Gene loses patience, a little.

I like Gene Robinson, and always read him.

He's usually a very sensible and likable guy.

But Trump's exploitation of white xenophobia - fear and hate of the other, which of course includes African-Americans - has pushed him pretty hard.

The Dawn of the Resistance?

Confusing, as is common among interested parties, the genuine right to free speech with the bogus right to effectively deny others their right to free speech through heckling, drowning out, rumpus, and menacing racket, he scolds Trump for calling for arrests and efforts to subdue disrupters.

Gene explains that last Friday night's rally had been infiltrated by hundreds of organized disrupters who, he writes, "had as much right to be there as anyone else."

He reminds us that Trump cancelled the event before anything untoward actually happened, allegedly fearing violence.

And he writes this.

There is a school of thought that says, in effect, do not push back against the bully. 

Those who take this position argue that protests only heighten the sense of persecution and victimhood that Trump encourages among his supporters. 

And the net effect may be to win him more primary votes and make it more likely that he gets the nomination.

I understand this view, but I disagree. 

I believe it is important to show that those who reject Trumpism are as passionate and multitudinous as those who welcome it. 

Passivity is what got the GOP into this predicament in the first place; imagine how different the campaign might be if so many Republicans who abhor Trump hadn't meekly promised to support him if he became the nominee.

Protests show the growing strength of popular opposition to Trump. 

They may not embolden Republicans to take their party back at the convention in Cleveland. 

But vivid displays of outrage might help energize voters to come out and reject Trump in November. 

That might be the last line of defense.

But that is a false dichotomy.

No one I know of is urging passivity or that, for instance, the prospective victims of Trump's announced policy of ethnic cleansing should walk quietly and in orderly fashion their Trail of Tears.

It's that the alternative to silent resignation and surrender is not disruption, unlawful silencing of the speech of the demagogue, threats and intimidation directed at his supporters, or riot.

And it is all of that that plays into Trump's hands.

While genuine, massive, and peaceful protest - lawful and scrupulously respectful of republican and democratic norms - would wholly undermine his message.

It was not Martin Luther King who lost so much of the white working class to the Democratic Party.

It was burning cities, the Siege of Chicago, and a persistent rhetoric of hate.

Like me, Gene is old enough to remember.