WaPo: Trump ‘a unique threat to American democracy’

Posted by | July 22, 2016 19:31 | Filed under: Opinion Politics

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The Washington Post took Donald Trump to task for his lack of understanding of the Constitution and his dark speech in Cleveland.

He is mounting a campaign of snarl and sneer, not substance. To the extent he has views, they are wrong in their diagnosis of America’s problems and dangerous in their proposed solutions. Mr. Trump’s politics of denigration and division could strain the bonds that have held a diverse nation together. His contempt for constitutional norms might reveal the nation’s two-century-old experiment in checks and balances to be more fragile than we knew…

Most alarming is Mr. Trump’s contempt for the Constitution and the unwritten democratic norms upon which our system depends. He doesn’t know what is in the nation’s founding document. When asked by a member of Congress about Article I, which enumerates congressional powers, the candidate responded, “I am going to abide by the Constitution whether it’s number 1, number 2, number 12, number 9.” The charter has seven articles.

Worse, he doesn’t seem to care about its limitations on executive power. He has threatened that those who criticize him will suffer when he is president. He has vowed to torture suspected terrorists and bomb their innocent relatives, no matter the illegality of either act. He has vowed toconstrict the independent press. He went after a judge whose rulings angered him, exacerbating his contempt for the independence of the judiciary by insisting that the judge should be disqualified because of his Mexican heritage.

Mr. Trump has encouraged and celebrated violence at his rallies. The U.S. democratic system is strong and has proved resilient when it has been tested before. We have faith in it. But to elect Mr. Trump would be to knowingly subject it to threat.

Mr. Trump campaigns by insult and denigration, insinuation and wild accusation: Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy; Hillary Clinton may be guilty of murder; Mr. Obama is a traitor who wants Muslims to attack. The Republican Party has moved the lunatic fringe onto center stage, with discourse that renders impossible the kind of substantive debate upon which any civil democracy depends.

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Copyright 2016 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

12 responses to WaPo: Trump ‘a unique threat to American democracy’

  1. anothertoothpick July 22nd, 2016 at 19:46

    Some people listen to trump and ask themselves “Why?”

    I listen to trump and ask myself “what the fuck”?

  2. whatthe46 July 22nd, 2016 at 20:08

    well, his base doesn’t read, so there’s that.

  3. KABoink_after_wingnut_hacker July 22nd, 2016 at 20:16

    I disagree.
    Trump is just the natural result of the deliberate and systematic erosion of our democracy by republicans since the early 60″s.
    Today’s GOP harbors hatred, ignorance, bigotry, xenophobia, anger, superstition, fear, racism, dystopia and denial of scientific facts. The party has spawned and promoted all of this nativism and divisiveness.
    Trump is only the symptom of sick and twisted fascist idealism.

  4. amersham1046 July 22nd, 2016 at 20:35

    He is everything that is wrong with American politics

  5. robert July 23rd, 2016 at 02:02

    It’s not too hard to figure out that trump wants to tank the economy so his real estate company can clean up. It’s also been said that the gop has no problem with Donald still in charge of all private sector business accounts while he is president

    • whatthe46 July 23rd, 2016 at 02:08

      let me ask you a question, cause i don’t listen or watch fox lies, did they say anything about that sad sack of dried nuts that called for the murder of Clinton, while tRump, who later preached to “end violence” said, NOT A DAMN THING?

      • robert July 23rd, 2016 at 02:23

        As I said above trump is now focusing on his agenda and Clinton is always going to be the same answer ( just like lying Ted ) it’s obvious to me trump will be a closet socialist to the world since his focus is everywhere except this country. He might mention a few issues here but take note(s) he is not offering any solutions

  6. whatthe46 July 23rd, 2016 at 02:17

    laughing so hard…

  7. William July 23rd, 2016 at 11:01

    Coincidence? I think not

    • whatthe46 July 23rd, 2016 at 14:55

      that’s just great and of course stollen.

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