To pretend that the problem would go away if they just went back to school to learn computer programming is disingenuous.
Argh. Why did you have to pick that example? I've honestly heard that sentiment numerous times, always from people who can't code, and it's like they're still thinking computers are some kind of magic machines that embody "the future."
To be fair, I say that as I sit at home "working" on a Thursday (programming and watching Netflix), but it's not an answer.
/end mini-rant
However, as to the comment about "second amendment people" and Hillary Clinton, I think he meant exactly what the mainstream press said it meant. I also think it was a joke, but anyone over 14 should know that you don't joke about those things.
I didn't get the impression he wanted someone to assassinate Clinton at all. What would be the point? In this scenario, she's already appointed anti-constitution judges, and killing her wouldn't retroactively negate their confirmation.
If we're going to entertain the notion that he was referencing violence, it makes far more sense (in the scenario he described) that the violence would ensue between Americans unwilling to abandon one of the founding notions of their country and those who wish to oppress them. It's something of a silly scenario anyway, because if it gets to the point of the federal government deciding that the American Bill of Rights is effectively abolished because five people said so, we'll simply see large swaths of the country telling the feds to **** off. It would never get to the point of LEOs kicking in doors to confiscate weapons, because the majority of such have no intention of ever doing so (according to the largest surveys of such people available), and the government doesn't have the power to enforce such a thing regardless.
The genius (or accidental idiocy, if you prefer) of his position is that it plays to the far paranoia of the black helicopters crew whilst being entirely defensible in a traditional American sense. If the government decides to abolish the Bill of Rights and tyrannize you, you're
supposed to shoot them. That's essentially how the country was founded.
The only people he actually "lost" with such comments are those who were never going to support him in the first place.