Last week, Donald Trump (and the Republicans willing to be seen with him) painted a very dark picture of America—the sort of picture you might see in a Russian textbook.
Speaker after speaker at the Republican National Convention warned the bloodthirsty crowd that the end is near, before Trump took the stage to present himself as the only one who could stave off disaster.
No doubt, his mentor and (alleged) sugar daddy, Vladimir Putin, was impressed.
This week, Democrats gathered in Philadelphia to formally nominate Hillary Clinton for president, and paint a picture of a diverse, optimistic country.
While the Democratic National Convention definitely had a few problems at the outset, compared to the Republican National Convention, it was Masterpiece Theatre.
Morning lineup:
Meet the Press: Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort; Julian Assange (WikiLeaks); Russian Chess Grandmaster Garry Kasparov; Democratic National Convention Speaker Khizr Khan.
Face The Nation: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Trump Campaign Manager Paul Manafort; RNC Chair Reince Priebus; Democratic Strategist David Axelrod; Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci; Roundtable: Amy Walter (Cook Political Report), John Heilemann (Bloomberg Politics), Dana Milbank (Washington Post) & Reihan Salam (National Review).
This Week: Raging Narcissist Donald Trump (R); Vice President Joe Biden (D); Retired Marine Gen. John Allen; Roundtable: Republican Pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson, Cenk Uguyr (The Young Turks), Greta van Susteren (Fox News), Alex Wagner (The Atlantic) & Jonathan Karl (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: Democratic Presidential Nominee Hillary Clinton; Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Julie Pace (Associated Press), Republican Strategist Karl Rove (Fox News) & Juan Williams (Fox News).
State of the Union: Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee Tim Kaine; Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL); Democratic National Convention Speaker Khizr Khan; Roundtable: Former South Carolina State Rep. Bakari Sellers (D), Republican Strategist Amanda Carpenter, Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA) & Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: a report on three unjustly convicted people who spent years in prison and then were exonerated (preview); a report on scientists trying to get to the bottom of climate change and sea level rise by studying one of the largest glaciers in the Arctic Circle (preview); and, a report on an American woman and her Tanzanian business partner who have become the legal guardians of almost 100 young Tanzanians (preview).
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actress Viola Davis; Actor Simon Helberg; Singer Declan McKenna.
Tuesday: Actor Will Smith; Actor Logan Lerman; Singer Tony Bennett.
Wednesday: Pro Wrestler/Actor John Cena; Actor Scott Eastwood.
Thursday: Actor Jamie Dornan; Actor Javier Munoz; Journalist Malcolm Gladwell.
Friday: Actress Diane Kruger; Comedian Mark Normand; US Olympic Athlete Ibtihaj Muhammad.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah & The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore will be airing reruns all week.
Elsewhere...
Melania Trump's professional website disappeared down the memory hole.
For months now, reporters have noted that Ms. Trump, who grew up in the small Slovenian town of Sevnica, did not obtain an undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Ljubljana, as her professional website claimed she did. Instead, she left after her first year to pursue a modeling career in Milan.
As recently as a week ago, Ms. Trump's website stated that she had obtained a degree before going on to become a philanthropist and skin care entrepreneur.
On Wednesday, The Huffington Post noticed that the site had been entirely scrubbed of its content. People clicking on its address are now redirected to the Trump Organization's website.
In a Twitter post, Ms. Trump said the website had been removed "because it does not accurately reflect my current business and professional interests."
Dasvidaniya.
– Trix