It's a sad day when, saving an article related to the campaign, I
discover I have no appropriate sub-folder for it and have to create a
new one called "Threats." Threats have no place in American politics.
It is bad enough that character assassination has become de rigeur and [to Swift Boat] has entered the language as a political tactic.
Violence and threats of violence this cycle have escalated under Donald Trump's campaign banner.
He has fostered an atmosphere of distrust and hatred, and nurtured confrontation. When he encouraged rally-goers to rough up protesters, he gave
permission. When a governor, in a major party's convention speech,
encouraged chants of "Lock her up" from spectators, a line was crossed.
When elected officials call for the execution of a political candidate,
something in this country has been lost. This not who we are and not
what we do.
Londonderry lawmaker, Trump vets co-chair, doubles down on controversial remarks in WMUR interview
Jul 20, 2016MANCHESTER, N.H. —(Wednesday evening, July 20 update.)
The
fallout from Republican state Rep. Al Baldasaro’s remarks that Hillary
Clinton should be “put in the firing line and shot for treason” came
quickly on Wednesday, with the most serious reaction coming from the
U.S. Secret Service. Click to watch News 9's coverage.
“The
U.S. Secret Service is aware of this matter and will conduct the
appropriate investigation,” agency spokesman Robert K. Hoback told WMUR
late Wednesday afternoon.
SNIP Federal law
makes it a crime, punishable by up to five years imprisonment, for
“whoever knowingly and willfully threatens to kill, kidnap or inflict
bodily harm” on a former president, the immediate family of the
president, president-elect, vice president or vice president-elect, or
on “a major candidate for the office of President or Vice President, or a
member of the immediate family of such candidate.”
Baldasaro did
not directly threaten to kill or harm Clinton, but he did say that she
“should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.” Read more >>>>
Hillary
Clinton addressing General Conference of African Methodist Episcopal
Church during its annual convention, at Pennsylvania Convention Center
in Philadelphia on July 8, 2016
REUTERS/Charles Mostoller - RTSH0TR
NEWARK, Ohio --
A county official in Ohio is apologizing after a newspaper quoted him
as saying presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
"should be hanging from a tree."
Licking County Commissioner Duane
Flowers read a prepared apology during a meeting Thursday, after The
(Newark) Advocate reported on the comment he made during a meeting
earlier this week.
SNIP
Last week, a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates caused a stir after tweeting that Clinton should be "hung on the Mall in Washington, DC." CBS Huntington, West Virginia affiliate WOWK-TV reports
Michael Folk, a Republican legislator who's also a United Airlines
pilot, posted a tweet last Friday night saying, "Hillary Clinton, you
should be tried for treason, murder, and crimes against the US
Constitution ... then hung on the Mall in Washington, DC." Read more >>>>
It is reprehensible and outrageous.
Donald
Trump told staffers and press this morning that last night the
convention hall was filled with love and that there was no hate.
Really? That is not what I saw or heard.
I heard a speech filled
with doom, gloom, dire predictions in sustained loud decibels. It was a
mood speech, and the mood was sour, pessimistic. There were promises,
but no policy or plans. Michael Beschloss commented that he did not
know we were living in Gotham City. When I woke up this morning, the sun was shining, and the birds that were chirping were not mockingjays. Trump should be ashamed!
The intent of the speech was unmistakable. It was meant to instill fear ... fear of the other
and fear of each other. It was meant to set Donald Trump up as the
only one - and those were his words - who can salvage this country from
the dark, destructive forces in the mythical America he described. See this for an historical perspective >>>>
As
Trump doubles down, as he did this morning, on his toxic messages, the
unrest he intends to incite can fester, grow, and infect our national
psyche. We cannot let that happen.
Here is a statement from John Podesta on Trump's address last night.
Hillary for America Chair John Podesta released the following statement on Donald Trump’s acceptance speech:
“Tonight,
Donald Trump painted a dark picture of an America in decline. And his
answer – more fear, more division, more anger, more hate – was yet
another reminder that he is temperamentally unfit and totally
unqualified to be President of the United States. He offered no real
solutions to help working families get ahead or to keep our country
safe, just more prejudice and paranoia. America is better than this.
America is better than Donald Trump. Next week in Philadelphia,
Democrats will focus on issues, not anger. We’ll offer a positive vision
for the future based on lifting America up, not tearing Americans
down.”
