Hal 9000

...I don't think anybody is. You see, we all know what they're about, that's not and has never been this issue. Their belief system has not been defended here. What i'm seeing is questions as to why the police stood down when Antifa showed up and why the defence (or denial) about Antifa's/BLM's motives for the day. The only defence I have seen is the defence of the right to free speech and assembly - even though it may distasteful speech and the questioning of lynch mob justice in the face of free speech. NOBODY THAT I'VE SEEN, ESPECIALLY ME, ARE DEFENDING THE WHITE NATIONALISTS AGENDA

I think what he actually said was that not everybody who was protesting removal of the statue was a Nazi or KKK.

Maybe a few politicians, I suppose, people like Obama and such. I'm sure Dr. Frankenstein was proud of his creation at first also.

...and so you did!

i'm not gonna have you do the shuffle on what you understand - you're an idiot if you believe the media spin - or should I say bigger idiot.

Oh, Wikipedia. I thought a lawyer like you could explain it better than a site in which anyone can post, but whatever. Trump made comparisons to the actions - the actions of both sides. He made no reference to the moral equivalency or beliefs systems of the groups involved. A vigilante or mob can and usually does have a better belief system than the criminal they're pursuing, but their actions can be just as bad, sometimes worse than those they're against. We can talk about moral equivalency in everything from old fashioned lynch mobs to the death penalty. Actions and moral equivalency are two different things.

This is classic!

Can you give a cite? Or even better - a quote?

Did he? I didn't hear anything from him on moral equivalency, neither did you!

Politicians and business CEO's are terrified of Antifa, and every honest person knows it.

His first tweets were fine, and his first remarks were fine too - considering what was known or unknown at that time. The speech he read was fine, but the press were even more outraged and insisted he "looked like a prisoner" reading the statements. Look, if any other person (especially a democrat) said what Trump said, the press would've been fine with the comments, but they weren't good enough, they weren't fast enough, they looked forced...so on and so on. If Trump says " I cant stand those scumbag Nazis, they should all die", the press would still call him a racist, but then they'd add that he is so disgraceful that he even turns on his own base in order to cozy up to democratic voters. The press would likely call him a fascist for taking free speech away from the Nazi's. Trump cant win with the press and we all know it. Until we can openly admit that the Antifa and BLM crowd for some...however small accountability for the events at Charlottesville, this will only get worse.

First off, Trump never spoke to the issue of "moral equivalency", second, he did call out the KKK and Nazi groups - albeit, he didn't rush to judgement as we've seen other presidents do, and thirdly, Trump has no chance to unify - none! Why, because the press simply wont allow it.

^Again with the moral equivalence. Can someone explain why this is relevant, apart from how the press want to use it against Trump.

I'm pretty sure the mechanic who hires a guy cares whether the student took 3 hours to replace an alternator, while another student did it in 60 minutes. I'm pretty sure a law firm cares that somebody reached their deadline on building a solid case or whether they missed the due date by a couple days. In many jobs, time is everything.

What does moral equivalency have to do with anything?

I'm glad you're back, we need someone with your intellect to explain the laws of free speech and assembly in the USA.

I do think there should be an investigation as to why the police stood down.

A bully is only a bully because he has a crowd.

Well, you can't really compare a group that is actually violent with a group that spews hatred - but OK. Yes, the WN's and in fact any protest is only worthwhile if people and especially cameras show up. If the WN's had a rally and no one showed up to counter and no cameras showed up, what do you have? Nothing, you have a hundred of so idiots screaming chants to ...nobody! It's like that bullying commercial, where the bully is the only person in the park, they only way to stop those guys is to marginalize them and ignore them. What they have in common with ISIS is that the coverage they got all week strengthens them. They're not emboldened by Trump, they're emboldened because they've had plenty of airtime from the media who have try to link Trump to them. They've always been around, but for the last 40 or 50 years they were a laughing stock, no one cared and no one paid them any attention. That's why I say, the counter-protest will only strengthen and make the situation worse - you watch!

You're right, he's not a ref or a journalist, but you want him to be just that. You want him to pre-judge and castigate one side more than the other - which he has done. You think he should sit on a panel with Don lemon and spew just how bad that group is. He has said they're bad, he has distanced himself, but by the same token, he should try to temper down the other side too - I mean, this isn't the first BLM/Antifa rally that has included violence. Regardless of who we find more morally reprehensible, both sides came for violence, I think he's right to try and address both parties. Without the media spin on Trump's words, I truly believe most people would be OK with Trumps statements.

I do! Trump's daughter and son-in-law are jews and Trump has friends who are black people. I know you people want to say that he embodies everything evil, but common sense would indicate that he's really not a fan of anti-jewish chants. I think Trump knows the conundrum protecting free speech and hateful dialogue. It might be easy for leftist people to agree that people should be have their rights stripped if they think and say bad things, but there is a first amendment (and in Canada - charter of rights).

How are the waters muddied? "I condemn the WN and Nazi group" and "there was violence on both sides" are two completely different ideas. If you're confused by this, i feel sorry for you.

It is if you want to get rid of them. You'd be very naive to think that the events of saturday weakened the WN group. The only way to get rid of them is to do nothing about them.

Don't be willfully obtuse, of course he distanced himself. Just because he adds that there was violence all around doesn't discount what he has said. The truth is; no one ..or very very few people like the anti-jew comments or the "this is our streets" racist crap, but that doesn't change the facts that the leftists came to rumble as well. If Trump only calls out the WN's, isn't he basically giving permission to vigilante groups of all sorts to violently lash out. Look at Durham, these leftists know that they are untouchable from the police and the media, why? Because the media will support them and the dems are promoting "resist". No wonder they've formed a mob - are we surprised that when unleashed, the mob mentality takes over? I'm not!

You couldn't be more wrong, that's why we have what we saw on saturday. If you don't think things are ramping up, just wait until the next time. Did you see any rationality on saturday? A woman got killed. The WN's brought armour, mace, and guns (although no guns were used)and were swinging flag poles like clubs. The lefties brought bats, shields and batons, mace, flame throwers and threw water bottles filled with concrete.