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Warren KinsellaHow high are the stakes tonight?

Really high.

I was back and forth, this morning, with a friend who is very senior Clinton guy – he’s one of the ones who goes on TV for her – and I told him that basically “everyone up here in the Great White North is crapping themselves,” but that we hope tonight goes well.

“From your lips to God’s ear,” he said.

Actually, it’s from her lips to the ears of undecided American voters. She needs to remind them that, if this psychopath is elected, really bad things will happen. Here’s the top 10.

  1. He will ensure the press is free no more. Trump has made very clear that he regards the media as the enemy. He calls them “very bad people” and “the lowest form of life.” He has yanked credentials for coverage he doesn’t like. He has threatened an avalanche of legal actions – “open them up!” – against reporters if he wins. He has approved physical attacks on journalists. And, most ominously, he has suggested he plans to limit press freedoms as president: “If I become president, oh, do they have problems. They’re going to have such problems.”
  2. He will ban abortion. In March, Trump could not have been more clear. When abortion is banned by his administration, he said, “some form” of punishment will come to women who get one anyway. As in, prison. He attempted to modify his statement later, but his objective is clear: no more reproductive choice for women.
  3. He will have anti-women policies, because he hates women. That devastating Clinton ad says it all. He calls women “fat and ugly.” He talks about girls being “flat-chested.” He calls women “slobs” and “pigs.” He admits he doesn’t treat women with respect. And, as Huffington Post and others have reported, he is being sued by a woman who alleges he raped her when she was 13 years old – and, as is well known, his ex-wife also accused him of rape.
  4. He will build that wall, and more. He has never wobbled on this one: he wanted to build walls around America, and make others pay for it. The people who will, pay, however, are Americans. As U.S. President Barack Obama said last week, walls around American make prisoners of the American people.
  5. He will ban religions and bar immigrants. He said in December he wanted “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” In June, he doubled down, saying “we have to do it.” Later that same month, he dramatically increased the scope of his ban: “We must suspend immigration from regions linked with terrorism until a proven vetting method is in place.” It wasn’t just Muslims: it was any “region” that is “linked with terrorism.” That’s everywhere but the Vatican, pretty much.
  6. He will institutionalize anti-black racism. The past is present: in the past, Trump’s been sued by the Department of Justice for racial discrimination – twice. He said Obama was not born in the U.S. He said in 1991 that blacks are “lazy.” He refused to disavow the Ku Klux Klan and promotes the words of racist groups. He blames blacks for most crime. He dismisses police-on-black violence. In his words, in his deeds, we know who he is.
  7. He will institutionalize bigotry generally. He attacked Gold Star parents because they were Muslim. He said a judge was biased against him because he was Mexican – and he said Mexicans are “parasites and murderers,” as is well known. He has encouraged mob justice against non-whites. He indulges in anti-Semitic stereotypes, telling Jews: “You’re not going to support me, because I don’t want your money. You want to control your own politician.” He ran arguably anti-Semitic ads about Hillary Clinton. And so on. His America will be one where it will be open season, rhetorically and otherwise, on anyone who isn’t a WASP.
  8. He will alienate the world. He has attacked our allies in Mexico (repeatedly) and cozied up to our enemies in Russia (repeatedly). He has suggested we don’t need NATO, and that Eastern European states should be left to defend themselves. He is the most protectionist presidential candidate in modern history. He says he will tear up treaties and agreements with allies. Trump literally fills world leaders with fear.
  9. He will ensure there are more guns. He’s invited gun nuts, twice, to murder Hillary Clinton. He’s said, falsely, that she plans to end the right to bear arms. He opposes any restrictions on assault weapons; he’s against gun-free zones; he wants guns in schools; he even said – over the NRA’s objections – that guns should be allowed in drinking establishments. The NRA: “No one thinks that people should go into a nightclub drinking and carrying firearms.” But Trump does.
  10. He will almost certainly start a World War. And this, alone, should chill the blood of every American – and everyone on this planet. As president, he will have access to the nuclear codes and to nuclear weapons. He has asked: “Why can’t we use them?” He refused to say he wouldn’t bomb Europe: “It’s a big place.” He has said, over and over, he would use nuclear weapons: “I’m not going to take it off the table. And I said it yesterday. And I stay with it.” With his appalling judgment (see above), with his hair-trigger temper (see his Twitter feed), we cannot let this man get access to the codes. It would mean a nuclear conflagration – I am convinced of that.

The fact that Donald Trump is even with Hillary Clinton in numerous polls is an unmitigated disaster – and the most significant threat to all of us now. Nothing matters, politically, as much.

She must beat him tonight, and in the days ahead. And all of us who believe in freedom and decency and security need to help her – this is not the year to have a protest vote, America.

Warren Kinsella is a Canadian journalist, political adviser and commentator.

Warren is a Troy Media contributor. Why aren’t you?

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