying close at hand, open it at random and read, "How will you get information from the prisoners?"
     Indeed; through questioning?  Torture?  The agenda represented by Donald Trump and his recently announced (classily, in a tweet) vice presidential running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, includes eager embrace of human rights violations, although clean-cut Pence hasn't been asked about pouring gallons of water into restrained prisoners' lungs, and what does he think of that as a thing to associate himself with?
     Pence, last year, condemned Trump's proposed Muslim immigration ban.  Trump has "dialed back on that," according to his spokespeople, but he's interested in preventing immigration from countries that "practice terrorism."  This would, of course, blame citizens of, for instance, Syria, for terrorism committed by the Assad regime, a non sequitur that doesn't bother Trump, for he will embrace illogical arguments as readily as any demented person.  And why is it admirable for Trump, or Pence who now supports his master's crazy ideas, to "dial back" on a subject of utter evil insanity (the Muslim immigration ban) after having proposed the contemptible notion in the first place?
     The keynote speaker at the convention tonight will be the third Mrs. Trump, Melania, a former Slovenian model, who, in my opinion, resembles a Star Trek alien.  I heard Mrs. Trump today on MSNBC discussing Jacqueline Kennedy; her refined sense of fashion, her glamour, which in reality was a quiet projection, easy for her, despite being a natural introvert, to accomplish because she had real humility.  Princess Diana Spencer, in my view, was of the same caliber, but Melania Trump?
     I heard in the same cluster of Melania tidbits that she doesn't like it when her husband retweets neo-Nazi and white supremacist propaganda.  Gee, she must be a real humanitarian!  Even so, considering the dozens of times Trump has re-broadcasted white power and anti-Semitic propaganda on his Twitter account, it doesn't seem like Melania has any sway over her husband's willingness to portray himself as a pseudo-Josef Goebbels.
     Melania, in her speech tonight, will reportedly "humanize" her husband, much like Ann Romney did for Mitt four years ago, or tried to do.  Mrs. Romney, at least, had one thing going for her when she spoke at that last convention that Mrs. Trump doesn't: Ann Romney is married to a recognizably human person, who, if flawed and out of touch with the American people, is at least not absolutely loathsome.
     MSNBC reporter Hallie Jackson said that Melania Trump will give us a sense of the family Trump, the domestic Trump, the Trump who cherishes his children and grandchildren, just as Hitler loved and cherished his dogs and Eva Braun.
     Even vile people can love their families, their spouses, their pets.  It isn't a special mark of goodness when a ruthless son of a bitch plays a game on the floor with his grandchild.  In The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola captures this idea brilliantly when he has Marlon Brando, as the retired mafioso, putting orange slices in his mouth and running after (playfully) his grandson, and then dropping dead from a heart attack.
     The Convention has been characterized by the no-shows: former Presidents Bush, Jeb Bush, even Sarah Palin for some reason, won't appear or speak there.  Ohio Governor and former presidential candidate John Kasich won't be there, the most serious statement of non-participation, since Ohio is such an important state in presidential elections, and he's the sitting governor.  Kasich said he wouldn't be able to look his daughters in the eyes after attending a convention celebrating such a misogynistic candidate.  I accept this noble statement for what it is, but there are many Republicans not attending (including Kasich, I think), who want the stars of their careers not dimmed by association with Trump, a man they feel is a complete disaster for the Republican Party.  They must be banking on his loss in November, for what will they do if the vindictive Trump (wonderful family man that he is) wins, and proceeds over at least the next four years to punish in various ways possible politicians who didn't fall in line in 2016?
     "How will you get information from the prisoners, Mr. Trump?"
     Chris Christie's servile behavior (not rewarded with the running mate selection) towards Trump can be explained by a desire to get out of his home state, New Jersey, where Bridgegate remains unresolved, but also by a Trump promise (get it in writing and notarized, Christie) to put him in the upcoming Republican administration.  Whatever.  It's hard for me to imagine what kind of lack of fortitude and decency it takes to ally oneself to a criminal-in-the-making like Donald Trump.  Hitch yourself to that wagon and you're fucked for good.
     Another speaker today will be Scott Baio.  In the 1970s and 1980s, he played Chachi on Happy Days and on its spinoff, Joanie Loves Chachi.  Trump promised a bevy of great celebrity speakers.  Charlton Heston is dead; so is John Wayne.  How about soap opera star Antonio Sabato, Jr.?
     Baio last weekend revealed on Fox News that he attended a Trump fundraiser in Los Angeles.  At the end, he introduced himself to Trump, who recognized the actor.  "Out of left field," Baio said on Fox, (although he should've said "right field") Trump asked him if he'd like to speak.  "Here?" Baio asked, confused.  "No," Trump said, "the Convention."  Baio was a bit speechless, but they went into another room and worked out an arrangement.
     This story demonstrates Trump's tendency to decide on things on the fly.  It registers in my assessment as an accurate account of what happened.  I doubt that Baio was angling for a Convention speaking engagement when he made a point of introducing himself to Trump, who's the nominee of the Party Baio supports.  Baio's story also shows that even very recently, Trump was desperate to find people to speak on his behalf at the Convention.  The political class largely deserted him, so he had to fill the days and nights of the Convention with makeshift speakers, including his children (excepting his youngest child) and wife, but also Phil Robertson (the Duck Dynasty patriarch), a woman tennis player ranked 363rd in the world among her gender, the president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, and of course, actors Sabato and Baio.
     We can assume Trump's promises of a "great" Convention will, if he wins in November, be reflected during his presidency.  For Cleveland, he's promised great celebrity speakers, and today's message is "Make America Safe Again."  The very presence of this Convention in Cleveland, with its giant asshole of a candidate being honored at it, makes that city more likely to be less safe for a while, the Convention zone blockaded and militarized, Trump's mere presence drawing protest and anger in his direction, a small facsimile of affronted America should he win.

                                                                               Vic Neptune