Tag Archives: American Airlines Center

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Coronavirus ‘briefings’ = campaign rallies

I want to be clear.

I cannot stand to watch Donald Trump campaign rallies when I am told that’s what I am watching. I especially cannot stomach them when we are told he is going to “brief” the nation on the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

And yet …

We get campaign rally-style riffs from Donald Trump at the White House. He keeps yapping about what a “great” and “fantastic” job he says he’s doing to fight the virus. He keeps hammering at Democrats for their alleged “obstruction” and at the media for their “fake news” reporting of the facts.

It’s all part and parcel of a typical Donald Trump rally.

I attended an actual Trump rally this past year at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas. I actually had a good time visiting with assorted Trumpkins who waited in line with me to get into the arena. The rally itself was, oh, the typical rant. So, I left.

I just am weary of turning on the TV and seeing POTUS’s mug looking at me while he’s supposedly offering the latest news on the fight against the pandemic.

That is why I normally turn the channel away from it. Strangely, though, I am lured to watch it hoping (foolishly) that there might be a nugget of important information coming from Donald Trump.

How silly of me.

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Well now … that was some KAG rally in Big D

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To my friends and assorted loved ones who expressed concern that I was plunging into the belly of the beast by attending a Donald Trump re-election rally, I have good news.

I survived. Intact. No one laid a hand on me. No one got angry. I stayed for as long as I wanted to stay and left on my terms.

There. Now that we’ve cleared that up, I want to offer a word or two about what I saw at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas this afternoon and evening.

I saw a huge crowd of Trump fanatics — the vast majority of whom (close to 90 percent, I am guessing) — wearing Donald Trump gear. MAGA hats. Shirts with assorted sayings and slogans; some of them were profane and expressed a good bit of anger.

I met a very nice couple from Rockwall, who drove all the way into Dallas to see their man, the president. I confided in them while we waited outside that “I am not a Trump supporter. I am here as an observer.” OK, I didn’t tell them the whole truth, that I was there as a fervent anti-Trump voter and that I intend to keep skewering Trump whenever possible. They promised to read my blog on the subject and I hope they don’t hate me too much.

There were t-shirts with the message: Trump Supporter, I Won’t Apologize For It.” When have you seen a political supporter offer up that qualifier? Anyone? Oh, and there was this gem: “Fu** Your Feelings.” I didn’t have the courage to ask if those wearing that article of clothing were among Trump’s evangelical base of supporters.

The crowd outside was remarkable in its ethnic/racial makeup. It was not as lily white as I expected. I saw several African-American men wearing “Blacks for Trump” attire.

Then there was the shirt that said “Jesus Is My Savior, Trump Is My President.” Actually, that one made me want to hurl, given that the shirt contained the name of Jesus Christ and arguably the most anti-Christian man ever elected to the presidency. Enough of that.

I stood in a line that stretched more than a mile and a half. We snaked our way around several barriers outside the AAC, then walked up the steps and into the building. The U.S. Secret Service did a remarkably thorough but quick inspection of everyone entering the arena.

I found a seat way up high.

Then out came the president of the United States, applauding along with the cheering crowd. I never can tell why he claps so much when he enters a room. Is he cheering those who are clapping for him … or is he just so damn proud of himself that he cannot resist giving himself an ovation?

Whatever.

He launched into the same tired tirade I’ve been hearing since he took office. Democrats are the enemy. So are the media. Everyone opposed to Trump and the Republican Party want “open borders,” they want to “take away your rights,” they favor “socialism” over capitalism, they hate the United States, and on and on.

Admission time: I didn’t stay for Trump’s entire tirade. I heard all I could stand and left.

My final takeaway from this Trump “Keep America Great” rally is this: The enthusiasm of the 16,000 or so in the arena and in line waiting to get into the AAC is as fervent as anything I have ever seen at events such as this. I will give Trump credit for that much; his base of support is seemingly unshakable.

Which makes me wonder yet again: Are these Trump loyalists so blinded by their fealty to this man that they can overlook the crimes he has committed? Or are they — and there’s no pleasant way to say this — just plain ignorant?

national news

They’re ‘welcoming’ me to the Trump ‘KAGA’ rally … cool!

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I received an email message today that shouldn’t surprise me, but then again, it does fill me with an added desire to attend an event I never thought I would want to attend.

Donald J. Trump is coming to the Metroplex on Thursday. He will stage one of those Keep America Great rallies at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas. I will be among those in the crowd.

The president’s re-election campaign today sent me a welcome message, expressing appreciation for my willingness to attend this event.

OK, so my sincere and ardent opposition to Trump’s re-election hasn’t exactly registered with the rank-and-file staffers at the president’s campaign. I get it. I’m just a chump blogger who lives out here in the heart of Trump Country.

The Trump-Pence campaign said it is “excited for you to join us at our Keep America Great Rally with President Trump.” I applied for a ticket online, printed it out and will present it when I walk into the arena.

The Secret Service will be checking everyone who walks into the AAC. Hey, I totally get that. The campaign advised me of the care the Secret Service is taking to ensure everyone’s safety. I’ll be glad to submit to whatever inspection they intend to conduct.

The campaign is advising everyone to get there early. No sweat. I will be there in plenty of time.

