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Nora Skinker (Morton)

Enemy: a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.

I listed ideologies, actions, proposals, (things?) to which I am opposed, Jack. (How do you disagree, my friend?) I do not consider folks who disagree with me, my enemies - in fact I love diverse ideas and respect that trait in others. In this case, I am 'actively opposed' but far from hostile. (I.e., I would never refer to your beliefs as bullshit, as you regularly do mine), but a presidential election is, for some, as competitive as it gets.  Coralling voters to 'fight' for or against certain actions deemed harmful (or benign) by others, is often an opportunity to "rally" a group and motivate them  (in this case, to vote). It is not to be taken literally....as even the "fight" is not a literal war, bloody battle or blood bath, but a fierce determination, instead.   As a kid, I competed in swimming and diving.  Our coach indicated that if we could envision opponents as enemies fighting against us for what we both wanted, it could heighten levels of energy and performance.  Using that as a tool, against my brothers (who I adore) through years of competitive activities, job interviews and difficult auditions, has served me well. To take the word 'enemy' and apply it personally is, to me, silly.  "Them's fightin' words"!  And mere words, they are.  In this election year, both sides are throwing out strong and ugly rhetoric.  Hopefully, no one is taking it too far.  And I don't think I need to define what that looks like.

Jack Mallory

Nori, you say, "I believe that the progressive left is somewhat of an 'enemy from within'." People who "consider" things you are opposed to, people who "contemplate" things you dislike, are your enemies.

You categorize the progressive left, the people, not the ideas, as the enemy. We are your enemy because we think things you dislike. I try to define my enemies on the basis of their actions, not their beliefs, thoughts, ideas. People can believe what they wish, this in no way harms me or anyone else. They may not be my friends, but beliefs don't define my enemies. Actions that harm me or others might. 
 

Nixon kept his "enemies list." (I've alway been jealous of those who made it onto Dick's enemies list. I am proud of my FBI file, though.) Trump clearly keeps his list of "enemies from within." I try and get through life keeping my enemies at a minimum, and not define them because they consider or contemplate differently than I do.

********

Nixon and Trump. Two power hungry autocrats who bookend our generations' political lives. You'd think people would have learned to avoid thinking in terms of "enemies lists" and "enemies within."

"13 Ex-Trump Aides Back Kelly’s ‘Dictator’ Warning, Saying Trump Seeks ‘Absolute, Unchecked Power’

"In a letter, the former aides wrote, “For the good of our country, our democracy, and our Constitution, we are asking you to listen closely and carefully to General Kelly’s warning.”

Jack Mallory

Seasonal signals: fading colors, heavy sweatshirts, migrating geese.

Glen Hirose

Faded sweatshirts, migrating tourists, and heavy geese. Yup, the same as down here.

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Nori, its not acting like a Democratic leader to arrest the enemies from within that are political rivals like Adam Shiff and Nancy Pelosi. Trump says he will call up the National Guard and the Military to arrest them..What happened to the Constitution?  Trump is talking as an authoritarian considering suspending the Constitution.I would think you would see that his plans are not ok.He is using such hateful speech too calling immigrants from all over the world that come here vermin and poisoning the blood of America. He is painting immigrants with a broad brush and saying they are coming for your jobs. You can vote for him but many of us see what he is telling us he would do and its very dangerous to us. .Love, Joanie

Joan Ruggles (Young)

The gist of what you seem to be saying here Nori, is that words don't matter. We shouldn't believe what Trump says, after all, he never built the wall that he promised, though he still claims that he did.  So we shouldn't listen when he promises to go after Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi. As I said before, SCOTUS has removed the guard rails. Whatever other guardrails he had before in the form of reasonable, serious, military leaders will also be gone.......unless we shouldn't believe that he will appoint lick-spittle yes-men? He calls those of us with whom he disagrees "enemies" even if you claim we aren't yours. That's the man's mindset and HE will be the president, not you. 

Another spectacular speech by Michelle Obama, especially regarding women's health issues. No, I'm not talking about abortion. There's a lot more to women's complicated health than ending pregnancies. And most people are ignorant of the extent of them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtQqGOOLh8o&ab_channel=ABCNews

And I for one, would vote for anyone but Trump just to end the hate, the ugliness and the rage that he and his followers spew. I'm sick of it. 

