Is this America?

[TUMe]

It is no secret that I am not a fan of Trump. But waiting outside his rallies to beat up his supporters is not what this country is supposed to stand for. Amazing to see some of the protesters were wearing bandannas over their faces.

This is the country that allowed Nazis to march through Skokie, Illinois. This is the country that during the Cold War allowed Communists candidates on the ballot.

Freedom of Speech is one of our strongest principles and in the First Amendment to the Constitution. So by all means come and protest. Let your feelings be know. Have signs. But throwing things, attacking people and needing a mask is not in the best tradition of this country.

They CBS headline, if not the story, seems to blame Trump.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-protesters-violent-california-rally-gop-election-2016/

Trump is still a lousy candidate.

 

[lawpoke87]

Libs were once the great defender of free speech and understood its value and protections in a Democratic society. Now they are only for speech with which they agree and seek to suppress all other by all means including violence. Pretty dangerous and naive precedent.

 

[rabidTU]

What i want to see out of Hillary/Bernie is for them to do what DT has and give a SCOTUS list. That might determine a lot about my vote - whether I vote and if i do, for whom.

 

[WATU2]

As someone here previously posted...I won't vote for Trump unless I am forced to."

Violence from either side is terrible, but it doesn't make Trump a better candidate.

 

[eastcane]

Trump should be free to spout his opinion to the millions of Republican followers, this is America. I don't agree with the protests that get out-of-hand, but I also am not hispanic, black, Muslim, a woman, or a whole list of others that have been offended by his offensive rhetoric.

 

[TUMe]

Trump should be free to spout his opinion to the millions of Republican followers, this is America. I don't agree with the protests that get out-of-hand, but I also am not hispanic, black, Muslim, a woman, or a whole list of others that have been offended by his offensive rhetoric.

So, if you were any or all of those things you would think violence was alright?

How can you know what you would think if you were something that you are not and will never be ?

Isn't it possible to totally disagree with what someone else says but still believe in his right to say it ?

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Is the fear of what injustices might happen if he is voted into office, justification for violence? One can historically ask if the Black Panthers were justified, and whether they made any great benefit to American social issues? The argument will always go back to Black Panthers vs MLK. Either way Malcolm X and MLK both ended their life as martyrs. I'm not making a comment either way, just positing the somewhat unanswerable semi rhetorical questions.

 

[TUMe]

There is no justification for violence at any political event. There should be none outside a Muslim event. Trump can be defeated the same way any other candidate can, at the polling places. To some extent violence motivates his most extreme followers. It probably works to his advantage.

Whichever side starts it should be arrested and punished, especially when police control centers are attacked.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

What an idiotic comment to make. You need to take some reading comprehension classes.

 

[lawpoke87]

There have been a few isolated acts of violence against Trump backers and by Trump backers. The more concerning and large scale violence is occurring by the mobs "protesting" which turns into violence against police and Trump supporters. There's no place for these kind of mass violent demonstrations and acts of intimidation in our political system....by any side.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Regrettably I don't think the anger will dissipate after Trump is out of the public spotlight. Trump saw something to exploit, and did it exceptionally well. That weakness won't disappear from the populace. Somebody else will find their way back to it eventually. For me that fear goes way beyond Trump's petty games.

 

[TUMe]

What an idiotic comment to make. You need to take some reading comprehension classes.

Wow, really?? Are you talking to me?

I wasn't even responding to you since your post was rhetorical and mine was a reaffirmation of my original post following Eastcane statement about "if I were..."

 

[Gmoney4WW]

I would never respond to you like that, I have too much respect for you to ever respond like that. I was talking towards aTUfan, I just didn't quote him. I assumed it was obvious. My mistake.

 

[URedskin54]

So, if you were any or all of those things you would think violence was alright?

How can you know what you would think if you were something that you are not and will never be ?

Isn't it possible to totally disagree with what someone else says but still believe in his right to say it ?

It's just dumb identity politics garbage. Somehow the truth or legitimacy of what people say or do is based on your feelings/ethnic group you identify with. What I just did is called "whitesplaining" and you should disregard all of it because I'm white(I don't think my 1/10th middle eastern roots count).

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Wow, really?? Are you talking to me?

I wasn't even responding to you since your post was rhetorical and mine was a reaffirmation of my original post following Eastcane statement about "if I were..."

Also I didn't even pay attention, but just realized... Atufan deleted the post which I was responding to.

 

[eastcane]

So, if you were any or all of those things you would think violence was alright?

How can you know what you would think if you were something that you are not and will never be ?

Isn't it possible to totally disagree with what someone else says but still believe in his right to say it ?

Of course I don't think it is right, I clearly stated that, I added the disclaimer because I can't speak for people who have more to fear from a Trump presidency than myself. I believe in protest, this is a democracy, sometimes that's all we have got, is our individual voice. But every politician, even if they are pushing hideous policy, makes no difference to me, David Duke for example, has a right to be heard and not physically shut down because of opposition.

 

[TUMe]

I would never respond to you like that, I have too much respect for you to ever respond like that. I was talking towards aTUfan, I just didn't quote him. I assumed it was obvious. My mistake.

