Dangerous, Unqualified And Unfit

Over the past 72 hours, the horror of the Orlando mass murders has opened yet another window into the dark, soulless void that is neo- fascist narcissist Donald "Rump" Trump.  It shouldn't surprise anyone who's been tracking the rise of this uniquely evil, banal person that he's using the tragedy to inflame hatred and bolster his own shambling campaign. Now the existential danger he represents seems to be influencing at least one major news organization to call out his lies in the course of a news article.

In what also may be an important sign of things to come in press coverage of Rump, the front page of the print version of the Post included a news article on Rump's calls for banning Muslims from certain parts of the world.  The piece, reported by Philip Rucker, Jose A. DelReal and Isaac Stanley-Becker, included these passages (our emphasis):

In a speech laden with falsehoods and exaggeration, Trump was antagonistic and pugnacious, in stark contrast with his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, who also spoke Monday about combating terrorism. Trump denounced President Obama and Clinton for “deadly ignorance” and warned that they were endangering lives with weakness and indecision.  [snip] 

While Trump was fiery and combative, Clinton was cool and collected. Trump outlined a racially charged overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws and a nationalistic, defensive posture in fighting terrorism, while Clinton advocated continuing and in some cases enhancing existing policies from the Obama administration in which she served. [snip]

Trump’s address contained a number of inaccuracies and overstatements. Among other things, he wrongly claimed that Clinton wanted to abolish the Second Amendment; said the United States is “not screening” refugees, who undergo a rigorous vetting program that can take two years or more; and said the New York-born shooter was born “an Afghan, of Afghan parents who immigrated to the United States.” 

These days, it seems like a quaint notion that a news story would bother characterizing lies as lies and inflammatory rhetoric as inflammatory rhetoric.  After all, we've been inured to the media's dread fear of appearing to "take sides" in partisan fights and the subsequent failure to stem the noxious b.s. that the Republican/ New Confederate/ Stupid/ Shooter's Party and it's raging id, Donald "Rump" Trump, have been pumping into the body politic for years.  It appears to have taken an outright neo- fascist like Rump to have awakened some in the media to the reality they've been ignoring for so long.

Editorialists are also having their say about Rump's unhinged rhetoric. Here's some recent reaction:

Los Angeles Times:

We’ve said before that Trump’s shoot-from-the-lip persona makes him unsuited for the presidency, and we’ll keep saying it right up until the election, when we hope he fades from the national stage and takes his repugnant intolerance with him. Yet we also fear his campaign has given currency to dangerously wrong ideas about race, religion and proper conduct of a civil society. More reasonable minds recognize those ideas as intellectually and morally bankrupt, and they should recognize the boastful messenger for what he is.

Washington Post:

IT HAD not seemed possible, but Donald Trump descended this week to a new low of bigotry, fear-mongering and conspiracy-peddling. Republican leaders who said last week that they expected a change in tone after Mr. Trump’s racist attacks on a California judge quickly received their answer. What can House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) possibly say now? As the country mourned the wanton slaughter of 49 people early Sunday, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee took a victory lap, hinted darkly that President Obama is an enemy of the nation, libeled American Muslims and, in grotesque punctuation, finished up with a vindictive attack on the media .  [snip]

Mr. Trump capped a day of assaulting fundamental liberal democratic values by announcing he would ban Post reporters from covering his campaign events. If this is his inclination now, imagine how he might wield the powers of the presidency. 

Before the Orlando shooting, Beltway analysts speculated about how a terrorist attack might affect the presidential election. Now we know at least part of the answer: Mr. Trump would reveal himself more clearly than ever as a man unfit to lead. 

We'd also like to ask Rep. Paul "Lyin' Ryan (who is what passes for an intellect in the Republican Party) and Sen. Mitch "Missy" McConnell (who is what passes as a human being in the Republican Party) as well as every Republican running for office this year: "What do you think this episode says about Rump's fitness to occupy the Oval Office with his finger on the nuclear launch codes?"  That is, if they can take a break from offering their "thoughts and prayers" to the victims of the latest gun violence.

BONUS:  Charles Pierce asks (rhetorically?) how did we get here?