Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Enough is enough

By

Updated 10-August-2016, see below

Gabrielle Giffords, January, 2011

This afternoon, Donald Trump called for a “Second Amendment solution” (emphasis mine):

Donald Trump set off a fierce new controversy Tuesday with remarks about the right to bear arms that were interpreted by many as a threat of violence against Hillary Clinton.

“Hillary wants to abolish — essentially abolish the Second Amendment. By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know,” Trump said.

This is too far. Ms. Clinton is already afforded Secret Service protection. This is a clear attempt to provoke some right-wing crazy to kill Hillary Clinton. This man is DANGEROUS. I think he crossed yet another line today.

Surely this is illegal. Surely this is the kind of thing people get JAILED for.

I do NOT want America to wring our hands and “pray” after another “tragic” and “unpredictable” assassination. Donald Trump is dangerously, and I suggest criminally, insane.

He is clearly advocating the assassination of Hillary Clinton.

10-August-2016 Update 1

Some Trumpists are claiming that Mr. Trump was talking about votes, rather than violence. Recent GOP history rebuts that claim. First, reread Mr. Trump’s exact words:

By the way, if she gets to pick, if she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don’t know.

Mr. Trump explicitly frames the context himself as AFTER Ms. Clinton is elected (“if she gets to pick…”). He prefaces his threat with “although”, clearly talking about an ALTERNATIVE to voting.

This doesn’t come from out of the blue. In 2010, Tea Party candidate Sharron Angle spoke on-air of “Second Amendment Remedies” (emphasis mine):

Angle: I feel that the Second Amendment is the right to keep and bear arms for our citizenry. This not for someone who’s in the military. This not for law enforcement. This is for us. And in fact when you read that Constitution and the founding fathers, they intended this to stop tyranny. This is for us when our government becomes tyrannical…
Manders: If we needed it at any time in history, it might be right now.
Angle: Well it’s to defend ourselves. And you know, I’m hoping that we’re not getting to Second Amendment remedies. I hope the vote will be the cure for the Harry Reid problems.

Ms. Angle, like Mr. Trump, was plainly speaking of a “Second Amendment Remedy” as an ALTERNATIVE to “the Harry Reid problems”. Like too many other GOP partisans today, her attitude is if vote goes the wrong way, start shooting.

Two years later, candidate (and now Senator) Joni Ernst repeated Ms. Angle’s language (emphasis mine):

“I have a beautiful little Smith & Wesson, 9 millimeter, and it goes with me virtually everywhere,” Ernst said at the NRA and Iowa Firearms Coalition Second Amendment Rally in Searsboro, Iowa. “But I do believe in the right to carry, and I believe in the right to defend myself and my family — whether it’s from an intruder, or whether it’s from the government, should they decide that my rights are no longer important.”

…
Earlier this year, Ernst released an ad in which she points a gun at the camera and vows to “unload” on Obamacare.

Donald Trump meant exactly what he said. He echoed long-standing right-wing extremist sentiment from the GOP and the Tea Party. No matter how his handlers and some of his proponents squirm and wiggle, Mr. Trump flagrantly pandered again to the darkest and most violent elements of America.

This episode is criminal. IF, God forbid, an assassination attempt is made against Ms. Clinton or a judge (Mr. Trump has been openly contemptuous of the Court), blood is on the hands of EVERY American who let these words go unpunished.

I hope that we can for once act BEFORE, rather than after, some “crazy” follows up on Mr. Trump’s exhortations with actions.

10-August-2016 Update 2
Oh my oh my. Various sources report that the Secret Service has had “more than one conversation” with the Trump campaign — and Donald Trump DENIES IT (emphasis mine):

A US Secret Service official confirms to CNN that the USSS has spoken to the Trump campaign regarding his Second Amendment comments.

“There has been more than one conversation” on the topic, the official told CNN.
The campaign told the USSS that Donald Trump did not intend to incite violence, according to the official.

“No such meeting or conversation ever happened,” Trump tweeted in response to CNN’s report.

Ok, let’s see. Who do we think is more likely to be lying, CNN or Donald Trump?

For my friends here at BMG who are uncomfortable with discussing Mr. Trump’s emotional health, does this give you pause? Do any of you REALLY think that CNN is making this up?

I think we’re seeing a very public melt-down of Donald Trump.

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Comments

  1. This is something we all have to realize, he is rational in his actions.Even if they are deplorable, because they have worked at dispensing with far more credible and capable foes in the primary.

    There are two conclusions one can draw from his recent remarks. The first is that he honestly thinks the “anything goes” strategy he made to win the primary will win him the general. And there seems to be decent evidence from leaked memos that his staffers are telling him to pivot and he is refusing.

    The second conclusion is that he is deliberately tanking because he doesn’t want to be President. This was all about reviving his brand, setting up his businesses, and making a cable network. He never wanted to win, and having seen a 5 point lead post convention he has acted quite rationally as a candidate going out of his way to lose the election. One wonders if like a fighter taking a fall, he has a lot of money riding on his failure.

    • and possibly not inconsistent with the facts.

