# Sanders's Supporters Brownshirts Stop Trump Rally in Chicago **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 12, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710 "2016-03-12T02:28:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/381 "2016-03-14T15:49:42Z")
Well, maybe not, if he can prove it. I did not, myself, hear any such careful distinction nor any such precise tactical distinction, but if he did, then he can cite it as easily as I cite mine. So, breaking it down…Trump is advised that the police could protect him getting _to_ the podium and _away_ from it…through the crowd of ravening socialists…but not while he was standing at the podium. Got that about right, do I, **Hank**? Be that as it may, how can it help but underscore the point that, at the moment Trump canceled…there was no palpable threat, people started losing their shit _after_ the event was cancelled. Have I got that about right as well, **Hank**? ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/382 "2016-03-14T16:16:43Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > How about: “Sanders is responsible for the deaths of millions of children from starvation, and thousands of tons of toxic chemicals in our environment, since he is part of the anti-GMO and anti-nuclear movements.” Not quite Nazi levels of destruction yet, but it’s getting there. Ignoring for the moment that Sanders is not anti-GMO, do you have any credible cites that the anti-GMO movement has caused millions of children to starve to death? What crops have they prevented that would have saved millions of lives if planted? I’m not in any way anti-GMO, so I don’t support the movement, but I’m skeptical that they’ve managed to cause mass starvation. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/383 "2016-03-14T16:29:53Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > He doesn’t have a right to interrupt the rally, any more than I have a right to get up and start rapping in the middle of an audience watching an orchestra perform. Those actions violate the rights of everyone who came there to participate in the scheduled event. For what it’s worth, I don’t even understand how this is controversial. I think Trump, and everyone who attends his rallies, are fools. The only people more foolish are the ones who think it is their right to disrupt these rallies. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/384 "2016-03-14T16:54:02Z")
Don’t you, at the very least, have to show us that they _did_ disrupt it? And maybe tell us how they did it? Was there a dangerous level of violence in the arena _before_ Trump bailed out? Police didn’t seem to think so. So, who did? Maybe the Secret Service? Dunno. But we have witnesses and video that strongly suggest that nothing much happened _before_ Trump courageously scampered away. Brave, brave, brave, Sir Donald! So, how did they do it? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/385 "2016-03-14T17:12:01Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Ignoring for the moment that Sanders is not anti-GMO, do you have any credible cites that the anti-GMO movement has caused millions of children to starve to death? What crops have they prevented that would have saved millions of lives if planted? I’m not in any way anti-GMO, so I don’t support the movement, but I’m skeptical that they’ve managed to cause mass starvation. Nor have nuclear energy or weapons. He sounds like another Trump crank to me. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/386 "2016-03-14T17:14:20Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > This is not evil genius. Sabotaging leftist movements by planting people inside them to urge them to violence and then painting them as dangerous violent radicals is a very old technique. Heard of COINTELPRO? This is not a conspiracy theory, its been admitted that this happened by the US government. > > [COINTELPRO - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO) Please. This is neither a government nor a Sanders plot. Trump needs no help in being discredited; he does so himself. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/387 "2016-03-14T17:16:47Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Don’t you, at the very least, have to show us that they _did_ disrupt it? And maybe tell us how they did it? The protesters [themselves](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-12/trump-cancels-chicago-rally-as-fractious-campaign-boils-over) were patting themselves on their own backs for stopping Trump from speaking. \* ““Who won? We won!” protesters chanted as helicopters hovered above.\*” But, I’m sure the [hundreds demonstrating inside the venue](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-trump-protest-scene-20160311-story.html) were planning on just sitting quietly through the speech. I want to be able to go to a talk by Richard Dawkins without having creationists shout him down. I want to be able to go to see a Louis CK set without Focus on the Family demonstrating inside. And, I want to hear Donald Trump bloviate about nonsense without a handful of people on my own side making us all look like the way Foxnews portrays us. It’s a marketplace of ideas, not a marketplace of drowning out the other side’s ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/388 "2016-03-14T17:32:18Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > So, breaking it down…Trump is advised that the police could protect him getting _to_ the podium and _away_ from it… He was? Do you have any source for this claim? Or course he never claimed that he canceled the ralley out of concern for his own safety anyway, so your point is irrelevant, but if you are going to make it anyway you might as well provide a source. > [@](#): > > Be that as it may, how can it help but underscore the point that, at the moment Trump canceled…there was no palpable threat, Trump decided that the thousands of protesters with the stared intent of #SHUTTINGITDOWN!!! were enough of a threat to cancel. When you have your anti-Trump rally and thousands of his supporters organize and show up to try to silence you, you can and make a different decision and show the world how much braver you are than Trump. > [@](#): > > people started losing their shit after the event was cancelled. Have I got that about right as well, Hank? Most of the types of people that participate in these kinds of “actions” lost their shit long ago. Do you have some reason to think they would have been more well-behaved had Trump shown up? They seemed pretty irate, I doubt having the target of their hate in the room would have done anything to cool down their misinformed passion. > [@](#): > > Don’t you, at the very least, have to show us that they did disrupt it? And maybe tell us how they did it? By organizing using the #SHUTITDOWN hangtag and thereby filling the arena with thousands of protesters intent on disrupting the event, causing the person putting on the event to cancel in order to prevent injuries. