We wouldn’t normally advise people
In 2007, Donald Trump, then known as a self-promoting celebrity of fabulous wealth with a penchant for beauties and bankruptcies, briefly became a character in the WWE, World Wrestling Entertainment. In the “Battle of the Billionaires,’’ he challenged wrestling impresario Vince McMahon to a showdown. McMahon, if you don’t happen to know, is chairman and CEO of WWE, a publicly traded company, and a former pro wrestler.
In that realm at least, Trump is no loser. A video titled “Donald Trump body slams, beats and shaves Vince McMahon” shows moments from 2007’s Wrestlemania XXIII. Trump accomplished what the title describes in theatrical fashion: attacking a distracted McMahon from behind as McMahon stood just outside the ring. Soon after, Trump and a wrestler shaved McMahon’s head as he was held — loosely, for effect — by a referee. The crowd roared lustily, as if some great wrong was being righted. They mocked and booed the enemy, driving themselves into a faux frenzy.
All that seemed oddly familiar this week as reporters and analysts were baffled by goings-on at the Republican National Convention: Among the awful parts of the show: vilifying Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton; ludicrous calls for her arrest; people holding signs that said, “Lock Her Up.”
Was this a gathering of a major American political party or Wrestlemania 2016? Surely, many Republicans Party regulars were in Cleveland for serious business. But a large number of delegates, and party leaders, have drifted into a make-believe world of good guys, bad guys, strong men, weak losers, easy answers and unreasoned anger.
At professional wrestling matches, audience members suspend disbelief for a few hours to enjoy a testosterone-soaked soap opera. Almost everyone is in on the con. But what is happening in the Republican Party is far more serious, because not everyone is.
Consider that this week Republican state Rep. Al Baldasaro, of Londonderry, N.H., told a Boston radio station that Hillary Clinton should be “put in the firing line and shot for treason.’’ When told later that his remarks had gone viral, the retired Marine and co-chairman of Trump’s national veterans coalition replied coldly, “Good.”
Baldasaro is impervious to shame, because he has entered a surreal political universe where rivals are enemies, and further, enemies of the state. But Republican leaders know better, or should, and must disown this nasty undercurrent tinged with threats of violence. If Trump won’t cut Baldasaro loose and renounce his ugly views, the rational Republicans who remain must stand independently and do so.