Today, pipe bombs were delivered to people and institutions singled out by Donald Trump as targets of hatred.
How many times has he railed that CNN is “fake news?” How many times has he urged his supporters to hiss and boo CNN?
How many times has he made the ridiculous claim that the free press is the “enemy of the people,” echoing Lenin and Stalin?
How many times has he led his followers in chants of “lock her up!!” in reference to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton?
How many times has he sneered at Rep. Maxine Waters as a despicable person of “low IQ”?
How many times has he blamed George Soros for funding his critics?
How many times has he ridiculed President Obama, whose legacy he envies?
How many times did he throw barbs at former CIA director John Brennan, who accused him of treason for his dalliance with Vladimir Putin?
Is it coincidental that each of these people and institutions received a pipe bomb today?
Former Attorney General Eric Holder also received one, presumably because of his close association with President Obama.
Wasn’t it just days ago that he commended a Congressman in Montana for criminally assaulting a journalist?
Words have consequences.
Trump is encouraging domestic terrorism.
How fortunate the nation was today that no one was killed.
Imagine the terror that would have ensued, the rage, the fear, the chaos if these bombs had exploded and killed some of the leaders of the Democratic Party.
Is Trump trying to ignite a civil war?
Does he feel that the hatred he spews at every one of his rallies is harmless?
It is not.
Words have consequences.
He is a vile and evil man who brings out the worst in everyone.
The sooner he is gone, the sooner our nation will begin to heal and remember that once we had ideals, once we had values, once we believed in something greater than greed and self-aggrandizement, something nobler than racism and bigotry, something finer than white nationalism.
I pray for that day to come speedily.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, I think Trump is not only doing all he can to incite a bloody civil war but he also wants to bring on World War III and use nuclear weapons to show the world he had a “huge button”.
So many commentors on Fox news saying it was all a fake planted by Dems!!!!
It’s absolutely hideous but wait it gets worse. The right wing scum like Rush Limbaugh, Anne Coulter and many other right wingers are floating the idea that the Democrats are really behind these attacks in an effort to discredit the GOP! These people are born liars without a scintilla of an operating conscience. I pray and hope that this insanity does not degenerate into a new civil war.
From the miamiheralddotcom: The newspaper also reported that the device mailed to Soros was similar to those sent to the Obamas, Clintons and to CNN. Each package was affixed with computer-printed address labels and six “Forever” stamps and had a return address of “DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ,” misspelling the congresswoman’s name.
End quote.
One of the packages was returned to her office because it had an incorrect mailing address.
Link for above comment: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article220542440.html
So do I, Diane… so do I.
Nothing is new here, it was just a matter of time for hate spillover. Putin, the Saudi’s kill people in plain sight , and Trump pretends he doesn’t know the name of Mr. Khashoggi who was brutally murdered. The talking heads of the GOP run by Fox news, Ms. Kelly pretending she doesn’t know what black face is and is forced to apologize because of pressure. Anne Coulter, Rush Mr. Drug addict, Tucker Carson. Racism, hate is the foundation of this country and Trump has brought out all of the Grey suits who hate America. this hateful administration wants to do nothing but destroy this country.
We are very sick Americans who support this animal in charge. No I am not going to be politically correct when one individual wants to destroy everything good in America.
Trump would kill Hillary and Obama if he could get away with it, don’t you think?
Unfortunately, Trump has the instincts of a demagogue and a fascist. We will have to work hard to preserve democracy in our nation and regain our ideals of justice and equality.
Schools need to build immunity to Trumpism by clearly teaching the facts about what America is: a precious experiment in democracy; a place where rule of law is hallowed (because we once knew what it was like to live under despots); a place of freedom, not oppression; a land with a history of corrupt politicians, but also noble, self-sacrificing politicians who should be studied and revered; a place with a history of struggles that we must learn about and learn from (e.g. the labor movement); a place dedicated to ending feudal class hierarchies, where all humans are treated with dignity; a place where no race or religion is privileged over any other… MOST OF THIS IS NOT BEING TAUGHT, or if so, TAUGHT WEAKLY and INSUFFICIENTLY. And that’s because the ed schools are full of self-deluded con men who purvey BS pedagogy like constructivism and “21st Century Skills” and who are so dim or badly educated themselves that that they don’t even know how fraudulent their wares are. The result is hoards of Americans whose empty heads are incapable of resisting the callow lies of the Republi-cons. I blame you, careerist and inept education “authorities”.
I wonder, Ponderosa, how many high-school kids in the US today have ever heard of Kristallnacht, or of the New Orleans or Memphis Massacres of 1866? Oh, I guess it would be just terrible to burden them with such “mere facts.”
Amid the centuries of man’s cruelty to other men, we should not expect each succeeding enervation to remember each illustration of this behavior. Last year this was brought home to me when, after hearing in my world history class of another massacre, a student lamented that we were never going to study anything but death and destruction. I later learned that she had wittnessed the murder of her stepfather in some way when she had to leave school one day to testify.
For future generations, perhaps it will be the German genocide in the Meji Meji Rebellion in East Africa. Perhaps it will be Wounded Knee for others. Some might best recall the French Reign of Terror and civil war that took away so many in the name of liberty or the excesses of Mao, Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, my God, will this ever end?
The list certainly does go on and on, but some of the lessons of history seem particularly relevant today. We have an angry, anti-immigrant ultra-nationalists with a largely uneducated base routinely calling for violence against his opposition. Important for our children to learn what was, I think, THE lesson of the 20th century. There are others, but this one-about how states with absolute power distort ideals in horrific ways (Lenin/Stalin)–these sort of stick out.
If our profession were scientific (it is ostentatiously pseudo-scientific), we’d perform an experiment comparing kids from a fact-based school and kids from a skills-based school and see who’s better at critical thinking in a variety of domains. I am sure the fact-based kids would be the superior critical thinkers. But like medieval theologians, we take it on faith that the ubiquitous skills-based curriculum is effective.
A superb point.
Roy,
History is a parade of atrocities. This needs to be known. The world is a rough place; it is not Disneyland. It is not a Hollywood feel-good movie where everything will be OK in the end, as many people I know seem to believe.
But history also shows the progress of civilization over barbarism; the increasing attempts to base decisions on reason instead of unreason; the valiant efforts of good people to overcome evil (more and more I think we need to profile and honor these individuals; we’ll need their inspiration in the dark days ahead).
All of this needs to be taught robustly. Instead we’re having kids waste time with fruitless Lumosity-style brain training exercises. (Memo to teachers: Lumosity has been discredited)
“History is a parade of atrocities. ”
You could say the same thing about current news if you listen to US media, including, unfortunately, NPR.
This point of view has been inspired by the conviction that history’s most important figures are kings and other politicians, generals, and the most important events are wars, battles, elections, intrigues, crimes.
This view is as correct as thinking, our current economy is not the billionaires’ but ours.
