Donald Trump's rise is a scary moment in America We are so busy laughing at Trump

[Cebu_4_2]

Here come the negatives...

Donald Trump's rise is a scary moment in America


We are so busy laughing at Trump that we’ve lost sight of how dangerous he is. Vox's editor-in-chief Ezra Klein explains.


http://youtu.be/drWh6vBa45k

https://youtu.be/drWh6vBa45k

[Neuro]

Here come the negatives...

Donald Trump's rise is a scary moment in America


We are so busy laughing at Trump that we’ve lost sight of how dangerous he is. Vox's editor-in-chief Ezra Klein explains.


http://youtu.be/drWh6vBa45k

https://youtu.be/drWh6vBa45k

Basically he is saying that Trump is a narcissistic sociopath, and this is a new thing among world leaders. Nothing but Chutzpah Mr Klein. I think a narcissistic sociopath is a step up from the Psychopath crime families Bush/Clinton, and the latest Narcissist Faggot Manchurian Candidate. Having a psychologically normal intelligent honest person as president of America seems like an impossibility. Ron Paul was probably close to it, but he had no chance.

[JohnQPublic]

The establishment is freaking out. This is a good thing. Now is the time to start educating people.

[Ponce]

I like him 100% but trust him 20%...... he will take us to war without wanting to.

V

[mick silver]

The agenda has involved the exporting of heavy industry, and most manufacturing and most good American jobs; destroying the middle class and the labor unions; destroying sex roles and the family; promotion of perversity, diversity deviance and political correctness; dirtying up the populace with illegal drugs for black ops money; bringing in millions of immigrants (legal and illegal) to exhaust the system (Cloward and Piven style); and well-organized, sophisticated efforts to completely asset strip Americans (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/02/10/banksters-transforming-baby-boomers-into-baby-busters/) of everything they ever worked for and saved.
But the most important part of this evil Agenda is to stage false-flag terror attacks like 9-11-01 to scare the American Public into giving up their basic God-given Rights, and to stage numerous mass-shooting in gun-free zones (real and virtual only) as false-flag attacks on the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. Unless Americans are disarmed significantly, it will be difficult to complete the Globalist NWO Agenda and transform America into GAZA II, the World’s largest open-air prison camp.
The endgame to this evil Agenda? To transform America into GAZA II with the American people the New Palestinians to be genocided but also to have all their land and resources stolen from them — to Balkanize America into 10 separate FEMA Regions, and then combine these Regions with Mexico and Canada under the secret clauses in the NAFTA Trade Agreement (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2016/01/03/secret-usg-trade-and-diplomatic-agreements-you-are-not-allowed-to-know-about/).

[EE_]

Watch scumbag Chris Wallace try to stump the Trump. Not one positive question. This is an indication the establishment is not done trying take down Trump. Lots of sour grapes and bitter people at Fox. I liked what Trump said about fat head Karl Rove.
It's obvious they are going all in on Marco Jubio.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjtfErpIgNI

[mick silver]

trying take down Trump are lead you too think they are.... you can lead a horse to water but you cant make the horse drink the water

[vacuum]

Here come the negatives...

Donald Trump's rise is a scary moment in America


We are so busy laughing at Trump that we’ve lost sight of how dangerous he is. Vox's editor-in-chief Ezra Klein explains.


http://youtu.be/drWh6vBa45k

https://youtu.be/drWh6vBa45k
I fully expect, and hope, that these liberals are extremely concerned about Trump and actually start caring about things like



Free speech. Liberals don't care about free speech. They care about reducing speech and microagressions. May they will care about free speech again if Trump scares them enough.
Privacy. These people don't care about privacy, or encryption. Why did their leader, Obama, sign the NDAA bill? Where were these people then?
Freedom to assemble and discuss things. These people want to shut down "hate" websites, but perhaps they will be more tolerant of people assembling to discuss thing if they feel in danger of being shut down themselves.


I hope these liberals start organizing and actually start representing liberal ideas again. Maybe Trump will help them with that.

[Cebu_4_2]

My goodness what I saw earlier I have to find. Was posted by a democrat teacher regarding Kasich... Let me find.

