Domestic Terrorism

This week at least fourteen Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs — the designation used by FBI Director Wray and the same designation given to those used by our enemies in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere) were sent to prominent Democrats, their supporters and to critics of Mr. Trump.  This was an act of domestic terrorism.  Unfortunately, it also exposed the unbelievable lengths that some pundits and politicians will go to “win.”

Our country is in trouble when we cannot agree that the actions of this nut case (I refuse to use his name as these perpetrators should not be given the attention they all so obviously seek) and self-identified Trump supporter are abhorrent and should be roundly condemned by all Americans.  It didn’t happen.

Prominent Conservative mainstream media personalities continued to tout the mass assassination attempt as a “hoax” or “false flag” operation put together by Democrats (say what??!!) in order to turn the mid-term election away from Republicans.  Despicable.  You can look it up.  Ann Coulter, Lou Dobbs, Rush Limbaugh and others with a national platform are promoting this theory, even after the arrest of the bomber.

Make no mistake about it.  FBI Director Wray was very clear in yesterday’s Department of Justice news conference announcing the arrest of the bomber. He emphasized that the mailed bombs “were not hoax devices” and were made of “energetic material that could be explosive.”  As to whether it was a left-wing false flag operation Attorney General Sessions stated that the bomber was a registered Republican and a “partisan.”

Actually it should make little difference what ethnicity, religion, or political party can be attributed to the bomber.  No difference.  He is a terrorist.  Period.

As a country we were incredibly lucky that no one was injured or killed.  Think how we would be reeling today if even half of those bombs had worked as intended.  If the bombs got to their intended targets the assassination of past presidents, a vice president, a secretary of state, employees of a prominent news organization, and other current and former U.S. government officials would be dead.  A national tragedy.  Fortunately, the law enforcement officials and postal workers tasked with preventing such a scenario did their jobs and did them well.  They should be congratulated and celebrated.  A totally different scenario could have unfolded if those bombs had gone off in postal facilities, mail rooms or while being removed by explosive disposal units or in transit in the mail.  There could have been many innocent people killed or wounded.  Thankfully that did not happen, but in no way should it lessen our horror that this event reflects the use of fear and anger to promote political agendas.

The bomber is solely responsible for his actions.  While he may be an unstable individual, he chose to make and mail the explosives.  It is his actions that need to be analyzed and condemned.  Unfortunately, my view is that the President of the United States helped to create the conditions that caused this individual to decide to act.  Mr. Trump is famous for his rallies where he bullies and belittles his opponents, calls the press the “enemy of the people,” pushes his supporters to chant “lock her up” in reference to former Secretary Clinton (I point out that it has been six years since she was in government — give it a rest), “CNN sucks”, and recently called a Congressman convicted of assault after body slamming a reporter “my type of guy.”  This after his campaign rallies where he actively incited his followers to beat up, “punch in the face,” “have him carried out on a stretcher” and other vile statements directed at opponents.  His attitude has not changed.  He has no understanding of the impact the words of the president may have on those in our country and around the world (hello Mohammed bin Salman) who act on his alleged “jokes.”

Mr. Trump dutifully read his “presidential statement” from the teleprompter about “unity” and condemning violence.  He then went out to one of his rallies and mocked that his advisers want him to “be nice” and went back to his play list of greatest hits through bullying and belittling.

And then it got worse, in my view.

Friday morning at 3:14 AM — while the bomber was still at large — he tweeted:

“Funny how lowly rated CNN, and others, can criticize me at will, even blaming me for the current spate of Bombs and ridiculously comparing this to September 11th and the Oklahoma City bombing, yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, “it’s just not Presidential!”

— Donald J. Trump on Twitter 26 October 2018

This after CNN was the recipient of two of the bomb packages.

And it got worse still.

Before the bomber was apprehended, the President of the United States sent out this tweet:

“Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this “Bomb” stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows – news not talking politics. Very unfortunate, what is going on. Republicans, go out and vote!”

— Donald J. Trump on Twitter 26 October 2018

Just when I think our political and social discourse cannot get any lower, I learn that it can.  Let’s dissect this statement.  As prominent Americans were threatened, and first responders and others were working to keep Americans safe by putting their lives on the line, the president is bemoaning the fact that he is not the center of attention and that the news media should be focused on his “politics” and how great he is doing.  In so doing, he clearly does not grasp the intensity and severity of the moment.  It appears that he thinks it “very unfortunate” that no one is talking about how great the Republicans are doing politically.  Not that the bombings are unfortunate, rather that he isn’t getting the attention.  Simultaneously he seems to be adding credence to the “hoax” conspiracy theories by lessening the importance of the incidents and by putting “bomb” (“stuff”??) in quotation marks as if they are not real bombs.  He went further last night to say that the media was “using” the bombs to “very unfairly” criticize him.  When asked by reporters whether he had contacted any of the intended bomb recipients he said, “They wanted me to. But I’ll pass.”  So presidential.  A real leader.  The bombings were all about him and not those put in harm’s way.

Mr. Trump is only focused on “winning” the mid-terms and will use any means possible to do so.  Note that he has stopped touting anything positive that his administration may have accomplished and instead is totally focused on raising apocalyptic scenarios by calling peaceful demonstrators expressing their First Amendment rights “angry mobs” and creating a “national emergency” over a group of a few thousand people, mostly impoverished women and children, that are over a thousand miles away from our border, and other utterly false or misleading statements that are meant to raise fear and anger.

It worked for an unstable individual that took matters into his own hands.

And please, don’t give me any “what aboutisms.”  The president’s words carry special meaning — or at least they should until they are cheapened by demagoguery.  Mr. Trump is the first president in my life time that makes no, zero, nada, zilch, nunca, attempts to unify the country, even in times of national crisis.  He can mechanically read the words his staff writes for him, but when on his own his true thoughts come out.

Whether after the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville (“there are good people on both sides”), or the belittling of Dr. Ford following the Justice Kavanaugh hearings (“It doesn’t matter.  We won.”), or the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (“the worst cover-up ever”) or the attempted mass assassination of his political opponents (“the media has been really unfair to me”) or countless others, Mr. Trump has no idea what it means to be the president of the entire United States and has no clue of how to lead.

Thank goodness our law enforcement agencies and our intelligence agencies and other dedicated civil servants continue to do their jobs despite constant criticism and belittlement.  They are the ones truly keeping us safe from terrorists, foreign and domestic.