So when Trump supporters start showing up at D rallies...

[jberryhill]

...how do you suppose it is going to go down?

[Albertoo]

1. I suggest nobody should interrupt the rallies of the opposing party

Simple.

[daleanime]

4. Suggest it, no....

Advise it, no...

Plan it, no...

Understand it, oh hell yes. My only question is why did it take so long for anyone to take a stand against that kind of hate.

[DemocraticSocialist8]

9. I disagree. You have a candidate basically calling to round people up

You can't let that type of hatemongering and fascism slide and hope to keep your democracy. People need to stand up to him.

[jberryhill]

13. How about just not voting for him?

...and working to get votes for a candidate who opposes him?

What is so hard about that?

If he gets the nomination, I guarantee you that someone is going to "stand up to him".

That person will be the Democratic candidate.

Here's how this works:

He can spew ignorant stupid shit until November. Then, in the first week of November, we don't vote for him. Then, he goes home, and we will have demonstrated that his ideas were rejected.

[Cheese Sandwich]

32. It's not just about the election though.

He's inciting violence and spreading hate. He's a danger to society. People have already gotten hurt and more will. Trump is not just one guy. It's a movement of violence and hate.

Peaceful protesters at his rallies are attacked and injured on a regular basis and he encourages it. He encourages political violence. He's basically a fascist. The government doesn't judge him because he has freedom of speech and the law protects that.

So that means people have to act to set a message that Trump's political violence won't be tolerated. It's self defense. It's not going to work to just ignore them and hope they go away. If they're allowed to continue they are only going to get worse. They aren't going to stop until they get met by some kind of force or disruption. Trump should crawl back under a rock with David Duke and the KKK.

[jberryhill]

35. Who said anything about ignoring him?

I may be wrong, but if he gets the R nomination, then there is going to be someone clearly denouncing his ideas for months.

Hate never ultimately wins. It is, by its very nature, self destructive. You seem not to believe that or understand it.

I didn't say anything about ignoring anyone, however.

[Cheese Sandwich]

48. It's not enough for him to lose the election.

It's not just a politician. It's a movement with a physical agenda of attacking anybody who's different. It has to be met with a physical resistance, which can be non-violent disruption. Until they see some counter power pushing back they are only going to get worse, no matter who wins the election.

[jberryhill]

50. Do you remember this one?

https://m.

[Cheese Sandwich]

55. I see both sides

The protests are happening for a reason. It's because the establishment system is treating trump as a legitimate candidate. But the protesters view him as delegitimized because he encourages violence and attacks. The establishment in this case includes the Democratic Party, the Republican party, the mainstream media, and the government. It never should have been allowed to get this far. The media knows how to paint out a candidate as kooky or illegitimate or dangerous if they want to. They do it to progressives all the time. They let Trump grow into a huge movement. MSNBC and CNN have been constant Trump for a year. They built him up. The Republicans fostered hatred in their party for years. Now they have a monster on their hands. The Democrats can't be blamed for it but they are locked into where they have to treat Trump as legitimate because it's all they can do. They are constrained by their role. The government can do a better job of cracking down on some of these assaults that have been happening at Trump rallies. Somebody has to challenge Trump and say look this guy doesn't even deserve to be in the debate or treated as a serious candidate. He's not a legitimate candidate because he encourages violence.

[jberryhill]

58. Did you catch what Rubio said?

Rubio cracked me up.

In essence, he said something along the lines of "People like Trump because he says out loud what a lot of people are thinking. But when you are in politics, you can't say those things out loud."

And Obama has said more than once that Trump isn't saying anything Republican candidates haven't said for a long time - Trump just says it more clearly.

So want do you want? A GOP candidate who thinks the same shit but doesn't say it out loud, or do you want one that finally gives America a big fat honest and close face full of at what these people have really been about for a generation!

Donald Trump is the distilled essence of what Republicans have been all about for decades. I'm glad they've finally dropped the smiley mask and decided to give everyone a good look-see.

[Cheese Sandwich]

60. That is funny

Rubio must have had another glitch and accidentally let that slip. You're right there's really not much difference. In some says Cruz might actually be worse. Trump is a bully though.

[jberryhill]

61. He repeated it on different nights

He said it - or something close to it - during the last debate as well.

[Jim Beard]

42. Protesters should not be disrupting the meeting inside the building.

Thousands outside is best.

[Glitterati]

63. Wrong

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.