We and our history books have been under the spell of the 1% for a long time.
Bob, Pond. Thanks for your comments. I tend to concur.
I’ve noticed, Roy, that your first response is almost always to subject to critical scrutiny even those notions to ascribe to and that your posts are often nuanced. Truly admirable. And Ponderosa, thank you for keeping up the fight against the blithering idiocy of alll-skills-all-the-time “instruction.”
Mate: have you read Barbara Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror”?
Or “Homage to Catalonia” or “We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow You Will Be Killed With Your Families” or Herodotus (who recounts endless grisly stories of despots across the Mediterranean and Middle East inflicting sadistic cruelty on the less powerful)?
Mate: this is a very good point. The Annale historians, led by Marc Bloch and Fernand Braudel, sought to rectify this by writing the history of the common man using sociological approaches and studying linguistics. Some find this sort of history dry when comparing it to the suspense of Wellington holding on at Waterloo so Blucher could come in to save the day. While I never had the time to do the research required of Bloch’s type of history, I have always enjoyed it. Nor do I always feel that the history of the common man shows the good side of things. It is very hard for the historian to forget the idea of original sin. Stories of the impoverished Franciscan friars spreading antisemitism during the thirteenth century are themselves not uplifting stories.
Nonetheless, I take your point and I realize that much of man’s inhumanity has been caused by the greed of the few as they hunger for power.
There’s a reason why Braudel had to resort to an economics-based approach if he was to make any sense of the lives of common people in a given period. The lives of the wealthy have always been chronicled, the lives of the poor, not. Case in point: Jacques Fournier, an Inquisitor who later became Pope, conducted and recorded a bunch of depositions of peasants in the French village of Montaillou, and this is one of the very few documents from the Medieval period in which we have records of Medieval peasants speaking of their lives in their own voices. Similarly, most peoples of the so-called New World didn’t have written languages, and the books of those who did were largely destroyed, so we have very little evidence of that kind of the lives of the vastly differing indigenous groups of the Americas. What survives to tell a tale influences what tale is told. Another case in point. It’s clear, now, that for most of human history people got most of their calories from foraging for plant foods. In fact, studies of modern hunter-gatherers like the Hadza show that the hunt itself typically expends more calories than are gained from it. LOL. But the myth of “man the hunter”–that this was the primary means of subsistence for most–continues to dominate. Why? Well, parts of hunting implements–spearheads, arrowheads, axes, and so on, survive because they were made of durable materials, so hunting gets played up in our accounts of prehistory, and other parts of the cultures (foraging activities) don’t.
Another example of new evidence leading to startling conclusions about the lives of common people as opposed to the lives of the powerful:
The Most Astonishing Anthropological Fact That I Know | Bob Shepherd
At one point about 7,000 years ago, and for a period of about 2,000 years thereafter, the percentage of human males having offspring was reduced to 1 in 20 in Europe, Asia, and Africa, while female reproducers remained at previous levels. Wow. Let that sink in for a bit.
In other words, quite suddenly, only 1 in 20 males was having children. If you were a male, your chances of getting laid and having a child were pretty small–about 5 percent. This is known as the Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck and was occurring at the same time as the emergence of settled agricultural communities.
It seems that strongmen, alpha males, at the heads of settled agricultural groups eliminated their competition for females almost entirely, probably via truly breathtakingly brutal wars a) on foragers and wandering herders and b) between different patrilineal groups–killing off almost all other males or enslaving them and preventing them from reproducing. You might refer to this as the “Gang Wars” period of our prehistory. It is very likely that this astonishing cultural revolution among our ancestors gave rise to the intensely patriarchal and hierarchical city state that replaced the previous human foraging bands–the city state built around an oracular central monument–a temple mountain, from which the god/king ruled. This was strongman behavior with a vengeance.
And, ofc, both patriarchal monotheism and the notion of the ruler as god or as the god’s representative on Earth suited these people quite well. (It’s astonishing to me that millions of Americans don’t know that monotheism was a relatively late human invention. Instruction in history, in our schools, is pretty bad, but instruction in prehistory is almost nonexistent.)
However, within settled agricultural communities, numbers of males surviving to reproduce then started to grow again. Why? Well, population explosion in such communities was made possible by abundant (though not very nutritious) grain, which produced more warriors and made those communities more powerful, and as those communities grew, they made increasing use of divisions of labor and of an underclass–with different people taking on different roles, as rulers, administrators, priests, builders, farmers, warriors, child-care workers, and so on, and many of these were not primary producers of food and had to be supported. So, it paid to have a large subservient class and more men both to do labor and to sire more subservient laborers.
So, the adulation of the strongman that one saw and sees in, say, John Gotti, Donald Trump, and people of that ilk has a long and ugly history.
The danger of reversion to fascism is always there, folks, and preventing it requires education and constant vigilance.
Fascinating, Bob. I stumbled upon a different set of hypotheses concerning the archaic period in the history of North America. Seems the hunter/gatherers had to spend about 29 hours a week to get their required caloric intake. After the introduction of corn, and after the corresponding increase in population, the figure went up to about 42. This from a person at Russell Cave Natl. Monument in Alabama.
Reminds me of the studies of the !Kung San that showed that they spent about 20 hours a week providing for themselves and had abundant leisure, even though they lived in a harsh environment.
This has been a very informative sideline. Thanks. Saved to my desktop.
Thank you, Diane. Yes. Exactly. Every day another outrage from the vile, cretinous child-man whom ALMOST half of those who bothered to vote in this benighted country thought fit to be our President. He’s not just embarrassing. He’s dangerous.
How many times has he offered to pay the legal fees of those who would attack protesters or journalists? How many times has he held up as a model some thuggish strongman like Duterte, Putin, or MBS?
In 1920, Charles Davenport of the Cold Springs Harbor Eugenics Laboratory in Long Island wrote, in a letter to a friend, “Can we BUILD A WALL high enough around the country so as to keep out these cheaper races?” Davenport’s creed of Eugenics–breeding genetically superior humans–was all the rage, then, in the US, among rich whites who were certain, of course, that a genetically superior individual was anyone who was just like them.
The flood of immigration restrictions, race laws, mandatory sterilizations, and other eugenics measures in the US in the years that followed were held up, a decade later, by the new Chancellor of Germany as a “model for the world.” Immediately on seizing power, Hitler enacted a sterilization law for “undesirables” based a model drawn up for him by the Cold Springs Harbor Eugenics Laboratory in the US.
Trump’s wall is no new idea. And, historically, it was an idea that preceded and led to more totalizing “solutions.”
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.
It not only CAN happen here, folks. It IS happening here. Last Friday, Republican House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California introduced a bill fund, fully, Trump’s proposed border wall. Today, the brownshirts he spawned are perpetrating these atrocities.
In the middle of the last century, we fought a war to stop this scourge. Let’s remember that.
