Ok it's not hard for me to believe that the democrats would use underhanded tactics like in the video posted by pixelsmith.
But Sheriff Clarke is not a Democrat, and he said "it's pitchfork and torches time in America" at least three times in his address at the Trump rally in Green Bay.
I don't want to just take random quotes so have a look for yourself if you didn't see his speech. N.B the youtube account that hosts the video is called "Right Side Broadcasting" (doesn't sound very leftist to me)
(Clarke starts talking ten minutes into the video)
I think the thing that disturbed me the most was when he said about what he could offer to Trump and then listed his qualifications which consisted of being "a fighter" "a brass knuckle a bloody knuckle type of fighter" and a "warrior" put me in the "trenches".
He also says that he is a veteran of elections and that you want the voters to be enraged.
I find it very interesting that he wears a hat which covers his eyes, you can tell a lot from a persons eyes, and them wanting you not to see them is usually a good indicator of them having something to hide.
It is not a coincidence that many of the top professional poker players wear Sunglasses.
I can not imagine the British equivalent, the idea of the head of the Metropolitan police saying something like that, is too improbable to seriously contemplate, maybe this is why I am finding the scenario so difficult to wrap my head around. It is very much outside my experience for a public official to so openly talk in such a way.
Off the record or secretly recorded yes, but at a political rally never.
Such language is highly irresponsible and dangerous, but with your enshrined right of "free speech" I don't think anything can be done about it. We don't have the same "protection" and I suspect that if it had taken place over here Sheriff Clarke would probably be charged with a public order offence.
I think the thing that actually scares me is that people can't seem to see that if you start another civil war, the people lose.
Make no mistake the better organised and equipped side will win, but both sides will pay a huge price, and the first part of that price will be your collective freedom.
People need to engage with politics and make it work for them, resorting to violence isn't going to work, gone are the days of the human body being able to foul up the wheels of the machine, you have to change things from the inside, reprogramming the machine is the only viable option.
As I said before I have a great affection for the American people and I have no leftist or rightist agenda, I hold certain views that disqualify me from either camp but I am not in the middle either.
I think hillary is f.o.s but she is not a threat to the United States.
The saying is: sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
But words can and do hurt, especially ones that incite violence.
The things that are being said are so dangerous it is almost like we have gone back in time.
I remember a thread on this forum where I learned something about "counter culture" (peace and love, hippies, ban the bomb etc) which however much I didn't want to believe changed my thinking forever.
In this thread it was stated that "counter culture" was in part created by enemies of "democracy", this concept was new to me and was like a slap in the face, I had always assumed that people had just had enough of war and wanted something better, it all seemed so nice and kind, how could anybody think that? the trouble is that it would actually make sense to undermine your enemies public support domestically when you are engaged in a "proxy" war.
I am afraid that I see the same thing when I hear about "outside" influences trying to steer the US elections.
A trump victory would destabilise America, but not as much as a trump lead insurrection or coup. Basically the way things are going its a lose, lose for the US.
Now is the time for calm heads, not reactionary divisive words.
