I never thought I'd agree with something Donald Trump said. OMG! and other horrified ejaculations
He's quoted by Justin Webb of the BBC Radio 4 Today programme as saying: "Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism. I don't want congrats, I want toughness and vigilance. We must be smart!"
Right. Score out the Appreciate the congrats bit. It's only relevant to his usual narcissism. But, bearing in mind Orlando and all those other recent examples of terrorism committed by radical Islamists (yes, I know other people have been mass killers too but I'm talking about events perpetrated by people who claim to engage in terrorism in support of radical Islamic ideology; not all of these have happened in America under American gun laws), what he says next does not appear to me to be extreme in any way. Against radical terrorism of whatever flavour I agree with him that we do need toughness, vigilance and smartness. Given the Orlando killer's previous checkings by the FBI, it does seem that we were not (are not) vigilant enough or smart enough.
Webb also says that yesterday Trump said that he 'might like to ban people on the terrorist watchlist from getting guns'. That part is quoted from the article written by Webb in today's Times Opinion section so I don't have Trump's exact words. But what is unreasonable about wanting to ban people on terrorist watchlists from getting guns? Apparently Republicans rejected this proposal last time it was suggested. I don't know who suggested it; it may have been a Democrat.
Webb's next sentence after telling us about the above suggestion is "So much for the pivot to normal". What?! What's abnormal about that suggestion? What's weird or wacky about it?
Am I missing something? It's a given that Trump is a scary presidential candidate. It's a given that most of what he says is an embarrassment to reasonable human beings. It doesn't follow from that that everything he says is mad or bad or wrong-headed. What do other people think about the two things above that Trump is reported to have said?
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