"Someone Will Die"...Talking Points Memo, Josh Marshall

[Stuart G]

Last edited Mon Mar 14, 2016, 08:25 AM - Edit history (2)

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-rage-and-the-derp--2

By Josh Marshall.(editor)... Published March 12, 2016, 11:16 PM EST

Today we appear to be going further and further into uncharted territory. After the cancellation of Trump's event yesterday in Chicago, we had the incident at the rally in Dayton, Ohio in which a protestor, Thomas Dimassimo, jumped the security perimeter surrounding Trump and tried to rush the speaking platform. Dimassimo was charged with disorderly conduct and inducing panic and later released on bail. At a subsequent event and on Twitter, Trump claimed that Dimassimo was tied to ISIS, apparently on the basis of a hoax video his staff found on Youtube. At yet another event this evening Trump called for the mass arrest of protestors, noting that arrest records would leave an "arrest mark" and "ruin the rest of their lives." Trump also repeatedly blamed "communist" Bernie Sanders for what now appear to be the almost constant protests and disruptions at his rallies.

For all the talk about Mussolini, let alone Hitler, George Wallace is the best analog in the last century of American politics - the mix of class politics and racist incitement, the same sort of orchestrated ratcheting up of conflict between supporters and protestors. As all of this has unfolded over the course of the day there have been numerous instances of Trump supporters calling for protestors to "go back to Africa" and another on video calling on them to "go to fucking Auschwitz."

Is the man invoking Nazi concentration camps in that video an anti-Semite or just a ramped hater in a frenzy of provocation? I'm not sure we know. And as I'll argue in a moment, in a climate of incitement and crowd action, it doesn't necessarily matter.

It may sound like hyperbole. But this is the kind of climate of agitation and violence where someone will end up getting severely injured or killed. I do not say that lightly.

[bemildred]

1. Very likely.

I seems clear at least some people have decided that Trump will not be able to contest the election uncontested. Which is very understandable. But very ignitable too.

On the other hand, if his rallies keep turning into riots, that will not help him get elected, and may offer the pretext to do something about him directly.

And I agree with the Wallace analogy, that's who he is channelling in his reality TV way.

It deserves to be remembered that Wallace apologized for his behavior in the end.

[Jefferson23]

16. A proactive move for the establishment would be to declare now he is unfit for POTUS

and will not be endorsed by the Republican Party. They should be bold enough
to tell him, go Third Party. Trump will not have enough strength on his own,
not enough votes to win the WH. At this point they're gambling on a means
to survive as a political party while their brand goes further down the toilet.

Re-think your strategies, your priorities and in the long run it is high time
they abandon this base. They should be moving toward the center..there
will be a percent from the base who will abandon Trump, but no loss if they
don't.

I don't expect them to be smart and responsible but to wait for a convention
where he'll go in even stronger than he is now will make it even more difficult.

They're avoiding the inevitable is what I'm saying..no one in their party
has any clout with these people..not when you have 60% of them stating
they feel betrayed.

[bemildred]

17. Well he is going to take the party away from them if they don't do something.

On the other hand doing something about him is not likely to be a peaceful exercise at this point.
It would probably help if they could all move aside for someone with a little cred to take him on.
That's it!
Let Obama debate him.

[Jefferson23]

19. I think they're fucked either way but they could begin to build credibility for a stable

party..I doubt this will occur. I also don't see how they survive without
disavowing him. They're so entrenched as the supreme corporate greed
party, Kasich was the only one that I'm aware of who threw them a bone
yesterday..yea he said, WS can sometimes be greedy. lol

The Republicans Party needs to move to the center and abandon these people
and Trump offers them in a weird twist of fate a means to do that.

Obama vs Trump in a debate, I would record it..what a hoot that would be.

[bemildred]

20. They aren't going to do that.

RNC launches campaign to oppose Obama's Supreme Court pick

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Republican Party is launching a campaign to try to derail President Barack Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, teaming up with a conservative opposition research group to target vulnerable Democrats and impugn whomever Obama picks.

A task force housed within the Republican National Committee will orchestrate attack ads, petitions and media outreach to bolster a strategy that Senate Republicans adopted as soon as Justice Antonin Scalia died last month: refusing to consider an Obama nominee out of hopes that the next president will be a Republican.

The RNC will contract with America Rising Squared, an outside group targeting Democrats that's run by a longtime aide to GOP Sen. John McCain. GOP chairman Reince Priebus said it would be the most comprehensive judicial response effort in the party's history.

Priebus said the RNC would "make sure Democrats have to answer to the American people for why they don't want voters to have a say in this process."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SUPREME_COURT_REPUBLICANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-03-14-06-22-45

[Jefferson23]

22. Power can really make you stupid.

We are set to take back the Senate in November, what is then going to prevent
Obama from moving quickly to seat an appropriate justice?

I would like Obama to use his political abilities to help in those races, we
should be able to win them and handily.

