If, like me, you were one of the half dozen people suffering through the four-day infomercial otherwise known as the Democratic National Convention, you may have gotten a view of an America you don’t recognize. One in which up is down and down is up.

Okay, okay. There were more than a half-dozen people watching this thing. But, relatively speaking, not many more. Network ratings for the convention were 40 – 50 percent below what they were in 2016, and overall viewership was off about 30 percent. In a year when a significant part of the population is confined to their home and with political divisions running at the highest level in our lifetime, one might have expected at least as many people to tune in as last time. But no.

To be fair, due to concerns about the coronavirus thing, this was a virtual convention, just as the Republican National Conventional, soon to follow, will be, and as such it lacked a lot of the pzazz and pageantry of live political conventions. But even given that constraint, one has to wonder who was behind putting this thing together, as contrived and staged as it was. Described by many as an extended infomercial, it verged into tedium and too often suffered from annoying, if minor, technical glitches, but mostly it just felt stiff and distant. All that is aside from the boundless balderdash and shameless deceits foisted on the audience by the various Dem sacred cows who paraded across the screen for four nights. But we’ll get to that.

Things started off inauspiciously the first night with an opening video featuring a series of scenes from cities around the country. That might have been okay, but what jumped off the screen was that almost all the shots were taken under overcast skies. Who, I wondered, had screened and greenlighted that video? What quickly became apparent, though, was that those gray skies were emblematic of the kind of vision of America that this party has and which would underpin much of what would follow that night and over the next nights of the convention. Not a bright and vibrant country, not a country of sunshine and blue skies, but a country moldering under grim and colorless clouds. It could have been Siberia in winter and not America in mid-summer.

The next thing that didn’t bode well was the appearance of actress Eva Longoria as emcee for the night. I had to check my TV listings to be sure this was the DNC convention and not the Academy Awards. Nope, it was the DNC convention, but the choice to use Hollywood celebrities underscores how much the Democratic Party has become the party of the elites. In this case, the Hollywood elites, some of the biggest financial backers of Dem candidates.

Longoria was more interesting as a Desperate Housewife than as emcee of a political convention. Her low-energy presentation didn’t generate much excitement, not for this viewer, anyway, as the evening wore on. And neither did the other celebrities who emceed over the next three nights. On the second night, it was Tracee Ellis Ross, who I confess I had to look up since I didn’t have a clue who she was. The third night had Kerry Washington, whom at least I’d vaguely heard of but couldn’t place where. The last night, the one I was watching as I wrote this, put Julia Louis-Dreyfus of Seinfeld fame center stage. Dreyfus almost immediately distinguished herself by telling some sort of joke about Vice President Mike Pence that was as tasteless as it was senseless and unfunny. And it wasn’t the last tasteless and pointless joke of the night. Hey Julia, go back to being Elaine, and lose the stand-up.

The third thing that jumped out at the outset and which remained throughout the four nights was the racial make-up of the various people used for cameo appearances and coordinated applause on the dozens of video screens used to fill in the backdrop for the convention. I’m all for diversity, but looking at things through the eyes of the Dems, something like 80 to 90 percent of the American population is black, Hispanic, or Native American. That more than flips things on their head, given that about 13 percent of the population is black, 18 percent is Hispanic, and some small percent is Native American. And in the Dems’ world, there aren’t many Asians, who in fact make up about 6 percent of the population.

What wasn’t talked about

Before we discuss what was said at the convention, let’s talk about what wasn’t mentioned, not even a little, not even in passing: The violence, rioting, and crime that has been sweeping the country for nearly three months now. These things simply do not exist for the Dems, and somehow they think no one will notice their absence from the conversation (a favorite Dem word for talking about intractable issues).

It would be neither inaccurate nor an exaggeration to say that the coronavirus pandemic is the single best ally the Dems have. Fears of the virus are what led to cancellation of the live convention in Milwaukee. Given how the Democratic nomination process that led to the elevation of Joe Biden to the top spot was essentially hijacked by anonymous party power brokers, the riots going on in Portland and Seattle and other places would seem like boisterous frat parties compared to the violence that might have torn Milwaukee to shreds, in the mode of Chicago 1968, had the convention actually been held there.

The other thing the pandemic has done is to give Democratic governors the perfect excuse to close down their states, leading to massive economic disruption and helping to drive an economy, arguably the best in the country’s history pre-pandemic, into the ditch. The virus and the current economic downturn were often mentioned, ad nauseum, during the convention – albeit without much anchoring to facts – to the point that one could reasonably contend that Joe Biden has two running mates, the second one being the coronavirus.