Not sure if this will work out with the picture. Here is a link to the (facebook) BS these 'moderates' post. same sex adoption is good? My GOD!

https://www.facebook.com/OHDems/?fref=photo

https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/12705534_10153439348378526_8945853576802824375_n.j pg?oh=84af60e66a333f01dca86cc9e603a4df&oe=5770A2D9

[Cebu_4_2]

^ Sounds like a good guy to me.

[midnight rambler]

They left out that Kasich is a gun-grabber, but being Demoncraps I can understand why.

I've a friend who lives in or around Ohio and I've been advised Kasich is VERY popular in that area. This party suggested to me that Kasich is out to collect delegates and then he's likely to turn his support over to Jubio.

[Neuro]

Watch scumbag Chris Wallace try to stump the Trump. Not one positive question. This is an indication the establishment is not done trying take down Trump. Lots of sour grapes and bitter people at Fox. I liked what Trump said about fat head Karl Rove.
It's obvious they are going all in on Marco Jubio.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjtfErpIgNI
"Safe travels on your campaign trail", which he finished with, sounds almost like a threat, especially with that smirk as he said it...

[Cebu_4_2]

"Safe travels on your campaign trail", which he finished with, sounds almost like a threat, especially with that smirk as he said it...


Good point, I missed it!

[EE_]

Meet the woman funding the effort to stop Trump
Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY 10:28 a.m. EST February 21, 2016

http://i.imgur.com/9TcF6Pp.jpg

Donald Trump addresses supporters celebrating his victory in the South Carolina Republican primary Saturday Feb. 20. (Photo: Richard Ellis, EPA)
Keen observers of the political landscape may have discerned this bit of information: The Republican establishment sort of hates its presidential front-runner Donald Trump. But very few of the party's moneyed elite have had the gumption to openly fund a mission to destroy the billionaire's chances of winning the nomination.

Until now.

New campaign-finance reports show that Marlene Ricketts, the wife of billionaire T.D. Ameritrade founder J. Joe Ricketts, contributed $3 million to Our Principles PAC, a super PAC that blistered Trump with negative ads, voter guides and mailers ahead of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries. Katie Packer, who helped manage Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign, runs the group.

Virtually all the money the committee raised in January came from Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs.

The Ricketts family backed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's short-lived presidential bid. Marlene Ricketts, however, also spread smaller amounts to other contenders, giving $10,000 each last year to super PACs that backed Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

Ricketts lives in Nebraska. Her son, Pete, is the state's governor.

Our Principles PAC has spent more than $3.5 million on its anti-Trump efforts so far.

On Sunday, Packer said there are no plans to retreat — despite Trump's win Saturday night in South Carolina. She said the group is identifying targets in the March 1 super Tuesday states "in which to launch aggressive efforts."

"We will continue to shine a bright light on Trump's liberal statements and inconsistencies," Packer said in an email.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/02/21/donald-trump-super-pac-marlene-ricketts/80698232/

[midnight rambler]

Virtually all the money the committee raised in January came from Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs.

So, her family likes losers. Must be a genetic thing.

[EE_]

Watch this interview, at least until after 2:30


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdvgOeP9mZk

[EE_]

Today's rally, starts at 37:00

MASSIVE LINES ALREADY FORMING Three Hours Early to See DONALD TRUMP In Atlanta

Jim Hoft Feb 21st, 2016 12:59 pm 128 Comments

Donald Trump is holding a rally today at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta at 4 PM Eastern.
trump lines atlanta

The lines are already forming outside the Congress Center.

Ryan Kruger from News 11 posted a short video from outside the center—

55,000 people are expected at the Atlanta Congress Center today for Donald Trump’s rally and the Bronner Bros. International Beauty Show.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMyE1W59Vqo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMyE1W59Vqo

[Cebu_4_2]

Tuesday is Nevada, what's this Georgia deal?

[EE_]

Tuesday is Nevada, what's this Georgia deal?

