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from the why-do-we-let-him-get-away-wiht-this-behavior dept.
Alexander Burns and Maggie Haberman write in The New York Times that, with his enormous online platform of six million followers, Donald Trump has used Twitter to badger and humiliate those who have dared cross him during the presidential race, latching on to their vulnerabilities, mocking their physical characteristics, personality quirks and, sometimes, their professional setbacks. Trump has made statements that have later been exposed as false or deceptive — only after they have ricocheted across the Internet.
For example, Cheri Jacobus, a Republican political strategist, did not think she had done anything out of the ordinary: On a cable television show, she criticized Donald J. Trump for skipping a debate in Iowa in late January and described him as a "bad debater." Trump took to Twitter, repeatedly branding Jacobus as a disappointed job seeker who had begged to work for his campaign and had been rejected. "We said no and she went hostile," Trump wrote. "A real dummy!" Trump's campaign manager told the same story on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." For days, Trump's followers replied to his posts with demeaning, often sexually charged insults aimed at Jacobus, including several with altered, vulgar photographs of her face.
It is not just that Trump has a skill for zeroing in on an individual's soft spot and hammering at it. It is that he sets a tone of aggression against the person, and his supporters echo and amplify it. Jacobus sent a cease-and-desist letter to Trump and his top aide, citing electronic messages that showed the Trump campaign had courted her and not the other way around. "I have been trashed and ruined on Twitter," Jacobus says adding that Trump's lawyers had responded to her letter, but that they had not yet reached a resolution.
This week, Trump sent out a menacing message on Twitter about the Ricketts family, a wealthy clan of Republican political donors, after it was reported that Marlene Ricketts donated $3 million to a group opposed to Trump's candidacy. "They better be careful," Trump wrote of the family, "they have a lot to hide!" "It's a little surreal when Donald Trump threatens your mom," Marlene Ricketts's son, Tom, later told reporters.
"At what point does it cross the line into something that's defamatory and might be actionable?" says Parry Aftab, a lawyer who leads the Internet safety group WiredSafety. "At what point does it cross the line into encouraging violence against groups and individuals?"
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 29 2016, @12:38AM
"Trump is only running now (spouting the most demagogic stuff anyone could imagine) in order to draw out the most lame-brained among the Right and driving away true Conservatives; in the process, he is completely marginalizing the Republican Party in order to throw the contest to the Blues."
By drawing away votes from other republicans he prevents them from building their campaigns. By the time the republican nominee is chosen they would be far behind relative to how they would have been had Trump not ran for office which would lower their chances of winning. So what he is doing does make sense if Trump is trying to sabotage the republicans and jeopardize their chances of winning the election.
This is one of the issues with first past the post mentioned in these video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7tWHJfhiyo [youtube.com]
The alternative vote explained
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y3jE3B8HsE [youtube.com]
On the other hand I think the American people are sick and tired of the establishment which is one of the reasons that non-establishment candidates have been getting a lot more public support than before. In fact it seems that just being supported by the establishment (GOP and DNC) seems to now cost votes in many ways.
I, myself, and sick and tired of the establishment and was hoping that someone not supported by them would win. Unfortunately Trump is not really an ideal alternative.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 29 2016, @03:14AM
drawing away votes from other republicans
Exactly.
...and let's not forget that, the more bombastic Trump's statements get (with Fox so-called News covering those intently), the more that the rest of the clown car of junior legislators and wannabes with books to hawk are convinced that they have try to out-Trump Trump.
The distance between that lot and the Totally Fascist corner of the graph is approaching zero. [politicalcompass.org]
the American people are sick and tired of the establishment
...so they're looking to Fascists??
Trump is not really an ideal alternative
None of the other occupants of the Republican Clown Car are the answer either.
I, myself, [am] sick and tired of the establishment
I expect Gary Johnson to be on the Libertarian ticket again this time.
If you are a Capitalist business owner, see if he suits you.
If you work for a living (and don't have employees), look at presumed Green Party candidate Jill Stein; the phrase that pays is Green New Deal.
This advice is based on the assumption that you aren't stuck in the loop of having to vote for 1 of the 2 worst parties.
If you're stuck there, at least look at who Bernie's supporters are.
Why Surprising Numbers of Republicans Vote for Bernie Sanders [googleusercontent.com] (orig)[1] [commondreams.org]
[1] The really good stuff starts at "Americans overwhelmingly agree with Bernie".
...and I'm sure those folks would like Dr. Stein even better than Bernie--if Lamestream Media hadn't colluded with the corporate parties to make her invisible.
The alternative vote
Yeah. Ranked voting is definitely the way to go.
Only countries that are headed for the trash heap of history still do first-past-the-post elections.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]