As I’m reading this superb post by Diane Ravitch, Mein Trumpf is holding another rally, this one in Wisconsin, for the union-busting governor there. I suppose that they are filming this. Triumph of the Trumpf, by Leni Riefenstahl.
I recently signed up for your blog due to a recommendation in an article about the threat to education by conservatives – maybe something by Robert Reich, but I have received several additional posts from your blog and I understand more now: you are a serious supporter of the Democratic agenda, as am I. But, I have to say that the language and tone of this blog regarding Trump and the bombs and the comments they elicits from followers are at least as radical as those from Fox or right wing conservatives. How are we ever going to create any sense of civility and concord with this sort of rabid language? Yes, Trump is not good for this country, but he IS the President with a lot of mysterious support by many Americans. We are not “going high” here. This language appeals to the avid left just as much as Trump’s rhetoric plays to his raucous supporters. I get the message, but I do not see the advantage of the extreme language. The sentence “He is a violent and evil man who brings out the worst in everyone,” is as much over the top as some of the cruel things the Tea Party supporters had to say about the Obamas.
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Larry,
Here’s what you need to know. I am a historian of education. I have written many books. This is my blog. I have earned the right to say exactly what I want to say. If you don’t want to read my blog, that’s your right too.
Yesterday, Jim Carrey tweeted the following:
“Today they tried to murder two Presidents as well as public servants and journalists. Make no mistake, these terrorists were encouraged and emboldened by the hate speech of Donald Trump. If you can’t see the clear menace of this man’s influence by now, then you are part of it.”
Thank you, Diane, for not being part of it, for standing up our thug in chief.
Mr. Bucklin, for a couple years now, journalists in the United States have been warning about the consequences of Trump’s hate rhetoric, on full display at every press conference he gives, at every rally. The man has been a torrent of hate speech. No tolerance for intolerance! I applaud Dr. Ravitch for standing up to this thug.
Maybe at this point we should not wait for Mueller…it is just too dangerous…maybe it is time to impeach or for those in the upper reaches to take that vote…this is now a life or death situation…
Mueller will hold his fire until after the election.
Impeachment is out of the question for now because it requires a vote of 2/3 of the Senate. Which GOP Senators will vote to impeach Trump?
What is the right way to react– on your own blog, in your ‘living room’ as it were– when w/n 24 hrs, pipe bombs are mailed to the homes of former Dem Pres, former Dem Sec’y of State, & billionaire Dem donor, CNN offices c/o former CIA director, office of former Dem A/G, plus 2 for CA Dem Congresswoman– all of whom have been frequent targets of current President’s vitriolic invective, lies, and threats?
And what is the appropriate way to characterize a President who uses daily Tweets and frequent rallies to incite hatred against all of the above plus FBI/ DOJ, plus press & central american immigrants/ asylum seekers in general? Who within the last week fear-mongered about potential terrorists headed our way on a caravan of asylum-seekers 1000’s of mis from the border– and congratulated a congressman for body-slamming a reporter? And today couldn’t resist concluding a brief [belated] condemnation of pipe bombings w/ yet another jab at press?
This President vents anger in public daily on Twitter, incites hatred at his rallies, and often expresses approval of violence– bigly as when talking up violent dictators, & finding nice guys among torch-carrying gun-toting white supremacists, or small-scale thumbs-upping ‘Lock ‘er up’ chants & rally fisticuffs. Loonies are let loose into the public space– inevitably.
“How are we ever going to create any sense of civility and concord with this sort of [rabid language]… President?” As Diane says, he brings out the worst in us.
I regularly read the Fox news comments in order to gain a wider perspective. The comments on this blog are in no way akin to those on Fox, let alone more radical. The comments here are not full of insults and calls for civil war. The comments here are full of thought our arguments and evidence with citations. I encourage you to keep reading the blog.
To Donnie Trumpty Dumpty, with Apologies to EBB
How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.
I loathe thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach. I cannot stand the sight
Of thee. Disdain thou makest me embrace.
I loathe thee to the level of every day’s
Most fervent rage, by sun and monitor light.
I loathe thy morals, thy contempt for every right.
I loathe thy vanity, seeking constant praise.
I loathe thee with the passion one might choose
To heap on vandals, and with my childhood’s faith
That our decency, under thy boot, we shall not lose.
So may we curse thee with every waking breath
Thy objectification of all, thy conman’s ruse,
Thy instincts not of a man but of a wasp on Meth.
–Bob Shepherd
The guy verbally identified as a nationalist. He encouraged his base to use that word. If we continue down this path, we are going to have to worry about bombs much larger than pipes.
Exactly. It can happen here.
We’ve heard this same line before. That was THE lesson of the horrific history of the 20th century. Some people–Diane Ravitch, for example, know their history well enough to have learned that lesson, to know what these code phrases mean and what precedents they have. When a president makes hate speech his daily mantra and people cheer him for this by the millions, then the nation over which he presides is slipping precipitously toward fascism.
Luckily, this bomb maker was not very skilled. However, if Trump continues to incite his base, who knows what violent act may follow?
At this point I worry less about domestic bomb makers, and more about an international response to a rising fascist regime. Similar to our response to the rising fascist regimes in the early-to-mid 20th century.
letthemlearn: I worry about the number of people in this country who make crazy comments supporting Trump. What will ultimately happen when people are supportive of the vile he spews.
I’ve been reading comments in “The Hill’. It is frightening to read what some people think. I was just told to ‘grow up’ when I commented that it isn’t appropriate for Trump’s to call Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas’. How disrespectful can Trump get and it’s totally acceptable? There was a long list of comments supporting Trump and making fun of anyone who didn’t think all he says and does is just fine.
These people are worrisome. For now, its writing dumb comments. Will they do more if further incited? The bombs came from someone who didn’t like criticism of Trump.
Carol,
Of all the things Trump has said, calling Warren “Pocahontas” in front those older gentlemen (the Navajo code breakers), still sticks in my mind as one one the worst things he has done. It was so vile and disgusting.
I don’t quite understand why “nationalist” is a bad word. “White nationalist”, yes. I think of myself as a nationalist: i.e. one who loves America and wants the best for it. And, while I wish to be compassionate and beneficial to other nations, I do put America first in my heart. Why are we letting an un-American thug like Trump monopolize the term? Why are we conflating it with “white nationalism”?
Webster’s definition of nationalist:
nationalism noun
na·tion·al·ism | \ˈnash-nə-ˌli-zəm, ˈna-shə-nə-ˌli-zəm\
Definition of nationalism
1 : loyalty and devotion to a nation
especially : a sense of national consciousness (see CONSCIOUSNESS sense 1c) exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups
Intense nationalism was one of the causes of the war.
I believe in a benign and compassionate America First orientation. I don’t believe in radical cosmopolitanism, if only because I think it’s politically toxic. Apparently San Francisco is letting non-citizens vote on some municipal issues. Can they get any dumber? This is just going to feed the fires of Democrat-hatred.
