The Washington Post Editorial Board posted a very important Editorial, today,
Memo to Republicans:
Democracies don’t lock up political opponents
Editorial from Washington Post
I apologize. I am not nearly as patient as President Obama. I am not nearly as forgiving, understanding, nor willing to turn the other cheek.
I really, really thought that Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, yes, even George W. Bush, all of the War Criminals from the last administration should have been imprisoned for their actions. But, President Obama wanted to try to move on. President Obama wanted to put the past behind us and try to work with Republicans. Even while the Republicans were plotting to obstruct his administration, President Obama wanted to work with Republicans.
But, this week, the Republicans are emphasizing the difference between the two parties in the United States.
One party wants to govern. One party wants to obstruct the government.
One party wants to negotiate and compromise with the opposition. The other party wants to lock up the opposition and call them criminals.
When criminal activity is recognized by Republicans, Democrats try to move on and restore government. When Democrats are trying to govern, Republicans are trying to create dysfunction and obstruction and threatening criminal reprisals for the actions of the Democrats.
Chris Christie called Hillary Clinton a criminal and threatened to continue to try to prosecute her, even as he is facing indictment and prosecution for the actions of his cronies in New Jersey.
Dr. Ben Carson accused Hillary Clinton of being Lucifer.
Trump’s campaign manager accused Hillary Clinton of making Trump’s wife commit plagiarism.
Republicans always claim to be the party of “personal responsibility”, but they are always the first to blame Democrats for every fault of any Republican.
The Washington Post noted a statement from Michael McFaul.
“Embarrassed for my country by this chant,” Stanford University professor (and Post contributor) Michael McFaul tweeted Tuesday. “Dictatorships lock up the opposition, not democracies.”
How many Democratic politicians does Donald Trump’s party want to imprison? How many immigrants? How many Blacks? How many Hispanics? How many Gay, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transexual individuals? In Trump’s Party, is it criminal to be different than Right-wing, White, Christian, Bible-thumping, Tobacco-chewing, gun-toting supporters of Trump?
It might be wise to invest in Corrections Corporation of America and GEO, the private prison companies, because we know that Trump’s party wants to imprison the Director of the IRS and terminate that Agency. Nobody in Trump’s party wants to pay taxes, so we know that the government won’t pay for prisons.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie led the crowd in a trial by mob Tuesday night, lobbing accusation after accusation at the former secretary of state, asking the crowd after each one to declare her “guilty or not guilty.” “Guilty!” was the predictable reply, though nearly all of his charges concerned policy choices, not behavior that was even conceivably illegal. After absurdly accusing Ms. Clinton of being “an apologist for an al-Qaeda affiliate,” Mr. Christie criticized her for being too soft on dictators and the Kremlin. He, of course, said nothing about Donald Trump’s recent praise for Saddam Hussein or Mr. Trump’s admiration for Mr. Putin and other despots.
I’m glad that we can still post to Daily Kos. It might not be available if Trump’s Party has its way.
This was on the Opinion Page of the Washington Post
The “lock her up” motif rightly heightens fears of how Mr. Trump would govern, given the contempt he has shown for traditional democratic norms and the rank ignorance of the Constitution he has displayed. But it is a bad sign for the next four years even if Mr. Trump loses. When the critique of political opponents becomes so disproportionate and divorced from reality, democracy, which requires goodwill and compromise, cannot function.
It is a bad sign for the next four years — even if Mr. Trump loses. It’s embarrassing.