Jack Mallory

HCR reminds us this morning what our parents learned and taught us. The lessons seem to have been lost over the generations. 
 

Beginning in 1943, the War Department published a series of pamphlets for U.S. Army personnel in the European theater of World War II. Titled Army Talks, the series was designed “to help [the personnel] become better-informed men and women and therefore better soldiers.”

On March 24, 1945, the topic for the week was “FASCISM!” 

“You are away from home, separated from your families, no longer at a civilian job or at school and many of you are risking your very lives,” the pamphlet explained, “because of a thing called fascism.” But, the publication asked, what is fascism? “Fascism is not the easiest thing to identify and analyze,” it said, “nor, once in power, is it easy to destroy. It is important for our future and that of the world that as many of us as possible understand the causes and practices of fascism, in order to combat it.”

Fascism, the U.S. government document explained, “is government by the few and for the few. The objective is seizure and control of the economic, political, social, and cultural life of the state.” “The people run democratic governments, but fascist governments run the people.” 

“The basic principles of democracy stand in the way of their desires; hence—democracy must go! Anyone who is not a member of their inner gang has to do what he’s told. They permit no civil liberties, no equality before the law.” “Fascism treats women as mere breeders. ‘Children, kitchen, and the church,’ was the Nazi slogan for women,” the pamphlet said. 

Fascists “make their own rules and change them when they choose…. They maintain themselves in power by use of force combined with propaganda based on primitive ideas of ‘blood’ and ‘race,’ by skillful manipulation of fear and hate, and by false promise of security. The propaganda glorifies war and insists it is smart and ‘realistic’ to be pitiless and violent.” 

Fascists understood that “the fundamental principle of democracy—faith in the common sense of the common people—was the direct opposite of the fascist principle of rule by the elite few,” it explained, “[s]o they fought democracy…. They played political, religious, social, and economic groups against each other and seized power while these groups struggled.”  

Americans should not be fooled into thinking that fascism could not come to America, the pamphlet warned; after all, “[w]e once laughed Hitler off as a harmless little clown with a funny mustache.” And indeed, the U.S. had experienced “sorry instances of mob sadism, lynchings, vigilantism, terror, and suppression of civil liberties. We have had our hooded gangs, Black Legions, Silver Shirts, and racial and religious bigots. All of them, in the name of Americanism, have used undemocratic methods and doctrines which…can be properly identified as ‘fascist.’”

The War Department thought it was important for Americans to understand the tactics fascists would use to take power in the United States. They would try to gain power “under the guise of ‘super-patriotism’ and ‘super-Americanism.’” And they would use three techniques: 

First, they would pit religious, racial, and economic groups against one another to break down national unity. Part of that effort to divide and conquer would be a “well-planned ‘hate campaign’ against minority races, religions, and other groups.”

Second, they would deny any need for international cooperation, because that would fly in the face of their insistence that their supporters were better than everyone else. “In place of international cooperation, the fascists seek to substitute a perverted sort of ultra-nationalism which tells their people that they are the only people in the world who count. With this goes hatred and suspicion toward the people of all other nations.” 

Third, fascists would insist that “the world has but two choices—either fascism or communism, and they label as ‘communists’ everyone who refuses to support them.”

It is “vitally important” to learn to spot native fascists, the government said, “even though they adopt names and slogans with popular appeal, drape themselves with the American flag, and attempt to carry out their program in the name of the democracy they are trying to destroy.” 

The only way to stop the rise of fascism in the United States, the document said, “is by making our democracy work and by actively cooperating to preserve world peace and security.” In the midst of the insecurity of the modern world, the hatred at the root of fascism “fulfills a triple mission.” By dividing people, it weakens democracy. “By getting men to hate rather than to think,” it prevents them “from seeking the real cause and a democratic solution to the problem.” By falsely promising prosperity, it lures people to embrace its security.

 “Fascism thrives on indifference and ignorance,” it warned. Freedom requires “being alert and on guard against the infringement not only of our own freedom but the freedom of every American. If we permit discrimination, prejudice, or hate to rob anyone of his democratic rights, our own freedom and all democracy is threatened.” 

Jack Mallory

Apropos of HCR's column on the reality of fascism during our parent's lives. 

