10th Reason No One Should Vote for Trump

10th Reason: Violence is acceptable to him

As the leader of our country, we expect the President to protect and unite us. We certainly don't expect him to sit back and watch when violence erupts, or worse egg it on. Yet, that is what Trump has done. Violence repeatedly occurs at his rallies, and at no point has Trump shown willingness to pull back on his rhetoric, Before you think that was a problem only earlier in the campaign, one such incident happened only a couple of days ago.

Believe or not, I was  not at first so passionately against Trump as I am now. Sure, his role in birtherims and use of racism would have prevented me from voting for him. But, I was willing to listen. I'm open to new attitudes towards trade and our use of military. At least I believe we should be debating them. I even assumed that there was a "serious Trump" that could be presidential. After all, he had to get billion dollar loans from bankers. Certainly, he could not always act like this. Here is when it changed.

I realize I'm going into ancient history here (about 8 months ago), so let me give some more context. At this time, we were full in the primaries and you could write off his antics as another Herman Kane. However, as I watched this I kept asking myself, "Doesn't he realize someone could get hurt? Doesn't he realize someone could get killed? Does he even care?" That I had to even ask told me that we were dealing with something more than just democrats versus republicans. Eventually, I did what truly desperate men do. I started a blog.

In truth, this is my first and number one "reason no one should vote for him". I just decided to save the "best" (really the "worst") for last.

Now, to show some bipartisan fairness, in That Orange Guy Defies Convention, I stated that Trump supporters where not 'particularly' violent, and they are not compared to other outbreaks that have happened during this election. For example, just this morning, a GOP campaign office was fire bombed in North Carolina.

You will also note that I have not jumped to my usual claim of 'uniqueness'. I have not forgotten the Democratic Convention of 1968. Close to the first episodes at Trump rallies, Bernie Sander's delegate became violent at a Nevada Convention. Sanders reaction was not much better than Trumps. Guess what. If Sanders was the democratic nominee, I would be writing the same post about him. No, this is not unique and so all more troubling. This is not theory. This is history repeating itself.

At least with Sanders, there was a "deer caught in the headlights" aspect. However, Trump shows evidence of at least wanting to push the boundaries, if not welcoming violence. Maureen Dowd reported that Trump "likes the violence because it adds excitement". Even in the latest video, he is exciting the crowd, and this is when he knows violence is a possibility. He continues a barrage of statements that could easily incite.

• Multiple claims that "the system is rigged"
• Maybe the second amendment people can take care of her
• We need to watch the polls "because of you know what I'm talking about"

There are more, but do I really need to list them all.

Imagine what would happen if President Trump is faced with another questionable police shooting. I know many will claim that "Black Lives Matter started it". But, if riots break out in your city, do you care who started it? Wouldn't you want a president that made that less likely?

Imagine what a President Trump would do if militia groups committed terrorist acts citing his own words. What happens when if Minutemen start patrolling the southern border again? A mosque is burned? Innocent Sikhs are shot down because a pathetic white supremacist doesn't know the difference? Timothy McVeigh had committed the 2nd largest terrorist act in American history, motivated by right-wing ideologies not so different from Trump's rhetoric.

Imagine the validation these men of hate and fear will feel with a President Trump in the White House. Imagine what happens if President Trump feels it suits his agenda.

Addendum

Since first writing this post, there was a Project Veritas video suggesting that DNC provoking violence. My first answer is that I don't care. These videos involve James O'Keefe, and I don't trust anything he is involved with. All of his work, proved to be tampered with to exaggerate or out and out lie. The stupidest response would be to act on any information provided by O'Keefe.

Secondly, so what. The most the video suggest is that a DNC consultant paid people to agitate Trump supporters. I would condemn that just as I did Bernie Sanders. In fact, the only reason I do it now is because O'Keefe is involved. But, Trump is still on the hook. The agitation only works because of the anger Trump is inspiring.

Instead, lets look at how a real leader deals with protesters. When confronted with a Trump protester, Obama did not just avoid suggesting violence, he defended those that disagreed with him.

Note how a real leader does not just try to be tough. He defends and exhibits the democratic values of our country. He stands up to the crowd and reminds us of who we are suppose to be. That's a far cry from "I'd like to punch him in the face".