[bemildred]

24. I think it is no accident that he is suddenly in the news. nt

[bemildred]

25. Power and money.

One of the things I noticed back when I was making a lot is you start worrying about it, about managing it and protecting it and what to do with it. It takes over your life, your life becomes about money.

And power.

And attention, for most people.

And envy and lust.

They don't call them sins for no reason.

[Jefferson23]

26. Yes...hand in hand. Citizens United just made it worse and doesn't Trump know it too.

My heartaches to see the video of the young man who was sucker punched.
He had his hands help up, the BLM gesture, for just a moment..2016 and this
is where we are.

[bemildred]

21. Obama is likely to do what he can to make their problem worse too.

I doubt that he wants to help them out.

[avebury]

30. Why on earth should Obama debate him?

The Republican Party created this monster and it is their responsibility to deal with him or suffer the inevitable fallout. It is about time that they figure out that actions (or in this case the lack of action) has consequences.

[bemildred]

33. Because he cares more about the country than partisan politics.

Besides, it looks good. And he's not running for office, so he doesn't have to worry about that.

[avebury]

34. This has nothing to do with partisan politics.

What it has to do with is a political party that has allowed itself to cater to the bat shit crazy crowd and then blames everyone else but themselves for the pickle they now find themselves. It is about the fact that it is time for the Republican Party leadership to put on their big boy pants and clean up their own house.

[bemildred]

37. You asked. Next time just say what's on your mind and leave me alone. nt

[avebury]

38. OK. I just thought that your response was naive to say the least. nt

[bemildred]

39. I think you are projecting like mad. nt

[bemildred]

2. How Trump Happened

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win,” goes the line attributed to Mahatma Gandhi. Typically, you’ll find this pearl adorning a classroom or splashed across a motivational poster. But last month, on the eve of Super Tuesday—when a dozen states cast ballots for the Republican presidential nomination—you could find it on Donald Trump’s Instagram page, the caption to a photograph of a massive rally in Alabama the day before.

Perverse as it may seem for the belligerent real estate magnate to channel even apocryphal Gandhi wisdom, the line is apt. First, we did ignore him—as a buffoon who wouldn’t survive past the summer. Then, we laughed at him—as a buffoon who wouldn’t survive through fall. Eventually, Republicans began to fight him, terrified of his traction with voters. Now, he’s winning, with more votes and delegates than anyone left in the field. On the eve of another critical Tuesday slate of votes, Trump is on the verge of an even greater victory. Polls show him in command both in the smaller states that will award their delegates proportionally, and in the larger, winner-take-all prizes of Ohio and Florida. By Wednesday morning, Trump could be a stone’s throw from the Republican presidential nomination.

---

But this analysis ignores the extent to which Trump reflects specific choices by Republican and conservative elites. From indulging anti-Obama conspiracy theories to attacking him as an enemy of the United States, conservatives chose to nurture resentment and anxiety and distill it into something potent. You can draw a direct line to the rise of Trump from the racial hysteria of talk radio—where figures like Rush Limbaugh, a Trump booster, warned that Obama would turn the world upside down. “The days of [minorities] not having any power are over and they are angry,” said Limbaugh to his audience. “They want to use their power as a means of retribution.”

---

The good news is that movements like Trump’s tend to fade away. The bad news is that, even in defeat, they are influential. One antecedent to Trump—Alabama Gov. George Wallace—never won a national party nomination. But he had massive impact on the direction of national politics, giving Richard Nixon raw materials for his “Southern Strategy” of racial resentment that would shape and define American politics for the next four decades.



http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/cover_story/2016/03/how_donald_trump_happened_racism_against_barack_obama.html

[Wellstone ruled]

3. Agree,we are looking at a Wallace time warp.

[bemildred]

5. Yep, he is the last one I can think of, there were plenty before him.

But not usually leading elections for President, Presidential candidates are usually expected to at least talk nice.

[Wellstone ruled]

9. Believe there were a couple of Ding Bats running on some

idiot Party. La Roughe,and David Duke come to mind. Kluckers!

[bemildred]

18. Poster down there mentions Huey Long, he is the one I was trying to think of. nt

[Wellstone ruled]

27. Now there was a winner!

The Kansas City Mob's Candidate. When you mentioned old Huey,dang,early version of Trump. Do remember Wallace and his thugs beating people with Axe Handel's and rubber hoses at one of his Klan Rallies.

[bemildred]

28. Well, there have to be consequences, right? nt

[Wellstone ruled]

29. Yes to the consequences,

every election indeed has consequences. We have just had these consequential effects hit us here in Nevada. Example:if you do Solar,well your rate for back up power is the max allowed under PUC rules and your pay out for net metered power is the rate the Nevada Energy pays for Federal Power. Guaranteeing Nevada Energy a 17% return on investment. Four States,which by the way are Red States,Utah,Idaho,Arizona,and Nevada have all adopted the same Language as State Law dealing with Solar Energy. And yes,Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway owns all of these States sources of Power. The original Language came from ALEC.