March 1st Super Tuesday states
Democrats and Republicans:

Alabama
Arkansas
Colorado
Georgia
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Oklahoma
Texas
Vermont
Virginia

SuperDuper Tuesday: March 1, 2016 (Delegates/Bound delegates) 565 bound delegate

Alabama Primary (50 total delegates/47 bound) — Proportional with 20% threshold
Alaska Caucuses (28/25) — Proportional with 13% threshold
Arkansas Primary (40/37) *— Proportional with 15% threshold
Georgia Primary (76) — Proportional with 20% threshold
Massachusetts Primary (42/39) — Proportional with 5% threshold
Minnesota Caucuses (38/35) — Proportional with 10% threshold
North Dakota Caucuses (28/0) — The state does not have a presidential preference poll and all delegates are officially unbound. Caucuses can be flexibly scheduled
Oklahoma Primary (43/40) — Proportional with 15% threshold
Tennessee Primary (58/55) — Proportional with 20% threshold
Texas Primary (155/152) — Proportional with 20% threshold
Vermont Primary (16/13) — Proportional with 20% threshold
Virginia Primary (49/46) — Proportional
Wyoming Caucuses (29/0) — The state does not have a presidential preference poll and all delegates are officially unbound

March 5, 2016 (145 bound delegates)

Kansas Caucuses (40) — Proportional with 10% threshold
Kentucky Caucuses (45/42) — Proportional with 5% threshold
Louisiana Primary (46/43) — Proportional with 20% threshold statewide, no threshold for congressional district delegates
Maine Caucuses (23/20) — Proportional with 10% threshold
March 6, 2016 (23 bound delegates)
Puerto Rico Primary (23) — Proportional with 20% threshold

March 8, 2016 (140 bound delegates)

Hawaii Caucuses (19/16) — Proportional
Idaho Primary (32) — Proportional with 20% threshold
Michigan Primary (59/56) — Proportional with 15% threshold
Mississippi Primary (39/36) — Proportional with 15% threshold
March 12, 2016 (19 bound delegates)
District of Columbia Convention (19) — Proportional with 15% threshold
Guam Convention (9/0) — Delegates elected at convention and unbound

Super Tuesday: March 15, 2016 (361 bound delegates)

Florida Primary (99) — Winner take all
Illinois Primary (69) — Statewide delegates are winner take all, congressional district delegates elected directly on ballot and bound as they declare
Missouri Primary (52/49) – Winner take all above 50%, otherwise winter take all by congressional district
North Carolina Primary (72/69) – Proportional
Northern Mariana Islands Caucuses (9) – Winner take all
Ohio Primary (66) –Winner take all
March 19, 2016 (9 bound delegates)
U.S. Virgin Islands (9) — Winner take all

March 22, 2016 (107 bound delegates)

American Samoa Convention (9) — Delegates elected and bound at convention
Arizona Primary (58) — Winner take all
Utah Caucuses (40) — Proportional with 15% threshold

Spring Break

After a month of intense voting, the calendar slows with just 134 delegates bound over the course of a month. This could sap candidates’ momentum, either elongating a close race for the nomination or forcing underperforming and underfunded candidates from the race before the home stretch.

April 5, 2016 (42 bound)

Wisconsin Primary (42) — Winner take all statewide and by congressional district

April 9, 2016 (0 bound)

Colorado Convention (37/0) — Delegates elected at district and state conventions, and bound as they declare

April 19, 2016 (92 bound)

New York Primary (95/92) — Proportional with 20% threshold

Northeast Primary: April 26, 2016 (109 bound)

More moderate Republicans have an opportunity to be heard at a critical juncture.
Connecticut Primary (28/25) — Winner take all above 50%, otherwise proportional with 20% threshold statewide and winner take all by congressional district
Delaware Primary (16) — Winner take all
Maryland Primary (38) — Winner take all
Pennsylvania Primary (71/14) — Winner take all statewide, remaining delegates elected on ballot and unbound
Rhode Island Primary (19/16) — Proportional with 10% threshold

May 3, 2016 (54 bound)

Indiana Primary (57/54) — Winner take all statewide and by congressional district

May 10, 2016 (67 bound)

Nebraska Primary (36) — Winner take all
West Virginia Primary (34/31) — Delegates elected directly on ballot and bound by preference

May 17, 2016 (25 bound)

Oregon Primary (28/25) — Proportional

May 27, 2016 (41 bound

Washington Primary (44/41) — Proportional with 20% threshold

Last Call: June 7, 2016 (294 bound)

The final primary day, with a large crop of delegates up for grabs.

