General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: 45 today: Mark my words. This photo will be his legacy. [View all]Hekate
(89,977 posts)Now, personally I think Ronnie was a fraud, but you have to admit that phrases like "It's morning in America" and " ( America is) a shining city on a hill" really resonate with how we have always liked to see ourselves. Those words called out to our better natures.
Every president in my lifetime, no matter which party, has managed to produce something uplifting and fairly optimistic for an acceptance speech at his nomination and for his Inaugural speech.
Not Donald Trump. With him, what you see is what you get: dark, thuggish, full of hate and derision. At every moment when he is offered a chance to show us something else, he reverts to what he is and how he sees the world. There is no "morning" imagery, just grievance and resentment.
My most enduring impression of his acceptance speech will always be of Nicolle Wallace and Steve Schmidt, two experienced Republican operatives/commentators working for NBC, sitting in the darkness of the arena afterward, absolutely stunned and sickened by what they had just witnessed. Schmidt started talking about the Constitution and the intent of the Framers with depth and insight, and the man just choked up.