Convention of Fear: The themes running through the Republican National Convention are fear and adoration; fear of Democrats and the media, adoration of Donald Trump.

   The President’s son, Eric:  “In the view of the radical Democrats, America is a source of the world’s problems. As a result, they believe the only path forward is to erase history and forget the past. They want to destroy the monuments of our forefathers. They want to disrespect our flag, burn the stars and stripes that represent patriotism and the American dream.
   They want to disrespect our National Anthem by taking a knee while our armed forces lay down their lives every day to protect our freedom. They do not want the Pledge of Allegiance in our schools. Many of them don’t want one nation under God. The Democrats want to defund and disrespect our law enforcement. The Democrats want an America where your thoughts and opinions are censored when they do not align with their own.”

Former Florida Attorney Gen. Pam Bondi: “When millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump, they knew he’d be different, and he is. He’s a tough, no nonsense outsider who can’t be bought or intimidated. He won’t even take a paycheck from the American people. He donates his paycheck to charities across this country. Democrats have been lecturing America about integrity for four years while their nominee has been writing the textbook on abuse of power for 40 years.” 

The President’s daughter, Tiffany:  “If you tune into the media, you get one biased opinion or another, and what you share, if it does not fit into the narrative that they seek to promote, then it is either ignored or deemed a lie, regardless of the truth. This manipulation of what information we receive impedes our freedoms. Rather than allowing Americans the right to form our own beliefs, this misinformation system keeps people mentally enslaved to the ideas they deem correct. This has fostered unnecessary fear and divisiveness amongst us. 

  Why are so many in media and technology, and even in our own government, so invested in promoting a biased and fabricated view. Ask yourselves, why are we prevented from seeing certain information? Why is one viewpoint promoted while others are hidden? The answer is control, because division and controversy breed profit.”

Unconventional: President Trump and the Republicans have used the White House as a venue for partisan political events. First Lady Melania spoke last night in the Rose Garden, a break with accepted tradition that the White House is neutral ground.

  The President himself used the White House to conduct a naturalization ceremony for four new citizens, belying his general dislike for immigrants.

  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo spoke while on official business in Israel, becoming the first secretary of state to speak during a convention in 75 years. 

  The Republican convention this year has no platform or policy positions, only absolute support for Donald Trump, who on Monday night led a brief chant of “twelve more years.”

  Columnist EJ Dionne writes for The Washington Post that “Those who fear Trump’s authoritarianism are not alarmists, nor are they paranoid. And it’s not just his ‘12 more years’ shout. He has something larger in common with autocrats, who typically either create one-person parties of their own (as Trump’s friend Vladimir Putin did with his United Russia party) or reduce once-vibrant political parties to personality cults; Viktor Orban in Hungary.”

Viral News: The Republican speakers said little about the coronavirus pandemic other than to label it the “China virus.”

  In an embarrassment for the administration,  Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn on Tuesday apologized for overstating the life-saving benefits of treating COVID-19 patients with convalescent plasma.

  Scientists and medical experts have been pushing back against the claims about the treatment since President Trump’s announcement Sunday that convalescent plasma taken from patients who have recovered from the coronavirus has shown dramatic results in helping people survive the disease.

   Trump’s claim on the eve of the Republican National Convention raised suspicions that it was politically motivated to offset critics of his handling of the pandemic.

  As students return to schools and universities, the virus spreads. The University of Alabama has had 500 cases since re-opening six days ago.

  This morning, the US has had 5,779,395 cases and 178,533 deaths, the most of any country in the world. 

Black Lives: Two people were killed and one wounded in a shooting last night in Kenosha, Wisconsin during continued unrest over the police shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake. 

  Last night’s shooting appeared to have happened at a gas station that was being defended from protesters by men with guns. In other action, protesters threw water bottles, rocks, and fireworks at the police, who responded with teargas and rubber bullets.

  The 29-year-old black man shot several times in the back by a cop is paralyzed from the waist down, the family’s lawyer says. Blake also has multiple organ damage. His father said, “They shot my son seven times … seven times like he didn’t matter, but my son matters. He’s a human being and he matters.”

Wages of Sin: Jerry Falwell Jr., who resigned the presidency of Liberty University in a sex scandal, will get $10.5 million in severance pay.

  Giancarlo Granda, the other man, says he had a years-long sexual affair with Falwell’s wife Becki and that Falwell sometimes watched their interactions, including video calls where Becki Falwell was naked.

  Falwell told The Wall Street Journal, “I didn’t break any rules—I get my compensation.”