No Pivot, No Turning Point, No Bottom

It was “an inflection point,” The New York Times declared in a devastating assessment of Donald Trump’s status.

Columnist Nate Cohn wrote that Republican “elites quickly moved to condemn [Trump’s] comments,” and that “his support will erode as the tone of coverage shifts from publicizing his anti-establishment and anti-immigration views … to reflecting the chorus of Republican criticism of his most outrageous comments.”

Trump’s shocking remarks “were nothing less than an invitation for the rest of the Republican Party to begin their long-awaited offensive.” Cohn concluded. “Nearly all [Republicans] have incentives to pile on, and Mr. Trump — without a deep base of support and with few party allies — will struggle to hold on.”

The comments in question had nothing to do with the Nazi riot in Charlottesville this weekend. If fact, they had nothing to do with anything Trump has said while President, or even while he was the presumptive nominee.

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James Alex Fields Jr., Heather Heyer, and the History of Nazi Street Brawling

On May 7th, 1945, around 6 P.M., Private First Class Charles Havlat was on patrol near Volary, Czechoslovakia with fellow soldiers of the Fifth Infantry Division. He was manning a machine gun in a jeep driven by the Lieutenant leading the unit.

His squad was ambushed, and during a “brief, but intense skirmish,” Havalt was shot through the head and killed. The shooting ended only because both sides were informed that hours earlier, Nazi Germany had signed an instrument of surrender. It was due to take effect at midnight of the next day, and when it did, World War II in Europe was over.

Killed in a completely unnecessary action, PFC Havlat is generally regarded as the last American to die at the hands of Nazi aggression.

Or at least he was until this weekend.

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