CONSPIRACY? Is "The Establishment" Sabotaging Trump?

In the last 2 days, Trump picked his running mate, released and then revoked the campaign's logo, did an interview with Lesley Stahl, and made it through Day 1 of the Republican National Convention. And basically, things went really wrong at every step, in ways that made me say "How did no one see that?" I've started to think that people did and that's why those things got approved.

Trump Picks Pence

I've seen him described as "Sarah Palin without the personality." He has a lot of experience and is expected to bring the Evangelical vote. He's from a state that hates him that Trump is expected to win. He remains calm no matter how often Trump answers questions for him, interrupts him, and corrects someone trying to contrast the two in a helpful way. Nate Silver says that he's the "least worst" of Trumps VP finalists, which is like saying that Betty White is the Golden Girl that teenage boys would most like to have sex with.

If Pence has the Evangelical vote, that means that he opposes my rights and thus, I dislike him. That said, he's saner than Trump, quieter than Trump, or both, which is probably good? Maybe?

Side Note: Trumpence

I would have sworn that this was a word, a portmanteau of (perhaps) trounce and comeuppance-- a well-deserved beating. I Googled thinking that it was from a piece of literature that I'd read and all I found was a "ratchet slang" term, which is an unlikely thing to be in my brain. Kids and their newfangled whatchercallits. As a last resort, I asked my resident English instructor/ fan of made-up words in literature, and she didn't know the word. Unless it's from a Gilbert & Sullivan that she doesn't know, this word only existed in my brain. It happens sometimes.

However, I approve of the definition anyway, because Trump/Pence well-deserves a beating. We should start using it anyway. "And in November 2016, he finally got his trumpence."

The Logo of Hilarity

The original logo was immediately animated, for obvious reasons. It has since been changed to something boring. I've read that the RNC prepared the logo, not the Trump campaign.

Paul Ryan Visits the Young Republicans

This was in my Facebook feed:

"It used to be that they would round up all of the Black and brown people and shove them into the front so the group *looks* diverse."
"I don't think they had any."

In their defense, they put a third of the women in the front row.

We know that Paul Ryan doesn't like Trump, pointing out his overt racism because they like dog whistle racism over there. Paul Ryan is not exactly a civil rights leader, so for him to call the GOP nominee racist is kind of out there. It's likely that he's bitter that he's spent so much of his life working to get where he is and here comes some irate, irrational guy with no experience and he gets the Presidential nomination, potentially destroying the party and taking Ryan's career down with him.

But seriously how could you not notice?

The Interview

Lesley Stahl interviewed Trump and Pence for 60 Minutes, broadcast on Sunday. I watched it and... I am hoping that there was a broadcast glitch or a problem in the DVR because otherwise, she circled back to an unanswered question and asked it again, getting the same answer as before, word for word. I'd watch it online to check but I already have a headache.

Here's what I noticed:

• Trump constantly interrupts Pence. Pence shuts up and takes it like a Vice Presidential candidate who is still replaceable.
• Trump constant interrupts Stahl, especially to answer the question that he wants her to ask, which is not the question that she's trying to ask. Once when she tried to interrupt back to say that he was dodging a question, he finger-shushed her.
• Trump states and Pence seems to agree that they can agree to disagree on core policy and that won't cause any problems at all.
• But the thing that really threw me was the point where this exchange happened:

• Trump points out that Clinton supported the War in Iraq, which proves that she is terrible. (Trump also supported it before Sanders used it as a talking point against Clinton.) 
• Lesley Stahl points out that Pence voted for the Iraq War.
• Trump says that Pence is allowed to make mistakes.
• Lesley Stahl says "But Clinton's not?"
• Trump replies, absolutely serious, matter-of-fact, straight-faced "No, she's not."

So basically, he admitted on national TV that he holds Clinton to a higher standard than he holds others to and he thinks that's completely reasonable.

Someone, somewhere told Trump that he should do that interview. Having watched it, I disagree. That was a disaster. He was not ready for that interview. He can't even do a 20 minute interview without being a dick to his VP pick.

The RNC's Color(ed) Theme

The convention center is set up in a red, white, and blue theme, with sections for each of the colors. Apparently, the suites level uses the "White Elevators."

It was here when I started to wonder if #NeverTrump was sabotaging Trump from within the Republican Party. People planned this. People printed the signs. People who don't get paid very much did all of this wrapping and sign hanging.

How did no one notice the segregation reference? Maybe they did and they just didn't say anything.

The RNC Day 1: Melania's Speech

Melania's speech was touted afterwards as a show of her fluency in English, her ability to articulate an idea, blah blah blah, which I thought was kind of a silly approach to coverage since it was undoubtedly written by a speechwriter. Being able to read a speech that someone else wrote isn't a sign of being "articulate." I'm unopposed to using speechwriters for this. That's how these things are done.

Then someone pointed me to a video of Melania's speech and Michelle Obama's equivalent speech, proving plagiarism. While a few phrases from the section are idioms, such as "my word is my bond," the problem isn't so much the precise wording but the content itself. It's the same list of things, presented in the same order, with identical wording for almost all of the things. Plus, the non-identical wording could easily be chalked up to Melania not reading the teleprompter 100% correctly, which again is not something that I condemn in any way. In addition to being very common, it can make the speaker feel more spontaneous, which causes them to deliver a speech that sounds more spontaneous, which audiences like better.

However, it was my assumption that she'd used a speechwriter. I have since discovered that she gave an interview to Matt Lauer yesterday claiming that she wrote the speech with "as little help as possible." Then I was just confused! Couldn't she tell that she was plagiarizing something that she'd be busted for in about 4 minutes, but only that long because of satellite delay and evidence-gathering.

Thankfully, the Trump campaign has cleared that up by sending a response to the allegations that doesn't actually respond to the allegations, but does describe Melania's speechwriting process as "giving some notes to her speechwriters." So why would a speechwriter lift a section from Michelle Obama's equivalent speech-- unless the speechwriter wanted to make her and Trump look bad?

Upcoming Speakers

Finally, my "Trump is facing internal sabotage" conspiracy theory involves some of the RNC guest speakers. (I have not yet read a comprehensive list and may have more thoughts after I do):

Scott Baio

Baio's politics are, shall we say, irrational. I've seen him have Twitter meltdowns arguing with the Jezebel.com writers and commentariat. For more on this topic, Google "lesbian shit asses." No, I don't know what that means and no I'm not shitting you, so to speak. His Trump fandom has recently showed him back into the spotlight, where he has behaved... oddly.

And seriously, the socks. OMG the socks.

Trump's Kids

They're going to be there because "this is about family" and showing off his successful (adult) children will show was a great leader Trump is. What have they accomplished? So far as I know, nothing. They have accomplished being born rich.

Antonio Sabato Jr?

In my opinion, Antonio Sabato Jr. is one of the most physically attractive men to have acted on television or in movies during my lifetime. The man is a serious hottie, totally swoonworthy. He was the best part of Earth 2. That said, I have no idea what qualifies him to speak at a political convention. Thankfully, wikipedia has a "politics" section in his entry and now that I've read it, I still have no idea why he's qualified to speak at a political convention. I suspect it's "he's Latino, right? We need the Latino vote."

That said, if he would like to come over and remodel my mom's house in very little clothing, we'd be happy to accept.