      Here’s an opposing hypothesis. Mr. Trump doesn’t just like adulation. He needs it. His campaign has mostly consisted of Trump rallies, rallies that bring a lot of rather angry people from the “Lock her up!” wing of the GOP to enjoy a festival of Political Incorrectness. After a lot of practice, Trump has steadily improved at appealing to such rallies and their authoritarian attendees. The Second Amendment line will certainly not appeal to the folks Mr Trump might need to erase his two digit deficit in must-win Pennsylvania, but it will sure as hell fire up a Trump rally.

      He has spoken too about how his rallies are heavily attended, larger than present and past candidates. So he may be under some odd kind of illusion that such rallies, which worked so well in the winter and spring, would propel him to the White House.

  2. He is literally calling for assassinations and his remarks are appalling, I’m just so cynical about Trump at this point that I’ve grown numb to these outrages. They are designed to offend and provoke.

    • “Offend” and “provoke” is one thing. He is, as you say, literally calling for assassinations. I believe that’s illegal.

      You are not a right-wing crazy, you’re unlikely to pick up your AK-47 and start shooting. Sadly, Mr. Trump’s supporters include people who will take this seriously.

      I don’t think this should be ignored, it demands more than an eye-roll.

      • But I think he knows this will get him bad press and reduce his poll numbers since he doesn’t want to win, or he thinks a majority of the country feels the same way.

        My brother is honestly surprised no one has taken a shot at Trump yet, but I hope nothing happens to any of the candidates. Our system is so flush with guns and crazy men seeking attention that it’s not outside the realm of possibility anymore. And you’re around my dads age and know all too well how that can change a country.

        • Trump seems to think that you win by having bigger rallies. A few days ago he said “I don’t know why we’re not winning” because he had big rallies.

      • The outrage of the day is yesterday’s statement that Sec. Clinton and Pres. Obama “founded” ISIS, which is, in case it need be pointed out, a lie.

        Friendly interviewer Hugh Hewitt tried to help him move this statement to something more like “Obama and Clinton policies created the conditions for, or contributed significantly, or even directly caused, the rise of ISIS.” Which is certainly a valid criticism, and depending on context and detail, might even be true.

        Trump essentially said “that’s what I said” prompting a little discussion on how to phrase the criticism, and Hewitt eventually saying, “well, I would phrase it differently”– meaning he would phrase it more like the “policies contributed” model.

        “But they wouldn’t talk about your language, and they do talk about my language, right?” was Trumps answer.

        That shows that he isn’t operating under some sort of delusion, but rather that he says things with the specific intention of generating a gasp and subsequent buzz. It is intentional and deliberate.

        He isn’t looking for votes; he is looking for ratings. I’t doesn’t seem like he cares if people are “talking” about what a monstrous ass he is, so long as it is topic 1 on the shows.

        • …or maybe Trump would prefer lock, stock, and barrel:(

          At this point he has to get SOME coverage I suppose because he is the GOP nominee, but I really wish the media had figured out earlier in the primary that he just wants attention and made a concerted effort to deny it to him.

          • What are they supposed to do, modulate his own speech for him?

            If he says “Obama founded ISIS”–regardless of whether he means “Obama founded ISIS” or actually means “Obama’s ME policies have allowed the rise of ISIS” but wants to generate a twitter-storm– it is news, is it not?

            Everyone gasps, there is a furious debate for a few days about whether he could be so irresponsible, and that is what he wants. He thinks that this sort of thing appeals to voters. In the GOP primary, he might have been right. We will have to see abount the general.

            I’m not sure what you would have the media do. He got a lot of “free” coverage because he says awful things. When candidates for President say that they don’t like US pilots who are captured and become POWs, it is news. When a candidate for President publicly brags about the size of his cock, it is news.

            I think that what you are upset about is that a small but significant chunk of the population who like that sort of thing, and apparently those people are the GOP base. There isn’t much that you, I, or the media can do about that.

            • …but when he was first a candidate they could have done a better job as gatekeepers saying he’s not serious, let’s not cover him.

        • That may be the single most productive explanation of Trump’s bullying and baiting. At some level, it is what I had HOPED in case by some fluke he WAS elected. I like Hugh Hewitt and wish I could listen to him more often…but he doesn’t have the ratings, does he….

          • Trump Supporters: I like Trump because he is a straight shooter, says exactly what he thinks, and none of this PC nonsense.

            Trump: [Whatever he said today]

            Everyone Else: Gasp! How irresponsible for a presidential candidate to propose [e.g., abandoning Western allies]

            Trump Supporters: Well, he didn’t mean that. What he really meant to say is something completely different from what he said, and you media are unfair for reporting what he says instead of what he means.

      • Late this afternoon, Mr. Trump actually denied CNN reports that the Secret Service has had “more than one conversation” with the Trump campaign about this matter.

  4. I’m wondering whether legal action, whether civil or criminal, is warranted now. This has very clearly stepped over the bounds of legitimate debate.

    *

    The Trump campaign has been claiming that the Second Amendment people could “exercise their vote”, but, as even Wolf Blitzer pointed out, that makes no sense. The whole premise is that Mrs. Clinton is already President and voting is long over.

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