Death, systemic racism, and seething anger were the major themes for Night One of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The unprecedented virtual event was bound to feel strange regardless, but Dems piled heaps of spookiness onto the already unusual proceedings. There was one clear takeaway from the evening. A profoundly dark, dystopian depiction of Life in America Under President Trump will be the major campaign slogan for Democrats in the general election.
Blue vs. Evil
Trump was unabashedly labeled a killer, a racist, and an advocate of religious bigotry by party-approved speechmakers. Fanned fears of the Coronavirus pandemic and emotional displays of support for Black Lives Matter radicals were used to bolster the notion that malevolent storm clouds hover over the nation as Trump sits in the White House.
Former first lady Michelle Obama was the night's keynote speaker. Her words were very much in line with the overwhelmingly negative spirit of the evening:
"[R]ight now, kids in this country … see people shouting in grocery stores, unwilling to wear a mask to keep us all safe. They see people calling the police on folks minding their own business just because of the color of their skin. They see an entitlement that says only certain people belong here, that greed is good, and winning is everything because as long as you come out on top, it doesn't matter what happens to everyone else. And they see what happens when that lack of empathy is ginned up into outright disdain."
Progressive hero and now two-time presidential aspirant loser Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) voiced his unequivocal support for establishment Democrat presumptive nominee Joe Biden. While doing so, he heatedly lashed out at Trump. "And to heal the soul of our nation, Joe Biden will end the hate and division Trump has created," Sanders said in his remarks. "He will stop the demonization of immigrants, the coddling of white nationalists, the racist dog-whistling, the religious bigotry, and the ugly attacks on women."
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo exhibited a noticeable tone of barely concealed rage during his speech. Interestingly, Cuomo, echoing Mrs. Obama, advocated mass public mask-wearing to fight off the Coronavirus threat. Democrats clearly see strong support for social behavior curbs in the name of health as a winning issue in 2020.
Despite the fact that conventions are meant to appeal to as many Americans as possible, Cuomo couldn't help mixing a hearty dose of urban progressive condescension toward the millions of Americans who do not agree with him on the controversial policy. "[O]f course we will wear masks, because we are smart, and because I care about you and you care about me," Cuomo said. "Of course we will socially distance, because staying away shows how close we actually are."
Much more disturbing were remarks made by a young woman who says her father died after contracting the Coronavirus. Kristin Urquiza directly blamed her dad's death on his support for Trump. Her father believed the president when he said the virus "was going to disappear, that it was okay to end social distancing rules before it was safe and that if you had no underlying health conditions, you'd probably be fine," a fiercely emotional Urquiza said. "So in late May, after the stay-at-home order was lifted in Arizona, my dad went to a karaoke bar with his friends. A few weeks later, he was put on a ventilator. And after five agonizing days, he died alone in the ICU with a nurse holding his hand."
"My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only pre-existing condition was trusting Donald Trump and for that he paid with his life," she menacingly declared.
One wonders if emotion-driven Democrats will realize that it was a low point of the night. A moment intended to elicit sympathy for an alleged victim of a president's failed policies instead came off as nothing more than the particularly ugly use of a man's dead body by a family member to score political points. It was dreary, gratuitous, and highly inappropriate.
Dividers For Unity
The first 45-odd minutes of the two-hour affair represented a wallow-fest in the identity politics tropes that infected the party throughout its drawn-out presidential primary season. Relatives of George Floyd, the black man whose death while in police custody in Minneapolis in late May sparked looting and rioting across the nation, appeared on camera. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser openly praised the Marxist Black Lives Matter movement and urged each American watching at home to "challenge our own biases. If we see something, do something."
A white male who voted for Trump in 2016 was featured in a short clip in which he took the flagrantly obvious form of a penitent confessing his sins. He vowed to vote Biden this time around and was thus presumably granted absolution for his transgression.
Most of the failed Democratic presidential candidates who joined Biden in the staunchly radical primary race also made brief appearances. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) was given a prominent speaking slot, and the result was another of the patented dull performances that doomed her campaign. As is her wont, she made a painfully weak joke about how Trump hates the U.S. Postal Service but will need to fill out a change of address card with them next January. As always, the feckless Klobuchar seemed immensely pleased with herself after delivering the limp punchline. Beyond that, there was nothing but wet-noodle meanderings about how Biden will unite the country.
Klobuchar exotically warbled that Biden was running “to cross the river of our divides, to bring this nation together, to be a president for all America."
Hilariously, a video clip immediately following this Hallmark Card presentation revealed fellow rejected presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke declaring that Trump is "the most destructive, hateful, racist president in the history of this country who is literally tearing apart the fabric of the United States of America."
So much for tranquil trips across healing waters.
After all this scripted wrath and fury, the convention closed with a cover version of the 1960s protest-era Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth."
"Paranoia strikes deep. Into your life it will creep. It starts when you're always afraid," the classic tune's lyrics read.
The total disconnect of the moment provided a fitting curtain closer. A night dedicated to whipping up racial division, vitriol, and global pandemic fear had just concluded and Democrats still believed that they are heroically opposing all the things they just finished thoroughly exemplifying themselves.
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You can watch Night Two live here on Liberty Nation.
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