Of course Donald Trump was joking when he suggested there could be a “Second Amendment” solution to a Hillary Clinton presidency. No sane person would seriously make a remark like that.
But who says Trump is sane?
And who says he doesn’t speak for his party?
It’s not the first time a Republican candidate has used “Second Amendment” as a euphemism for armed resistance. In the 2010 midterm elections, Republican candidate Sharon Angle argued that Americans should consider a “Second Amendment” remedy to government actions they don’t like.
And in 2012, Republican candidate Joni Ernst said she carries a gun not only to protect her family but also to defend her rights if the government tries to take them away.
As the American population evolves and the white Republican base diminishes, party strategists can see nothing but defeat in their future. And it looks as if they are trying to create a political climate in which a violent alternative to democracy is acceptable – at least to their base.
One tactic is to question the legitimacy of the democratic process. You saw it with the Birther movement, which absurdly insisted that Barack Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. You saw it when the party’s “Gingrich wing,” argued that Bill Clinton’s presidency was not legitimate because he had won by trickery.
And from time to time, you’ve heard some high ranking Republican criticize the electoral process as “rigged.” When ACORN was unfairly accused of winning the election for Obama, for example. How? By voter fraud.
Yes, voter fraud. You know, those minorities and poor people, they just keep voting over and over, so the states have to pass oppressive laws to keep them from voting even once.
But how do you vote more than once? Surely, the folks at the polls have safeguards that let them know whether you already voted if you try to vote again? Apparently not if you’re black, Hispanic or poor.
Actually, the “voter fraud” story has been debunked time and time again. But that doesn’t matter to the Republicans. They insist the Democrats can win only by cheating.
And, of course, Trump has taken up the cry. He is already branding the November elections “rigged.”
I find that ominous. Is he preparing his base for a “Second Amendment” response to a “rigged” election?
Nobody sane would do that, of course.
But who says Trump is sane?
