May the frauds be ever in your favor

Kali Persall,
Managing Editor

On Monday, Stephen Colbert, host of the The Late Show on CBS, donned an electric blue wig and matching eyebrows in the image of Caesar Flickerman, the vivacious talk show host from “The Hunger Games” movie and took the podium at the Republican National Convention.

After he dubbed it the “2016 Republican National Hungry for Power Games,” he was escorted off the stage with the parting phrase, “Look, I know I’m not supposed to be up here but let’s be honest, neither is Donald Trump.”

While arguably the most creative idea, surprisingly, this wasn’t the most comedic event of the evening. Even more memorable was the speech delivered by Donald Trump’s wife, Melania Trump, who ripped off key phrases from First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado.

Obama’s speech inspired respect and oozed originality. “Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and if you don’t agree with them.”

Trump’s speech, on the other hand, set off alarm bells. “From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life, that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise, that you treat people with respect.”

While it was clear to viewers that the speech had been plagiarized, Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort called the accusation “absurd” and denied the allegations in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

No repercussions have been named at this time for Trump and her husband is now the official nominee for the Republican party.

The Trump campaign has been nothing more than a series of blunders, but this latest even eclipses Trump’s official appointment of Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate on July 15.

Gov. Pence originally endorsed Ted Cruz for president, according to the Washington Post, but switched his allegiance to Trump after he won the May 3 Indiana primary.

The partnership is odd, considering Pence’s conservative, religious convictions have constantly seeped into his politics, and Trump is a notorious flip-flopper on issues like women’s reproductive rights and gay marriage.

Pence signed the controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act in March 2015, which many interpreted as a license to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Under the law, businesses were allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples by citing a conflict with their religion.

He also sponsored an amendment to the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013 that would prohibit the use of funds for Planned Parenthood, stating in a court transcript, “I long for the day that Roe v. Wade is sent to the ash heap of history.”

In a Washington Post article, Alexandra Petri described the partnership as an act of “painful duty.” She went on to say Pence is like a “ventriloquist’s dummy who is slowly realizing that he has made a horrible mistake” and Trump is the “man you have to marry to keep your family from ruin.”

The Democrats aren’t faring much better. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders doused “the bern” campaign and left followers in the ashes when he endorsed Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee last Tuesday.

Bernie supporters expected a fight to the end, given Sanders’ promise to contest the Democratic National Convention, regardless of his success in the primaries.

As a diehard Bernie supporter from start to finish, I can’t help but feel betrayed.

This leaves Clinton, the former secretary of state — who narrowly evaded criminal charges for mishandling classified information through private email servers — as the face of the Democratic party.

Clinton has yet to choose a running mate, but many are pulling for the progressive Massachusetts Sen., Elizabeth Warren, who endorsed Clinton on June 9. An official decision will come on Monday at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

As for voters, they face a familiar, dreaded situation: A choice between the lesser of two evils; the red or the blue pill, or in the Hunger Games world, death by a genetically engineered wolf mutt or poisoning by a handful of nightlock berries.

May the odds be ever in your favor.