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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Annual open house welcomes lifelong learners ... Divers find missing plane near Brookings; body recovered ... Getting their hands dirty ... Annual open house welcomes lifelong learners ... Divers find missing plane near Brookings; body recovered ... Getting their hands dirty ... COMMENTARY Jeffrey Gillespie: Mein Trumpf Comment DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jul. 22, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Jul 22, 2016 at 10:26 AM Posted Jul. 22, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Jul 22, 2016 at 10:26 AM » Social News During the past couple of days, I have sat through hour upon hour of speeches at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, so that you, dear reader, didn't have to. I'm trying hard to blame this on my own prejudices as a liberal. "This," of course, refers to my creeping suspicion that the Republican Convention — to be fair, a spectacle no longer fully affiliated with the mainstream of the GOP — is less about the convening of a major political party to crown its nominee, and more a co-opted, neo-fascist rally headed by a man so incapable of personal humility or fundamental morality that it is no longer an exaggeration to compare the current Trump love-in with the early rise of the Nazi Party in Germany. Indeed, what is occurring in the Republican establishment can easily be compared to what happened within Germany's Weimar political system in early 1930s Germany, wherein an increasingly hysterical elite elected to remain in a state of denial, appeasement and compromise while the fringe elements in the culture began their process of open and unapologetic fascist rhetoric that ended, well, we all know where. Indeed, we as a nation have been comforting ourselves up until this point by pretending that Trump is a singular threat; a showman who has taken advantage of a disenfranchised and enraged minority, all by himself, with little support from any thinking American. Then came Cleveland, where a steady flood of incomprehensibly bigoted members of the party have stood up and screamed for rivers of blood in front of an ever more frothy crowd. People who are awful, but smart enough to know better — among them former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, current House Speaker Paul Ryan, and current Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — have committed themselves to a sort of cultural genocide that any cognitive American should see as an opening salvo in a war against people of color, LGBTQ individuals, women, liberals and, yes, even moderate conservatives. With all the calls for walls, the bizarre jingoistic rhetoric regarding our fight against ISIS — Gingrich spent a significant chunk of his speech listing all the deaths of Westerners in recent terrorist attacks, but conveniently neglected to mention the murder of black people at the hands of police officers — as well as the usual coded language about American exceptionalism and how "we" are going to take "our" country back (the implication being, of course, that it has been overrun by nasty brown people who don't belong here) it's hard to say who has provided the most vile invective to the flock of tin-hatters in enthusiastic attendance at the Quicken Loans Arena. But that prize should probably go to Al Baldasaro, a New Hampshire representative who serves on Trump's veterans' coalition. On Tuesday, Baldasaro stood before a crowd and said, categorically, that presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton should be "shot for treason" by a firing squad. That particular statement now has him under investigation by the Secret Service. More harrowing, however, is the fact that Baldasaro's comment has not been met with any vocal resistance from the Trump campaign. The pattern of cynical exploitation by Trump and his proxies that has roiled the blood of America's bigoted class has now resulted in an elected official calling for the execution of a former first lady, senator and secretary of state, with no hint of remorse from the campaign. So they are implicitly supporting calls for the murder of people who disagree with them politically. In America. In 2016. As such, Trump, his campaign and anyone who supports it have lost the right to participate in the political process. They are officially, conspicuously corrupt. They're not contributing to a democratic process in a healthy way. Can we now, at long last, say "You're fired," and move on? Ashland resident Jeffrey Gillespie is a Daily Tidings columnist, arts reviewer and freelance writer. Email him at gillespie.jeffrey @gmail.com. DailyTidings.com Writer Posted Jul. 22, 2016 at 2:00 AM Updated Jul 22, 2016 at 10:26 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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