Cruz, Kids and Claptrap

One convention down, one to go. There really weren’t any huge stories coming out of the Republican get-together. Fortunately, the demonstrations didn’t get out of hand. However, there are three stories that are worthy of comment.
Ted Cruz got the lion’s share of the boos. I do feel sorry for him. Politics can be pretty rough but Trump went way over the line in attacking his wife and father. I don’t blame him for refusing to endorse Trump. It seems like he went about it the wrong way. When he agreed to speak, there was certainly an expectation that he would give his endorsement. Many are predicting the end of his political career but a lot can happen in four years.
We heard a lot about the Trump kids. They are an impressive bunch. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or more gets into politics. Some seemed to say that having good kids somehow qualified him to be president. Of course that is ridiculous. Trump is running his campaign exactly as he runs his business. Experts are hired but Trump and his children make all the decisions. I wonder if he thinks he can run the government the same. I have this vision of the secretary of state asking him about China and being told to check with Ivanka.
Trump’s acceptance speech was looong. It was the same length as Obama’s and Romney’s speeches combined in 2012. I guess we shouldn’t be surprised since it took him twenty-eight minutes to introduce Mike Pence. Basically it was just a rehash of his campaign speeches. It is nothing new for politicians to make promises they can’t keep but much of what Trump said was utter nonsense. He talks of not allowing people to send money to their families in Mexico so they will pay for the wall. We heard a lot about bringing jobs home. Even if he started a trade war with China, the jobs would go to Vietnam or some other country, not here. Much of what he promises requires congressional approval and can be stopped with a filibuster. Ending birthright citizenship requires a constitutional amendment. What really scares me is the thought that he actually believes what he says.
Now the Democrats take center stage. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.   
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