Last week, the 2016 Republican National Convention was held in Cleveland, Ohio. The atmosphere of the convention was bleak. It painted America as a dangerous place that needed to be fixed on all fronts in order to ensure the safety and liberty of all its citizens. The themes of all four nights were as follows: "Make America Safe Again," "Make American Work Again," "Make America First Again" and "Make America One Again." These names imply that America is none of those things anymore, adding to the fearful view of America that the Republican National Committee perpetuates.
In addition, efforts to stop Trump from becoming the nominee were fruitless, and Donald Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president, Friday, July 22. His acceptance speech gave the impression that the apocalypse was coming, and if we did not elect him to stop it, we and our entire country would be doomed. However, the scariest part of the convention had nothing to do with fear-mongering speeches. The most worrisome aspect of it was its support of the new Republican Party Platform. Every four years, both the Republican and Democratic parties create party platforms that map out the principles and policies of the party. This year, the RNC party platform reflects the radical right-wing ideology of not only Donald Trump but the party itself. It is blatantly anti-LGBT, anti-women, anti-choice, racist and Islamophobic.
Unfortunately, coverage of the party platform was overshadowed by Donald Trump and his vice presidential pick Mike Pence, speech plagiarism by Melania Trump and the scandalous refusal from Ted Cruz to support Donald Trump.
Here are some of the highlights.
- Pass an anti-choice constitutional amendment.
- Allow states to shut down abortion clinics.
- End federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
- Replace sex education with abstinence-only education.
- Legalize anti-LGBT discrimination and overturn marriage equality Supreme Court ruling.
- Make Christianity the national religion and English the national language.
- Privatize student loans.
- Lessen environmental regulations and ignore global climate change agreements.
- Keep minimum wage the same.
- Offer no amnesty for undocumented immigrants and require documentation of citizenship to register for voting.
- Penalize cities that give sanctuary to migrants.
- Build a wall between U.S. and Mexico to keep immigrants out.
- Restore the death penalty.
- Repeal Obamacare.
- Increase military spending.
- Cancel the Iran nuclear treaty and expand our nuclear arsenal.
- Stop consumer protection
The list goes on.
The consequences of these types of policies will affect more than just the presidential race. In addition, scientific research was cited in the platform regarding issues like abortion and climate change.
The Republican National Convention revealed a potentially dangerous future for the American public if its nominee or other members get elected to office. The idea that Trump is the most radical member of the Republican party is a lie. While the man has said disgusting things and flip-flopped on countless views, he now has the Republican Party backing him both in public support and policy. The platform proposed extremely right-winged policies that threaten established freedoms and rights in our nation.
Click here to view the 2016 Republican Platform.
