The Shadows That Loom Over The RNC

So the Republican National Convention goes on like a grotesque calliope, building up with a crescendo for the grand finale on Thursday when Mitt Romney is to give his speech and opening up the flood gates for the din and cacophony coming at us for the next sixty-some days.

Like any staged production, which this convention is, there are a lot of bright lights, special effects and choreographed stunts. But once one looks past the bright lights and past the smoke and the mirrors, and start looking at the things the Republicans don't want you to see, you see that their show is nothing more than an expensive facade. And as any stagehand could tell you, behind those bright lights, there are shadows.

The shadows which loom over the RNC are larger than life and have the Republicans terrified. ;Oh, they would never admit it, but their behaviors give them away.

The first shadows over the RNC came in the form of Hurricane Isaac.

The Republicans gave themselves away on the days leading up to the convention, when there was concern that Tampa might be in the storms path. All one heard was that the Republicans were afraid that the news of the hurricane might upstage their own production. Not one fret was given for the people that might be hurt or killed in the storm, but only on how it would impact them and their agenda. This was the ultimate White Whine.

It turned out that Isaac was the shadow which was cast by George W. Bush and his date from several years ago, Katrina. Ironically, Isaac hit New Orleans and the gulf on the anniversary of Katrina's landfall. And like those seven years ago, the conventioneers echoed Bush by not giving a damn about the victims, but just wanted to keep on partying.

And related to and mingling with George's and Katrina's shadows, there is the shadow of Jim Crow and all the racism he brings with him. Do you think it's mere coincidence that the Republicans don't care about the people in the hurricane's paths, then or now? Let's not forget that these are the same people that are trumpeting their false concern of voter fraud in order to justify their voter suppression.

We have already seen that the Republicans will be playing the race card as one of their major planks, by the behaviors of their nominee and of their party leader. With leadership like that, it's not at all surprising that the rank and file felt that it was appropriate to start throwing nuts at African American camerawoman working for CNN and yelling, "This is the way we feed animals."?

The next shadow, and one of the two biggest ones, is being cast by Todd Akin. Akin, of course, is the buffoon who made the moronic comment about how women can't get pregnant from rape because their bodies automatically stop the fertilization process. It didn't take long for there to be many examples of the misogyny of the right, including their vice-presidential nominee, Paul Ryan.

I found it laughable how the Republicans were taking great pains to show just how much they are not a large groups of misogynists and racists by saying how much they just love women and blacks. They did everything short of uttering the phrase, "Some of my best friends are women and/or blacks." The fact is, if they were really friendly to minorities and to women, they wouldn't have to tell people because their behaviors would reflect that. The way they are over-hyping their inclusiveness only serves to point out that there is none.

It is this over-hyping behavior that pointed out another huge shadow over the convention. In fact, the pieces didn't fall together until today, when the usual suspects inadvertently pointed it out by trying to hide it.

The shadow they were trying to hide belonged to our old friend, John Doe.

The GOP mouthpieces disguised as radio squawkers and bloggers were taking great pains to point out how "popular" Scott Walker was at the convention. Charlie Sykes repeatedly pointed out that Walker got two standing ovations. Every radio personality and/or journalist for the Walker-loving Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and/or blogger has been swooning about the "Cheddarhead" movement which included Walker, Reince Priebus and Paul Ryan.

Like I said, their overextension of Walker's supposed popularity made me wonder what they were trying to keep people from seeing.

That answer came shortly when Sykes attacked Milwaukee District Attorney John Chisholm, twice even, regarding the John Doe investigation into former Supervisor Johnny Thomas and trying to tie it into Walkergate, the John Doe investigation into Walker, his campaign and his former staffers. This attack was repeated by Jeff Wagner, who only revealed either a gross misunderstanding of the law and/or that he is just a plain, flat out liar.

That's when things started to click together.

First, look at their hype of Walker's supposed popularity and his status as a rising star and rock star of the Republicans.

Walker, as he is fond of repeatedly pointing out, is the only governor in the history of the nation to survive a recall attempt. (We'll discuss the legitimacy of either of his election victories at another time.) He became the darling of the teahadists when he was able to tank the state's economy by removing a large amount of the state's money from circulation and redistributing it among his wealthiest campaign donors. No wonder he's so popular, right?

Yet, despite his alleged popularity, he was given only seven minutes on an off night when everyone's attention was on the keynote speakers of Governor Chris Christie and Ann Romney. Heck, they didn't even announce his appearance until days after the keynote speakers had been named. When Walker was finally announced, it was with a lot of other minor players.

Not exactly the way one would treat a superstar, is it?

By all accounts on the left and right, Walker's speech was pedestrian and barely functional. Many described him as flat and not very inspirational at all. I had heard some opine that it was because he wasn't the center of attention and that he's not much of a team player.

But what if Walker's poor showing was because there was something else occupying his mind and making him worried? And I don't think that something was his failings as a job creator or his failure to reduce the deficit, balance the budget or keep taxes down.

Now, let's not forget that Tim Russell had to get himself a public defender, and it appeared that a plea bargain might be in the works for that case. Could it be that such a deal is imminent or even already made?

I haven't heard or seen anything that would confirm that something else is about to pop in the ongoing Walkergate investigation. But judging by the increased level of worrying by Walker and his supporters and their need to lay the ground work for a defense of Walker by making him seem more popular than his is and libeling the investigation, and the obvious attempts by the Republicans to separate themselves from Walker, it would seem like there is a good chance of something coming down and coming soon.

Now wouldn't that make a lovey Labor Day present?