Brad Thor: Trump is an Extinction Level Threat to American Democracy

 

bradthor2Best-selling spy novel author Brad Thor just gave a remarkable interview on the Glenn Beck show in which he passionately explained why Donald Trump represents “an extinction level” threat to American democracy. I’m in full agreement. Here are Thor’s remarks, as reported by Lori, a journalist employed by the Beck organization. Everyone should read this.

“I think Trump is an extinction-level event potentially for our republic, for democracy. This is one of the greatest crises our nation has seen since the Great Depression, since World War II — is a potential Donald Trump presidency. It is a disaster for liberty,” Thor said. Glenn doesn’t often struggle to have his voice heard, but Thor’s passion overwhelmed the conversation.

“Listen, Andrew Sullivan, who I’m not a big fan…I don’t agree with a lot of stuff Andrew Sullivan writes…he wrote a brilliant piece recently in New York Magazine, and he said, “Democracies end when they are too democratic.” And he looked at Plato’s republic and some of the thoughts Plato had on democracy, and how, when there are no values, when anything is possible, when everything goes, that’s when a tyrant steps in and takes control of what Plato calls an “obedient mob.” It’s exactly what Trump has done. It is a brilliant, brilliant piece of writing. And I encourage everybody to read it,” Thor said.

Thor’s intensity surprised Glenn. “I’ve never heard you like this, Brad,” Glenn said.

“I’m terrified,” Thor answered.

Glenn reminded Thor of when he rang the bell about Barack Obama, but never said anything like an “extinction-level event.”

“Listen, I believe it was somebody at National Review that used that exact term, and it resonated with me…”

You can read the entire exchange, or listen to the audio, at Beck’s website.

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  1. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Songwriter:

    Quinn the Eskimo:If I can put a slightly different spin on it:

    After 8 years of Barack Obama…

    …our two major party candidates are likely to be Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton…

    …within each party there are whispers of dissident factions running Bernie Sanders and Mitt Romney as third party candidates…

    ..and the Libertarians sound like they might nominate a guy who thinks Jews should be forced to decorate Nazi wedding cakes.

    When you think about all that has happened up to this point ,and the response being what it is from the major two parties, and to the extent there is dissent, these are the next three options being offered, it seems like the extinction-level event has already occurred and we are watching the fallout spread.

    This. Exactly. Trump may well be the proverbial back-breaking straw. But the overbearing burden of government that led to the collapse has been coming on for 100 years.

    Don’t say that around here. To read a lot of what goes up here you would think everything is just swimming along since 2000 and then this Trump ruffian showed up and spoiled the cocktail party at Bushwood.

    • #91
  2. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    Larry3435:

    Ball Diamond Ball:

    Larry3435:Maybe the extinction level event has already happened. When the peepul (bless their greedy and stupid little hearts) have decided that we must choose between an ignorant, corrupt, authoritarian strongman and a venal, corrupt, authoritarian strongwoman, what chance does limited government have to survive?

    Nobody seems to give a damn anymore about protecting the Constitution. It’s all “our strongman is stronger than your strongman.” “Our rioters riot better than your rioters.” Anyone who points out that this is not the way our system is supposed to work gets dismissed as an “Establishment Elite.” Screw the system and screw the Constitution. The peepul have spoken!

    Yeah, but those of us who said this goose was cooked upon Obama’s re-election were crazy.

    Were we? I thought that too, but I didn’t think that much of the Republican Party would go over to the other side.

    Mischaracterize it how you wish, but it was clear that a GOP that continued running namby-pamby fools like Jeb! had already gone over to the other side.

    • #92
  3. Proud Skeptic Inactive
    Proud Skeptic
    @ProudSkeptic

    It’s funny how the more articles like this I read the more inclined I am to vote for Trump.  Hyperbole and whining has never worked on me.

    • #93
  4. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Proud Skeptic:It’s funny how the more articles like this I read the more inclined I am to vote for Trump. Hyperbole and whining has never worked on me.

    I admit it motivates my considering doing similarly.

    • #94
  5. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Proud Skeptic:It’s funny how the more articles like this I read the more inclined I am to vote for Trump. Hyperbole and whining has never worked on me.

    To me it points to lack of political understanding and awareness. Most of the people who are nevertrumpers were those who never saw the split coming.

    No doubt Trump is difficult to pin down politically, but their conclusions simply don’t make any sense. Much of what they criticize Trump for applies to other former Republican Presidential candidates and to members of Congress. Some believe(d) he was a pawn of the Clintons. Others claim he a Democrat merely for doing what every businessman on his level is forced to do – pay off politicians. Then they claim he’s a crony capitalist. That’s like saying I’m immoral for giving a cop who is known to take bribes $20 to get out of a phony ticket. Proving they don’t understand the problem.

