“Trump-a-mania run wild”: The messy union of Donald Trump and Hulk Hogan

The Republican National Convention in Milwaukee was a coronation for aspiring dictator and God King Donald Trump .

Donald Trump is much more than a man, he is a symbol and a character who imagines himself as a superhero in a story that he is writing in real time.

Trump 's version of the heel professional wrestler is also a bellicose, verbally dexterous womanizer and misogynist.

Donald Trump droned on like he was delivering an address to the Supreme Soviet or like some other dictator demagogue detailing his grand plans before an audience that does not believe him but must feign enthusiasm.

The substance of Trump ’s speech was a terrifying vision of an American dictatorship wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross and Bible all under the guise of “unity” and “patriotism”.

Conservative rock/rapper Kid Rock performed his song “ American Badass ,” and former WWF legend Hulk Hogan addressed the convention and claimed, “ BrotherTrump is the toughest of them all, a 'gladiator' Julian Zelizer : The RNC convention was “embarrassingly easy” to analyze, to use the words of a close colleague. It is hard to disagree with such a take. But progressives must be careful. They need to separate their critiques of Trump ’s cartoonish appeals to hyper-masculinity from their more foundational strategy.