Donald Trump and the RNC, My Thoughts

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"Traditional American" Fuck off with that stupid shit.  There's no goddamn such thing as a 'traditional american'.  Republicans don't want minorities to prosper.  They only want you "Traditional" americans (AKA Rich and Christian) to prosper, and fuck everyone else.

Traditional Americans have good manners (which it appears that you don't have).  They are independent types who believe that it's up to them to improve their lives.  They believe that democracy and capitalism work well together to create a prosperous nation.  They don't believe in elitism.  The government isn't a ruling class that tells us what to do, but rather is there to serve the people.  Traditional Americans are law-abiding and believe in a nation governed by laws enacted through officials elected by the people - to say a few.

Whatever a traditional American might be, I find it tends to be a self-serving description. I'm sure the Know-Nothings considered themselves traditional Americans par excellence, though I question their 'good manners' when it came to kindness and hospitality to immigrants (Trump is nothing if not a throwback to these people). Perhaps you meant the good manners traditional Americans displayed when they were enslaving others, wiping out the native tribes, and stealing much of Mexico at bayonet point. Wait! No, you must mean the good manners -- not to mention the rugged individualism -- of the robber barons who made vast fortunes by gaming the political system for their own benefit.

As for democracy and capitalism working well to create a prosperous nation, you'll have no real quarrel with me. But it's worth pointing out that many of the very people your candidate castigates share those values, or hadn't you noticed? And it's your party that attempts to pass legislation at the states levels designed to suppress minority turnout at elections. Are you ok with that? Is that also part of your traditional American display of 'good manners' and respect for democracy and law?

As for elitism, all I can say is that you seem to have a shaky grasp of the Founders' generation and their views on democracy and the salt of the earth common man. These days, when I hear people rail against 'the elites', it seems like little more than class resentment. "Elite" only becomes a dirty word when "ism" is attached to it. The thing is, the true elites -- i.e., people of real achievement, expertise, and distinction and not merely those with wealth and the most toys or purchased political influence -- aren't the ones who apply the suffix. It's the people who resent them, and those who hope to gain by stoking that resentment, who do.