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What's not funny...

Trump recently made a comment that was probably meant as some kind of a joke or other light-hearted comment, but was really quite troubling:



Now, I'm familiar with saying stuff that I thought would be funny but it turns out to not be. I've even offended people unwittingly in my effort to be clever. And it's embarrassing. But here's the thing - I'm not running for president, and I would never, EVER suggest that violence is an answer to a problem.

Two things. First, there are people who follow Trump that are crazy. Not all, but some. And they may take his suggestion as something their leader has implied that they should accomplish. (Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?) (Not that I'm comparing Mrs. Clinton to Thomas Becket - just the off-hand remark which maybe wasn't intended to mean what it sounded like, but which could be interpreted to MEAN JUST THAT...) The second amendment has preserved the right to bear arms, which in this context means to "defend" one's self from threats. Well, if Mrs. Clinton is viewed as enough of a threat....................

Yeah. Not good.

Second, I wonder if Trump would have had the same response if his opponent were a man. There is a lot (!) of violence towards women that is both latent and apparent in our society, and it is one of the most damning aspects of the prevalent sexism that persists, in spite of glass ceilings being shattered. I'm not saying Trump is intentionally sexist (even though he is) in this remark; rather, what I'm saying is that he's pandering to a crowd that AGREES with him - look at the applause and head-nodding he gets as he extols the virtues of the NRA and the gun-totin' agenda... And that it's sexist in effect if not in intent.

I've written a couple of times about how a gun is not for DEFENSE - it's for offense. A gun doesn't make you safer, it just means that you can retaliate when someone has aggrieved you. Guns are inherently and explicitly and singularly violent creations - their only function is to destroy, maim, and kill. And when Trump says that the second amendment people (whatever that means!) could take care of this... Well, it's clear that he's looking for action against a woman. Which ought to scare people to death, the way it does me.

Perhaps on some level he knows that is the only way he'd win - if something tragic and violent were to happen...

I just can't (CAN'T)(!!!) believe that this guy is the leader of the Republican party. I can't. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that someone like this has been chosen to be a candidate for president, with a shot (hopefully rather distant) at actually becoming the leader of our country, the commander in chief of the military... The diplomatic face of our country around the world...

I can't believe it.

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