Republished with permission from Lucian K. Truscott IV
In the context of calling Liz Cheney a “war hawk,” Trump says she should be given “a rifle” and face what amounts to a firing squad of “nine barrels.”
Let’s get something straight. This man has no idea what he’s talking about. As a draft dodger, Donald Trump successfully escaped being trained to use a military rifle. He wouldn’t know what to do with a rifle if you handed it to him. Ironically, Liz Cheney probably does.
In the closing days of this campaign, Trump is defaulting to threats of violence and arrest. In a post on his social media account, Trump threatened to arrest, “Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.”
The New York Times reported this week that Trump’s threats against election officials appear to be having some effect. In an article entitled The Army of Election Officials Ready to Reject the Vote, the Times describes efforts in Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, and Pennsylvania by election boards to reject certification of the vote if the election does not go Trump’s way. The people described in the article are partisan Republicans. When even they fear arrest and prosecution by their own candidate, something is seriously wrong in this country.
NPR reported this morning that “Military experts are preparing for possible election violence or unrest.” Earlier in the week, NPR reported that local police are “preparing for possible violence against election workers.”
The front line in the election for Liz Cheney is her own home in Wyoming. The front lines for election workers are the polling places where they will go to work next Tuesday.
The idea of “battleground states” has become a reality, where armed police officers may be necessary to secure the Constitutional right to vote. One political party and one presidential candidate are responsible for turning this election into a warzone.
Lucian K. Truscott IV
Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He has covered stories such as Watergate, the Stonewall riots and wars in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels and several unsuccessful motion pictures. He has three children, lives in rural Pennsylvania and spends his time Worrying About the State of Our Nation and madly scribbling in a so-far fruitless attempt to Make Things Better.
