Joeff Davis
First, let me stipulate that I like Cleveland. I’ve been there a few times. It reminds me of my hometown of Milwaukee, but the architecture is even better. Grand buildings, but when you visit the city it feels eerie. Like the town was built for a lot more people, which it was. Cleveland lost about half of its population between 1960 and 1990.
But like Milwaukee, the town is on the rebound. The Cavaliers won the NBA championship, making even me wish I cared about professional basketball. Even the hapless baseball Cleveland Indians are in first place in their division. That’s superficial stuff, but it matters in terms of civic pride for some people, I guess. More substantively, Cleveland is home to the Evergreen Cooperatives, a national model for how cities can do it for themselves and other innovative urban strategies.
But if you’re in Cleveland right now because you’re a delegate to the Republican National Convention that just nominated Donald Trump to be the party’s standard bearer, you’re doing something that is just morally wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself. If you’re currently in office, you should lose the next election. If you’re Catholic, you should confess this. If you’re an evangelical Christian you should cry in public and shout, “I have sinned!” and beg for God’s forgiveness...along with making contributions to your church.
Now, folks, I am no moralist. I support maybe two of the Ten Commandments and some of those with reservations. When it comes to personal behavior (sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll), my main view is that you should endeavor not to hurt anybody else, and otherwise, well, knock yourselves out. It’s really none of my business. My view of religion and societal scolds in general (including many Madison liberals) is, to say the least, somewhat dim.
What amazes me about people who are always talking about “values” is that so many of them have no trouble supporting a man who:
- Is openly misogynistic.
- Is openly racist.
- Has mocked disabled people.
- Has made fun of prisoners of war while he himself avoided the draft.
- Tells lies or half-truths about 89% of the time.
- Is so self-centered that when 49 people were slaughtered, the first thing he thought about was that he had predicted it (which he didn’t).
No, what matters to these people, like Focus on the Family’s James Dobson and Jerry Falwell Jr., isn’t that Donald Trump “lives” none of their “Christian values.” What matters to these guys is that he promises to put people like them (no, actually, precisely them) back into positions of power.
So, I have a modicum of respect for Republicans like the Bush family, Mitt Romney and our own soon to be ex-Congressman Reid Ribble who have discovered that they need to wash their hair for four days during the convention. Sure, the Bushes and Romney basically blew the same dog whistles of intolerance that Trump now blatantly shouts from the mountain tops, but still, they are refusing to be part of the canonization of a fascist, and that counts for something.
But here is a list of notable Wisconsin Republicans who are going to Cleveland to participate in the nomination of the closest thing to Adolf Hitler that this great nation has ever risked making its president. Whatever other good things they may have done in their lives, this negates it.
RNC Chairman Reince Priebus
U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan
Gov. Scott Walker
Tonette Walker
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson
Rep. Robin Vos
Former Gov. Tommy G. Thompson
Sen. Howard Marklein
David Blaska
Rep. Paul Tittl
Rep. Adam Jarchow
Sen. Scott Fitzgerald
Rep. Dean Knudson
Sen. Duey Stroebel
Rep. Tyler August
Sen. Alberta Darling
Rep. John Nygren
Sen. Mary Lazich
U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke.
