Thursday at a Trump rally in Montana a young man, now known as "Plaid Shirt Guy," was escorted out of his VIP position directly behind the president and then held in custody by the Secret Service simply because he did not cheer loud enough.
Here's a line from CNN's report: "The idea that a United States citizen was thrown out of a rally that was headlined by the President, simply for not cheering fanatically enough, and was then held in custody by the Secret Service, should alarm anyone who cherishes freedom of expression. It conjures up rogue nations like North Korea, where political dissent is met with swift government action to silence it."
The victim in this case was 17-year-old Tyler Linfesty, a student who simply wanted to hear what the president had to say and was picked, at random, for the VIP section. But shortly into Trump's remarks, he was replaced by a staff member who simply told him she was going to replace him.
When he was told he had VIP status, he also wa told the rules by a person working on the event:
"You have to be enthusiastic, you have to be clapping, you have to be cheering for Donald Trump."
So what's next? Will Trump have you executed like Kim Jong Un does, even to his own relatives whom he catches clapping perfunctorily. Or maybe you'll be sent to a work camp or prison, where you'll be tortured or worse.
In Korea, people accused of political crimes are arrested and sentenced to prison camps without trials, while their families are often kept in the dark about their whereabouts. According to a United Nations report, prisoners are starved, forced to work, tortured and raped. Reproductive rights are denied through forced abortions and infanticide.
Some are executed — sometimes in public. Hundreds of thousands of political prisoners have died in the camps over the past 50 years, the United Nations report found.In addition to the political camps, North Korea also operates prisons for those accused of ordinary crimes. Some prisons are short-term labor camps. Others hold prisoners who face long-term torture, starvation and other suffering.
Think that couldn't happen here? I would certainly hope not, but who does Trump keep complimenting these days? Kim Jong Un. Oh, and his pal, Vladimir Putin,another world class human rights advocate.
Some of my friends -- even relatives -- ask me why I stand so strongly against Trump.
The other day, one commented on Facebook after one of my posts, "What is so bad? I just dont understand what in the hell is so bad that all of yall is saying is so damn horrible. Are you dead? Have you lost your job? I don't get it with yall. OH MY GOD....WE ARE ALL GONNA DIE!! Jeez. Stop."
Another keeps defending Trump on LinkedIn, responding to my posts there. He defends Trump and his policies, spewing statistics about his economic gains and so on. If I didn't know him , I would think he was a Russian bot.
So I suggested to him that he certainly is drinking the Trump KoolAde, and then I suggested he check out the Not Fake News shop where he could purchase a terrific "Blue Wave" T-shirt.
They look great on anybody, and I'm sure would look great on him as well.