A suggestion: post photos of your parents, other family members who were antifa in the 1940s. They knew fascism was real, what a fascist was. They saw its dangers, both from overseas and from within. They saw fascists elected into power overseas, and politically active in this country. Our fascist enemies didn't just consider and contemplate the destruction of democracy; they acted to destroy it, to physically eliminate those who opposed them, those the fascists defined as "communists," and "vermin."

I'll lead it off. Those who fought fascism in my immediate family:

Lt. j.g. Suzanne Mallory, AKA mom

1st Lieutenant Jack Mallory, AKA dad

Add your antifascist ancestors, those who would be horrified to see it reappearing in the U.S. decades after they sacrificed to fight it!

Joan Ruggles (Young)

Monseignor Anthony Lotowycz Ukranian Catholic priest

Jack Mallory

Thank you, Joan. Details?

Joan Ruggles (Young)

The only details to offer about my grandfather are that he left Ukraine with my grandmother and infant mother in 1911 for Brooklyn. He wasn't a warrior in the usual sense but did escape the coming intervention of the Germans and Austrians and spread Catholicism to Ukrainian Catholics in the US. 

Jack Mallory

Thank you, Joan. A warrior in his own right, I'm sure and another decent human being, and immigrant, who would be a target of the bully boys today. 
 

I'm pleased and proud that my old students, hopefully with memories better than mine, may find today's headlines disturbingly familiar. In teaching WWII and the rise of fascism, I described the Nazi rally in Madison Square garden, 85 years ago. 
 

HCR describes last night's MAGA rally in Madison Square Garden:.

"I stand corrected. I thought this year’s October surprise was the reality that Trump’s mental state had slipped so badly he could not campaign in any coherent way.

"It turns out that the 2024 October surprise was the Trump campaign’s fascist rally at Madison Square Garden, a rally so extreme that Republicans running for office have been denouncing it all over social media tonight. 

"There was never any question that this rally was going to be anything but an attempt to inflame Trump’s base. The plan for a rally at Madison Square Garden itself deliberately evoked its predecessor: a Nazi rally at the old Madison Square Garden on February 20, 1939. About 18,000 people showed up for that “true Americanism” event, held on a stage that featured a huge portrait of George Washington in his Continental Army uniform flanked by swastikas.

"Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden began in the early afternoon. The hateful performances of the early participants set the tone for the rally. Early on, comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, who goes by Kill Tony, delivered a steamingly racist set. He said, for example: “There’s literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. I think it’s called Puerto Rico.” He went on: “And these Latinos, they love making babies too. Just know that. They do. They do. There’s no pulling out. They don’t do that. They come inside. Just like they did to our country.” Hinchcliffe also talked about Black people carving watermelons instead of pumpkins. 

"The speakers who followed Hinchcliffe called Vice President Kamala Harris “the Antichrist” and “the devil.” They called former secretary of state Hillary Clinton “a sick son of a b*tch,” and they railed against “f*cking illegals.” They insulted Latinos generally, Black Americans, Palestinians and Jews. Trump advisor Stephen Miller’s claim that “America is for Americans and Americans only” directly echoed the statement of Adolf Hitler that "Germany is for Germans and Germans only.” 
 

"Trump took the stage about two hours late, prompting people to stream toward the exits before he finished speaking. He hit his usual highlights, notably undermining Vance’s argument from earlier in the day by saying that, indeed, he believes fellow Americans are “the enemy within.”  

But Trump perhaps gave away the game with his inflammatory language and with an aside, seemingly aimed at House speaker Johnson. “I think with our little secret we are gonna do really well with the House, right? Our little secret is having a big impact, he and I have a secret, we will tell you what it is when the race is over,” Trump said. 

"It seems possible—probable, even—that Trump was alluding to putting in play the plan his people tried in 2020. That plan was to create enough chaos over the certification of electoral votes in the states to throw the election into the House of Representatives. There, each state delegation gets a single vote, so if the Republicans have control of more states than the Democrats, Trump could pull out a victory even if he had dramatically lost the popular vote.

"Since he has made virtually no effort to win votes in 2024, this seems his likely plan. But to do that, he needs at least a plausibly close election, or at least to convince his supporters that the election has been stolen from him. Tonight’s rally badly hurt that plan. 

"As Hinchcliffe was talking about Puerto Rico as a floating island of garbage, Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris was at a Puerto Rican restaurant in Philadelphia talking about her plan to spread her opportunity economy to Puerto Rico. She has called for strengthening Puerto Rico’s energy grid and making it easier to get permits to build there. 

