Portside Date: August 11, 2016

Author: Dan Rather

Date of source: August 9, 2016

Dan Rather's Facebook page

No trying-to-be objective and fair journalist, no citizen who cares about the country and its future can ignore what Donald Trump said today. When he suggested that "The Second Amendment People" can stop Hillary Clinton he crossed a line with dangerous potential. By any objective analysis, this is a new low and unprecedented in the history of American presidential politics. This is no longer about policy, civility, decency or even temperament. This is a direct threat of violence against a political rival. It is not just against the norms of American politics, it raises a serious question of whether it is against the law. If any other citizen had said this about a Presidential candidate, would the Secret Service be investigating?

Candidate Trump will undoubtably issue an explanation; some of his surrogates are already engaged in trying to gloss it over, but once the words are out there they cannot be taken back. That is what inciting violence means.

To anyone who still pretends this is a normal election of Republican against Democrat, history is watching. And I suspect its verdict will be harsh. Many have tried to do a side-shuffle and issue statements saying they strongly disagree with his rhetoric but still support the candidate. That is becoming woefully insufficient. The rhetoric is the candidate.

This cannot be treated as just another outrageous moment in the campaign. We will see whether major newscasts explain how grave and unprecedented this is and whether the headlines in tomorrow's newspapers do it justice. We will soon know whether anyone who has publicly supported Trump explains how they can continue to do.

We are a democratic republic governed by the rule of law. We are an honest, fair and decent people. In trying to come to terms with today's discouraging development the best I can do is to summon our greatest political poet Abraham Lincoln for perspective:

"We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."

Lincoln used these stirring words to end his First Inaugural Address. It was the eve of the Civil War and sadly his call for sanity, cohesion and peace was met with horrific violence that almost left our precious Union asunder. We cannot let that happen again.

'History is watching': Dan Rather rips Trump in epic Facebook rant

By Natalie DiBlasio

August 10, 2016

USA Today

Dan Rather, formerly of CBS Evening News, took to Facebook in a scathing rant after Donald Trump implied that people with guns could stop Hillary Clinton as president from appointing anti-gun judges.

"When he suggested that 'The Second Amendment People' can stop Hillary Clinton he crossed a line with dangerous potential," Rather wrote in his post Tuesday night. "By any objective analysis, this is a new low and unprecedented in the history of American presidential politics. This is no longer about policy, civility, decency or even temperament. This is a direct threat of violence against a political rival. It is not just against the norms of American politics, it raises a serious question of whether it is against the law. If any other citizen had said this about a Presidential candidate, would the Secret Service be investigating?"

The Trump campaign issued a statement saying that Trump meant people who support the Second Amendment are unified and will vote together.

"It's called the power of unification - 2nd Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power. And this year, they will be voting in record numbers, and it won't be for Hillary Clinton, it will be for Donald Trump," senior communications adviser Jason Miller said in the statement.

Rather explained that he felt no explanation could justify Trump's comment. It was a sort of "Murrow moment," parallel to when CBS broadcaster Edward R. Murrow called out Sen. Joe McCarthy for targeting innocent civilians under the guise that they were Communists supporting Soviet Russia.

Rather continued in his post: "Candidate Trump will undoubtedly issue an explanation; some of his surrogates are already engaged in trying to gloss it over, but once the words are out there they cannot be taken back. That is what inciting violence means. To anyone who still pretends this is a normal election of Republican against Democrat, history is watching. And I suspect its verdict will be harsh."

Toward the end of his statement, Rather highlighted a quote from former president Abraham Lincoln's inaugural address: "We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."