Republican nominee for President

[JoeRedskin]

All the thuggery and inherent violence at these rallies just strike me as tactics used by the communists, brown-shirts and black-shirts in 1920's - 30's Germany. By both sides - those disrupting the rallies as well as those suppressing the disruptions. All of it is contrary to the underlying principle of the 1st Amendment and the concept of free speech - "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

[My caveat to this is that I am only speaking of the folks interrupting the rallies and shouting down speakers as they carry out the assembly, not those who protest them outside and engage peacefully while allowing others to speak freely]

Those disrupting the rallies are trying to prohibit or at least inhibit the ability of Trump supporters to gather in peaceful assembly and speak their minds. You may not agree with it, but, if they have a permit and are not fomenting immediate armed revolution, they can pretty much say whatever they want. If you want to disrupt that, interrupt that, or otherwise limit them from doing so by shouting, interrupting, or preventing them from speaking, you are acting in a manner that I believe is contrary to the principles of free speech (even if you personally are not violating the First Amendment which only prohibits the govt. from limiting speech).

However, the appropriate response is to have the authorities escort folks outside, away from the lawful gathering, where they can peacefully protest the message to their hearts content. It is not to beat the crap out of them. That's vigilantism, thuggism, taking-the-law-into-your-own-hands-ism. It is also precisely the tactics used by groups seeking to subvert the rule of law in Europe during the inter-war years.

In a democratic society where we supposedly value free speech, neither those disrupting the actual rallies or those attempting to violently suppress the disruptions have a claim to the moral high ground.

To those disrupting the rallies as they occur - take your protest someplace else don't seek confrontation as a way of preventing people whose message you don't like from speaking.

To those acting violently, threatening violence, encouraging violence or tacitly approving violence as a means for shutting down disruptive protests, just stop. You have no right to do so. None. It is criminal thuggery and reminiscent of evil times.

Both sides scream "free speech" but have no desire to engage in the political discourse it was meant to protect. People just want the freedom to scream hate at each other.

Sorry, just my rant.