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/389 "2016-03-14T17:36:21Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Ignoring for the moment that Sanders is not anti-GMO, do you have any credible cites that the anti-GMO movement has caused millions of children to starve to death? What crops have they prevented that would have saved millions of lives if planted? I’m not in any way anti-GMO, so I don’t support the movement, but I’m skeptical that they’ve managed to cause mass starvation. [Golden Rice Opponents Should Be Held Accountable for Health Problems Linked to Vitamain A Deficiency](http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/golden-rice-opponents-should-be-held-accountable-for-health-problems-linked-to-vitamain-a-deficiency/) ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/390 "2016-03-14T17:40:47Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Nor have nuclear energy or weapons. He sounds like another Trump crank to me. [Fossil fuel combustion harms air quality and human health. A 2010 study by the Clean Air Task Force estimated that air pollution from coal-fired power plants accounts for more than 13,000 premature deaths, 20,000 heart attacks, and 1.6 million lost workdays in the U.S. each year. The total monetary cost of these health impacts is over $100 billion annually](http://www.rmi.org/RFGraph-health_effects_from_US_power_plant_emissions) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/391 "2016-03-14T17:44:56Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > A group of people, many voicing support for Bernie Sanders, has forced Donald Trump to cancel a rally. “Forced”? Don’t know about that. He sure as Hell didn’t cancel it for fear of violence (we know he has none, where political rallies are concerned) – only for fear of counterdemonstration in front of the cameras. ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/392 "2016-03-14T18:03:28Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > The issue is the recipe: take a critical mass of a majority culture experiencing a major loss of status and anxiety regarding their futures and add an authoritarian demagogue exploiting it by pointing at broad brush “others” identifiable by religion or ethnicity or cultural heritage to blame. Exploit existing stereotypes and prejudices. Encourage some violence along the way. Throw in some anti-intellectualism for extra spice. Bring to boil. [Don’t be so hard on Bernie!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19066852&postcount=6) [But seriously: Comparing Trump to Hitler Is Worst Kind of Hate Speech](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-marshall-crotty/comparing-trump-to-hitler_b_9334668.html) ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/393 "2016-03-14T18:04:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > “Forced”? Don’t know about that. He sure as Hell didn’t cancel it for fear of violence (we know he has none, where political rallies are concerned) – only for fear of counterdemonstration in front of the cameras. You know no such thing, you are simply making a proclamation. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/394 "2016-03-14T18:11:49Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > You know no such thing, you are simply making a proclamation. I know Trump’s public response to violence by his own supporters at his own rallies has been forgiving when not encouraging, and so do you. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/395 "2016-03-14T18:18:44Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > [But seriously: Comparing Trump to Hitler Is Worst Kind of Hate Speech](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-marshall-crotty/comparing-trump-to-hitler_b_9334668.html) Comparing him [to](http://www.salon.com/2016/03/11/trumps_not_hitler_hes_mussolini_how_gop_anti_intellectualism_created_a_modern_fascist_movement_in_america/) [Mussolini](http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/interrogation/2016/02/is_donald_trump_a_fascist_an_expert_on_fascism_weighs_in.html) aint. (Granted, Mussolini compares favorably, there, in terms of imagination and sophistication.) ---
**Author:** ![Hank\_Beecher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hank_beecher/32/7275_2.png) [@Hank\_Beecher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hank_Beecher)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/396 "2016-03-14T18:24:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I know Trump’s public response to violence by his own supporters at his own rallies has been forgiving when not encouraging, and so do you. The only time he has encouraged violence, that I have seen, has been against people who were themselves being violent. Remember, his rallies begin with an announcement telling attendees not to touch protesters. Until yesterday the only violence he was apologetic towards was also against people being violent. Now, he seems to be, when asked, giving some implicit support to the elderly guy who clocked the kid flipping of the crowd while being led out of the ralley, saying that he is “looking into” paying his legal expenses. I guess he thinks that a lot of people will be sympathetic to the old coot. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/397 "2016-03-14T18:25:17Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > He was? Do you have any source for this claim? Or course he never claimed that he canceled the ralley out of concern for his own safety anyway, so your point is irrelevant, but if you are going to make it anyway you might as well provide a source… A bit off on that, apologies. My source is the eminent historian **Hank Beecher** … > [@](#): > > …The “sufficient manpower” was referring to getting him in and out of the building, not the inside of the venue… Which I somewhat misinterpreted. Be that as it may, you will have to ask **Hank Beecher** about his source of information. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/398 "2016-03-14T19:01:41Z")
> [@Hank\_Beecher](#): > > [But seriously: Comparing Trump to Hitler Is Worst Kind of Hate Speech](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/james-marshall-crotty/comparing-trump-to-hitler_b_9334668.html) Trump attacks Sanders because he can’t really be called a Nazi unless he blames all his problems on a Jew. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/399 "2016-03-14T19:11:31Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > The protesters [themselves](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-12/trump-cancels-chicago-rally-as-fractious-campaign-boils-over) were patting themselves on their own backs for stopping Trump from speaking. > \* > ““Who won? We won!” protesters chanted as helicopters hovered above.\*” This keeps being repeated by people who have apparently never met an activists. People, **activists take credit for everything**. If Trump had spoken, but they’d all held up their signs, they would have taken credit. If they’d all been forcibly removed, they would have taken credit. If they’d been arrested en masse, they would have taken credit. **That’s what activists do**. There may be proof that the plan was to prevent Trump from speaking, but activists taking credit for preventing him from speaking is not that proof. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710/400 "2016-03-14T19:33:00Z")
When kids did this kind of shit in the 60’s they were filthy commies. Now, doing pretty much the same thing, they’re Nazi fascists. I’m gonna need a score card to keep this stuff straight. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sanderss-supporters-brownshirts-stop-trump-rally-in-chicago/748710.md?page=21)