    They think he’s thin-skinned for fighting back twice as hard. Would that Bush the W  had some of those qualities and we wouldn’t have had 8 years of Obama.

    Others claim he’s secretly against the Second Amendment. And more.

    It gets into the realm of conspiracy theories.

    • #95
  6. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    Brad Thor and Glenn Beck [and zoobrin] Advocate Assassination of Trump

    • #96
  7. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Columbo:Brad Thor and Glenn Beck [and zoobrin] Advocate Assassination of Trump

    Good thing there isn’t conspiracy theory here, right.

    • #97
  8. Tom Meyer, Ed. Member
    Tom Meyer, Ed.
    @tommeyer

    Columbo:Brad Thor and Glenn Beck [and zoobrin] Advocate Assassination of Trump

    Zubrin did not cite that part of the interview.

    • #98
  9. Ball Diamond Ball Member
    Ball Diamond Ball
    @BallDiamondBall

    Tom Meyer, Ed.:

    Columbo:Brad Thor and Glenn Beck [and zoobrin] Advocate Assassination of Trump

    Zubrin did not cite that part of the interview.

    He presented it in the comments.  If there’s even more than what appeared in Zubrin’s comment, so much the worse.  Not like I’m going over to Beck’s kook farm to find out.

    Side note: the “journalist” employed by Beck to preserve his utterances should drop the thriller-style narration.

    • #99
  10. Columbo Inactive
    Columbo
    @Columbo

    Tom Meyer, Ed.:

    Columbo:Brad Thor and Glenn Beck [and zoobrin] Advocate Assassination of Trump

    Zubrin did not cite that part of the interview.

    Conceded. Posted with a grin on my face and my tongue firmly planted in my cheek. It contains every bit of saneness as the OP.

    • #100
  11. Jager Coolidge
    Jager
    @Jager

    Proud Skeptic:It’s funny how the more articles like this I read the more inclined I am to vote for Trump. Hyperbole and whining has never worked on me.


    Proud Skeptic
    :It’s funny how the more articles like this I read the more inclined I am to vote for Trump. Hyperbole and whining has never worked on me.

    I am right there with you. Trump leading to the end of conservatism, democracy, the country and the world (through nuclear war) are all the things that end up main feed.

    Can’t it just be that Trump would be a bad President without being the end of everything? If your best most rational argument is Armageddon you need a better  argument.

    • #101
  12. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Just another worthless post from Zubrin. Looky here, he found another nut, appearing with Glenn Beck, the man who knows all, and we should care…why?

    • #102
  13. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Salvatore Padula:

    Aaron Miller: The only aspect that could possibly make Trump more dangerous is if he somehow weakened the Right’s popularity for years to come. Well, guess what… the Right has already fractured, regardless of whether Trump or Clinton

    No, it’s not quite that. It’s that he changes the ideological lines upon which American politics is fought from progressive v. conservative to left v. right. Right wing and conservative are certainly not synonymous, as Trump has amply demonstrated. Trump will remake the GOP (the only viable vehicle for political conservatism) in his own image. The Trumpist GOP will be right wing, but not conservative. Basically Trump has the potential to remove constitutional conservatism from our national political debate in the near and medium term.

    Except that despite the exaggerations (his own and his detractors’), Trump does offer conservative positions. Not good enough? I understand. Neither was Romneycare Romney, McCain-Feingold McCain, Compassionate Conservatism Bush, Where’s the Outrage Dole, Read My Lips Bush.

    • #103
  14. Jager Coolidge
    Jager
    @Jager

    Robert Zubrin: Best-selling spy novel author Brad Thor just gave a remarkable interview on the Glenn Beck show in which he passionately explained why Donald Trump represents “an extinction level” threat to American democracy.

    I read the full article, I guess I still did not get it. There was not a “passionate explanation” there was a passionate declarative statement. Trump will be a Tyrant.

    Ok, how does this happen (I am gonna need some specifics here)? If elected it would be by narrow margins in the electoral collage and if recent history repeats an actual loss in the popular vote.  With hostile Democrats, and a number of hostile Republicans, and a hostile bureaucracy,  what exact steps will allow Trump to become dictator?

    How is it that Trump takes control and gets his “tyrannical” policies actually enacted?

    • #104
  15. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Sabrdance:This needs to be a post, and if this tripe keeps getting written, I may even write it.

    However, here’s the comment form:

    You are exaggerating. And I would take the NeverTrump people much more seriously if they would stop doing that.[…..]

