We all knew the 2016 Republican National Convention would be a Hillary hate fest. For the past three days, Republicans have given the voters not one reason to vote for them, but many reasons why they shouldn t vote for Hillary Clinton.No substance, only an us-against-them mentality. This shouldn t come as a shock to anyone.But what has come as a shock is that the RNC has crowned itself as the de facto judge and jury of America. Not only was it a Hillary hate fest, it was a hyper-partisan witch hunt that transcends anything we ve seen in presidential politics.While their presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump, paints himself (humorously) as the  law and order  candidate, speaker after speaker, from General Michael Flynn, to Patricia Smith, to Chris Christie, have decided to take the law into their own hand, and convict Hillary Clinton of egregious crimes. They are, in their minds, the judge and jury that will convict Hillary Clinton, courts be damned.No matter how many times they scream  guilty,   lock her up,  or  Hillary for prison,  they know, as much as anyone else, that Clinton is innocent. Since the 1990s, when Ken Starr and his band of ideological thugs (including Newt Gingrich), Republicans have never been able to successfully pin anything on Hillary Clinton. Not Rose Law Firm, not Whitewater, not Benghazi, and not her emails. Yet they have convinced themselves that they know better than the law, and they know better than the judges, juries, prosecutors and special counsels that have spent countless hours   no, years   trying to find something, anything, to convict Hillary Clinton of.Republicans know what they re doing. It s pure political theater. It s tidbit SoundBits that stick in voters  minds and fester until election day, polluting the electorate s ability to look at the facts in an objective, impartial manner. They know they can t really convict her, but if they can convince the people that they re right and the law is wrong, that s good enough for them.But in the eyes of the Republicans, whose only goal is to win and not govern, the court of public opinion is mightier than the courts that uphold the rule of law.There is no law and order with Republicans. That s just a talking point they use when they want to stop black people from having their voices heard or when they don t like the Supreme Court granting marriage rights to same-sex couples.These instances, coupled with their sophomoric chants at their coveted convention, shows one thing: Republicans do not respect the law. They do not respect the institutions thatAl Franken is right.  Lock her up  has become a banana republic for the GOP. They have no substance to run on. Hillary Clinton is their main topic, and their world s revolve around her. It s actually quite pathetic not just on the surface but also deep down. They know they can t win with their ideas, so they must rely on smearing others.The Democratic convention can t come fast enough.Featured image via Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images