
Trump’s assassination joke isn’t just a threat to Secretary Clinton - okket
https://medium.com/@wilw/trumps-assassination-joke-isn-t-just-a-threat-to-secretary-clinton-77fe430131f
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pkinsky
I've been reading the word unprecedented a lot today. For reference, here's
Obama unambiguously joking about drone-murdering the Jonas Brothers:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWKG6ZmgAX4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWKG6ZmgAX4)

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panic
Political assassination is a real thing that happens; federal drones attacking
celebrities is not as common. The Jonas Brothers are not Obama's political
opponents. Our country is not full of weaponized drone owners. These are two
very different "jokes".

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pkinsky
My concern is more about the many foreign civilians killed by America's drone
program than any real belief that it would be used against the Jonas Brothers.

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nikcheerla
Well, I'm actually pleasantly surprised that the media is reporting this as
joke, and not as "Trump openly threatens to kill Hillary Clinton."

Why is this news again? Is there nothing more to be reported on than another
Trump off-color insult? Couldn't we, you know, actually have a serious
discussion of "issues", or do those not exist anymore?

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Tergmap
No, not a mere crass joke.

Trump's style is to try saying different nasty things in order to see which
sticks and makes his opponent to lose balance.

Trump did this on Ted Cruz, insinuating threats to his family. It was
something that affected Cruz and contributed to him having a bad campaign.
Cruz even mentioned this recently when he refused to endorse Trump.

Trump and his media team repeat adjectives when refering to opponents, like
"crooked hillary". Cruz was the "zodiac killer".

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agrover
I thought Trump called him "lyin' Ted" and the zodiac killer thing came from
Reddit.

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meric
_Someone who wants to go shoot Secretary Clinton doesn’t need Donald Trump to
tell him (because it’s always a man who does this sort of thing)_

That is incredibly sexist.

Well, it could be a former man, or it could be a female partner of a man
Clinton has had an affair with.

Is it beyond imagination to think women might at times choose violence too? Or
is in Will Wheaton's mind, women are simply _incapable_ of violence?

Yes, it happens:

[https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/30392942/mistress-jailed-for-
lif...](https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/30392942/mistress-jailed-for-life-after-
hacking-lovers-wife-and-grandson-to-death-with-garden-shears/)

~~~
dragonwriter
Or, maybe its just a factual statement that political assassinations in the US
are, almost without exception, carried out by men, without any commentary on
the reason for this fact.

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erobbins
the one exception that I know of is president Ford. 2 different women tried to
assassinate him!

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greenyoda
Thanks, I remembered Squeaky Fromme, but had completely forgotten about the
other one. Here's the history:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford#Assassination_atte...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford#Assassination_attempts)