    Exaggeration isn’t just an NT problem. Whenever I read about the end of civilization or even the end of our constitutional order I have a hard time deciding whether to cringe or roll my eyes because I’m not coordinated enough to do both simultaneously.

    Even after two terms of president Obama our constitution is still operative. Despite executive orders and terrible decisions with lasting consequences for our nation in various ways, we’re still governed by the constitution of the people, for the people, and by the people. We still hold the levers – the Trump phenomenon is actually evidence of that.

    • #105
  16. Jager Coolidge
    Jager
    @Jager

    Ed G.:

    Salvatore Padula:

    Aaron Miller: The only aspect that could possibly make Trump more dangerous is if he somehow weakened the Right’s popularity for years to come. Well, guess what… the Right has already fractured, regardless of whether Trump or Clinton

    No, it’s not quite that. It’s that he changes the ideological lines upon which American politics is fought from progressive v. conservative to left v. right. Right wing and conservative are certainly not synonymous, as Trump has amply demonstrated. Trump will remake the GOP (the only viable vehicle for political conservatism) in his own image. The Trumpist GOP will be right wing, but not conservative. Basically Trump has the potential to remove constitutional conservatism from our national political debate in the near and medium term.

    Except that despite the exaggerations (his own and his detractors’), Trump does offer conservative positions. Not good enough? I understand. Neither was Romneycare Romney, McCain-Feingold McCain, Compassionate Conservatism Bush, Where’s the Outrage Dole, Read My Lips Bush.

    Does anyone actually think that  8 years of Pres. Bush remade to party in his image? Doesn’t that kind of ignore the Tea Party push back on spending, a growing distrust of nation building, and the failure of Jeb to get voters (not donors) to support him?

    • #106
  17. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Jager:

    Ed G.:

    Salvatore Padula:

    Aaron Miller: The only aspect that could possibly make Trump more dangerous is if he somehow weakened the Right’s popularity for years to come. Well, guess what… the Right has already fractured, regardless of whether Trump or Clinton

    No, it’s not quite that. It’s that he changes the ideological lines upon which American politics is fought from progressive v. conservative to left v. right. Right wing and conservative are certainly not synonymous, as Trump has amply demonstrated. Trump will remake the GOP (the only viable vehicle for political conservatism) in his own image. The Trumpist GOP will be right wing, but not conservative. Basically Trump has the potential to remove constitutional conservatism from our national political debate in the near and medium term.

    Except that despite the exaggerations (his own and his detractors’), Trump does offer conservative positions. Not good enough? I understand. Neither was Romneycare Romney, McCain-Feingold McCain, Compassionate Conservatism Bush, Where’s the Outrage Dole, Read My Lips Bush.

    Does anyone actually think that 8 years of Pres. Bush remade to party in his image? Doesn’t that kind of ignore the Tea Party push back on spending, a growing distrust of nation building, and the failure of Jeb to get voters (not donors) to support him?

    I think Bush remade the party.

    The Tea Parties were late in his admin. Had he not ensconced big government in the party maybe they don’t exist.

    • #107
  18. drlorentz Member
    drlorentz
    @drlorentz

    Proud Skeptic:It’s funny how the more articles like this I read the more inclined I am to vote for Trump. Hyperbole and whining has never worked on me.

    I’m fascinated how Trump critics manage to help Trump. If Zubrin, Charen, the MSM, et al. keep this up, Trump might actually win the election.

    • #108
  19. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    Franco:[…..]The loss of down-to-earth contributors (and commenters ) has really hurt the ‘edge’ Ricochet needs to be providing to get more attention and subscribers. David Limbaugh, Mark Steyn, and others are long gone and replaced with now a series of drive-by contributors with some niche policy.

    Failure of many contributors to engage at all in the comment section give us the overall sense that once elected the representative has much more important things to do than take our call.

    I miss having Mollie around here. Despite the whole Cardinals thing.

    • #109
  20. Larry3435 Inactive
    Larry3435
    @Larry3435

    Note:

    If you find you can't engage with a fellow member in good faith, don't engage with him.

    Franco: If all it takes is Donald Trump for folks to go for Hillary, I have lost a lot of respect.

    I would hate to think that I [redacted].

    • #110
  21. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    BrentB67:I think Bush remade the party.

    The Tea Parties were late in his admin. Had he not ensconced big government in the party maybe they don’t exist.

    Bush was the nail in the coffin but the coffin was built by a long legacy of others.

    • #111
  22. BrentB67 Inactive
    BrentB67
    @BrentB67

    Ed G.:

    Franco:[…..]The loss of down-to-earth contributors (and commenters ) has really hurt the ‘edge’ Ricochet needs to be providing to get more attention and subscribers. David Limbaugh, Mark Steyn, and others are long gone and replaced with now a series of drive-by contributors with some niche policy.

