History records that King Henry II walked on his bare feet to Canterbury to repent of his role in the murder of Thomas Becket. The death of Becket, and its consequences, are captured in the movie, Becket.
Donald Trump shows no sign of repenting of his statement, that some commentators have said was a thinly-veiled call for assassination.
That is probably not the case. It was most likely not intended as an actual threat. but merely the exaggerations of a bully who thinks he is being subtle in front of his gang.
Trump is not walking in bare feet anywhere, unless he is relaxing in a spa in one of his hotels. Instead Trump left it to his campaign spokesman, Jason Miller, to provide the campaign explanation to this latest outburst.
Miller tried to "spin" Trump's outrageous language by saying the candidate was referring to the "power of unification."
Miller claimed Trump was speaking of "Second Amendment people," who "have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified, which gives them great political power. And this year, they will be voting in record numbers, and it won't be for Hillary Clinton, it will be for Donald Trump."
The response to Trump's outburst has been overwhelmingly negative. The Times looked for some of them.
The implied threat against Clinton prompted a reaction from a Secret Service spokesman, who refused to identify himself, who said the agency was "aware of the comments." He did not elaborate.
The Times also reported:
"Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, wrote on Twitter that Mr. Trump 'makes death threats because he's a pathetic coward who can't handle the fact that he's losing to a girl.'
"Mr. Trump's campaign events have grown increasingly vitriolic, with angry chants and jeers directed at Mrs. Clinton. People at his rallies have, with greater frequency, loudly called for violence against Mrs. Clinton -- catcalls that Mr. Trump has generally let pass."
We have to assume that Trump will go off-script on many occasions, leaving surrogates to clean up behind him.
His staff has tried to clean up his act. But performers like Trump don't change under command. He operates the way a comedian riffs when performing before a rowdy nightclub audience, responding to the emotional and value level of his audience.
Good judgment is not in his makeup. A crying baby serves him as a foil like a character in a silent movie. He tolerates the crying, saying he loves babies. Within minutes he orders his minions to boot the baby out of the hall.
This is a man who craves adulation and affection and whose communication skills are sadly limited to that of a schoolyard bully.
Trump will continue to belittle his betters with whatever language he dregs up from decades of business battles, many of which he lost.
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