"After the “floating island of garbage” comment, Puerto Rican superstar musician Bad Bunny, who has more than 45 million followers on Instagram, posted Harris’s plan for Puerto Rico, and his spokesperson said he is endorsing Harris. 

"Puerto Rican singer and actor Ricky Martin shared a clip from Hinchcliffe’s set with his 16 million followers. His caption read: “This is what they think of us.” Singer and actress Jennifer Lopez, who has 250 million Instagram followers, posted Harris’s plan. Later, singer-songwriter and actress Ariana Grande posted that she had voted for Harris. Grande has 376 million followers on Instagram. Singer Luis Fonsi, who has 16 million followers, also called out the “constant hate.”

"The headlines were brutal. “MAGA speakers unleash ugly rhetoric at Trump's MSG rally,” read Axios. Politico wrote: “Trump’s New York homecoming sparks backlash over racist and vulgar remarks.” “Racist Remarks and Insults Mark Trump’s Madison Square Garden Rally,” the New York Times announced. “Speakers at Trump rally make racist comments, hurl insults,” read CNN.

"But the biggest sign of the damage the rally did was the frantic backpedaling from Republicans in tight elections, who distanced themselves as fast as they could from the insults against Puerto Ricans, especially. The Trump campaign itself tried to distance itself from the “floating island of garbage” quotation, only to be met with comments pointing out that Hinchcliffe’s set had been vetted and uploaded to the teleprompters. 

"As the clips spread like wildfire, political writer Charlotte Clymer pointed out that almost 6 million Puerto Ricans live in the states—about a million in Florida, half a million in Pennsylvania, 100,000 in Georgia, 100,000 in Michigan, 100,000 in North Carolina, 45,000 in Arizona, and 40,000 in Nevada—and that over half of them voted in 2020. 

"In 1939, as about 18,000 American Nazis rallied inside Madison Square Garden, newspapers reported that a crowd of about 100,000 anti-Nazis gathered outside to protest. It took 1,700 police officers, the largest number of officers ever before detailed for a single event, to hold them back from storming the venue."

My parents would scarcely be able to believe they were seeing what they fought against flourishing again at home. And yours? Would they be proud of your resistance to what they fought and died fighting against?

Jack Mallory

It can happen here, as the title of Sinclair Lewis's book put it.  These photos are not of last night in Madison Square Garden, but 85 years ago. The spirit was there last night, though. 
 

Fascism comes wrapped in the disguise of patriotism. 

Helen Lambie (Goldstein)

Another video by the Marsh Familly. I'm not familiar with the original but they nailed this version!  Bohemian Trumpsody. https://youtu.be/YY_8WzcHqMQ?si=rhbDv5wl17zcAqvQ

Joan Ruggles (Young)

Hey ladies, did any of you listen to Michelle Obama's speech a few days ago? Were you not moved by her declaration of the fact that women are not being listened to? I'll post it again. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtQqGOOLh8o&ab_channel=ABCNews

This is about US! Women's issues are not understood, honored or dignified. As I said before, this is about SO much more than abortion. It's about women getting the care they need when they are pregnant (with a wanted pregnancy), with women needing cancer screening or with women when they are in menopause. I know most of you don't need convincing, but imagine a Trump world where any woman's concerns are just not important or addressed.  What a world would that be? It could be our future. Dear God!

Joan Ruggles (Young)

The Marsh family has a remarkable family of fine voices. 

Jack Mallory

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Anybody else going out as a Howler Monkey?

Glen Hirose

Jay Shackford

Gotta love the Marsh family.  Happy Halloween everyone.  Kids should start showing up any minute.  

Nora Skinker (Morton)

Actually, Jack; my reference to the 'progressive left' was indeed the ideologies (which I shall not list again) & absolutely NOT the people: otherwise, I should be without half my friends & family.

As a footnote to all this rhetoric plagueing the airwaves, I suggest we not take it (yes, words) literally at all. No matter who wins the presidency, it will not be the end of democracy, elections, or even our constitutional rights. It will not be a return to Naziism or Hitler. Half the country is not garbage & nobody's going to jail. To actually believe that kind of rhetoric is an over reaction to fear mongering but also a lack of understanding of just how limited the presidency is. My guess is that as much as both these candidates are maligned, neither will win a mandate. Glad you are "thrilled" with Kamala Harris, Joan. You're the only one I know who is. Sad though, because if the dems had enthroned a moderate instead of a progressive, he or she might not only have won, but might have reached a mandate to actually accomplish something. This way, it's more chaos & gridlock whether we want it or not. 

