Steve Benen of MaddowBlog is reveling in his perception of Donald kicking dirt – inadvertently – in the eyes of the NRA, who has already endorsed him:
[Trump] “[Police officers are] proactive, and if they see a person possibly with a gun or they think they have a gun, they will see the person and they’ll look and they’ll take the gun away. They’ll stop, they’ll frisk and they’ll take the gun away, and they won’t have anything to shoot with.”
[Benen] I have a strong hunch Trump doesn’t appreciate how interesting his comments are.
Trump, who’s never demonstrated any real understanding of criminal-justice policy, apparently likes the idea of police being able to stop-and-frisk Americans – including those who’ve done nothing wrong and have been accused of no crimes – effectively at the discretion of individual officers. If the police find a gun, under Trump’s vision, it will be taken away.
From FactCheck.org
Steve believes the NRA is about to swallow it’s tongue – or some poison. But I’m not so sure they’ll squawk. My suspicion is that we’ll soon see a clarification: anyone who doesn’t fit the profile of a true-blue American will be subject to such searches. Trump is appealing to those who are fearful of crime, those who hear about the recent bombings on the East Coast and the stabbing attack in nearby St. Cloud and think of terror, who haven’t heard, or refuse to believe (which, in a separate tactic, Trump has also tried to use to his advantage), that crime rates are at historic lows.
From FactCheck.org
This is basically an attempt to chisel the fearful group, those who haven’t the time to do the research, or have personal – but irrelevant – contradictory experience, off from Hillary and transfer their allegiance to Donald, who doesn’t hesitate to promise any tactic, no matter how much it contradicts the core values of Americans. Playing on fear is a celebrated political tactic that probably dates from the third Presidential campaign of the Republic (I’m just guessing no one tried too hard when General George Washington was nominated for president).
So the question becomes, will the fearful educate themselves so we can continue to hang together? Or will they move to Donald, who verifiably lies through his teeth in a shameless strategy to gain the presidency?