These horrific atrocities simply aren’t acceptable. People who preach violence can expect that violence will be done in their name. It’s not OK. It’s shameful and disgusting that we have a President who has spent two years now doing precisely that. I’m with Dr. Ravitch. I hope very much that the Mueller report will lead to his ouster before we see more of this.
I know someone already mentioned that the R wing is blaming Democrats for putting out the bombs. I was appalled. If people can go this low, what is next? What are these people willing to promote and how deep will they lie to get more votes?
……………..
Trump Allies Insist Bomb Threats Against Clinton, Obama, CNN Are ‘Pure BS,’ a ‘False Flag’
Following bomb threats against two former presidents and other public figures, the far right began screaming that it was all a liberal plot to gain sympathy for the Democrats.
…Popular talk radio host Rush Limbaugh hinted that the attempted bombings were set-up by Democrats, saying they would serve a political “purpose.”
“It’s happening in October,” Limbaugh said. “There’s a reason for this.”
Similarly, right-wing radio host Michael Savage outright declared that “it’s a high probability that the whole thing is set up as a false flag to gain sympathy for the Democrats… and to get our minds off the hordes of illegal aliens approaching our southern border.”
Frank Gaffney, an Islamophobe who has held posts on Sen. Ted Cruz’s (R-TX) presidential campaign and in the Ronald Reagan White House, suggested the packages were a “deflection” technique. “None of the leftists ostensibly targeted for pipe-bombs were actually at serious risk, since security details would be screening their mail,” he tweeted. “So let’s determine not only who is responsible for these bombs, but whether they were trying to deflect attention from the Left’s mobs.”
John Cardillo, a former New York Police Department officer turned right-wing radio host, initially denounced political violence on both sides of the aisle, but quickly broadcast his skepticism that the threats were legit. “Just too coincidental that two weeks before Election Day, as the ‘blue wave’ has turned into a ripple, and the left is losing ground because of incivility and violent rhetoric, explosive devices show up in the mailboxes of Soros, Clinton, and Obama,” he wrote on Twitter. He later deleted the tweet…
https://thebea.st/2ywaJuh?source=email&via=desktop
Thanks for going into more detail about these deplorable right wing gargoyles who are utterly beneath contempt. Right wing hate spewing radio has done more damage to this country than I even care to contemplate. Frank Gaffney said, “None of the leftists ostensibly targeted for pipe-bombs were actually at serious risk, since security details would be screening their mail,” Hey Frank, what about the postal handlers and carriers, did you ever think about them? Gaffney is channeling his inner Josef Goebbels.
“Right wing hate spewing radio has done more damage to this country than I even care to contemplate.” Strangely this slipped my mind. I have shunned that dispiriting media for many yrs. Alice in Pa is brave to read Fox comments to gain perspective. The closest I get is listening to Baptist stations when driving thro northeastern Pa. So I forget about the millions of people who let sarcasm, insults, bile & conspiracy masked as news/politics wash over them daily. Trump talks this way and is constantly criticized– correctly, to avoid acceptance/ normalization. But there are millions for whom this is , after decades of broadcast, normal, & feel that criticism directed straight at them. Larry B thinks “violent and evil” is radical talk. But there is surely something evil & violence-mongering in 24/7 stirring of base emotions like fear and hatred. Trump takes in all the big media, but chooses to frame public messages in this particular syntax, for political gain. In political terms, that’s merely cynical. In humanistic terms, it’s evil.
And don’t forget that the advertisers who are paying to keep these bile spewing “personalities” on the air are complicit in this…. they are effectively voting with their dollars to support those who promote hatred and fear and in so doing presumably getting more of their product sold. At some point, one hopes that a corporation might think the spread of these degrading ideas might not be worth boosting their sales….
And – as usual – the party of “personal responsibility” takes absolutely no responsibility for this. None. Zero.
Trump said “It’s not my fault,” and blamed the media – again – for reporting genuine news.
The Daily Beast reported that ?throughout Fox News’ prime-time lineup on Wednesday, there was little sympathy for the targets of the bomb threats…Fox’s hosts knocked Democrats and pundits on cable news channels for saying President Trump’s rhetorical attacks on the press and Democrats may have influenced the suspect or suspects behind the bombs…Tucker Carlson said Democrats and cable news pundits were rushing to fault Trump’s anti-press rhetoric.”
The Guardian reported that “the connections are impossible to ignore. All are individuals that Trump and his allies in the rightwing fever swamps like to demonise, denigrate and deride, and put at the centre of wild conspiracy theories…Trump has been stirring a toxic brew of anger, hostility, insults, menace and threats since launching his election campaign in June 2015…he encouraged physical attacks on protesters and chants of “Lock her up!” against Clinton…He endlessly refers to the media as “the enemy of the people” and last week lavished praise on a Republican congressman who violently assaulted the Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs…”
Meanwhile, right-wing media loudmouths – like Rush Limbaugh – are blaming liberals for the bombs while Trump supporters tout signs that say “Fake News, Fake Bombs.”
Trump and Republicans are a clear and present danger to the American republic and democratic values.
Isn’t is strange that the people who work for FOX and other RW media agree that the press is “the enemy of the people?” Are they not part of the press? Are they also enemies of the people?
The answer to that question is; you can hardly define FOX as a News organization. And FOX is the enemy of the people.
Well, Fox, by and large, IS the enemy of the people: angry, filthy rich ancorpeople twisting truth, bending reality, spewing poison.
The President divides the nation, foments violence, genuflects to dictators and tyrants, abuses women, undermines our national institutions and lies. Is this not a threat to our country which warrants removal from office? I believe so. What if you, the poor schmuck with no money or power, did this at your office and at your job? Would YOU be relieved of your position?
exactly. of course you would. well said
Given his record of s3xual harassment and his unhinged tirades and insults towards others, Trump would never be hired by any firm except his own.
Baloney. Most companies would salivate at the idea of getting a former president on their payroll. Bush has certainly had no problems rounding up speaking engagements despite destroying Iraq and killing about a million people give or take.
Of course, the fact is that few former presidents actually “work” after office. They do speaking engagements, write memoirs, do charity work, etc., but they don’t “get hired” per se.
What is “baloney?” I lost the thread.
Also, why did you thank a new commenter “RJ,” who sneered that teachers can’t afford to “hop” on a plane to come to the NPE Conference? Who do you think came to the conference from every region of the country to support teachers and public schools? Most said they were classroom teachers. Most were #Red4Ed. Most were BATS. I saw no reason to doubt them. Do you?
Clearly, law should limit what a president and similar prominent people can say in public.
Are you suggesting a “fire in the theater” aspect of political retoric?
Think of the Reichstag fire.
