There’s something about Madison Square Garden that draws attention. I could not help but notice it several months ago when Deena and I were in NYC. It is often the site of national political party conventions such as it was in 1976, 1980, 1992 and 2004, and it also serves as a sporting venue. In 1971, the “Fight of the Century” between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier was held in the Garden. Today, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers keep the MSG community busy almost on a daily basis. Charity events, circuses, ice capades, dog shows, WWE and UFC matches, musical concerts, graduation ceremonies, beauty pageants and much more compete for coveted openings in the schedule, hoping to fill the elegant, historic hall. But October 27, 2024 was a night to remember.
By “historic,” I mean the first iteration of the Garden was constructed in 1879. Five major renovations of the Garden at different locations would follow over the next 145 years. In some sense, it is the “beating heart” of the Big Apple and is a destination all of itself for visitors to the City.
Many famous people have dreamed of being showcased at the Garden; P.T. Barnum, Fritz Kuhn, Emmett Kelly, John F. Kennedy and Donald Trump to mention just a few. Some like Barnum were showmen or hustlers; Kuhn was a fascist, Kelly a professional clown and there were Presidents (like Kennedy) at the top of the bill there as well. The seating capacity of MSG is officially listed at 19,500, which is smaller than that of the Shell Energy Stadium in Houston–by comparison–where Vice-President Harris appeared several days before. But in New York City, enthusiasm makes up for limited seating size (though MSG has nothing to apologize for in this regard.) It must be one of the top five venues in the U.S. today.
THE NIGHT OF NIGHTS
Deena convinced me to listen to the speech against my better judgment. I was fighting a headache for most of the day and I didn’t think listening to the 45th President of the U.S. would take away the pain (though I understand that some believe Trump is endowed peculiar abilities.) The usual vitriol of a Trump rally was omnipresent last night right from the start.
A sixty-year-old sanitation worker named David Rem1 stood in front of the crowd with a crucifix and proclaimed that VP Harris was the Antichrist and the Devil. He was invited to be sort of a character witness for Donald. Now, many Americans watching this extravaganza might not be impressed by a sanitation worker with a crucifix, but sanitation workers rank fairly high in the social strata of Manhattan. If you hear from a NYC sanitation worker that Kamala Harris is evil, you better believe it (unless your cab driver disputes it, and that assumes you can even find a cab in NYC when you need it.) At the end of Mr. Rem’s speech, he mentioned that he’s running for Mayor of NY and he appreciates the support of the people present at the rally.
MORE VICIOUS NONSENCE
We also learned from Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe who spoke during the rally that Latinos “love making babies” (don’t we all?) and that Puerto Rico is a “floating island of garbage.” Now, Puerto Rico is part of the U.S. and Puerto Ricans enjoy the same rights of citizenship as any of us. Fortunately for Mr. Trump, Puerto Ricans will not be able to vote for VP Harris next week because Republicans have denied them statehood since the Eisenhower Administration. But this is an important principle to fascism. In fascism, there must be an enemy, a boogey-man. Either the liberals and RINO’s (e.g. Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney) or the Jews, or the generals (Mark Milley, John Kelly, James Mattis et al.) or the labor unions (someone) to blame for misfortune.
Elon Musk, whose pockets are much deeper than Donald Trump’s was also there, summoning whatever charisma he could to support his new found hero.
DID HARRIS TELL CHRISTIANS TO LEAVE HER RALLY IN LA CROSSE, WI?
Some reckless comments came up last night at the Garden. Last week, Kamala Harris was addressing a crowd of people in La Crosse, WI. During her speech, hecklers, the audience, started yelling the words “lies” in an attempt to interrupt her. It is said that one or two students yelled “Christ is King” or comments like that. At some point, VP Harris good-naturedly invited people who were heckling her to visit the Trump rally “down the street.” The MAGA people immediately made it seem like she was condemning Christianity, when, in fact, there is no evidence that this was the case. There is nothing to suggest that her comments were not directed to the people yelling “Lies.”
In Acts 16: 16-18 as Timothy, Paul and Silas were walking through the marketplace in a city called Thyatira one day, a young woman confronted them with prophetic exclamations, Luke says she had a spirit of a python. In other words, she got her inspiration from the same source as the Oracle of Delphi did. The information in this case was true, but not from God. Plus, the verb tenses in the passage open to door to the possibility that the slave woman was actually a pest, following them around the city, shouting and interrupting their conversations. Finally, Paul turned around and told her to be quiet. He didn’t want to hear any more of what she said. Why, then, was it wrong for this woman to screech over and over a point that was, in fact, true? The answer is she was creating a nuisiance and distraction to the message they had. In some ways, this is what happened in La Crosse, WI while Harris was speaking.
I’ve included a transcript of the occasion here and you can see it here. If you compare the video clip I’ve included with the one on the Fox website, you’ll see that the Fox clip “appears” to be edited or possibly redacted. No doubt the Russians will have a field day with this in the remaining days before the election.
We heard from the spinmeister, himself, that VP Harris is a “very low IQ individual.” Pause for a second. I wondered how he knew that? It takes a Stanford–Binet test administered by a trained mental health worker to measure IQ. As a voter, I might be curious to know the Vice-President’s IQ, but as a concerned citizen and patriot, I’d stand in line at the Garden for eight hours to find out what Mr. Trump’s IQ is (his real IQ, not his phony IQ.) But if were just slinging unfounded ad hominem attacks around, couldn’t he, in fact, be the one with the low IQ and not Harris?
Trump stayed pretty much on message last night but that message was designed to say that he, and the people who adore him, the ones who trashed the Capital and beat the brave law enforcement officers without mercy on January 6, 2021, the ones who make money selling Trump’s cheap clothing and phony Swiss watches were doing God’s work, and that Kamala Harris, who has positive, encompassing things to say is the enemy. I, as a disabled Vietnam War vet with twenty years of honorable service to the country, am the enemy for writing this. And if you are caught reading this, you might be in for a world of hurt, yourself someday.
Keep that in mind when you vote.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
FOOTNOTE
1I listened very carefully to Mr. Rem’s speech. He seems to be a very genuine person. A kind, charitable contribution by Fred Trump, the President’s father caused the Rem family to be enternally grateful to the Trump family. It is not unusual for many people to confuse or blend together faith and patriotism, which, in fact, have little in common. This might explain why people bring religious icon and symbols to political rallies (and vice versa.) No doubt there were American soldiers fighting in World War II who prayed that God would preserve them and give the U.S. victory, while German soldiers facing them who may have shared the same faith, prayed to the same God for deliverance as well.
