“Build a wall — kill them all.”
.. Trump supporters use coarse, vitriolic, even violent language — in the epithets they shout and chant, the signs they carry, the T-shirts they wear — a pattern not seen in connection with any other recent political candidate, in any party.
Secret Service investigating Trump delegate’s Clinton slam
The Secret Service is investigating comments made by New Hampshire state representative Al Baldasaro in which he said Hillary Clinton “should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.”
Step Right up and Make America Great Again
It seemed like the setup for a program on national security but turned out to be something darker and more encompassing:a pageant of fear, as my colleague John Cassidy has noted, directed at a vast range of opponents, from the Islamic State to Black Lives Matter to the Libyan mobs that sacked the consulate in Benghazi.
.. After a career in law enforcement, Clarke might have noted that the violent-crime rate in America has dropped by almost half during the past twenty-five years. Or that violent crime has dropped ten per cent since President Obama took office. Instead, he argued that there is reason for fear.
.. It could have been a powerful story, but it was punctuated by awkward attempts at humor about shooting terrorists (“like Whack-a-Mole”).
.. He also made a substantive observation about the nature of American power: “My message to you is very clear: Wake up, America! There is no substitute for American leadership and exceptionalism.”
.. But this was not a night for substance. This was vaudeville, updated for the war on terror. After Melania finished speaking, the crowd started to bail. By the time the highest-ranking national-security figure of the evening was given his chance to speak, he was declaiming to large patches of empty seats.
GOP insiders expect convention mayhem
‘I say this with no joy whatsoever, but the far-left agitators in Cleveland will make the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago look like a fourth-grade slap fight,’ said an Ohio Republican.
Nearly half of GOP insiders in key battleground states — many of whom will be in attendance — believe there’s a good chance violence will break out around next week’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
.. many cited protest groups tied to liberal causes, like the Black Lives Matter movement. Nearly a half-dozen Republicans mentioned the Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, who is a prolific donor to liberal causes. But few thought violence would ensue from an effort to fight Trump’s nomination on the convention floor.
.. “I am in Cleveland as I write this,” said a Colorado Republican. “Could there be some violence? Sure. But the protesters I’ve seen (and interacted with) are paid. They have been flown here by organizations looking to foment unrest. At the end of the day, most of them are college kids who won’t have an appetite for an actual confrontation with the considerable law enforcement presence here.”