I am not going to delude myself into believing that anyone at Trump’s campaign HQ gives a damn what I have to say about the president. I am not employed by a major media outlet. I just write this blog for myself; sure, it gets distributed along some social media platforms.

My intent here is to attend the rally at the AAC. I won’t make a spectacle of myself. I’ll be discreet.

I do intend to report on what I see and hear at the rally. Donald Trump supporters likely won’t like what I expect to say about occurs inside the American Airlines Center.

But, what the heck. I do appreciate the email.

Donald Trump

Dallas MAGA rally looks as though it’ll be a doozy

If Donald Trump’s rally this week in Minnesota offers a preview of what we’ll get next week in Dallas, then we’re in for a doozy of a barnburner at the American Airlines Center.

The president got ’em fired up in the Twin Cities, saying that Joe Biden never was considered a “good senator” and the only reason he earned praise as vice president was because he figured out how to “kiss (President Obama’s) ass.”

Isn’t that swell? Isn’t that the kind of “rhetoric” one would expect to hear from the president of the United States?

No need to answer that. I got it figured out.

I intend to be among the crowd of folks gathered at the AAC next week to hear the president get all hot and bothered over impeachment, the Democrats, the “corrupt fake news” media, Robert Mueller, The Russia Probe, the “worst witch hunt in American history,” all that kind of crap.

The Minnesota rally got a bit of extra push because it was the first Trump re-election event since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry in the House. Oh, my, there has been a boatload of issues pouring forth.

I am anxious to hear how Trump plans to campaign for re-election if he’s impeached by the House, which now appears more likely than ever. I also want — but I do not expect — to hear Trump tout reasons to re-elect him. Instead, I fully expect to hear that his opponents all are corrupt, they’re “losers,” they can’t get over getting beaten in 2016.

I’ll be amongst ’em in Dallas. I’m getting giddy about it. Why is that? The MAGA rally, in the words of Tom Cruise in the film “Top Gun,” is certain to provide a “target-rich environment.”

national news

Thank you for the concern, but … it’s going to be all right

I have been getting some interesting responses to my announced plans to attend a Donald Trump “MAGA Rally” at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Some of my social media contacts — and a member of my family — have expressed some concern for my safety. They are afraid of the president’s followers, believing that they’re going to sniff me out — as someone who, um, is not a follower — and perhaps rough me up. They’ve been known to do that during campaign rallies, right?

Well, I feel the need to explain my plan while attending this event, which is set for Oct. 17.

I have wanted to see a Donald Trump rally up close ever since he entered political life in June 2015, when he announced his presidential campaign. Trump never brought his campaign to Amarillo, where I lived during his successful campaign for the presidency in 2016; I guess the Texas Panhandle was too much of a sure thing for Trump to “waste” his time and effort.

So, he’s coming to Dallas to have a rally in which he is going to exhort the faithful to help him “Keep America Great.” The Trump campaign, though, is calling it a “MAGA Rally,” which is sort of a takeoff from his 2016 campaign theme.

Hey, I intend to listen quietly while standing on the floor of the AAC. I won’t be cheering, stomping my feet, carrying on. Will that give me away? Will that serve as a clue to the crowd of Trumpsters in the arena that I ain’t one of ’em? 

Beats the devil out of me.

I do know how to behave myself in this context, however. What’s more, I will make sure to exit the building immediately at the first sign of trouble. I want to make that point abundantly clear.

Then I intend to report on all that I see and hear on this blog at the MAGA Rally. I trust you’ll get my drift.

It should be a fun and edifying evening among the Trump faithful.

political news

MAGA rally on tap in Dallas … dare I see what it’s all about?

I have just committed — more or less — to doing something I hope I am able to withstand physically, let alone emotionally.

Donald J. Trump is coming to Dallas in a couple of weeks. He is going to stage a “MAGA Rally” at the American Airlines Center  in downtown Dallas. I presume the place will be full.

I just obtained a ticket from the Trump campaign’s official website. Ticket is sitting on my desk at home. I am looking at it as I type this brief message.

A part of me wants to go. In fact, most of me wants to see this spectacle for myself, to get a ringside seat for this stream-of-consciousness litany of insult and innuendo that is sure to pour fourth from the president’s pie hole.

A much smaller part of me wonders: Are you out of your fu***** mind?

Actually, no. I am of sound mind. My belief is that in order to understand a little better this individual’s appeal to a substantial — but shrinking — part of the American electorate I need to see one of these events up close.

I once took a friendly wager from the late mayor of Beaumont, Texas, Maury Meyers, to watch Rush Limbaugh on TV and listen to his radio broadcast over a span of time before making any snap judgement on his message. I accepted Meyers’ challenge.

Then I determined after about two weeks watching Limbaugh that the blowhard was worse than I thought. I wrote a column about my experience watching the right-wing gas bag and determined that Limbaugh was the Willard Scott of political commentary.

Except that Willard Scott, formerly the “Today” show weatherman, “makes me laugh” while Limbaugh “makes me sick.”

I fear I am going to get physically ill standing among the thousands of Trump supporters, cheering his mindlessness, whoopin’ and hollerin’ when he tosses out lie after lie.

At this moment, though, I am committed to attending this MAGA rally. Perhaps if I see, hear and feel the emotion boiling up inside the arena, I’ll be better prepared to say what I know already.

Donald Trump is unfit for the presidency of the United States.