Diane: tough comment. Can we censure some without censuring all? Poor do we depend on a highly educated population to discredit the pre-reich behavior and defeat it by ballot box. After all, the Final Solution was hearlded by the East African genocide a generation earlier. Tough questions about freedom.
Roy, I thought you had the Reichstag in mind when you referred to a fire.
At this time in an election cycle, we always expect an “October surprise.” Is it the bombs or the caravan or something that has not yet happened?
Roy, privately, you can say anything you want. What needs controlling is statements’ public impact. Saying “either you censor all or nothing” is a usual reaction and is similar to “banning automatic guns will lead to banning all guns”, and they are both designed to bypass the problem.
The reach of public statements has been so great and immediate that I think it’s worth taking a second look at what freedom of speech is and should be.
Should the Red Rat be allowed say publicly anything he wants? Was it a good idea to let Hitler or Mussolini give all those speeches? Forget about our Orange friend, what if somebody with Hitler’s charisma and rhetoric abilities comes along? Would we be able to do damage control then?
Is there a possibility for an acceptable control of freedom speech? I think so. On this blog, I think many agree that billionaires shouldn’t be allowed to spend their money on their pet projects. It doesn’t matter if it’s Gates or Koch who are spending on stuff we hate, or Soros, whose progressive causes often appeal to us. They are all antidemocratic. The way to control this spending is taxing, or, more precisely and explicitly, the accumulation of such wealth needs to be prevented in the first place.
In general, individuals’ impact on the masses needs to be controlled, and the far reach of impact needs to be prevented. Similarly to wealth control, I can imagine such general control system.
General methods to control freedom of speech seems like a too big bite. Could we at least think about how the president’s speech should be controlled? Is it OK, for example, that he can post semiprivate and private remarks on twitter? Should he be allowed to say anything he wants when he addresses the Nation?
How should he be controlled during a speech that is broadcasted? Should they use a beep to take out parts that are not allowed? If this makes anybody uncomfortable, think about the insanely heavy censorship on network TV which is barely questioned in the homeland, while for foreigners this is probably the most shocking first experience here. I certainly cannot get used to it even after 35 years.
I think so, Roy. What do you think?
Mate: you raise interesting and troubling points. John Stuart Mill famously suggested in On Liberty that the time when people questioned the infringement of the freedom of political expression was long past. Like you, I am not so sure there is any difference between slick retoric branding specific groups such as immigrants or Muslims or whomever and the practice of standing up in a crowded theater and screaming “fire!”
How to enforce this movement toward moderation in tone confounds me in a Country that more and more finds itself believing two alternate forms of reality. One group of people think that the left has made it impossible to suggest that science suggests differences between men and women. The left thinks that the right has a blank check to say anything offensive.
You reference to having the power to check military officials brings to mind Montesquieu, whose power checks power philosophy inspired James Madison”s famous proposal and our move to the constitution, which divides power among the three branches of government and divides military power accordingly. What is occurring, however, is the consolidation of power in one entity, the Republican Party, when the obstructionist congress of the Obama years held up all the judicial appointments of the sitting president, they subverted the intent of the founding fathers. Now we have hundreds of justices in place who owe their appointment to a partisan view of what the United States should be. Power cannot check power unless the people of the United States vote out the congress and we start to get some real discussion of what is to be done.
My greatest fear is that freedom of expression will be restricted until we, like citizens in other parts of the world, will not have access to any form of truth.
How about if we wait a few news cycles to find out what actually happened before leaping to conclusions? https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/explosive-devices-trumpism-746826/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=exacttarget&utm_campaign=RollingStone_Daily&utm_content=119802_10-24-2018_taibbi:-is-it-fair-to-blame-trumpis&utm_term=3701820
Most important quote in Taibbi’s article: “…this series of incidents will certainly result in calls for sweeping political change. Something this upsetting will likely inspire radical security proposals that may alter all our futures on a fundamental level.”
Dienne77:”Something this upsetting will likely inspire radical security proposals that may alter all our futures on a fundamental level.”
I can see the NRA salivating at the thought of arming ALL Americans so that we can be safe and secure in our homes and on the streets. This is a bunch of baloney, but who reads statistics? What happens after EVERY American is armed with three guns? What will the NRA do to sell even more?
No, I won’t wait for the next news cycle to denounce Trump’s attacks on freedom of the press. I won’t wait for the next news cycle to denounce his racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and assault on the environment, or his rollback of any rights for trans people, or his crude insults directed at individuals who disagree with him.
Will you?
Speaking of supporting terrorism, over 3,000 bankers and businessmen (and women) attended a conference in Riyadh the other day and were feted by the Crown Prince, for whom they gave a standing ovation, despite his direct role in the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and the Saudi genocide in Yemen. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/23/business/saudi-conference-khashoggi-killing.html
“Henry Biner, an executive at the Boston-based P/E Investments, said that Mr. Khashoggi’s killing was “horrendous” but that there were wars and atrocities occurring across the Middle East and that the situation should not necessarily deter business ties.
“One year from now, somebody is going to ask where the revenue is,” he said. “We’re not going to put our relationships on the line for this.””
““It’s just noise to me,” said Michael Slater, who runs the Middle East and Africa investment business for Northern Trust and is based in Riyadh. “The people I need to see are here, and that’s what I care about.””
These are the people who truly run our country (and the world).
“These are the people who truly run our country (and the world).”
Exactly
So, Trump, in all of his ‘niceness’ admits that normally he would be screaming an insult at Senator Tammy Baldwin. He is way out of control and sways mobs who jeer and yell insults. It’s the media’s fault? I guess the media should follow Fox’s line and only tell people how wonderful Trump is when he denigrates people and US institutions.
“You see how nice I’m behaving tonight,” he joked. “Can you believe this? ”
……………………
Trump Blasts Media ‘Hostility’ After Bomb Sent to Newsroom
The president tried to be magnanimous on Wednesday night. But even he recognized it was forced.
President Donald Trump called for civility and unity in the wake of a series of bomb threats against prominent Democratic political figures on Wednesday. Then he placed a share of the blame at the foot of the American news media.
“The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories,” Trump told a rally crowd in Mosinee, Wisconsin. “They’ve gotta stop. Bring people together.”
Minutes after the rally ended, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders tweeted criticism of the administration’s favorite media villain. Sanders said that CNN, to whose New York offices an explosive device was sent on Wednesday, “chose to attack and divide” through a statement that criticized the president’s recent anti-media rhetoric.
The president’s statement at the rally on Wednesday was a very Trumpian aside in an otherwise magnanimous kickoff to the event. There was no attempt to take responsibility for some of the heightened rhetoric. And even Trump seemed aware of the marked shift in tone. “You see how nice I’m behaving tonight,” he joked. “Can you believe this? We’re all behaving very well and hopefully we can keep it that way.”
The tone and tenor of the evening felt off from the start. The hallmark “CNN SUCKS” jeers from the crowd were scattered and quickly drowned out. And though Trump delivered his standard serving of campaign catnip, he also was quick to keep his combative side in check.