    Failure of many contributors to engage at all in the comment section give us the overall sense that once elected the representative has much more important things to do than take our call.

    I miss having Mollie around here. Despite the whole Cardinals thing.

    Her departure was a catastrophic loss.

    Go Redbirds!

    • #112
  23. Jager Coolidge
    Jager
    @Jager

    Larry3435:

    Franco: If all it takes is Donald Trump for folks to go for Hillary, I have lost a lot of respect.

    I would hate to think that I ever had your respect.

    OK so much for civil discussion.

    • #113
  24. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    BrentB67:

    Songwriter:

    Quinn the Eskimo:If I can put a slightly different spin on it:

    After 8 years of Barack Obama…

    …our two major party candidates are likely to be Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton…

    …within each party there are whispers of dissident factions running Bernie Sanders and Mitt Romney as third party candidates…

    ..and the Libertarians sound like they might nominate a guy who thinks Jews should be forced to decorate Nazi wedding cakes.

    When you think about all that has happened up to this point ,and the response being what it is from the major two parties, and to the extent there is dissent, these are the next three options being offered, it seems like the extinction-level event has already occurred and we are watching the fallout spread.

    This. Exactly. Trump may well be the proverbial back-breaking straw. But the overbearing burden of government that led to the collapse has been coming on for 100 years.

    Don’t say that around here. To read a lot of what goes up here you would think everything is just swimming along since 2000 and then this Trump ruffian showed up and spoiled the cocktail party at Bushwood.

    Quite right. Like Caddyshack or Animal House – there are few likable characters and no heroes. That’s what happens when the only tradition available is corrupt and unappealing.

    • #114
  25. drlorentz Member
    drlorentz
    @drlorentz

    Ed G.: Quite right. Like Caddyshack or Animal House – there are few likable characters and no heroes. That’s what happens when the only tradition available is corrupt and unappealing.

    Wait, you’re saying Bluto is not a hero? And Carl the groundskeeper?

    • #115
  26. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Larry3435:

    Franco: If all it takes is Donald Trump for folks to go for Hillary, I have lost a lot of respect.

    I would hate to think that I ever had your respect.

    You didn’t. I never thought anything about you at all.

    • #116
  27. Ed G. Member
    Ed G.
    @EdG

    BrentB67:

    Ed G.:

    Franco:[…..]The loss of down-to-earth contributors (and commenters ) has really hurt the ‘edge’ Ricochet needs to be providing to get more attention and subscribers. David Limbaugh, Mark Steyn, and others are long gone and replaced with now a series of drive-by contributors with some niche policy.

    Failure of many contributors to engage at all in the comment section give us the overall sense that once elected the representative has much more important things to do than take our call.

    I miss having Mollie around here. Despite the whole Cardinals thing.

    Her departure was a catastrophic loss.

    Go Redbirds!

    Why so hurtful Brent? Don’t worry, the Cubs domination of the Cards won’t last more than two or three seasons before we reach parity again.

    • #117
  28. Tom Riehl Member
    Tom Riehl
    @

    What I’d like to know is why when people with certain gifts make enough dough, their brains leak out and outlandish pronouncements follow, with the literati receiving them with bated breath.  Beck, Thor, Zuckerberg, and many others are in this category.

    • #118
  29. Jamie Lockett Member
    Jamie Lockett
    @JamieLockett

    Tom Riehl:What I’d like to know is why when people with certain gifts make enough dough, their brains leak out and outlandish pronouncements follow, with the literati receiving them with bated breath. Beck, Thor, Zuckerberg, and many others are in this category.

    If you think this is the first time Beck or Thor has engaged in hyperbole then you haven’t been paying attention. Perhaps you liked the hyperbolic things they said before?

    • #119
  30. skipsul Inactive
    skipsul
    @skipsul

    Jamie Lockett:

    Tom Riehl:What I’d like to know is why when people with certain gifts make enough dough, their brains leak out and outlandish pronouncements follow, with the literati receiving them with bated breath. Beck, Thor, Zuckerberg, and many others are in this category.

    If you think this is the first time Beck or Thor has engaged in hyperbole then you haven’t been paying attention. Perhaps you liked the hyperbolic things they said before?

    Not familiar with Thor, but I’ve had to tune Beck out for years now.  I swear he’s been in full on “The Apocalypse is coming!” mode since 2008.  What with the crying jags and everything else, I just can’t take him seriously.  And you know it’s bad when Alex Jones is saying you’ve lost your mind.

    • #120
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