America

Following his appearance in St.Louis in front of 1000s, which was interrupted six times by protesters, Donald Trump has been forced to cancel his appearance in Chicago "due to security concerns" as a crowd waiting for him to arrive erupted into violence.

The GOP front-runner was scheduled to speak at the school’s pavilion at 6 p.m., with doors opening at 3 p.m. The first person in line to wait for a spot at the free event arrived at 3 a.m. The arena seats 9,500, though it's not clear how many are set to attend the rally.

Ross Douthat examines the phenomenon of Christians who support Trump. He points out that Trump is exploiting divisions that are already present among American Christianity. Many of his supporters who identify as Christians are really only marginal Christians, not churchgoers. But Trump still attracts a sizable minority of regular churchgoers. Why? These, Douthat (following Ben Domenech) theorizes, are Christians who have been shocked to wake up and realize that the things they assumed were true about America and their place in it no longer are. Here’s Douthat:

The Conservative Political Action Conference once again took up the subject of same-sex marriage last week, with one big change to the political landscape: this time the discussion took place under the shadow of Obergefell v. Hodges. “Dearly Beloved: A Conversation on Religious Liberty and Marriage in America” presented differing perspectives on the issue of religious freedom and gay rights, and during the discussion, one panelist revealed the particular quandary he faced in light of the freedoms lost and freedoms gained with the decision.

Did you watch the GOP debate last night? I did, and there were distressingly few instances of penis-comparing or other tabloid moments. It was actually a sober exchange. It may well have been Marco Rubio’s best debate ever. He will probably make a good president one day, but not this time. If that Rubio had been present at the New Hampshire debate instead of Robo-Rubio, we would probably be looking at a different scenario now. If, if, if. Ted Cruz was composed and articulate, but, as my boss tweeted last night:

With the Trump juggernaut (which was unthinkable for most of the "sophisticated" media punditry and analysts) growing stronger by the day toward the all important Florida and Ohio primaries, and after that straight to the showdown with Hillary Clinton, the real estate tycoon is gradually showing a more moderate side, one which was put on display during last night's GOP debates.