Thanks, I must have missed the one the tufan made then deleted. I very much respect you as a poster who gives us well thought out and serious posts.

This new board is very nice, but one thing a miss from the old board was that it had a "tree" option where who could see which poster was being responded to.

 

[Clong83a]

It is no secret that I am not a fan of Trump. But waiting outside his rallies to beat up his supporters is not what this country is supposed to stand for. Amazing to see some of the protesters were wearing bandannas over their faces.

This is the country that allowed Nazis to march through Skokie, Illinois. This is the country that during the Cold War allowed Communists candidates on the ballot.

Freedom of Speech is one of our strongest principles and in the First Amendment to the Constitution. So by all means come and protest. Let your feelings be know. Have signs. But throwing things, attacking people and needing a mask is not in the best tradition of this country.

They CBS headline, if not the story, seems to blame Trump.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-protesters-violent-california-rally-gop-election-2016/

Trump is still a lousy candidate.

It is disheartening. The bigger protests were in Albuquerque, and my wife basically called that one. It was in the paper that some people were organizing a "peaceful protest" of Donald Trump. She read it and simply said "Albuquerque doesn't even know how to hold a 'peaceful' protest". That place can be violent. And before anyone tries to blame it on illegals, I'd bet dollars to donuts the vast majority of protestors were Americans, as sad as that makes me.

The irony is, Trump thrives on it and it only helps him. Ignoring him would damage him much more. I'm convinced half the people that go to his rallies are just curious to see what all the excitement is about. So just remove the excitement and see how full his crowds are...

 

[rabidTU]

I just caught the last few minutes of the mayors debate on a cable channel between Bartlett and Bynum and there was an altercation at the end that looked to be an individual who had to be physically removed from the stage.

This is getting out of hand. Of course I conveniently will blame it on Obama and his radical views. But honestly our country has really sunk to a new low under him. Never thought I'd see this, but there seems to be so many radical elements in the country right now. Its the 60's and 70's all over again. Same ones in control now who rioted back then.

 

[lawpoke87]

Several people (animal rights activist) rushed the stage where Bernie was speaking yesterday and had to be stopped by the Secret Service. This isn't just a Trump phenomena. We've now been told that this type of behavior is someone else's fault thus giving us impunity to act in such a manner.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Christ almighty I'm tired of hearing everyone blaming everything on Obama. It's a damned local election that has nothing to do with Obama. If I blame it on anybody I blame it on Trump for emboldening people for and against him with his divisive campaign, to act out their problems... It is local politics, blame does not lie with Trump, Obama, Hillary, Bernie, etc... These people kept their anger at home before because they had shame back then. Nobody has any shame any more.

 

[rabidTU]

Christ almighty I'm tired of hearing everyone blaming everything on Obama. It's a damned local election that has nothing to do with Obama. If I blame it on anybody I blame it on Trump for emboldening people for and against him with his divisive campaign, to act out their problems... It is local politics, blame does not lie with Trump, Obama, Hillary, Bernie, etc...

It is the reaction of the people to national politics. When the leadership is this radical and disliked it makes politics more divisive and intense. Some of the same thing occurred under Bush.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

If you want to blame it on anything then blame it on this, https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=the closing of the american mind
(How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students)

 

[Gmoney4WW]

And Obama is not disliked, he is disliked by half the nation. His favorability has been hovering around 50% for a long time. It is the nation that is divided, whether it be under Bush, Obama, Trump, Hillary, etc. The nation divided didn't used to be like this. It wasn't like this under Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush I, or Clinton. Civility has been thrown out the door, and it has been a long process that started in the 60's. We have become more savage and have no shame, no civility, no direction, and no leaders that are paid any heed. And we are honing to bad choices in leaders, otherwise Bush and Kasich wouldn't have been thrown out with the bathwater.

Anyone who wants to the blame the state of American society on one person(Obama) is sadly misguided. And that is what blaming a protest/outbreak of violence at the Tulsa Mayoral debate is doing.

I will lay a large portion of the blame on hollywood greed that gave rise to reality tv.(Which a large portion of our public lapped up like a dog) We have a jerry springer public. If it bleeds it leads(literal/figurative) is not a good societal norm. TV has a long term effect and it has damaged us.

Read that book I referenced if you want to see where our direction is, and how long it has been in the making.

 

[eastcane]

We've never had one of the two major political parties elect a reality TV star, that's the difference that I see. American elections have always been contentious, I see very little difference in this year's presidential race, and past election cycles, except as we enter June, the Democrats have yet to elect a candidate with the magic number of delegates, that is an exception. A great deal is on the line in this election cycle, with the makeup of the Supreme Court likely to be cemented for a very long time by the eventual presidential winner, both parties know this. By the way, the guy causing the ruckus at the end of the Tulsa mayor debate is the nut that used to ride around Tulsa with the giant, inflatable penis, so I doubt if we can pin this event on the statesman and current world leader, President Obama.

 

[TUBballJunkie]

Yeah Paul Tay has been doing Paul Tay forever. That's zero to do with national politics.

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Paul Tay has about as much to do with Obama as Biker Fox.