The President of the United States can’t throw his political opponents in jail. A threat to do so is an affront to the Constitution. And yet we now have the spectacle of the Republican nominee pushing for throwing Hillary Clinton in jail, and her attorneys too. It wasn’t a “debate quip,” it’s become a central part of his campaign, repeated in his stump speech and on social media over and over.
“It’s a chilling thought,” said Michael Chertoff, a former federal appeals court judge who also served as the secretary of Homeland Security and head of the Justice Department’s criminal division in the George W. Bush administration. Mr. Chertoff, who has announced that he will vote for Mrs. Clinton, added, “It smacks of what we read about tin-pot dictators in other parts of the world, where when they win an election their first move is to imprison opponents.”
Let’s hear from the Iowa Republican Party on this. Where do they stand on the whole dictatorship thing? You can guess the answer. If you’re voting Republican, campaigning as a Republican, refusing to denounce the Republican Party all the way up and down the ballot, history will record that you were willing to let a fascist take the Presidency.