[21st Century Poet]

4. Extreme forms of protest will not help the Democratic Party.

Many of the things which Mr Trump says are absolutely appalling but the protesters need to calm down. Extreme forms of protest will not help the Democratic Party at all. How is rushing the stage and trying to tackle a presidential candidate helpful to the Democratic cause?

This kind of thing gives Mr Sanders's 'revolution' (a problematic term at the best of times) a bad name. And it's allowing Mr Trump to rule the airwaves. Even left-leaning media are constantly carrying stories about him. When you hear another candidate speaking, it's the candidate's reaction to something Mr Trump said or did, or a reaction to something that happened at one of his rallies. It's like this is not a general election anymore but a referendum about Mr Trump.

Let Mr Trump and his followers wallow in their inanities. Stop giving them more free publicity. If you must, organise a march or a novel sort of protest. Most of all, shift the focus from Mr Trump to Mrs Clinton's and Mr Sanders's policies. No, Mr Trump is not Mr Hitler and, no, 6 million Jews are not going to be killed all over again. Stop taking the easy route of Godwin's law (it cheapens The Holocaust and it's as realistic as saying that Bernie Sanders is a Communist whose intention is to turn the United States into a new Soviet Union) and focus on the real issues that matter to Americans today: healthcare, college debts, America's debt, fostering new industries which create jobs and spreading peace instead of war.

All this talk about violence and killings is almost starting to sound like a self-fulfilling prophecy. When someone does wind up dead, then you can say "gotcha". Is that what you want?

[different equation]

6. I think the article is correct.

This ugly crap will result in someone's death.

[Nitram]

7. My thoughts, exactly, Stuart G.

Organizing protests at Trump's rallies will embolden Trump's supporters to fight back. It could get very, vey ugly.

[Stuart G]

8. It could be later or it could be soon.

The hate in this campaign reminds me of the hate for Viet Nam protesters that I saw.
It reminds me of the hate that Joseph McCarthy spewed out in the 50s, and Wallace later.

But this is now, and this is very real. Very very sad, and just as scary..

[felix_numinous]

10. Republicans, mainstream news

and all the sponsors enabling Trump need to be CALLED OUT as COMPLICIT, and pressured to separate themselves so that this fascist neo nazi can be delegated to the fringes where he belongs.

This extremism is un-American and these people have no right to incite violence in order to gain political ground, there has to be a way to pull the plug on this campaign, and the mainstream media has the power to do so! How many peaceful leftist candidates have had their careers ruined by these people? Kucinich, O'Malley and so many others.

Hate radio has worked very carefully to divide this country, Fox and mainstream news has sponsored this Frankenstein marauder. Of all the people who understand human behavior it should be the media, they know exactly what they are doing!!

[Nitram]

11. Felix, the MSM sources I use have all strongluy criticized Trump from the very beginning.

They have also reported on the manhandling and mistreatment of protestors. But, the again, I don't get my news from TV. Anyone who does is not very smart in my view.

[felix_numinous]

32. I'm the same

cut the cable in '03. Thanks for sharing this.

[Canadian Interloper]

12. George Wallace?

Actually, I see Trump as more of a Huey Long.

[bemildred]

14. That's another one.

Rabble rousers are nothing new.

[Myrina]

13. ... why hasn't tRump been charged with 'inducing panic'?

That's pretty much all his 'events' are intended to do.

[Jefferson23]

15. Yes but what will the GOP establishment do..how far will they go to stop him? Thus far they are not

willing to end it..IF they as a political party say today, we will not support Trump
they will send the signal Trump can go Third Party. That is the language they need
to use.

What they're doing is hoping he will self implode and they can survive as
a political entity knowing full well they'll likely lose the WH either way.
No one in the GOP has any sway over the anger, that is pure fantasy and
I believe there are enough of them that know this is true.

Trump has the right to run, but they have no obligation to endorse him.

The Republican Party is at a crossroads, let go of this base and rebuild
without them, there are not enough of them for Trump to win the WH.
It is going to happen anyway, but would be better for their party
if they moved in a proactive manner now.

I don't expect them to be smart nor responsible...the power lust is too great.

[bemildred]

23. The classic response, since the Civil War, to these things is what you say.

Expel the insurgents and retain control of the party. It is better to lose, and rule over the rubble than to lose control of one of the two major parties, which have a special position in US politics.

[avebury]

31. When it does happen that someone dies, I hope that there will be a massive

civil suit that includes Trump and members of the MSM. A rational person could look at what is happening an predict a bad outcome. Members of the MSM who have kissed his ass and refused to call him out for his conduct will be just as liable for the injuries/deaths resulting from Trump's encouragement of his followers.

[HuckleB]

35. Recommended!

[SusanLarson]

36. Trump wants one.

I am waiting Trump followed the facists of WWII rise to power too closely for him to not be looking for a Martyr for his cause.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst_Wessel