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Death Threats, Deferments, and Trump…Oh, MY!


— August 10, 2016

Donald Trump should be in prison.

During a speech on Tuesday, Donald Trump suggested the “Second Amendment people” had the potential to stop Hilary Clinton from appointing any Supreme Court justices. Specifically, “If she gets to pick her judges ― nothing you can do, folks. Although, the Second Amendment people. Maybe there is. I don’t know.” The Second Amendment, of course, has to do with guns and gun laws. What he’s suggesting, and there are no two ways around it, is people with guns have the ability to stop her by either shooting her or a Supreme Court nominee. He is advocating and encouraging assassination.

The GOP needs to grow a pair and denounce their support for him immediately, his supporters need to pull their heads out of the sand and run as far as they can in any direction but his, and he should be charged for making terrorist threats against his opponent. The pitiful attempt by his band of sycophants to spin this latest bile into a Second Amendment issue is disgusting and they should be ashamed of themselves. This has gone too far, and I’m damn sick of it.

This is just the latest threat in a long series of dangerous ideas that have become a staple in Trump’s hateful, misogynistic, xenophobic campaign. Everything he did before he secured the nomination was proof enough he was not qualified, empathic, fair, or even bright enough to realize his lies could and would be exposed. Just because you say something enough times, it doesn’t make it true (a concept which seems completely lost on Trump.)

Donald Trump; image courtesy of zap2it.com
Donald Trump; image courtesy of zap2it.com

Trump dodged the draft during Vietnam via five deferments (one of which was provided him because he had temporary heel spurs), yet he had the audacity to state former POW John McCain, a fellow Republican, is not a war hero. He went on the attack after the Gold Star Khan family, whose Army Captain son made the ultimate sacrifice for his country during the Iraq war in 2004, when they asked him publicly if he’d actually ever read the Constitution by saying the mother had “nothing to say” and insinuating her religion was the reason behind it (never once considering seeing pictures of her dead child projected onto a giant screen might be too overwhelming.) He also tried to blame President Obama for Kahn’s death. Obama was elected in 2008. Khan was killed in 2004. During President Obama’s campaign, he insisted the Commander in Chief release his long-form birth certificate to prove he was not a foreign-born Muslim, yet he refuses to release his own tax returns. He incites and endorses violence everywhere he goes. If this were anyone else, they’d have been disqualified without pause.

Trump’s followers claim they support him because he “says what he means” without worry whether it’s politically correct or not. If that’s the case, claiming he “didn’t mean it like that” when encouraging his supporters to assassinate Hilary Clinton and/or her Supreme Court pick doesn’t fly. His whole campaign has been built around his apparent case of incurable logorrhea. And it’s dangerous. Extremely dangerous.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of asking where we’re going and why I’m in this hand basket. I can see a faint semblance of light with his dwindling poll numbers, but the tunnel is still extraordinarily long. If you honestly believe Trump has the ability, dignity, knowledge and restraint to run this country anywhere other than into total destruction, I weep for you. If Trump is allowed to continue on his current path we, as a Nation, are doomed.

We can do better than this. It’s time we did.

Sources:

washingtonpost.com: Donald Trump responds to the Khan family: ‘Maybe she wasn’t allowed to have anything to say’

huffingtonpost.com: Trump On Second Amendment Backlash: ‘I Think It’s A Good Thing For Me’

washingtonpost.com: The GOP must dump Trump

 

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