He notably dropped his new election tagline: “Jobs not mobs.” And at one point, Trump called Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) a “socialist,” which she’s not. He then quickly added: “I’m trying to say that very nicely. Normally I would scream it… I’m trying to be nice.”
https://thebea.st/2RiISor?source=email&via=desktop
So anyone in the media’s light who criticizes the Orange Buffoon is now going to have to be worried about receiving a bomb? As I said before, “How far down are these people going to get and what will they do next?”
……………………..
‘Identical’ Suspected Explosive Package Was Sent to Robert De Niro
A suspicious device addressed to Robert De Niro has been sent to an address in New York City, two law enforcement sources told The Daily Beast. One of the officials said the device was ‘identical’ to those sent to former president Obama and the Clintons yesterday. De Niro has been repeatedly critical of President Trump, saying at the Tony Awards ceremony in June: “I’m going to say one thing, fuck Trump. It’s no longer ‘Down with Trump.’ It’s fuck Trump.” The NYPD issued a warning to avoid the area. A woman who says she works in nearby 388 Greenwich Street—the global headquarters of Citigroup—posted a video showing fire trucks nearby on Thursday morning…
https://thebea.st/2OS90d2?source=email&via=desktop
The continued applause after his speech made me ill. “Thank God he finally said something good!!”.
Hopefully he’ll begin to realize that this is not a reality tv show. He’s condoning and encouraging real live murderers on the national and international stage.
Of course, he had to follow up that speech with a caveat that the media needs to “…set a civil tone”. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.
This is not a pot and kettle deal, unless he was addressing FOX, which he was not.
True. Thanks for the correction, Diane.
gitapik: ” the media needs to “…set a civil tone””
For Trump this means telling the same news as Fox. Trump can do no wrong and it is the liberal media who needs to stop reporting. As his followers say, “CNN Sucks”. All news that doesn’t worship Trump is ‘fake’. I forget what percentage of the people agreed that Trump should be able to close down a media if it wasn’t reporting factual news. [Trump’s facts.]
Thank you, Diane.
When will the horrors brought about by Trump ever end?
………………….
A law enforcement official says a suspicious package addressed to former Vice President Joe Biden was found in New Castle County in Delaware. The package was similar to the other suspicious packages discovered in recent days.
I just received this comment back on The Hill. Trump is a national disaster. How does this country expect to exist with people like this? Check out my comment and the one from a fellow named Hubert. He speaks in generalities. I guess rudeness is all that is needed for Trump to succeed.
Here is what I posted:
What do you expect to get from Trump? He talks rudely and you approve. His tax breaks which benefited the wealthy are raising the deficit so that now the GOP is saying they will have to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security because the government doesn’t have enough money. He was willing to sign a healthcare bill that would cut 32 million people from having any insurance. He has pushed cheap plans that won’t cover much and doesn’t care if those with pre-conditions have to pay a huge hike in premium prices. He has alienated our allies and speaks highly of dictators such as Putin and MbS. He wants to upgrade our nuclear capabilities so that we can meaningfully engage in a nuclear battle. He wants a Space Force, which will drain even more money from the budget. The US is currently militarily engaged in 70 countries. The military budget was increased. There will come a time of repay for the $1.5 trillion increase due to the tax break for corporations and the wealthy. I’m sure the middle class and the poor will have to make up the difference. Trump works to help the wealthy, not average or poor people.
Other than agreeing with his outbursts, what are you getting from him?
………………………………..Reply:
Hubert Cumberdale
We are getting solid international leadership after a decade or more of insanity. I fundamentally disagree with your sky-is-falling narrative.
The truth is, this guy represents Americans. Its us against you. There will be no reconciliation. There will be no remediation. There will be no resolution. We are fundamentally at war with one another. Period.
9:56 a.m., Thursday Oct. 25 |
Wow, Hubert’s comments are really disturbing but I should not be surprised since I have seen a tidal wave of right wing comments on so many of the news sites. Is it my imagination but the right wing trolls seem to outnumber liberal/progressive commenters on these general news sites. The comments sections on Truthdig, Truthout, Common Dreams are mostly liberal and far left, you know anti-Hillary, anti-Nancy Pelosi and the Dems are just as bad as the GOP and Trump stuff. No, the Dems are not just as bad as the 2018 GOP, not even close. It drives me nuts that so many progressives still bash Hillary and say that she would be just as bad as Trump which is utter nonsense. So keep voting for Jill Stein and see where we end up…..oh yeah, with a misogynistic fascist.
Joe: “Is it my imagination but the right wing trolls seem to outnumber liberal/progressive commenters on these general news sites. ”
What I’ve found, at least on The Hill, is that sometimes the comments are totally anti-Trump and on other days, perhaps the time of day??, the comments are totally pro-Trump. I haven’t figured out what is happening to have such a contrast.
I like putting comment on the Daily Kos because they are always far L. It’s nice to be agreed with occasionally. Usually Slate is on the L.
Hubert Cumberdale sounds like a synonym for Steve Bannon. Or maybe Steven Miller.
Gramsci: “The prevailing social explanation tends to perpetuate the given
social orders…”
The press is “the enemy of the people”. Fake news…
As if the “press” or reporters, DISSENT, had an influence on policy, greater
than that of the average citizens influence on policy.
Bruce E. Levine:
“In 2014, political scientists Martin Gilens and Benjamin Page, in a study published in Perspectives on Politics, empirically established how average U.S. citizens are almost completely ignored by U.S. governmental authorities in terms of public policies. Reviewing U.S. public opinions of policy issues, along with examining 1,779 different enacted public policies between 1981 and 2002, Gilens and Page determined that “even when fairly large majorities of Americans favor policy change, they generally do not get it.” They conclude, “The central point that emerges from our research is that economic elites and organized groups representing business interests have substantial independent impacts on U.S. government policy, while mass-based interest groups and average citizens have little or no independent influence.
When dissent—be it through public opinion polls, protest demonstrations, or otherwise—is impotent in changing policy, this is an indicator of living under authoritarian rule. If a society is not authoritarian but democratic, then the tension that dissent creates is resolved so that dissenters experience their grievances being taken seriously, as evidenced by policy changes. In an authoritarian society, dissenters—even when in the majority—routinely feel impotent and helpless.”
It’s voter suppression…
The vote of “we the people” doesn’t undermine the
ceded power of the UN-elected “leaders” calling the shots.
The rooskies are undermining “our” democracy.
Paint authoritarian- money- rule with “democracy” or “republic” till the
cows come home. The proof is still in the pudding.
Unless contradictions are brought to a head, we will remain the same.
Absolutely!
Tom Negri Community Facilitator
>
It’s been a rough week and we all need some humor. I LOVE Borowitz.
…..
