Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse



After a “lone wolf” Islamist militant attack, the media invariably ask: What inspired him to kill? Usually the answer is found in Islamist militant propaganda. We need to ask the same question about right-wing terrorism. What inspired Cesar Sayoc to allegedly send https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/26/who-is-cesar-altieri-sayoc-what-we-know-about-suspected-mail-bomber-arrested-florida/?utm_term=.fab14602ee4c (mail bombs to prominent liberals)? What inspired https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/10/28/victims-expected-be-named-after-killed-deadliest-attack-jews-us-history/?utm_term=.b600cbb45f17 (Robert Bowers) to allegedly gun down 11 people in a Pittsburgh synagogue? What inspired Gregory Bush to allegedly kill two African Americans in Jeffersontown, Ky., after failing to enter a predominantly black church?

To ask these questions in no way obviates the perpetrators’ ultimate responsibility for the evil that they do. But terrorists do not operate in a vacuum. So who created the environment in which right-wing terrorism has become far more commonplace — and, since 9/11, far more deadly — than Islamist terrorism in America?

President Trump — by championing “nationalism,” denouncing “globalists” such as Jewish financier George Soros, vilifying immigrants as “https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/02/24/the-snake-how-trump-appropriated-a-radical-black-singers-lyrics-for-refugee-fearmongering/ (snakes)” and “animals,” fearmongering about a refugee caravan and defending white supremacists as “fine people” — bears a substantial share of the blame.
 


George Soros — the Jewish philanthropist, liberal megadonor, and focus of far-right conspiracy theories — was sent a pipe bomb this week. Days later, a man who has spread Soros-related conspiracy theories online was named as the suspect in a shooting at a Jewish synagogue that left 11 people dead.

Republican lawmakers who have frequently attacked Soros in recent weeks and occasionally waded into those conspiracy theories are now staying silent about their rhetoric.

Soros, whose Open Society group blamed “hateful rhetoric” after an explosive device was found in a mailbox at Soros’s home on Monday, has long been the target of anti-Semitic attacks and right-wing claims that he controls global politics. But Republicans have been ramping up the rhetoric against him in recent weeks as the midterms approach.

“We cannot allow Soros, Steyer and Bloomberg to BUY this election!” House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/explosive-device-targets-george-soros-amid-escalating-political-attacks-against-billionaire-hedge-fund-founder/2018/10/24/7d387982-d79b-11e8-aeb7-ddcad4a0a54e_story.html?utm_term=.67edd7b0ffaa (tweeted) on Tuesday, along with a video of an ad. The tweet was deleted on Wednesday.

A McCarthy spokesperson sent BuzzFeed News on Saturday a statement from earlier in the week in response to questions about why attention was called to Soros specifically and whether there was concern about the language after this week’s violence.

“McCarthy has and will always condemn in the strongest possible way violence or any acts of attempted violence. The video simply points out the enormous financial contributions a select few have made in this year’s midterm campaigns. Any suggestion that content condones or incites violence is wrong,” said the statement. “Understanding the particular sensitivity of the past 24 hours in the political climate today that has led to specific threats on both sides of the aisle, we will redouble our focus on our agenda of results.”

BuzzFeed News did not receive a response to follow-up questions asking whether McCarthy regretted the language or why he deleted the tweet.
 


In an August interview with members of a far-right Austrian party with historical Nazi ties, King lamented that “Western civilization is on the decline” because of immigrants and criticized Jewish financier George Soros.

“What does this diversity bring that we don’t already have?” he asked then.

In an interview after Saturday’s shooting in Pittsburgh, King said he was not anti-Semitic, touting his strong support for Israel and insisting there’s “a special place in hell” for anyone who perpetrates religious or race-based violence.

“How do you call Steve King anti-Semitic?” he asked, just before giving a speech supporting gun rights at a dinner celebrating the first day of pheasant hunting season in the western Iowa town of Akron.

He said the groups he’s associated with that are criticized as having neo-Nazi views were more accurately “far right” groups. He specifically cited Austria’s Freedom Party, which was founded by a former Nazi SS officer and is led by Heinz-Christian Strache, who was active in neo-Nazi circles as a youth. The group has emphasized a hard-line anti-immigration stance even as it seeks to distance itself from the Nazi connections.

“If they were in America pushing the platform that they push, they would be Republicans,” King said.
 


They don’t even try very hard to hide it.

President Trump, his family and more than a few of his appointees are using his presidency to enrich themselves. They are spending taxpayer dollars for their own benefit. They are accepting sweetheart deals from foreigners. And they are harnessing the power of the federal government on behalf of their businesses.

There’s a word for this: corruption.
 
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