California Primary (172/169) — Winner take all statewide and by congressional district
Montana Primary (27) — Winner take all
New Jersey Primary (51) — Winner take all
New Mexico Primary (24/21) — Proportional with 15% threshold
South Dakota Primary (29/26) — Winner take all

THE CONVENTION: July 18, 2016 — Cleveland, Ohio

[Joshua01]

Trump is a very dangerous man
-Ezra Klein and the Jews

Take it for what it's worth and consider the source folks

[Cebu_4_2]

Trump is a very dangerous man
-Ezra Klein and the Jews

Take it for what it's worth and consider the source folks


Very dangerous for the establishment of the Jews is all I see. If I am missing something please share.

[Joshua01]

Very dangerous for the establishment of the Jews is all I see. If I am missing something please share.
Me too, you and I are in agreement

[mick silver]

Ezra Klein (born May 9, 1984) is an American blogger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog), and progressive columnist (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columnist). He is most known for his former work as a blogger and columnist for The Washington Post (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post), as well his ongoing work as a contributor to Bloomberg News (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomberg_L.P.) and MSNBC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSNBC). He was formerly an associate editor of The American Prospect (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Prospect) political magazine and a political blogger at the same publication.[1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-1)
At The Washington Post (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Washington_Post), he managed a branded blog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog) called "Wonkblog (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonkblog)," which featured his writing and the writing of other policy reporters. Issues discussed in the blog included Health Care and Budget Policy.[2] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-2) He wrote a primer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primer_(textbook)) on policy called "Wonkbook", which was delivered by e-mail and on his blog each morning. In 2011, Klein's blog was the most-read blog at The Washington Post.[3] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-3)
In 2011, he was named one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington, D.C. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,_D.C.#Government_and_politics), by GQ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GQ).[4] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-4) In 2010, he was named Blogger of the Year by The Week (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Week) magazine and The Sidney Hillman Foundation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sidney_Hillman_Foundation).[5] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-5)[6] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-6) His blog was also named one of the 25 best financial blogs by Time (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_(magazine)) magazine in 2011.[7] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-7) In 2013, Klein won the Online News Association Award (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_News_Association#Online_Journalism_Awards_. 28OJAs.29) for Best Online Commentary.[8] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-8) He also won the American Political Science Association (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Political_Science_Association)'s Carey McWilliams Award (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carey_McWilliams_(journalist)#Death_and_legacy),[9] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-9) for "a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics." He appeared as one of 80 men featured (http://www.esquire.com/features/october-2013) in Esquire (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esquire_(magazine))'s 80th Anniversary issue and in a feature in The New York Times (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times) Style magazine.[10] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-10)
In January 2014, he announced he would be leaving The Washington Post to start a new media (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/News_media) venture with several other veteran journalists.[11] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#cite_note-McCarthy-11) He has joined Vox Media (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vox_Media) as Editor in-Chief for their news website, Vox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vox_(website)).
Contents [hide (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Klein#)]
Trump is a very dangerous man
-Ezra Klein and the Jews

Take it for what it's worth and consider the source folks

[mick silver]

The conflict between Zionism and liberalism http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/assets_c/2010/05/kidflag-thumb-454x306-19736.jpg (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/kidflag.JPG)
Peter Beinart has a long and interesting essay (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/jun/10/failure-american-jewish-establishment/?pagination=false) in the New York Review of Books arguing that Israel -- and in particular its young -- is moving very far to the right in a way that's going to cause terrific tensions with the next generation of American Jews.

