The best courtroom dramas involve a defence lawyer who can work miracles of persuasion and, no matter how damning the evidence, convince the jury that their client is innocent.
A week after Democratic prosecutors presented their “open and shut” case against Donald Trump, the virtual Republican national convention is not only attempting to get him off the hook but argue that he deserves a medal – and four more years in the White House.
Take immigration. Trump has sought to cut legal immigration, slowed down the naturalisation process and overseen a zero tolerance policy that separated thousands of parents from their children at the US-Mexico border. But on Tuesday night, his coup de théâtre was a naturalisation ceremony at the White House for five new citizens from different continents.
The audacity of hope has nothing on the audacity of this guy. US marines opened wooden doors and saluted as Trump strode through to the fanfare of “Hail to the chief”. He told the new Americans, who waved small stars and stripes flags: “You are now fellow citizens of the greatest nation on the face of God’s earth.”
Critics said Trump has used both the immigrants and White House as political props, making this sacred ritual all about him. The ceremony, conducted by acting Department of Homeland Security head Chad Wolf, was a flagrant abuse of the line between governing and election campaigning and typical of a president who has turned television into politics and politics into television.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
