"No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar." -- Abraham Lincoln
Violent verbiage leads quickly to physical violence.
Politics in America is increasingly violent in speech as candidates spew lies, insults, mockery and vilification to any who dare to disagree or, worse, to call him out for his offenses against civility. And the worst offender these days is Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump.
When a political candidate encourages, or even suggests, hints, or implies that non-supporters be forcibly removed from a rally, and his True Believers gang up and beat up those who heckled or disagreed with the candidate, this can easily lead to uncontrolled assault, not only on the protesters, but on the Constitutional First Amendment right of free speech.
In short, the candidate is inciting to riot as he urges his Faithful Followers to eject dissenters.
Last week, a group of students attended a Trump rally as part of a class assignment and shouted their disagreement with something the candidate said. With Trump's encouragement, some of the candidate's supporters crowded the students and enthusiastically removed them from the rally hall.
Fortunately, none of the students were seriously hurt.
However, this could easily have escalated to a more violent encounter, and it's highly likely that anti-candidate demonstrators could show up at a rally to voice their opinions, only to be confronted by pro-candidate True Believers who brook no disagreement with the Word according to their self-appointed leader. If said leader encourages his followers to take action against the demonstrators, including the hint or suggestion of removing them by force, this become tantamount to inciting to riot, a criminal offence under federal law. (See U.S. Code, Section 2101:Riots)
There have been many examples of Trump's insults, mockery, vilification and outright lies as he pursues his political goals. His behavior worsens when he doubles down on his claims even after they have been proven false, and he demands apologies from those who have shown them to be false.
It is a journalistic duty to report fairly and accurately what is said, following the classic Five W's of the news business -- Who, What, Where, When, and Why. In addition, there is the How aspect, which also must be reported.
But some more extremist candidates -- especially Donald Trump -- confuse "fair" with "sympathetic." He keeps calling for news media to treat him fairly, but instantly attacks any journalism outlet that reports anything negative, such as showing that his claims are false.
Example: He may well have seen video on television of large crowds of people celebrating as the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York fell on September 11, 2001. But the crowds were not in Jersey City, as Trump has insisted, relying on his self-proclaimed "world's best memory." There were indeed crowds celebrating, but they were dancing in the streets of Gaza and Palestine, not in New Jersey.
When he imitated the gesturing of a reporter for the New York Times, who happened to have a physical disability, saying "You should see this guy," and later denied ever having met that reporter, despite having "the world's greatest memory," he may well have stepped far beyond the "racist lies" that the New York Times called him on in an editorial.
Entertaining though he may be to many True Believers, who will always remain convinced of his Righteousness, regardless of fact or reality, there are some things that most American voters will not accept. One is lies, and another is mockery of the handicapped.
So keep talking, Mr. Trump. The news media will continue to record and report exactly what you say, as well as balancing your claims with fact and truth.
And if you deny saying it, the media will report that, too, even as they roll the video recording of what you said, where and when you said it, and to whom you said it.
And if you continue to deny it, they will roll the video again. And again. And again. And again.
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