There have been so many norms broken in the Trump presidency that it’s hard to keep track of them all. I have covered just about every building DC. So I want to take a moment to note two shocking things from this week, based on my reporting past…1/7

1. The Secretary of State is speaking at the RNC! My jaw dropped when i saw the speaker list. In my decade of covering diplomacy, I could never imagine that happening….2/7

Colin Powell in 2004: "'As secretary of state, I am obliged not to participate in any way, shape, fashion, or form in parochial, political debates. I have to take no sides in the matter.” 3/7 https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46593-2004Aug6.html …

During the 2008 RNC, I was traveling in North Africa with Secy of State Condoleezza Rice. Off the record, she was keenly interested in the race, constantly checking the Real Clear Politics website. But she made sure she was far away from public partisanship 4/7 …

2) There is no GOP platform! Two of the best reporting weeks I ever had were covering the Republican platform debates in 1992 and 1996. There was drama, excitement and news as delegates debated economic, social and foreign policy 5/7…

I watched the party wrestle with important and consequential issues. I followed Ann Stone (ex-wife of Roger) has she tried hard (unsuccessfully) to moderate the anti-abortion plank. The economic battles were especially intense 6/7….

At the end of the process, Americans understood what the party stood for and believed in. The differences in platforms over the years was especially fascinating. Now History will not know what the GOP stands for now, except fealty to Trump. 7/7