[America's last generation of] secular Zionists aren’t reproducing themselves. Their children have no memory of Arab armies massed on Israel’s border and of Israel surviving in part thanks to urgent military assistance from the United States. Instead, they have grown up viewing Israel as a regional hegemon and an occupying power. As a result, they are more conscious than their parents of the degree to which Israeli behavior violates liberal ideals, and less willing to grant Israel an exemption because its survival seems in peril. Because they have inherited their parents’ liberalism, they cannot embrace their uncritical Zionism. Because their liberalism is real, they can see that the liberalism of the American Jewish establishment is fake.
I used to write a lot more about the Israel/Palestine issue than I do today. My main conclusion from those arguments was that the real dividing line was not sympathy for the Palestinians or support for Israel, but whether you fundamentally understood Israel to be the most powerful country in the Middle East and the stronger party in the struggle with the Palestinians or whether you understood Israel to be a small and threatened nation that was locked in a war for its survival with a powerful enemy.
This disagreement often falls across generational lines. As Beinart says, young Jews do not remember Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Algeria massing forces in the run-up to the Six-Day War. They do not remember a coalition of Arab forces streaming across the Sinai on Yom Kippur in order to catch the Jewish state by surprise. Their understanding of Israel was not forged watching the weak and threatened state improbably repel the attacks of potent adversaries.
The absence of such definitional memories has contributed to a new analysis of the Israeli situation. Today, Israel is far, far, far more militarily powerful than any of its assailants. None of the region's armies would dare face the Jewish state on the battlefield, and in the event that they tried, they would be slaughtered. Further stacking the deck is America's steadfast support of Israel. Any serious threat would trigger an immediate defense by the most powerful army the world has ever known. In effect, Israel's not only the strongest power in the region, but it has the Justice League on speed dial.
That is not to say that the Jewish state is not under threat. Conventional attacks pose no danger, but one terrorist group with one nuclear weapon and one good plan could do horrible damage to the small, dense country. That threat, however, is fundamentally a danger born of the Arab world's hatred of Israel. It follows, then, that hastening the peace that will begin to ease that hatred makes Israel safer. Exacerbating the tensions that feed it, conversely, only makes the threat more severe.
And to many of us, it looks like Israel is making the threat more severe. Its decision to pummel the city of Gaza from the air in a misguided attempt to punish Hamas. The ascension of Avigdor Lieberman and the return of Benjamin Netanyahu. Neither an overwhelming assault certain to kill many Arab civilians or a political movement that seeks to disenfranchise Israeli Arabs -- whose respected position in Israeli politics has long been a point of pride for Jews -- seems likely to begin the long process required to get back to the place where peace is conceivable.
Moreover, as Beinart says, most American Jews are liberals. And the fundamental project of American liberalism is bringing compassion to economic power and restraint to military power and equality to political power. Now that Israel is as empowered as it is embattled, its reckless application of military power (as in Gaza), counterproductive use of economic power (subsidies and support for the settlements), and embrace of a racially unequal politics (Lieberman suggested excluding Israeli Arabs from serving in the Knesset altogether) brings it into direct conflict with the American liberals who provide it with such substantial support. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has decided to support the further expansion of the settlements even at the cost of his relationship with the United States.
I don't know where this ends. As Beinart says, one possibility is that the ranks of American Zionists cease to be dominated by mainstream Jews and instead become the province of Orthodox Jews and evangelical Christian Zionists and takes a sharp turn toward the right even as its influence ebbs. Another possibility is that this will prove the darkness before the dawn of a more reasonable turn in Israeli politics. A scarier possibility is that some sort of catastrophic event -- either a terrible attack on Israel, or a terrible attack by Israel -- reshapes the situation.
But Israel has to walk with care. Previous generations might have believed in "Israel, right or wrong." Their replacements may not be as willing to sacrifice moral perspective in service of tribal allegiance. And much more importantly than that, every day that relations with the Arab world don't improve -- or, more to the point, continue to worsen -- is another day that Israel remains under threat. For those of us who worry about the state's safety and believe the primary threat is terrorism combined with more potent weaponry, the continuation of current trends is a terrifying thought.
Photo credit: Amir Cohen/Reuters.