Spies Eavesdropping on Trump Complain He Is Speaking in Indecipherable Language
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—Russian and Chinese spies who have been eavesdropping on Donald J. Trump’s unsecured iPhone calls complained on Thursday that he has foiled their efforts by speaking in a language that is infuriatingly indecipherable…
Both the Russians and the Chinese have given their top cryptologists the task of decoding Trump’s utterances, but many of these experts have quit within days, complaining of burnout, headaches, and depression…
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/spies-eavesdropping-on-trump-complain-he-is-speaking-in-indecipherable-language
Heard last night on MSNBC:
The report that Trump was using an insecure phone came from people inside the White House who wanted to get his attention.
The only exculpatory thing was that Trump probably wouldn’t reveal top secret information because he doesn’t remember anything
Diane, Hillary will never be forgotten because she used her private server. But, it’s perfectly all right for Trump’s iPhone to be monitored by China and Russia.
Trump either can’t remember anything or he speaks in such garble that nobody can translate what he is saying. He sticks to simple things like, “Lock her up.” and “CNN Sucks” because that is the extent of his memory capabilities.
Here is one more lie put out by the WH. It’s not just Trump’s ‘campaign style’ that lies, its bringing in far R media that also lies.
Medicare for All is scary? How about scary being millions with no insurance? How about the offering of new cheap policies that offer nothing if you get sick? How about the willingness to allow all with pre-existing conditions to pay huge increases in their premiums? Apparently, none of this is scary to the far R media. It’s only socialism that is something to be very afraid of.
…………..
“If there was one idea that you could say dominates today’s Democratic Party, it could be summed up in one word: Socialism. Many Democrats, from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, embrace some form of socialism,” the Investor’s Business Daily editorial board writes. A new White House Council of Economic Advisers report illustrates how America’s economy would look under socialist policies. “The numbers are pretty scary,” the editors argue.
Bombs in our country and troops at the border. More and more guns are needed by gun lovers to keep us safe and secure. This country is going insane! Oh yeah, it is ‘socialism’ that is destroying us.
……………………………..
Pentagon plans to dispatch 800 more troops to U.S.-Mexico border in response to migrant caravan
The troops would assist in security operations in response to a caravan of migrants traveling north through Mexico toward the U.S. border.
The plan calls for about 800 more troops to join a growing border mission called for by President Trump, a senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made.
The additional deployments will add to the estimated 2,100 National Guard troops already involved in border operations.
Am I the only one who wonders at the timing of the caravan? Why did this materialize at this particular time? How convienent for those who want to fire up the group of voters who vote because they are afraid of immigration. If this were the reverse, conservative talking heads would be accusing the liberals of conspiracy. Oh! Wait! They are. The bombs are a liberal conspiracy and the caravan is the natural threatening of those people wanting what we have.
Opinion | Trump’s Ignoring Our Real ‘National Emergies’ – by Nicholas Kristof – NYT
by David Lindsay Jr
“It’s not about immigration. It’s about bigotry.
That’s the real story — to the extent there is a story at all — about the caravan of 5,000 impoverished Central Americans rampaging toward the United States border at, er, two miles an hour.
President Trump, ever the champion speller, declares this to be a “National Emergy”! He may call out the Army! He’s talking about sealing the border!
So, here’s some perspective, by my back-of-envelope calculations:
More than 1.4 million foreigners immigrate to the United States each year. If, say, half the caravan reaches the border, and half of those people actually enter the U.S., they would represent less than one-tenth of 1 percent of this year’s immigrants.
If the caravan proceeds by foot, during the period of its journey 16,800 Americans will die from drugs.
In the period of the caravan’s journey, perhaps 690,000 Americans will become homeless, including 267,000 children.
In the period of the caravan’s journey, 8,850 Americans will die from guns, including suicides and murders.
In the period of the caravan’s journey, perhaps 9,000 Americans will die from lack of health insurance (people die at higher rates when they’re uninsured, although there’s disagreement about how much higher).
Maybe the real “National Emergy” is drugs, homelessness, gun deaths and lack of health insurance?
It never ends…destroy the environment to keep the ‘rapists’ and ‘drug dealers’ from entering our country. Mother nature will not take kindly to being destroyed. It never ends as long as Trump is in charge.
The ‘mobs’ from the south are mostly children and mothers who desire a chance to live. Armageddon is now the mangled form of a pregnant Honduran woman limping toward the only hope that she has. “Build that wall!”, “Build that Wall!” and ‘Build that wall!” Fear and hatred rule.
………………………………………
Suit Filed Over Trump’s Texas Border Wall
The Trump administration is sweeping aside environmental laws in Texas to speed-build more than 20 miles of 30-foot-high border walls, cutting through a national wildlife refuge, butterfly conservation center, state park and historic chapel. So the Center and allies have sued to stop it.
“The Trump administration’s trashing major environmental laws without regard for human health, wildlife or the law,” said Center lawyer Jean Su. “That’s disastrous for border communities, and it’s unconstitutional. I hope the courts stop Trump’s abuse of power before bulldozers destroy some of the most spectacular wildlands in Texas.”
Ocelots, jaguarundi and aplomado falcons make their homes in the region, as do hundreds of species of migratory birds and butterflies.
“You also had some very fine people on both sides”
–President Trump referring to the Neo-Nazis and the anti-Nazi protesters in Charlottesville, where the former had just killed someone. Mein Trumpf.
Trump spouted off, I think this morning, that the bombs were the false media’s fault. What DT didn’t say is that he thinks the bomb maker/mailer is justified and a good guy at heart. The bad guys, to DT is the media that doesn’t report what he wants them to report.
Trump is really playing the fear card. What a horrible person. How much power can this Orange IDIOT have? Is he overstepping his boundaries with help from the GOP?
……………………………….
President Trump is considering executive action to bar migrants entering the U.S. from Mexico, part of a pre-election push to play to his base.
Thursday, October 25, 2018 9:22 PM EST
The proposed executive action amounts to a sweeping use of presidential power to fortify the border and impose the kind of aggressive immigration restrictions and enforcement measures that Mr. Trump has made his signature pursuit.
It would be the most drastic in a series of steps he has taken or threatened to take as he works to stoke fears of immigrants.
Trump has been working so hard to bring people together says Fox commentator. What world to Fox people live in? I don’t believe they are that stupid. Their jobs [$$$$] depend upon spreading the lies that Trump promotes.
…………………………………….
Trump blasts CNN in 3 a.m. tweet for ‘blaming me’ for bombs
Timothy Bella, The Washington Post Published 6:20 am EDT, Friday, October 26, 2018
At the end of a week in which 10 suspected pipe bombs were sent to prominent liberal leaders over a 72-hour period, President Donald Trump took to Twitter past 3 a.m. Friday to criticize CNN, another recipient of a suspicious package, for coverage that he said compared this week’s news to 9/11 and the Oklahoma City bombing.