Never forget what "behaving nicely" got us the last time a fascist came to power.

[Jim Beard]

67. Let us not be the ones who are fighting the bad ones become bad ourselves.

He does not have the power yet and I will only be concerned when he has the nomination and even then, we do not need to make him the victim .

[Glitterati]

68. More tsk, tsk, tsk, behave children BS

Nope. I will not go quietly.

[Kalidurga]

2. We will give em hugs and kisses

then go out for milk n cookies after

[napi21]

3. I don't know, BUT there's a very interesting oped in USA Today by Frank Luntz.

Norm Goldman mentioned it and I went to read it.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/03/10/frank-luntz-young-voters-spell-doom-gop/81534530/

Frank Luntz: Young voters spell doom for GOP

While Republicans fight a war over how high to build a mythical wall on our Southern border, they ignore the war for the hearts and minds of America’s largest generation in history — even bigger than the Baby Boomers.

The Republican Party doesn’t have a problem with younger voters. Younger voters have a problem with the Republican Party, and it is rapidly becoming a long-term electoral crisis.

In our recent national survey of 1,000 first- and second-time voters ages 18 to 26, Republicans weren’t just off on the wrong track. They were barely on the radar with this Snapchat generation, as it is sometimes called.


Take the time to read the whole article. It's not very long, but bearing in mind who wrote this, it's got to have the Pubbies in complete desperation!

[melman]

47. This guy is dishonest as they come

He would never put his real thoughts in a USA Today article.

[intrepidity]

5. Depends who throws the first punch, and how the security/police behave

I suspect this won't happen. Trump supporters are FOR Trump, rather than opposed to the other candidates. They are star-struck or something. Doubt they'd bother to show up anywhere else.

But

[jberryhill]

7. In a crowd nobody ever sorts out the "first punch"

The notion that anyone is going to sort out the particulars of "who threw the first punch" among conflicting accounts of fights breaking out in a crowd of thousands is absurd.

In the video loop they keep playing tonight, have you seen the one where the white guy is yelling in the face of the black guy? Which one throws the first punch?

[intrepidity]

10. That is only one video

If an event becomes significant, there will be dozens more videos from different perspectives. The thing I noticed in all of the videos was the number of people holding their phones up recording everything.

[mikehiggins]

6. Trump folks showing up at Bernie's rallies?

What would be wrong with that? Sanders hasn't managed to actually insult anyone except the Establishment politicians and Wall Street.

Well, I guess you could say he's urging that the brass bull down by Wall Street should be neutered but I can't see too many Trump-ites getting in an uproar over that.

[jberryhill]

8. "A commie is trying to take over America!"

You don't think there is someone who finds that notion upsetting?

[intrepidity]

11. I'd bet if they took a moment to listen to Bernie

they might actually find themselves agreeing with him.

Really, it might be a good thing if Trump supporters attended Bernie rallies.

[jberryhill]

15. As if

They won't listen for one second.

To put it in more direct terms, no, they are not going to show up to be persuaded of anything by a commie pinko Jew who wants to take away everyone's stuff. That is what they understand him to be, and they are going to spend as much time listening to Sanders as the protesters at the Trump rallies spend listening to Trump.

[intrepidity]

16. But Trump doesn't actually say anything

Bernie says stuff, things that are meaningful to people. I dunno, maybe I'm just not cynical enough (lol, as if).

[jberryhill]

19. There's one thing I learned that you might find interesting

It is surprising how many people assume that other people think the same way they do.

If Trump is not saying anything, then why is he winning the R primaries?

Clearly, he is saying something to people inclined to hear whatever the fuck it is he is saying, and who find Sanders to be as incomprehensible as you or I find Trump to be.

[intrepidity]

22. I hear you

and yes, I do have difficulty unscrewing the inscrutible.

I hope that he is winning due to 1) his celebrity status and 2) a rejection of the other candidates. But honestly, I don't know what his supporters see in him. He certainly does not have a message beyond "I am great, and I'll do stuff".

[daleanime]

18. Exactly, how can we get a republican to listen to us....

when even a Democrat won't. Have a great night.

[840high]

29. Many people.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

12. They hate everything that is not them. n/m

[brush]

14. Clinton and Sanders aren't goading their supporters to violence

Trump has said "in my day demonstrators would be carried out on stretchers", and I wish I could punch one of them in the face". He's also told his supporters, not security personnel to "get them out, get them out".

