Great comment of your own, Dreamer, to add to the thread. I just reread the beginning of Roberts thread. And he's basically pointing out the similar, excerpt my underlining:

2. ... but this seems different. I don't believe ANYONE genuinely thinks it's a threat. Not really. The administration is acting out the theater of threat, obviously, but in this case, I think that's true of the base too, even if not always consciously.

3. The administration, RW elected officials, RW media, even just RW voters -- I don't think they CARE if it's a "real" threat, as an elitist empiricist like me might define "real." It is a symbol that defines their identity against their opponents, a weapon in the culture war.

4. It is "real" in that what it represents about their identity is real. It is a way for Trump & the right to act out their identity, together, intensifying those tribal bonds in the runup to the election. They know what role they're supposed to play ...

So I thought: here we are once again for the umpteenth time put in the spot of the GOP playbook of wedge issue/culture war to gin up the troops against the screaming masses of liberals who as if puppets with strings pulled object to their favorite wedgie at the time (Immigrants, Terry Shiavo, doesn't matter...it's an identity issue they need, that's what they'll get)

The point: this is not Trumpism! This is Newt Gingrich. Nothing new here. Newt came out and announced it in public only a short time ago: this election will hinge on Kavanaugh and The Caravan. He's blatant and we're suprised?

Just happens to synch with one of Trump's favorite topics, but it's not Trumpism

So an afterhought on the side issue of Shep Smith: he has objected to a lot of Trumpism and kept his job. But objecting to classic Newt Gingrich Contract with America culture wars, that might be more dangerous @ Fox? We'll see.

Current NYTimes headline story suggests Trump has decided to go all out class war on this:

Trump’s Nationalism Is Breaking Point for Some Suburban Voters, Risking GOP Coalition

• Educated, prosperous white people repelled by President Trump’s strident language on race and gender are turning away from the Republican Party.
• Rather than seeking to coax these voters back, Mr. Trump appears to have all but written them off in the final days of the campaign.

1h ago

Yes ironic for a billionaire who brags how he's more elite than the elites, but that's a real tired old story already. All he cares about is who he thinks his fans are. After all, the wealthy suburbanites were never watching The Apprentice.