Latest flick recommendation: "Conclave". 

Nora Skinker (Morton)

Joanie, it's hyperbole!  I once heard Biden say to a Black audience "they are coming to put you in chains". Yikes. Should we have believed him? 

Jack Mallory

When a man who would like to be dictator for just one day, whose close civilian and military advisors and staff believe fits the definition of a fascist, who political scientists and historians see as similar to Hitler, Mussolini, Orban, and other demagogues says he's going after "enemies from within," we'd be fools to ignore him. 

If we're wrong, many of us will happily admit he was just a phony blowhard. If we're right, we'll be prepared. And will those who dismissed our fears stand with us then, or will they continue to pander to his threats to democracy?

As I think I've mentioned before, Sinclair Lewis wrote a novelized rebuttal to the kind of thinking Nori gives us. Entitled It Can't Happen Here and published in 1935, only two years after it did happen in Germany, the novel describes the fascist takeover of the U.S. by Buzz Windrip, who combines fear, populism, promises of economic reform and a return of American greatness to get elected President. Bad things follow. 

********

Some thoughts from a WWII veteran looking at the world he and millions of others sacrificed to save. 

"Dear Friends and Family,

"As a retired World War ll veteran who has lived for nearly a century and served his country during one of its most challenging times, I feel deeply compelled to share my thoughts with you. I have witnessed the incredible resilience of our nation, from the darkest days of World War II to the extraordinary progress we’ve made over the years. But today, I am deeply troubled by the direction I see our country heading.

"It saddens me to see so many of our fellow Americans divided, supporting leaders who, in my view, are not upholding the values that have made this country great. I didn’t fight in World War II, standing on the front lines of history, so that we could one day find our country on the brink of dictatorship or authoritarian rule. The freedoms I defended, and believe in, the sacrifices my comrades and I made, were for the preservation of democracy—of freedom, fairness, and the right to live without fear of tyranny.

"This is personal for me. It pains me to watch as the values I fought for are being eroded. It’s not about political parties—Republican or Democrat—it’s about the principles that bind us as Americans. I have always believed in the decency and strength of this nation, but I fear we are losing sight of what makes us who we are.

"I urge you all to reflect on the long-term consequences of the choices we make. We need leaders who will unite us, not divide us. Leaders who will cherish the freedoms we hold dear, rather than undermine them. Leaders who respect the rule of law, honor the sacrifices of the past, and work for a better, more united future.

"We are better than this. We have faced dark times before, and we can rise again—but only if we stand together and remember that we are all Americans first. Please, let’s not allow fear and hatred to define our future.

"With love, respect, and deep concern,

"George"

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100070325051316

Jay Shackford

Hitching a Ride in a Trash Truck to Jail

By Dead-Center Shacks

I’ve said about all there is to say about this presidential campaign.  Everybody knows where I stand, how I feel and my prediction for a runaway victory for Kamala Harris.  

So let’s have some fun and turn to a few of the iconic images, misstatements and blunders from previous presidential elections, and how they match up against the current campaign.  

• In 1964 presidential campaign, it was LBJ’s pledge:  “I will not send American boys to fight in a war in Southeast Asia 10,000 miles away from home.” 
• During Watergate, remember Richard Nixon’s response to a pointed question from CBS Correspondent Dan Rather: “I am not a crook.”
• In the 1976 campaign, one of my favorites was President Jerry Ford claiming that Poland wasn’t behind the Iron Curtain.  Then he stumbled walking down the steps of Air Force One onto the tarmac during a foreign trip — and got labeled by the press as clumsy even though he was probably the most athletic president of our time.  
• In the 1988 race, George H.W. Bush vs. Michael Dukakis, everyone remembers the “Willie Horton” ads, which were so racist that Lee Atwater apologized to Dukakis from his death bed years later.  Of course, Dukakis didn’t do himself any favors with his weak and unemotional response to a question during the final presidential debate on what he would do if his own wife was raped and murdered by an escaped convict. 
• In the same 1988 race, another memorable line was when George H.W. Bush said:  “Read my lips: No new taxes.” Of course, after his election he raised taxes. 
• In Bill Clinton’s Administration, it was Clinton’s statement on his consensual affair with Monica Lewinsky that really stands out: “I did not have sex with that woman.”  
• How about President George W. Bush’s “Mission Impossible” speech with a big banner in the background on the aircraft carrier where he kind of prematurely declared victory in the Iraq war that went on for another 10 years.  And who can forget his “great job, Brownie” a few days after Katrina. when thousands were still clinging to their rooftops waiting to be rescued.    
• Even Barack Obama had his own mishap, when he mistakenly told everyone they could keep their own doctors under the “Affordable Care Act.” 

