“President Donald Trump said Monday that Gettysburg or the White House will serve as the backdrop for his nomination acceptance speech during the Republican National Convention in two weeks,” NBC News reported on Monday, Aug. 10, 2020. The convention, which will be held mostly virtually, begins on Aug. 24.
Trump was criticized for suggesting he would deliver his acceptance speech from the White House, which would break a long-standing convention (pun intended*) that the president’s official residence and office, a public building, is not to be used for campaigning, least of all for what is certain to be an utterly forgettable rant about how terrible America was when he took office and how much better it is now.
The site of Lincoln’s immortal Gettysburg Address seems like a natural alternative, given that Trump compares himself to Lincoln, and wants his visage chiseled into Mt. Rushmore alongside Lincoln’s.
But not everybody thinks that’s a good idea.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how this washes out. Trump’s brain races at 100 mph, and a lot of what it spits out comes and goes, like fireflies winking on and off in a summer night.
Meanwhile, the Park Service should post guards at the Lincoln Memorial to prevent vandalism.
* Definition of “convention” (per Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary): 1. Agreement, contract 2. the summoning or convening of an assembly 3. usage or custom, a rule of conduct or behavior
The English language is full of words with multiple meanings, which offers wags countless opportunities to create puns, some humorous, some trenchant, some other things.
HOw do you defile a place where Americans shot, stabbed, punched, choked, and did murder of their fellow Americans. 46,000 casualties and 8000 deaths. Maybe a reminder of the costs of civil war is appropriate. What ugly things we can do to our fellow citizens, and what they can do to thee. Guess Biden can speak at Bull Run Cold Harbor, or Shiloh. Might be a bit difficult to get a spot. Of course if Biden was willing to go to Minnesota he could speak at the site where 38 Sioux Indians were hanged in the United States largest mass hanging in 1862.
How do you defile the hallowed ground where Lincoln paid homage to “these honored dead” who gave their lives to preserve government “of the people, by the people, and for the people?” Easy. Send a cartoon politician to deliver a rant similar to what you see in the cartoon to the left.
He defiles the presidency, the White House, democracy and everything good that America stood for.