What are you, in favor of this or something?

[flamingdem]

17. Trump supporters aren't motivated by anything other than adoring their

strongman and hoping he can improve their lives and justify their racism.

They don't care about Bernie and won't go to his rallies.

The people at the Trump rally weren't Bernie supporters anyway as a whole - they were activists of all kinds and not tied to a candidate.

I hope they keep disrupting, no one else does anything.

[jberryhill]

21. "no one else does anything"

You do know that the overall point of this exercise is that there will be an election in November, where quite a few people are going to "do something" - i.e. vote.

It's pretty simple to get politicians to shut up. You don't vote for them. It shuts them up pretty effectively. Been to a Sarah Palin rally lately? Neither have I.

[flamingdem]

25. I disagree and it's an American tradition to protest

and really this wasn't very violent and made the point that people will not put up with the bs Trump is selling. Just maybe some of those undereducated racists and average Joes will realize that Trump is a fraud and they'll vote for Bernie!

[jberryhill]

27. Ah, yes, the great Lincoln-Douglas Shouting Matches

For most of this country's political history, electronic sound amplification did not exist, so it was actually kind of important for people to be quiet enough to hear what was being said.

The tactic of attempting to disrupt one's opponents' political rallies originated elsewhere.

[flamingdem]

31. What were the shouting matches about?

My ancestor was involved with all of that, found a speech where he introduced Lincoln for a campaign rally.

[delrem]

20. You do realize that Trump is a hatemongering fascist?

Don't you?

Have you thought about what'll go down if Trump becomes POTUS?

[jberryhill]

23. My goodness, what a startling revelation!

Then I would strongly suggest that we not vote for him, and that we encourage others to do the same.

In what way did tonight's events further the objective of persuading others not to vote for him?

[JackRiddler]

37. What you are thinking is not what the people in Chicago are thinking.

An event is announced by Trump and they respond. You are surprised?

[delrem]

44. You think you can stop tonight's events by lecturing me? Or lecturing DU?

Really?

[jberryhill]

45. I thought this was a discussion forum

I don't recall making any insinuations about what "you think", nor do I recall making any general objection to you posting here.

Do I have your permission to express my opinion?

[delrem]

46. It is. You do realize that Trump is a hatemongering fascist?

You do realize that he preaches violence from the stage.
Hatred of minorities, the targeting of minorities for violent repression?

You suggest that he's a normal candidate, that there's an equivalence. Well, you're wrong. Even mainstream Republicans are shocked.

So what the hell do you expect to follow a fascist like that around? Civility?

He's put it on the table: people are fighting for their lives.

[jberryhill]

49. Yes

Thank you Captain Obvious.

I realized that about Nixon too. Now perhaps you will tell me what you recall about "law and order", "hard hats", "the silent majority", and how those phrases relate to the manipulation of chaos to the advantage of an authoritarian politician.

And, here, even though you are condescending and insulting, I hunted this down just for you:


https://m.

Worked like a fucking charm.

[delrem]

51. Oh ffs! Even the other R candidates are blaming Trump! /nt

[jberryhill]

52. No. Cruz tonight blamed Obama

You know, because Obama is so divisive that it's given Trump an opening.

No shit.

[delrem]

53. From WP, lead story:

"One of Trump’s competitors, Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) blamed Trump for the violence on Friday.

"Tonight the seeds of division that Donald Trump has been sowing this whole campaign finally bore fruit, and it was ugly," Kasich said in a statement. "Some let their opposition to his views slip beyond protest into violence, but we can never let that happen. I urge people to resist that temptation and rise to a higher level."

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) stopped short of blaming Trump, but said that the Republican frontrunner is learning that "words have real consequences."

"I wouldn’t say Mr. Trump is responsible for the events of tonight," Rubio said on Fox News, "but he is most certainly, in other events, has in the past used some pretty rough language, saying in the good old days we used to beat these people up, or I’ll pay your legal bills if you rough them up. So I think he bears some responsibility for the general tone."

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) organized an impromptu press conference outside a dinner event in Rolling Meadows, Ill., and took a harsher tone against Trump.

