thank you for the Peter Wehner article

Submitted by Anne Julienne (Australia), May 5, 2016 at 00:40

Daniel, thank you for the Peter Wehner article of March 19. It clarifies a lot for me.

My son lives in San Fran but hates America and looks forward to returning home to Sydney, Australia, in a year or so. He is a gentle, good natured soul; very bright, has never relied on brawn.

On a recent trip to Sydney and during a discussion of Trump, he made an odd comment. A lot of the "message" was in the body language and tone but he said (referring to Trump): "He better not." He seemed to be saying that if Trump were to fulfil his agenda - in this or that rather unspecified way - then there'd be hell to pay. Perhaps there would be riots? An assassination attempt?

Yes, indeed, there is a whole aura around Trump that suggests that fighting or brutish violence is the solution. And this aura is affecting even young people opposed to Trump!

I don't think this is the fault of Trump in himself (just as Hitler's success was not entirely down to him personally). It has more to do with the times we live in.

"Being civilised" has not worked out, it has not come up with enough desired results. People want more and I fear that the "more" that they want entails more blood flowing.

Basically, barbarity is asking to have its turn at trying to solve things.

Those of us who identify with "the civilised way" need to do a lot of soul-searching here.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".