This is the stuff of which dangerous dictatorships are made. Trump is now threatening to use criminal prosecution of Hillary as political revenge. Twice on Friday I heard CBS radio network news reports on KCBS-AM in San Francisco, that Trump said that if he is elected, he will seek to have Hillary “prosecuted” and “jailed.” The way he said it sounded clearly like a personal vendetta. One of his statements came at a rally, the other in an interview for Face the Nation that airs this Sunday on CBS television. I did some quick searching online (www.Startpage.com) to come up with more, below.
There is no overstating exactly how dangerous this is.
The use of the mechanisms of the law to “settle scores” between competing candidates for office, is something we think of as occurring in dictatorships far away, run by tyrants with thin skins, huge egos, and petty grudges. I can’t recall an instance in at least a century when anything like it happened here. Even Nixon’s “enemies list” did not include seeking to prosecute the opposing candidates in the 1968 and 1972 elections.
And yet, here we are.
First, the item from the Face the Nation interview: www.cbsnews.com/...
[Face The Nation moderator] [John] Dickerson asked Trump whether he'd direct his attorney general to look into the matter, if he wins the presidency and the current probe into Clinton's server concludes with no indictment.
"I would certainly have my, very fair, but I would have my attorney general look at it," Trump said. "Yes, I would. Because everyone knows that she's guilty. Now, I would say this: she's guilty, but I would let my attorney general make that determination. Maybe they would disagree. And I would let that person make the determination."
Let’s see: “Everyone knows she’s guilty... but I would let my Attorney General make that determination...” Do go on, Mr. Trump.
Next, from an article in USA Today: www.usatoday.com/...
"Remember I said I was a counter-puncher?" an animated Trump asked an enthusiastic crowd of supporters at a rally in San Jose, Calif. "After what she said about me today in her phony speech — that was a phony speech, that was a Donald Trump hit job — I will say this, Hillary Clinton has to go to jail. She's guilty as hell." ...Trump also left open the possibility that his own attorney general would investigate her emails if he became president.
That language is as clear as day: “I (am) a counter-puncher. After what she said about me... I will say this, Hillary Clinton has to go to jail.”
This is new.
For a while now, Trump has been threatening to have Hillary prosecuted for the email stuff. But after Hillary’s speech last week, that, to put it mildly, tore him a new one, Trump’s threats have gotten personal.
“After what she said about me.” He has now conflated the “Hillary email” stuff with a personal insult to himself. There is no other way to interpret that but as Trump engaging in a personal vendetta, and threatening to use the mechanisms of criminal law for revenge. It also demonstrates the kind of poor personal boundaries that are typical of narcissistic personality disorder.
What do we do now?
Same thing as always: GOTV as if our lives depend on it. Don’t support “Hillary email” conspiracy theories and related rightwing memes. Stop the “rox/sux” stuff attacking fellow Democrats.
If you’re angry, take it to the streets: with a handful of voter registration forms. That’s how we win. Don’t fling poo at fellow Democrats: that’s how we lose.
We are all in this together, fighting a guy who is unrestrained Freudian id, a diagnosable narcissist, and a very real threat to the nation and the world.
More than ever, failure is not an option.
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(I’m scheduling this for publication in the morning West Coast time, and I’ll be checking in to reply to comments later in the day. Yes I still have another entry in my “Free Will” series coming up, as soon as I can get it written. This Trump story has pre-empted my time because it’s an emergency.)