By Ezra Klein | May 17, 2010; 10:45 AM ET
Categories: Israel/Palestine (http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/israelpalestine/)

[Cebu_4_2]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/moment-of-truth-we-must-stop-trump/2016/02/21/0172e788-d8a7-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html

The moment of truth: We must stop Trump

Trump captures the nation’s attention on the campaign trail

The Republican presidential candidate focuses on the Super Tuesday state primaries after a win in South Carolina.
By Danielle Allen February 21 at 1:00 PM

Danielle Allen is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post.

Like any number of us raised in the late 20th century, I have spent my life perplexed about exactly how Hitler could have come to power in Germany. Watching Donald Trump’s rise, I now understand. Leave aside whether a direct comparison of Trump to Hitler is accurate. That is not my point. My point rather is about how a demagogic opportunist can exploit a divided country.

To understand the rise of Hitler and the spread of Nazism, I have generally relied on the German-Jewish émigré philosopher Hannah Arendt and her arguments about the banality of evil. Somehow people can understand themselves as “just doing their job,” yet act as cogs in the wheel of a murderous machine. Arendt also offered a second answer in a small but powerful book called “Men in Dark Times.” In this book, she described all those who thought that Hitler’s rise was a terrible thing but chose “internal exile,” or staying invisible and out of the way as their strategy for coping with the situation. They knew evil was evil, but they too facilitated it, by departing from the battlefield out of a sense of hopelessness.

[George Will: Trump relishes wrecking the GOP]

One can see both of these phenomena unfolding now. The first shows itself, for instance, when journalists cover every crude and cruel thing that comes out of Trump’s mouth and thereby help acculturate all of us to what we are hearing. Are they not just doing their jobs, they will ask, in covering the Republican front-runner? Have we not already been acculturated by 30 years of popular culture to offensive and inciting comments? Yes, both of these things are true. But that doesn’t mean journalists ought to be Trump’s megaphone. Perhaps we should just shut the lights out on offensiveness; turn off the mic when someone tries to shout down others; reestablish standards for what counts as a worthwhile contribution to the public debate. That will seem counter to journalistic norms, yes, but why not let Trump pay for his own ads when he wants to broadcast foul and incendiary ideas? He’ll still have plenty of access to freedom of expression. It is time to draw a bright line.
How Donald Trump won the South Carolina GOP primary, in 60 seconds
Play Video1:01
Donald Trump won the Feb. 20 South Carolina GOP primary. Here's how. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

One spots the second experience in any number of water-cooler conversations or dinner-party dialogues. “Yes, yes, it is terrible. Can you believe it? Have you seen anything like it? Has America come to this?” “Agreed, agreed.” But when someone asks what is to be done, silence falls. Very many of us, too many of us, are starting to contemplate accepting internal exile. Or we joke about moving to Canada more seriously than usually.

But over the course of the past few months, I’ve learned something else that goes beyond Arendt’s ideas about the banality of evil and feelings of impotence in the face of danger.

[Five myths Donald Trump tells about Donald Trump]

Trump is rising by taking advantage of a divided country. The truth is that the vast majority of voting Americans think that Trump is unacceptable as a presidential candidate, but we are split by strong partisan ideologies and cannot coordinate a solution to stop him. Similarly, a significant part of voting Republicans think that Trump is unacceptable, but they too, thus far, have been unable to coordinate a solution. Trump is exploiting the fact that we cannot unite across our ideological divides.

The only way to stop him, then, is to achieve just that kind of coordination across party lines and across divisions within parties. We have reached that moment of truth.

Republicans, you cannot count on the Democrats to stop Trump. I believe that Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination, and I intend to vote for her, but it is also the case that she is a candidate with significant weaknesses, as your party knows quite well. The result of a head-to-head contest between Clinton and Trump would be unpredictable. Trump has to be blocked in your primary.

Jeb Bush has done the right thing by dropping out, just as he did the right thing by being the first, alongside Rand Paul, to challenge Trump. The time has come, John Kasich and Ben Carson, to leave the race as well. You both express a powerful commitment to the good of your country and to its founding ideals. If you care about the future of this republic, it is time to endorse Marco Rubio. Kasich, there’s a little wind in your sails, but it’s not enough. Your country is calling you. Do the right thing.