"The responsibility for that lies with protesters, who took violence into their own hands. But in any campaign, responsibility starts at the top," Cruz said. "Any candidate is responsible for the culture of a campaign. And when you have a campaign that disrespects the voters, when you have a campaign that affirmatively encourages violence, when you have a campaign that is facing allegations of physical violence against members of the press, you create an environment that only encourages this sort of nasty discord."
____________________
I don't know what the hell your point is, but go ahead, continue to suggest that Trump is a normal candidate and to decry the actions of those who protested, like the young black guys chanting "16 shots" and who obviously were there TO SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES.

[jberryhill]

54. Where the fuck did I "decry the actions of protestors"

Where the fuck did I do that?

Trump and his crew are following Hitler's playbook. They will be sending brownshirts to opponents' rallies.

[delrem]

56. Oh I dunno, maybe it's implied in your OP? byeeeeeee!!!

[jberryhill]

59. Not the implication at all

These Trump supporters are extremely stupid and angry people, and Donald Trump has finally taken the smiley mask off of what the GOP has been all about for decades.

Since you seem fascinated by telling me repeatedly the obvious fact that Trump is a fascist, I was pondering the consequences of his followers taking the next step in the program, which is to disrupt the gatherings of their opponents, which they will deem "fair play".

[Doctor Jack]

28. Well said

This isn't the normal republican candidate. You didn't see this type of reaction in 2012 when Romney was running around spouting his non-sense because he wasn't encouraging violence or throwing out fascist bullshit. You don't see this type of thing at the other republican candidate's rallies because, while they are crazy assholes, aren't dangerous in the same way trump is. Its one thing to be disruptive because you strongly disagree with someone but it is totally different to be disruptive because someone is trying to start a 21st Nazi Party in the United States. If Ted Cruz is talking about how he dislikes regulations or wants to get rid of the IRS, I don't really care. Its a really stupid idea but no one could potentially die right now because of that. But saying that you want to see protesters dragged out on stretchers and attacking people that are being escorted out by the police, and saying that we need to round up millions of people, that is completely different. That type of rhetoric needs to be strongly opposed at every turn.

[jberryhill]

40. And they "realize" our candidates want to kill babies

With the Supreme Court hanging in the balance, I think their particular mindset leads them to similar fears.

Again, the basic mistake is "other people live in my reality."

Perhaps you haven't noticed they believe Obama is the anti-Christ, Sanders is Stalin, and Hillary is "Hitlery" in their lexicon.

Yes, I perfectly well understand what Trump represents.

I also understand they believe, wrongly but sincerely, the precise same things about our candidates.

[Turbineguy]

24. They won't show up at D rallies.

That would be individualist action. They work as a collective.

[840high]

26. Actually a good question.

[joshcryer]

30. I don't see this happening.

I'd be utterly shocked and stunned. For one, less than 2% of his supporters are young people, and virtually no minorities or people you'd normally associate with activism go to his rallies.

[jberryhill]

38. "people you'd normally associate with activism"

I don't know. The activist shown here is looking pretty spry:

[joshcryer]

41. Oh I can see Rusty Shackleford showing up.

[JackRiddler]

39. Yes very much so.

[0rganism]

33. let them yell for a while, then lead the assembly in singing "we shall overcome"?

i dunno, but that would seem like the sane approach

[DemocratSinceBirth]

34. Jeb Bush was right when he called Trump the "Chaos Candidate", chaos follows him...

I agree with the spirit of your seminal post; protesters have a right to be heard but so do the protested.That being said, Trump is flirting with fascism so the backlash was to be expected. I don't know where this ends.

[JackRiddler]

36. Let them. They will never be in large numbers at D rallies.

Chicago, hello? The people came out in a very predictable fashion. Good for them.

[world wide wally]

43. stick flowers in their gun barrels?

It used to work

There are actually more good people than bad people… keep the faith

[PatrickforO]

57. The last time a fascist dictator came to power legally (Hitler in 1933),

it took 12 years and 80 million lives to get rid of him. We will oppose Trump and his jackbooted Nazis from the beginning.

[Glitterati]

62. Good for you Patrick!

THAT is how it's done.

We do NOT stand idly by and watch it happen in the name of "behaving."

[tabasco]

64. It's America and they have the right to be there.

They do not have the right to assault anyone. The opponents at the Trump rally weren't bothering anybody. They should have been left alone. Seems pretty fucking simple to me. Contrarians seem so simple-minded.

[DCBob]

65. What exactly will they be protesting??

That Bernie is a socialist or Hillary lied about Benghazi?

They will look like fools. Let them try.. it will backfire.

[Teamster Jeff]

66. Oh my!