What was talked about

Over the course of the four nights, some things became transparently clear, including that the Dems:

• Are deathly afraid that low voter turn-out of party voters, especially on the Bernie Sanders wing of the party, will kill their chances in November
• See slipping support among black and Hispanic voters as a mortal threat to electing Joe Biden as President
• Realize how critical women voters are to winning in November
• Don’t want you to know about the Faustian bargain party power brokers made to jury-rig Joe Biden at the head of the ticket in return for agreeing to the most radical left-wing programs espoused by Bernie and the so-called “progressive” (read “radical”) wing of the party
• Think a bunch of weak-kneed has-been Republicans, dragged out to speak for a Dem candidacy, will move the needle with voters
• Lack new ideas or programs a large segment of the electorate might get behind, but whatever is wrong with the country is all Donald Trump’s fault
• Think if they tell big enough lies, which won’t be exposed or questioned by their lackeys in the liberal media, they can fool voters into voting for Dems in November

The irony is, they are probably onto something with most, if not all, of those points.

We heard over and over, especially on the fourth night, how people should text 30330 to work out their “voting plan,” whatever that is. We were told that so many times that no one could actually forget it, except of course Joe Biden, as he did at the end of the first Dem debate. And if anyone had any doubt about what voters the Dems were appealing to, that was dispelled by the overwhelming number of black and brown faces on all those video screens.

In a play for Bernie voters, old Bernie himself made the pitch for Joe Biden, but the programs and objectives outlined by him and the person who seconded Bernie’s nomination, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were in direct contradiction to the positions Biden staked out during the Dem debates. Notably invisible were the daytime workshops and caucuses where the most radical participants aired their plans and programs for what should happen after November.

No one wanted to talk about things like defunding the police, which most black voters don’t support, preferring to call it by some blather like “re-imagining the police,” even as Dem city councils and mayors around the country are already defunding and emasculating the police.

Biden, we were repeatedly told, had a plan for dealing with his second running mate, the coronvirus pandemic, but that plan sounded remarkably like what the Trump Administration has actually done and smacked of puffery more than substance. This as the candidate cowers in his Wilmington basement, kept on a short leash by his handlers. Meanwhile, demonstrating the very essence of ignorance with impudence, New York Gov. Mario Cuomo had nothing good to say about Trump, even after Trump had provided him with everything he had asked for and previously earned his praise as New York, under Cuomo’s oversight, rose to the top echelon of the world in mishandling the pandemic.

It was equally – what is the correct word? Amusing? Infuriating? Mind-boggling? – to hear Bill Clinton talk about bringing dignity to the Oval Office, or Barack Obama talk of scandal or being up to the job, or Michelle Obama (whose address had been prerecorded from the Obama’s $11.75 million estate on Martha’s Vineyard) talk about how much she loved America. Not unexpectedly, Hillary Clinton still can’t get over the fact that she lost to Donald Trump in 2016, nor was it a surprise that John Kerry would have the temerity to say that it is Trump and not himself and Obama and Biden who is soft on terrorism. Shameless is not just the name of a Showtime television series but can be applied to the top luminaries of the Democratic Party, given the breathtaking breadth and depth of their dishonesty and hypocrisy.

While no one wanted to talk about how Biden’s family profited from his position in generating enormous profits in China and Ukraine and other places, we heard how nice he was to train conductors and elevator operators, what a sweet guy he is, and how loyal he is to his family and friends. But none of that relates to how good or competent a president he would make, or his lackluster record stretching over 36 years in the Senate or eight years as Vice President, and least of all his current mental condition and ability to even serve in the world’s most demanding position. As reported by Politico, despite the words of praise Obama heaped on his former VP Wednesday night, the 44th president was slow to endorse Biden and told another Democrat, “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to fuck things up.”

The real candidate

What the Dem power brokers would rather you not know is who their real candidate is, and that is their pick for Vice President, Biden’s first running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California. There is too much to say about the ploy they’re trying to pull in this piece, but even the most uncurious voter has to wonder about the pick of someone who was so unpopular in the primary contest that she dropped out of the race two months before the first caucus or primary election was held. Harris may have been unpopular to the full range of Dem voters, just as she has been a less-than-popular figure in her home state of California, but as the most liberal member of the Senate – designated by GovTrack.us as more liberal than self-proclaimed Socialist Bernie himself – she was an obvious choice for the far left power brokers of the party.

To put a term to it, Harris is what is called a stalking horse candidate. Biden may be at the head of the ticket, but once in office – if he makes it that far – and it becomes apparent he’s not up to governing, Harris will be the one who runs the show. While the party poobahs do their best to keep Biden sequestered in his Wilmington basement, it will be Harris out doing the campaigning and, if voters buy into the ploy, running the White House and the government after Jan. 20. If the Dems manage to keep control of the House and succeed in taking back the Senate, the way will be clear for imposing the most radical agenda on the country. That’s the plan, anyway.

Think me cynical if you wish, but more than ever before in U.S. history we have two empty vessels put forth by one party to be President and Vice President, and it is the party power brokers, the radical “progressives” pulling the strings, who will be in control should their plan succeed. Even a cursory look reveals how both Biden and Harris lack core values and change their positions on just about any issue quicker than Arturo Brachetti could change his clothes. They are the perfect vehicles for a takeover of American politics such as the country has never previously seen.

If you were impressed by the four nights of the DNC’s infomercial, just wait for the four years, and beyond, they have in store for you.

Featured Image: Alex Martinez, Unsplash. Used with permission.