Ted Cruz is, I believe, pulling votes away from Trump, and for that reason is useful in the race. But, Mr. Cruz, you are drawing too close to Trump’s politics. You too should change course.

Democrats, your leading candidate is too weak to count on as a firewall. She might be able to pull off a general election victory against Trump, but then again she might not. Too much is uncertain this year. You, too, need to help the Republicans beat Trump; this is no moment for standing by passively. If your deadline for changing your party affiliation has not yet come, re-register and vote for Rubio, even if, like me, you cannot stomach his opposition to marriage equality. I too would prefer Kasich as the Republican nominee, but pursuing that goal will only make it more likely that Trump takes the nomination. The republic cannot afford that.

[Catherine Rampell: Donald Trump thinks you’re stupid. Yes, you.]

Finally, to all of you Republicans who have already dropped out, one more, great act of public service awaits you. As candidates, you pledged to support whomever the Republican party nominated. It’s time to revoke your pledge. Be bold, stand up and shout that you will not support Trump if he is your party’s nominee. Do it together. Hold one big mother of a news conference. Endorse Rubio, together. It is time to draw a bright line, and you are the ones on whom this burden falls. No one else can do it.

Marco Rubio, this is also your moment to draw a bright line. You too ought to rescind your pledge to support the party’s nominee if it is Trump.

Donald Trump has no respect for the basic rights that are the foundation of constitutional democracy, nor for the requirements of decency necessary to sustain democratic citizenship. Nor can any democracy survive without an expectation that the people require reasonable arguments that bring the truth to light, and Trump has nothing but contempt for our intelligence.

We, the people, need to find somewhere, buried in the recesses of our fading memories, the capacity to make common cause against this formidable threat to our equally shared liberties. The time is now.

Read more:

Ruth Marcus: Donald Trump’s utterly ridiculous budget plan

Anne Applebaum: Donald Trump’s campaign of conspiracy theories

Michael Gerson: Donald Trump and the politics of the middle finger

[EE_]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/moment-of-truth-we-must-stop-trump/2016/02/21/0172e788-d8a7-11e5-925f-1d10062cc82d_story.html

The moment of truth: We must stop Trump

Trump captures the nation’s attention on the campaign trail

The Republican presidential candidate focuses on the Super Tuesday state primaries after a win in South Carolina.
By Danielle Allen February 21 at 1:00 PM

Danielle Allen is a political theorist at Harvard University and a contributing columnist for The Post.

Like any number of us raised in the late 20th century, I have spent my life perplexed about exactly how Hitler could have come to power in Germany. Watching Donald Trump’s rise, I now understand. Leave aside whether a direct comparison of Trump to Hitler is accurate. That is not my point. My point rather is about how a demagogic opportunist can exploit a divided country.

To understand the rise of Hitler and the spread of Nazism, I have generally relied on the German-Jewish émigré philosopher Hannah Arendt and her arguments about the banality of evil. Somehow people can understand themselves as “just doing their job,” yet act as cogs in the wheel of a murderous machine. Arendt also offered a second answer in a small but powerful book called “Men in Dark Times.” In this book, she described all those who thought that Hitler’s rise was a terrible thing but chose “internal exile,” or staying invisible and out of the way as their strategy for coping with the situation. They knew evil was evil, but they too facilitated it, by departing from the battlefield out of a sense of hopelessness.

[George Will: Trump relishes wrecking the GOP]

One can see both of these phenomena unfolding now. The first shows itself, for instance, when journalists cover every crude and cruel thing that comes out of Trump’s mouth and thereby help acculturate all of us to what we are hearing. Are they not just doing their jobs, they will ask, in covering the Republican front-runner? Have we not already been acculturated by 30 years of popular culture to offensive and inciting comments? Yes, both of these things are true. But that doesn’t mean journalists ought to be Trump’s megaphone. Perhaps we should just shut the lights out on offensiveness; turn off the mic when someone tries to shout down others; reestablish standards for what counts as a worthwhile contribution to the public debate. That will seem counter to journalistic norms, yes, but why not let Trump pay for his own ads when he wants to broadcast foul and incendiary ideas? He’ll still have plenty of access to freedom of expression. It is time to draw a bright line.
How Donald Trump won the South Carolina GOP primary, in 60 seconds
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Donald Trump won the Feb. 20 South Carolina GOP primary. Here's how. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

