Make America violent again

Welcome to 1916, huh? As the Republican Party moves back in time, I have to wonder when they're going to starting burning 'witches' again...

Donald Trump: "Part of the problem is nobody wants to hurt each other anymore." Really. That's an exact quote.

As Trevor Noah says, "That's not a problem. That's civilization."

Noah is right about Bernie Sanders supporters, too. Oh, not all of them. Of course not. And those protests were not organized, supported, or even approved by Bernie Sanders. But many of his supporters are so completely clueless that I just have to wonder what I'm missing about Sanders himself.

Those protesters are helping Donald Trump. As Trevor Noah points out, they are feeding into the exact same narrative that Trump is pushing.

Again, not all of them. At first, those peaceful protesters getting pushed around and even attacked by Trump supporters were not the problem. But the longer this continues, the more angry idiots show up who also want to fight. That gives Trump supporters the excuse they wouldn't have otherwise.

Violence begets violence. The problem is, it's Donald Trump who's pushing violence. It's Donald Trump whose narrative excuses violence. And it's Donald Trump who benefits when violence erupts, as long as it's not completely one-sided.

I doubt if I'm the only one who likes Bernie Sanders less the more I see of his supporters. But at least I won't vote for Donald Trump (or Ted Cruz) because of that. (And to hear Sanders supporters talk about Hillary Clinton,... well, let's just say that I can easily see progressives blowing this one. Again.)

You don't fight idiocy with idiocy. If that's what you want to do, you'll have to do it without me.

In a way, this reminds me of Republican support of torture and even of deliberately killing innocent people (which Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have actually promoted as a way to stop terrorism). You don't stop the worst people in the world by turning yourself into them. We did not stop the Nazis by becoming Nazis.

If you turn yourself into your enemy, your enemy has won. If we become terrorists, the terrorists win. If we become idiots, the idiots win. I know they say "fight fire with fire," but if your thinking only extends to four words on a bumper-sticker, the idiots have clearly won you over to their side already.

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PS. Incidentally, here's an interesting article in the New York Times about Donald Trump's reasons for getting serious about politics. According to that, it was at least partly a result of the humiliation he felt at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, where he was the butt of jokes from both Barack Obama and Seth Meyers.

As I said at the time, "what I think I like best about both of these is the expression on Donald Trump's face as he's ridiculed. Man, he looks furious!"

Apparently, he was.