"Lock Her Up" Chant Was Only The Beginning

There has been some fear about the direction of political discourse over the past year. Things do become heated in political campaigns. They always have and probably always will. No one party can claim a mantel of good, clean, calm language over the years. Sometimes however, the language of campaigns can be one of the greatest tests of leadership.

A few weeks ago the Republicans had their chance to gather in Cleveland, Ohio and scream, hoot and holler about their opponent and the state of the country. They took advantage of the opportunity. As they gathered to nominate their candidate and build support for his candidacy. They, their party and the candidate himself were well aware of criticisms about a political movement that looks and feels, at times, like fascism. It certainly doesn't help when video images show people raising their arms and shouting various chants of support. These images remind us of other movements in history.

It gets worse however when an audience of delegates to a national political party start chanting of their opponent "Lock Her Up, Lock Her Up". What these folks seem to have forgotten is that they were participating in a really important part of the democratic process - selecting their candidate and stating their case for political ideas. Instead we were reminded of a Banana Republic, mob rule and vigilantes.

Whatever you think of Hillary Clinton and the controversy surrounding her emails, she deserves what every other citizen deserves which is due process, not mob rule. Language and leadership really do matter. Crowds getting whipped up due to enthusiasm for their candidate is natural and as old as the political process itself. What people chant and how leaders react are things that can be controlled.

Now Donald Trump has crossed whatever lines are left, with a wink, a nod and a suggestion that 2nd amendment people may be able to deal with Hillary Clinton. He has disqualified himself as a candidate for President. He's probably broken the law, he's an embarressment and he's dangerous. He doesn't care about what he says, or worse, what people hear. He has raised the specter of violence wth his talk of rigged elections and 2nd amendment threats.