One spots the second experience in any number of water-cooler conversations or dinner-party dialogues. “Yes, yes, it is terrible. Can you believe it? Have you seen anything like it? Has America come to this?” “Agreed, agreed.” But when someone asks what is to be done, silence falls. Very many of us, too many of us, are starting to contemplate accepting internal exile. Or we joke about moving to Canada more seriously than usually.

But over the course of the past few months, I’ve learned something else that goes beyond Arendt’s ideas about the banality of evil and feelings of impotence in the face of danger.

[Five myths Donald Trump tells about Donald Trump]

Trump is rising by taking advantage of a divided country. The truth is that the vast majority of voting Americans think that Trump is unacceptable as a presidential candidate, but we are split by strong partisan ideologies and cannot coordinate a solution to stop him. Similarly, a significant part of voting Republicans think that Trump is unacceptable, but they too, thus far, have been unable to coordinate a solution. Trump is exploiting the fact that we cannot unite across our ideological divides.

The only way to stop him, then, is to achieve just that kind of coordination across party lines and across divisions within parties. We have reached that moment of truth.

Republicans, you cannot count on the Democrats to stop Trump. I believe that Hillary Clinton will win the Democratic nomination, and I intend to vote for her, but it is also the case that she is a candidate with significant weaknesses, as your party knows quite well. The result of a head-to-head contest between Clinton and Trump would be unpredictable. Trump has to be blocked in your primary.

Jeb Bush has done the right thing by dropping out, just as he did the right thing by being the first, alongside Rand Paul, to challenge Trump. The time has come, John Kasich and Ben Carson, to leave the race as well. You both express a powerful commitment to the good of your country and to its founding ideals. If you care about the future of this republic, it is time to endorse Marco Rubio. Kasich, there’s a little wind in your sails, but it’s not enough. Your country is calling you. Do the right thing.

Ted Cruz is, I believe, pulling votes away from Trump, and for that reason is useful in the race. But, Mr. Cruz, you are drawing too close to Trump’s politics. You too should change course.

Democrats, your leading candidate is too weak to count on as a firewall. She might be able to pull off a general election victory against Trump, but then again she might not. Too much is uncertain this year. You, too, need to help the Republicans beat Trump; this is no moment for standing by passively. If your deadline for changing your party affiliation has not yet come, re-register and vote for Rubio, even if, like me, you cannot stomach his opposition to marriage equality. I too would prefer Kasich as the Republican nominee, but pursuing that goal will only make it more likely that Trump takes the nomination. The republic cannot afford that.

[Catherine Rampell: Donald Trump thinks you’re stupid. Yes, you.]

Finally, to all of you Republicans who have already dropped out, one more, great act of public service awaits you. As candidates, you pledged to support whomever the Republican party nominated. It’s time to revoke your pledge. Be bold, stand up and shout that you will not support Trump if he is your party’s nominee. Do it together. Hold one big mother of a news conference. Endorse Rubio, together. It is time to draw a bright line, and you are the ones on whom this burden falls. No one else can do it.

Marco Rubio, this is also your moment to draw a bright line. You too ought to rescind your pledge to support the party’s nominee if it is Trump.

Donald Trump has no respect for the basic rights that are the foundation of constitutional democracy, nor for the requirements of decency necessary to sustain democratic citizenship. Nor can any democracy survive without an expectation that the people require reasonable arguments that bring the truth to light, and Trump has nothing but contempt for our intelligence.

We, the people, need to find somewhere, buried in the recesses of our fading memories, the capacity to make common cause against this formidable threat to our equally shared liberties. The time is now.

Read more:

Ruth Marcus: Donald Trump’s utterly ridiculous budget plan

Anne Applebaum: Donald Trump’s campaign of conspiracy theories

Michael Gerson: Donald Trump and the politics of the middle finger

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