Op-ed: When Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton the devil and threatened to jail her it was not the first time I had heard such talk, though not in recent years and in America. It reminded me of political contests in the Third World, and often the incumbent made good threats to jail opponents. Sometimes they were never seen again. This was over the top even for a potty mouth. We don’t threaten opponents on debate stages. "If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your (missing email) situation," Trump said, "because there has never been so many lies, so much deception." Trump's threat -- which he has made before on the campaign trail -- is extraordinary even by the standard of the vitriolic 2016 campaign. Clinton responded first by calling Trump's comments about her emails false, then said, "It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country." Trump, as if continuing her sentence, added: "Because you'd be in jail." It was very Nixonian, said former Attorney General Eric Holder, a Democrat. He recalled Nixon’s attorney general quit when ordered to fire the Watergate special prosecutor. But Republicans were shocked as well. “Former White House said, "Winning candidates don't threaten to put opponents in jail," he tweeted. "Presidents don't threaten prosecution of individuals. Trump is wrong on this." There was a certain irony as Trump stalked Hillary on the stage, to use the verb chosen by several pundits, to talk about jailing her. He is the one facing trial three weeks after the election for running a phoney university. And he will face trial in more than one state for ripping off students. Trump’s Foundation has been ordered to cease and desist taking donations because it is not registered. In our living room, and many others from what I heard on several stations, people wondered why the taller Trump kept creeping up behind Clinton when it was her turn to speak. It seemed like something from a Frankenstein movie. In the past such bizarre behavior has worked for Trump. Appparently not Sunday night. Nearly as scary as the jail threat was his total lack of knowledge of Russia’s role in Syria. It reminded some viewers of Libertarian Gary Johnson’s comment “What is Aleppo.” The two polls taken right after the event showed Hillary the winner. Before the debate many Republicans had abandoned him, others said they would look for a strong performance to get him back in the race as his poll numbers tumble. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/who-won-the-debate_us_57fb0e0ae4b068ecb5dfbc2c http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/09/politics/eric-holder-nixon-trump-presidential-debate/
3 Comments
Eileen
10/10/2016 05:15:28 pm
What a vile man he is. A perfect match for Farage. Both liars and phoneys. Trump prowled around and stood so close behind Hillary it looked like he was trying to intimidate her. By the way fart face Donald Bill Clinton is not running for election YOU are. All that crap he raked up is nothing to do with this election. Attack is the poorest form of defense and I guess par for the course for Trump.
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robert weller
11/10/2016 05:25:18 am
to be fair to trump he may not be on putin's payroll. just what lenin called a "useful idiot."
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B. McPherson
11/10/2016 05:38:49 pm
It is gratifying to see some of the Republican leaders distance themselves from that morally corrupt individual. Let's hope enough people in your country have their eyes wide open when they enter the polling station.
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Robert Weller
2016 US election news and other news from the USA
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Worked in journalism, including on the Internet, for more than 40 years. Started as a news editor at the Colorado Daily at the University of Colorado, joined a small Montana newspaper, the Helena Independent-Record, and then United Press International. Archives
November 2016
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