I’m starting to wonder if Trump is joking.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Thursday vowed to issue an executive order to mandate the death penalty for anyone who kills a police officer.
“One of the first things I’d do in terms of executive order, if I win, will be to sign a strong, strong statement that would go out to the country, out to the world, anybody killing a police man, a police woman, a police officer, anybody killing a police officer, the death penalty is going to happen,” he said.
Allahpundit notes for Trump’s information, in case he cares, that he can’t actually do that…
[A]nyone who’s been following the last few years of Obama’s executive overreach already sees the problems here. For starters, cop-killer prosecutions usually fall under state, not federal, jurisdiction. Nineteen states have abolished the death penalty entirely, including Trump’s home state of New York. The idea that the president can dictate to a state how it should punish its criminals is a kick in the nuts to federalism so sharp that even Obama wouldn’t try it.
Meanwhile, at the federal level, sentencing is a matter of congressional legislation, not presidential decree. Maybe Congress could set some kind of default of death in cases where an FBI agent is murdered, with the burden falling on the defendant to explain why it isn’t merited. Legal eagles would know better than I about that, but my hunch is that courts would look coldly at a law that tips the scales towards death after a guilty verdict rather than allowing the jury to consider aggravating and mitigating factors prevented by the two sides.
…and it’s possible that Trump – who can’t possibly be the buffoon he often comes across as* – knows that and this is just more campaign wind.
What bothers me is that he might not care. Look at everything Obama’s gotten away with in the past seven years, and he never really put his back into it.
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*Can he? 😕
One does not acquire the empire that Trump has by being a buffoon. What he is doing is pandering to the lowest common denominator. As a friend said to me a while back, if you look at what the average IQ is, remember that half of these people will be below it. They are easily manipulated and they vote. So those who are barely able to scrawl an X on a ballot are his kind of people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU_Jdts5rL0
He can disavow anything and everything at a time of his own choosing, and it’s like he never said it. Meanwhile, he is running a cheap and disturbingly effective campaign based on tons and tons of free ink earned by his wild ravings. He rarely misses a news cycle. Hell, now his ravings have even gotten him ink in the hallowed pages of TUAK. His crowning achievement!
Ha ha…
The statement certainly is shocking, but let’s not forget that virtually everything in the world of politics is unadulterated bullshit. It’s just usually aimed at a *slightly* more thoughtful audience, and presented in a more pompous and measured fashion. Trump’s bombast is refreshing in a way, and adds the prospect of future excitement if he does get elected. Let’s see if he puts together some kind of Sturmabteilung to help get him elected. Personally, I don’t think he’s going there. It’s more like he’s tweaking the GOP establishment…
Still, in the back of my mind, I keep thinking of Tiberius and Caligula. No matter how bad a ruler may seem to be, it’s always possible the following one will be worse.
I am of two minds about The Donald.
Part of me wants to make popcorn. Part of me wants to get on the next boat to Singapore.
Could it be that Trump understands a large portion of this country are pig-suckers who would LOVE to see him do that? Is his statement really THAT much different from anything out of Pete King’s mouth? Heck, if someone truly MURDERS a good cop, I have no problem with executing them. My real question is what Trump feels is appropriate for a cop who murders a Mere Citizen. Corey Jones murderer, for example. Or Jeremy Mardis’ murderers. Or Jack Yantis murderers. Seems like what’s good for the goose is good for the gander as well. Of course, Trump would be stupid to address that any time soon.
As MJR pointed out The Donald is not a buffoon. What is unusual is, he is stating in plain English what a lot of Americans think and say around the kitchen table in public. He is exercising his first amendment rights the SJWs are trying to strip from us. And since the Average Joe has to keep his mouth shut to keep a job, the Average Joe is egging him on.
Will he win the election? I serious doubt it, because he doesn’t control the counting of the votes. I am amazed the owners of this country have let him run his mouth as long as he has without an accident, heart attack or something.
Looks like The Donald doesn’t get to be Prez after all:
http://www.infowars.com/how-the-republican-establishment-can-keep-donald-trump-from-getting-the-nomination/
Just like Ron Paul. “If voting could change anything, it would be illegal.”