Trump’s Capture of the Republican Party is Far From Mysterious

As many of you remember, just last year Perfesser Glenn Reynolds defended the summary execution of demonstrators with vehicles, and then reiterated his defense of the summary execution of demonstrators with vehicles. (Today, he found Trump’s embarrassing Both Sides Do It speech very compelling.) But what’s the big deal, you might ask — Reynolds is just wingnut with an extensive history of eliminationist rhetoric.

The problem is the number of Republican legislators who are indistinguishable from crackpot bloggers:

A different strategy in some recent laws invites vigilantism. A bill introduced in Tennessee would immunize drivers who injure a person who is participating in a protest or demonstration and is blocking traffic in a public right of way. Florida has a similar bill. Although both bills include language stressing that the motorist’s act must not be intentional, the clear message is that drivers inconvenienced by demonstrations should be able to take matters into their own hands. (One can hear echoes of the call, on Twitter, by the blogger, USA Today columnist, and University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds, during protests in Charlotte, to “run them down.”)

Neiether Trump nor James Alex Fields came from nowhere.

…Shorter Verbatim Glenn Reynolds: “The roots of this are in the Obama Justice Department’s refusal to prosecute armed Black Panthers who stood outside polling places. That small initial tear in the social fabric has continued to unravel.”

[via Manju]