In the final days of the current campaign, it’s hard to pick out just a couple of untruths and misstatements by Donald Trump because he has lied so many times and acted so outrageously throughout his entire lifetime. How do you  track his lies when they number in the tens of thousands? 

But let me give it my best shot at a few of his most recent zingers and photo oops.  

• His Madison Square Garden event this past week was just a pure racist rally right out of Hitler’s playbook.  
• On health, Trump said last week that he will let anti-vaccination advocate RFK Jr. “go wild” with our heath regulators. Think about this: Before the polio vaccine in the 1950s, 500,000 Americans were dyeing from polio each year and hundreds of thousands more were crippled.   
• Or, go back to the beginning of the COVID pandemic during Trump's denial stage when he assured Americans he had everything under control (“only one case in the US”)  and later suggested all sorts of crazy ideas such as injecting bleach to cleanse our bodies of the disease. 
• To date, the U.S. has recorded 111 million COVID cases and 1.2 million deaths — a death rate 60% higher than our neighbors to our north — Canada — as former President Barack Obama pointed out the other night. COVID deaths worldwide have totaled about 7 million.  That means that the USA with a little more than 4% of the world’s 8 billion population has recorded about 1 in 7 COVID deaths worldwide. With that awesome record on public health, Trump now wants to turn RFK Jr. — a guy who has been disowned by his own family and has a history of doing all sorts of crazy things — to be the next Tony Fauci.  Come on!
• Then, just as few days ago, we all witnessed Trump’s clumsy attempt at climbing into the trash truck (he misjudged the door handle and almost fell over) that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s not only old, weak, angry and incompetent but also that he’s totally unfit to pick up your garbage — much less rule the country and handle the nuclear codes.  

Joanie Bender (Grosfeld)

Nori,  I think you are way underestimating the power of the Presidency.  Trump is telling us he will  look for the Enemy from within which he gives examples of Nancy Pelosi  and Adam Schiff, political rivals. as well as generals like Mark Milley and many more. He will surround himself ONLY with people whose top priority is loyalty to him. He says he will call up the National Guard to arrest people on his Enemies List   The Constitution does not authorize the military to be used against civilian American citizens   Not ok   Not democratic. His Madison Square Garden event was a hate fest   . Nori I know you enjoy people from all backgrounds so perhaps you should take a closer look at Trumps painting  a broad brush to describe immigrants as vermin and poisoning the blood of America and referring to the US as the garbage dumping ground   You may not agree with Harris' policies but she will protect the Constitution and follow the rule of law.  Love, Joanie  
 

Jack Mallory

A lot of people don't believe historians, or bartenders, or political scientists, or military experts, or their barbers, or politicians, or economists, or the Pope, or their next door neighbor when deciding who to vote for. Here's an idea: the Mallory Method for making your decision about who NOT to vote for. A good way to at least narrow down the field. 

Listen to or read what they say on the campaign trail. Fact check it, make sure it's not mis/disinformation. Use multiple sources to confirm its legitimacy. Once you're sure it's really what the candidate said, ask yourself the question: "If somebody sat down next to me on the bus or subway and was ranting like this, would I get up and find a different seat?" Better yet, "Would I rather stand all the way across town than sit and listen to this guy/gal?" If your answer is, "I'd stand for days on a Greyhound all the way across the country before I'd sit and listen to this nutter," you can pretty certainly figure you don't want them as the head of state for the next four years. 

Here, try it out. Somebody sits down, kind of odd hairstyle and makeup, maybe taking up a lot more of the seat than they should. They're kind of hard to understand, but . . .

Would you at least look for a different seat? Then look for a different candidate.