Republican Convention, Day One: Biblical Revelations, JD Vance, Israel, Ukraine

Merchandise for sale at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee — July 15, 2024

Congressman Cory Mills (R-FL) told me that as a “Constitutionalist,” one thing Donald Trump definitely “understands” is that the Constitution is “framed upon what are the Christian-Judeo beliefs.” Thus, according to Mills, Trump further understands that “the Israelites are the children of God.” 

“You understand the prophecy of Revelations [sic],” Mills explained at the Republican Convention in Milwaukee on Monday, “and it talks about the people of Israel, who are God’s children, who will fly on the back of an eagle, it talks about the Mountain of God, which essentially is Russia.”

Remind me at some point to re-read the Book of Revelation for fact-checking purposes. It’s the most hallucinogenic book of the Bible, if memory serves, and is also literally “apocalyptic,” which would make for a thematically fitting reading assignment as it relates to current US electoral politics and foreign policy.

Mills indicated that his theological convictions reinforce his belief that Trump will “remain firm on an America First Agenda.” He bemoaned that Biden temporarily and shambolically delayed one shipment of 500-pound bombs to Israel, and said “President Trump would have not done that.” Indeed, maintained Mills, “President Trump would have ensured that Israel has a right to defense, and that is always being protected,” while also defending America as well.  

So if you’re able to follow the formula expressed here, it appears to be something like 1) America First means recognizing that the Constitution is inspired by “Christian-Judeo” beliefs 2) The US is therefore theologically obliged to send Israel lots of weapons. Mills also makes sure to clarify that he has various non-theological or “strategic” justifications for subsidizing Israel’s warfare with no apparent conditions, but the ease with which he articulated his “America First Agenda” on the Israel matter speaks to the perpetual elasticity of “MAGA” and “America First” — slogans that functionally mean nothing at this point other than “Being a Republican and Supporting Trump.” Which conveniently enables anyone to project whatever preferences or desires they want.

Thus it’s not the least bit surprising that JD Vance, the new VP pick who energetically denounced and repudiated the initial ascendance of Trump in 2016, could easily accommodate himself to the Republican Mainstream by 2024, which essentially just requires declaring allegiance to Trump — who, it must be said, has likely acquired an even more potent personal followership in the aftermath of the assassination attempt. Policy or philosophical consistency is likely to be even less relevant in terms of how people regard their support of Trump.

The selection of Vance is already generating all the standard media and Democratic accusations of “isolationist” or being “pro-Putin,” none of which align with Trump or Vance’s actual record.

As I reported back when Vance was running to become Ohio Senator in 2022, after having received Trump’s endorsement in the Republican Primary, Vance was explicitly in favor of funding and arming Ukraine — and said so directly, in verbatim quotes that are really not ambiguous, despite how erroneously the media might’ve portrayed his positions:

For instance, Ohio GOP Senate candidate JD Vance is constantly described in popular media as among the most dangerously Putin-sympathetic Republicans because, as TIME magazine matter-of-factly asserted in a very Low IQ article, Vance “wants to end US support for Ukraine.” This is one of those folklore wives’ tales that eventually just kind of congeals into conventional wisdom, without anyone ever checking the details. Because it happens to not be true, as could be ascertained by a simple assessment of Vance’s own statements — rather than second-hand extrapolations which presuppose Vance as a poster-boy for the “pro-Putin” GOP.

In a local Ohio TV interview on September 4, Vance said the following: “Can we send defensive weapons to Ukrainians? Absolutely.” In an October 13 interview with David M. Drucker of the Washington Examiner, Vance reiterated the same point: “But my sense is that, American policy making — absolutely send some defensive weapons, I’ve never been opposed to that.” (Drucker helpfully passed along the full quote to me, which is paraphrased in the article.) The basic takeaway here is that Vance, like somewhere between 95% and 99% of his GOP colleagues preparing to enter Congress, does not oppose the foundational precept of US war policy in Ukraine — whatever grievances he might emphasize about the precise number of billions allocated, or the purported lack of “oversight,” or Biden’s alleged “weakness.” The whole thing’s basically a shell game.

That shell game continued when Trump orchestrated the passage of the $61 Billion in Ukraine funding several months ago — something I keep harping on because the near-total public unawareness of this drives me insane, and also leads to all sorts of faulty assumptions (both negative and positive) about Trump’s purported plans for a second term. 

A glance at the Convention from a lesser utilized vantage point

“My understanding is, President Trump came up with the idea of making it a loan,” Kevin McCarthy, the chagrined former Speaker of the House, told me yesterday. McCarthy said Trump’s contribution to the legislative process was helpful because it created the impression that “you weren’t just giving money away” to Ukraine by voting for the bill. “So I think it really was a smart move all around,” said McCarthy, who is rumored to be in the running to become Trump’s next Chief of Staff.

As we have gone over many times here and elsewhere, the idea that “you weren’t just giving money away” to Ukraine in passing that mammoth War Funding Bill is entirely false — a transparent and bogus ploy. Only a small portion of “economic aid” within the overall package is even theoretically classifiable as a “loan” — the vast majority comes right out of US taxpayer coffers, as per usual. 

I raised the issue yesterday with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), asking him if he expects that alleged “loan” to ever be repaid. “A loan with no interest, right? What do you think?” Tuberville said. “I want that same loan.” I agreed that I would also like to receive a loan on such fantastically generous terms.

But, of course, the “elephant in the room” at GOP functions is that no one wants to hear about, much less attempt to forthrightly reconcile, the many policy incongruities and obfuscations at the heart of Trump’s current campaign, or the “America First” / “MAGA Movement” writ large, such as it exists — which is only really as a vessel for channeling personal allegiance to Trump, and then his followers can fill in all the ideological/policy blanks as they go along. Even more so after the assassination attempt, which turbo-charges Trump’s personal lore, and likewise diminishes anyone’s interest in Trump’s actual record or policy positions.

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