As we get closer to our upcoming election day, let's remember something about the Republican National Convention. The picture above, taken during that convention, shows our former president with his emblematic bandage; it was published in The New York Times, online, on July 19, 2024. The article from which I took that image was titled, "How Trump Dominated His Own Party on a New G.O.P. Platform." If you click that link, but are not a subscriber to The Times, you will quite likely not be able to read the story. Here's the online subhead, to give you a quick synopsis of what the article reports:
Donald Trump and his team displayed a ruthless efficiency in the process of making a platform, confiscating delegates’ cellphones and stifling dissent and even debate.
As readers may remember, there has been some serious talk about how the Republican Party has shifted towards "dictatorship," as the model for what a democratic government should actually be trying to do. The link will take you to one of my earlier blog postings. And, presumably, everyone remembers that former president Trump has promised to take office as a "dictator," on his "day one" in office, should he be elected in November.
What the July 19th article in The Times documents is a successful effort by Donald Trump to prevent any actual deliberation over what the Republican Party "Platform" should say. Those delegates to the Convention, who thought that they were going to help develop an explanation of what the Republican Party is trying to achieve, and why voters should vote for their candidates, were prevented from discussing or deliberating about the content of the "Platorm."
The expression "deplatform" is usually employed to state how those who seek to express themselves on social media, on the internet, are deprived of their ability to do that:
Deplatforming, (no-platforming), [is] a form of Internet censorship of an individual or group by preventing them from posting on the platforms they use to share their information/ideas. This typically involves suspension, outright bans, or reducing spread (shadow banning).
It looks to me like Donald Trump, and "his" Republican Party, are definitely committed to a "democracy" that essentially tells citizens this: "sit down; shut up; do what you're told." Trump, aided by his family members and followers, essentially "deplatformed" the delegates who came to the convention to "share their information/ideas."
If you don't think that approach to government and politics is what we need, then don't vote for candidates whose political party actually does think that "dictatorship" is the true object of "democracy." Click this link to read that earlier blog posting, because the stakes are really high!
Donald Trump and his team displayed a ruthless efficiency in the process of making a platform, confiscating delegates’ cellphones and stifling dissent and even debate
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