Posted on 02/28/2016 2:34:26 PM PST by Kaslin
Whoa! Let me get this right. After Sunday morning, we now have a potential "Republican" candidate who is comfortable quoting the Italian dictator and ruthless fascist Benito Mussolini, one of Hitler's closest allies. Specifically, Trump retweeted a quote from the fascist dictator and said Sunday is comfortable being "affiliated" with that quote, and by implications the man. Winston Churchill must be turning in his grave. Along with many of our sacred Greatest Generation. Does history mean nothing?
We have a potential "Republican" candidate who has declared he will push to have the entire media, what we constitutionalists or believers in the First Amendment call a "free press," liable for inaccurate or uncomplimentary stories about a political candidate. In other words, he is content to give the president power to go after what he refers to as a "terrible" group, the folks who bring us the news, flawed as it often is. Benjamin Franklin must be turning in his grave. Does freedom of speech mean nothing?
We have a potential "Republican" candidate who is admittedly under scrutiny, being officially audited, by the Internal Revenue Service - and yet, even then, refuses to release his tax returns, or for that matter any prior audited tax returns that might illuminate why. Justice Scalia, Justice Rehnquist, and all our prior Attorneys General must be turning in their graves. Does truth and rule of law mean nothing?
And we have a potential "Republican" candidate who, pressed to prove the accuracy of prior claims by stating his gross income, effective tax rate, or even level of charitable contributions - refuses. And this against the backdrop of Veterans groups asking why they have not received promised contributions, after he called them to his side for a private, televised event in Iowa. Countless honest citizens and Veterans, now gone to their common rest, must be rolling in their graves. Does honor mean nothing?
Yes, the average lifelong Republican is entitled to begin asking - what is going on? I think even George Orwell, famous for his dystopian book 1984, might be asking - what is going on? I think perhaps the most poignant questions are these two: How can a man run for President of the United States who so clearly misunderstands, does not respect, or cannot comprehend the importance of our biggest rights, biggest issues and biggest responsibilities of that office? Even Chancy Gardner was a mere advisor of a naïve, shallow president - not the president himself.
And second, how can the common sense of average Americans - in whom I have always believed, as Jefferson and our Founders believed, be so adrift, so unanchored, so willing to be spoon-fed nonsense, to content to leave these statements - and what they portend - unexamined? How can they be so dozy as to imagine that the values being asserted are what America is about?
Understand this - neither Ronald Reagan nor any other modern conservative, of any stripe, no matter how frustrated with the size of our government, level of taxation and debt, fear for our country's security - would ever counsel throwing their lot in with Mussolini, or someone who did not understand what retweeting the fascist's quote means. Nor would they throw their lot in with someone who suggested shutting down the free press with lawsuits for bad stories, effectively eviscerating the First Amendment. Nor would they hide behind an audit to block Americans' seminal "right to know." Nor would they fail to answer fundamental questions about their basic finances, when that is the heart of a man's campaign to lead.
These ironies now go beyond comic, into the surreal. How little will we allow ourselves to think? Put differently, how much will we allow ourselves to be taken for the fool? How long will we permit ourselves to forgive, ignore, stonewall, and bury truth - in exchange for the pleasure of venting disapproval at Obama and go-along Republicans? I sincerely hope that we are at the end of our rant. I hope we collectively retain enough common sense to keep balance. I hope we still know how to honor basic constitutional rights - and the men and women who died keeping them alive for us. If we do not, we have given away the soul of the country.
If we have entered the twilight zone of disinterest in history, honesty, sanctity of free press, free speech and freedom's reign, then we are indeed in deeper trouble than I thought. We have begun to forget how precarious democracy is, how easily thrown away, how fragile the balance of powers, how permissive freedom must be to survive, how imperfect we all are - and why we tolerate each other's imperfections and imperfect government to preserve the Republic.
