Trump thinks that God is on his side

Thoughts while waiting for Day 2 of the Republican National Convention to begin: 

Donald J. Trump must be feeling lucky.

On Saturday, he wins the staying alive lottery by surviving an assassination attempt by maybe an inch, and then on Monday, a friendly judge dismisses the charges of mishandling classified documents, just as his coronation convention was leaving the launch pad in Milwaukee, a city made famous by Schlitz, according to the beer’s advertising.

Trump’s pockets must be stuffed with four-leaf clovers.

He was already ahead marginally in most polls. The assassination attempt may help him over time. Sympathy vote, along with “God must be on his side” vote. More on God later. 

Speaking of polls, that Joe Biden remains so close means that his disastrous debate performance didn’t hurt him much.

That surprises me, and should surprise those who are trying to get him to step aside.

However, many of my Democratic friends are hanging crepe, believing Joe can’t pull out a victory, nor can any other Democrat.

I am agnostic on that point. I just don’t know.

Trump should get a so-called “convention bounce,” but not all conventions produce bounces.

And Biden, also, should get a convention bounce next month, but the Democrats need to put on a really spectacular show. (Don’t count on George Clooney being given a speaking slot.)

Speaking of convention slots, did you see and hear Teamsters President Sean O’Brien tear corporate elites a new ayehole and deliver a rip-roaring pro-union speech before a party that has generally been hostile to unions? 

The one-time tractor-trailer driver didn’t endorse Trump, but his appearance would have to be seen as a green light to vote for Trump by at  least some of the 1.3 million American Teamsters.

I was watching on C-SPAN, which broadcasts everything that is happening on stage, without commentary. CNN was live all night, but had its panel analyzing and pontificating, and did not cover many speeches by “lesser” people, so CNN viewers did not see the parade of Black and Hispanic speakers proudly and loudly endorsing Trump.

Maybe CNN did carry Amber Rose, who was introduced as from South Philadelphia, and a TV star.

Rose has not been from South Philly since she was a stripper, not that there’s anything wrong with that. The mother of Joe Biden’s youngest granddaughter was a stripper. It’s all in the family.

Rose is perhaps best known for “dating” Kanye West, the noted rapper, Trump supporter, and anti-Semite. (Personally, I do not believe Trump is an anti-Semite.)  So who better than Rose to defend Trump against charges that he is a racist? (Personally, I do not believe Trump is a racist.) 

Rose did so effectively, based on “research” she had done. She did not specify where she had done the research, perhaps on NewsMax. She said she came from a multi-racial family, and her father had been a Trump supporter from the jump.

She now proudly wears the red hat, she said.

Which drove MSNBC’s Joy Reid further up the wall than usual, saying Rose isn’t even Black (even though Rose is bi-racial, like Barack Obama, with whom Reid has no problem.)

Speaking of Joy, we now arrive at the attack portion of our program.

If you took joy in the assassination attempt, WTF is wrong with you?

The delight came from Democrats — certainly not all of them, but that’s where it came from, from the same people who overwhelmingly oppose capital punishment. Am I wrong?

The same people who say crime rates are exaggerated and criminals are misunderstood.

The same people with “Hate Has No Home Here” signs posted in their yards.

Locally, the fire marshal of a suburban town had to resign after posting a comment to the effect he was sorry the shooter missed, Another “tolerant” progressive heard from.

In my building, a blissful progressive with a stunning lack of self-awareness was sharing her glee with anyone who would listen, assuming everyone felt as she did.

She was wrong.

So where does this hate come from? And it is hate.

Well, if you call Trump a fascist, a Nazi, Hitler even, what do you expect? Would it be wrong to kill Hitler?

Of course not.

I always caution against Nazi references because that was a unique kind of evil, and using it on an American politician, no matter how loathsome, cheapens the millions killed by Hitler.

And so when I saw this “false flag” post — Reichstag Fire (another Hitler reference) — on Facebook from one of my more looney left friends, I knew she didn’t get her Ph.D. in political science. (It was gender studies, good luck turning that into success in the commercial job market.)

One of her genius friends said “Wag the dog,” which is an expression meaning to divert attention from something more important to something less important.

But what is the diversion here?

The Democrats are on the brink of civil war over Biden. The axiom is when your opponent is tearing himself apart — let him.

Trump has been unusually quiet for days, because he understands when Dems fight, he wins.

But let’s not think it’s just the Dems tossing verbal bombs. Republicans have (also) been calling their opponent a threat to democracy, who has unleashed the Department of Justice on their candidate. (Also on Hunter Biden and Bob Menendez, but they forget to mention that.) MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said the “fate of the world hangs in the balance” of the election’s outcome.

I am not saying name-calling does not have a place in American life. It does. I do it. But I try to craft the name to the individual’s characteristics.

So I may refer to Biden as a liar, bumbler, and plagiarist, because he is.

And I may refer to Trump as a serial liar, a narcissist of low moral character, because he is that, too.

But Hitler? No.

And Biden a puppet of Obama? No.

Just a couple more. 

After the (inept) Secret Service threw themselves on Trump and got him to his feet, he kept asking them to let him put his shoes on. One shoe was left on the stage.

First, I call them inept because someone got a clear shot at a man they were guarding.

Next, photos clearly showed Trump’s head when they got him to his feet. Had there been a second gunman, he would have been just as easy a shot for the gunman as for the photographers.

Back to the shoes. Were they knocked off by the impact of the bullet? Seems unlikely. Did the Secret Service remove them for some reason? Does Trump remove them when he is speaking?

And finally, back to divine intervention.

Trump, who is not a religious man, seems to believe God saved him.

Does that mean he will change, because he was given a second chance?

Or will he double down on his bombast, thinking God has given him a big thumbs up?