Republicans have always been proud of being responsible, genuine stewards of the Republic. How ironic, if we should suddenly become detractors who cripple the institutions we have sworn to protect and defend. Let us not do that. Let us think about this election, and vote with attention to the details. Let us pick a real constitutional conservative, someone who respects where we come from, what we stand for, how we treat each other, and how we have always lived. In a word, Whoa! Let us get this right.
From the tenth debate Texas CNN transcript:
RUBIO: The individual mandate. He said he likes the individual mandate portion of it, which I don’t believe that should be part of it. That should not remain there. I think here’s what we need to replace it with.
We need to repeal Obamacare completely and replace it with a system that puts Americans in charge of their health care money again. If your employer wants to buy health insurance for you, they can continue to do so from any company in America they want to buy it from.
Otherwise, your employers can provide you health care money, tax- free, not treated as income, and you can use that money only for health care, but you can use it to fund health care any way you want, fully fund a health savings account, the combination of a health savings account or a private plan from any company in any state in the country.
And if you don’t have that, then you will have a refundable tax credit that provides you health care money to buy your own health care coverage. And that, I think, is a much better approach than Obamacare, which, by the way, isn’t just bad for health care, it’s bad for our economy. It is a health care law that is basically forcing companies to lay people off, cut people’s hours, move people to part-time. It is not just a bad health care law, it is a job-killing law. And I will repeal it as president and we will replace it with something substantially better for all Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
BASH: Mr. Trump, Senator Rubio just said that you support the individual mandate. Would you respond?
TRUMP: I just want to say, I agree with that 100 percent, except pre-existing conditions, I would absolutely get rid of Obamacare. We’re going to have something much better, but pre-existing conditions, when I’m referring to that, and I was referring to that very strongly on the show with Anderson Cooper, I want to keep pre-existing conditions.
I think we need it. I think it’s a modern age. And I think we have to have it.
I don't understand your post.
Accuse Trump of much, but failing to be shocking is not among those things!
“It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.”
Anybody could have said it.
The context is that this was one of a number of slogans that Mussolini used to push populist support for a strongman government.
That is not what an American leader should be harkening back to.
I would have to believe that most people on this thread have used, and in some cases tweeted, words that an evil person stated.
Kaslin, would you agree?
Does anyone think why he says these things? 90% is Trump believes that any head line is good if it keeps your opponents off the front page. The last 10% is because he thinks he’s entitled. Winners win, and there are no better winners than that winner Donald Trump and anyone who doesn’t say so is being unfair to poor Donald Trump!
What a petulant child. I really can’t believe this scum bag democrat is going to be the nominee of the republican party. If it happens the party will have left me, so be it!
Why can't we have a quote from Washington or Jefferson or Madison? Something on the side of freedom would be nice.
That’s YUGE, can i keep my preexisting conditions too. I really don’t know what i would do without them!
I fear, truly fear a large segment of the Freeper community having a big case of buyers remorse between now and the convention. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, and it wouldn’t be the first time. I just hope that between now and the time we can’t do anything about it, that my good friends in Freeper land will sit down, take a breath, and really think about the candidate you wish to support. You notice that I’m not advising you to vote for my favorite, but simply that you step back from the Rah Rah ,and really think who would be best to serve the nation for the next 4 years.
By the way that was said about Mussoulini by a British polticoian so if they is going to have these sorts of hissy fitsn could he at least be accurate?
Hi Missy! How you doin’ today? Get that wad out of your panties yet?
Which one of these candidates has both Jimmy Carter and Harry Reid said would be the worst mistake for America?
Jr. High School level hystrionics.
That would be Trump. We need a very strong leader and no more wussies.
As a funny aside you do know that Mussolini never actually did get the trains run on time.
Their running on pure emotion. Their not coming to their senses. Think Jim Jones.
I have a framed print of Emiliano Zapata with his famous quote in Spanish-”Es mejor morir de pie que vivir de rodillas.”-It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees-it is one of my favorites-does that make me a revolutionary the government called a bandit, like Zapata? Quotes are words-it doesn’t mean you are in total agreement with that person’s ideology-just that they said something you like/can relate to...
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