“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,” the president tweeted at 3:14 a.m., “yet when I criticize them they go wild and scream, ‘it’s just not Presidential!’”…
In the hours that followed the discovery of an explosive device at CNN’s New York headquarters on Wednesday, Jeff Zucker, the company’s president, denounced Trump and his administration for not grasping the consequences that come from their attacks against the media.
“There is a total and complete lack of understanding at the White House about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media,” Zucker said in a Wednesday statement. “The President, and especially the White House press secretary, should understand their words matter. Thus far, they have shown no comprehension of that.”…
Since June 16, 2015, the day he announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, the president has tweeted about CNN more than 260 times, according to the Trump Twitter Archive, a website that archives Trump’s tweets. Sixty-five of those tweets have come since Trump assumed office.
Meanwhile, on Fox News, Trump’s preferred cable news network, Lou Dobbs, who has enjoyed steady praise from the president, tweeted out a segment from his Thursday interview with conservative activist Candace Owens, in which Owens scolded CNN for preaching “dishonesty” in its coverage of the suspected pipe bombs. “Now they want to point the finger at this administration, which has been trying so hard to bring the American people together despite the media slandering them,” Owens said…
https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Trump-blasts-CNN-in-3-a-m-tweet-for-blaming-me-13338470.php?utm_campaign=email-desktop&utm_source=CMS%20Sharing%20Button&utm_medium=social
Even Gorbachev can’t stand the Orange One. He is smart enough to see the dangers of Trump’s wanting to destroy all of our international treaties and accords. Trump excels at creating hostilities and hurt. [But, he knows what is best due to his supreme intelligence and wonderful intuitive abilities.]
……………………..
Mikhail Gorbachev: A New Nuclear Arms Race Has Begun
By MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
…With enough political will, any problems of compliance with the existing treaties could be resolved. But as we have seen during the past two years, the president of the United States has a very different purpose in mind. It is to release the United States from any obligations, any constraints, and not just regarding nuclear missiles.
The United States has in effect taken the initiative in destroying the entire system of international treaties and accords that served as the underlying foundation for peace and security following World War II.
Yet I am convinced that those who hope to benefit from a global free-for-all are deeply mistaken. There will be no winner in a “war of all against all” — particularly if it ends in a nuclear war. And that is a possibility that cannot be ruled out. An unrelenting arms race, international tensions, hostility and universal mistrust will only increase the risk…
http://a.msn.com/01/en-gb/BBOUAxM?ocid=se
Trump is doing a good job of spreading hatred for Dems and CNN.
……………
The New York Times
Breaking News Alert
October 26, 2018
BREAKING NEWS
Two more explosive devices were intercepted today: One was sent to Senator Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, and the other to CNN.
Friday, October 26, 2018 9:07 AM EST
The discoveries came as investigators looking into a spate of pipe bombs sent this week have turned their attention to southern Florida.
Remember Trump has nothing to do with this hatred. [sarcasm] Funny though, that all the bombs are being sent to people who have spoken out against Trump.
…………………………..
12th suspicious package found, this one in New York, addressed to former director of national intelligence James Clapper
A law enforcement official said the package to Clapper, a CNN contributor, was addressed to him at the news network. It was found at a mail sorting facility in New York, the official said.
“This is definitely domestic terrorism, no doubt about it in my mind,” Clapper said in an interview on CNN after the package was recovered.
Sayoc’s van, found at the scene of his arrest, is reportedly plastered with political decals, including “Dishonest Media,” “CNN Sucks,” and a Trump/Pence sticker, according to photos tweeted by people who believe they have seen the same vehicle. NBC reports that officials confirm they found pictures of Trump on the van.
……
This proves that the bomber was a Democrat. He isn’t a domestic terrorist because he’s white and not a Muslim or an immigrant.
If you saw the TV images of his van, it was plastered with MAGA decals and ads.
Words have consequences.
Steve Gutterman: Here are some of the key developments in Russia…
#HeavenIsOurs
In several days of diplomacy dominated by talk of weapons and war, the most striking words came from Vladimir Putin, who said that Russians will “go to heaven as martyrs” in the event of a catastrophic nuclear conflict with the West. Citizens of the “aggressor” country, he added, “would just croak because they wouldn’t even have time to repent.”
If Putin’s promise of heaven was meant to reassure Russians, a hail of comment on social media and in real life suggested that for some, the effect was the exact opposite.
“He’s not afraid — but we are,” blogger SerpomPo wrote, expressing particular concern about Putin’s claim that Russian citizens have a “predisposition…to give their lives for the fatherland.”
“Everybody to heaven!” was how one bitterly sarcastic meme summed it up, while commentator Viktor Shenderovich said on Ekho Mosvy radio: “I don’t want to go to heaven, I want to live.”
Greg Sargent, Washington Post.
Trump has found his Reichstag Fire
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/10/26/president-trump-has-found-his-reichstag-fire/
Most Americans have no idea what the Reichstag Fire was.
I hesitated to mention it. But there it is.
Diane, I can’t get WaPo but found the same information on HuffPost.
…………………..
Beware a Trump Reichstag Fire
02/13/2017 10:43 am ET Updated Feb 14, 2018
“I alone can fix it.”
– Donald Trump, July 2016
…Less than a month after Adolf Hitler had formed a minority government in Germany in January 1933, a fire destroyed portions of the Reichstag building. The Nazis blamed the conflagration on a Communist conspiracy and stoked a sense of great danger that they could utilize to solidify their control. A day after the event, the German president issued, at Hitler’s urging, a “Decree for the Protection of People and the Reich.” It suspended due process of law and the same freedoms that are guaranteed to Americans in the First Amendment and gave the executive the power to “restore law and order.” The decree also gave the Nazis the power to arrest political opponents without charging them, dissolve opposition parties, and overrule state and local governments. It essentially established a police state.
Scarcely three weeks later, Hitler’s government pushed the “Enabling Act” through the Reichstag, stripping the legislative body of its law-making power and establishing the Nazi dictatorship.
Most Americans are likely to respond to this parallel with words along the lines of the title of Sinclair Lewis’s 1935 novel: It Can’t Happen Here. But Lewis’s work was intended to show that “it”—a dictator taking power—could happen in the United States. It is, of course, true that Germany in the 1930s had no tradition of democracy such as the United States does. We have far more safeguards than Germany did eight decades ago, but it is perilous to assume that something similar cannot happen here.
If we are to preserve our liberties, all Americans must be prepared in advance for the possibility of a Trump version of the Reichstag Fire…
A future domestic terrorist attack could readily be cited as proof that the nation needs more executive power, a reduction in civil liberties, a curbing of the powers of the courts and perhaps Congress—in short, a “Decree for the Protection of People and the Republic” that would, for practical purposes, end the Republic…
Article: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-s-mcelvaine/beware-a-trump-reichstag_b_14721096.html
Yep. The US must be ready to nuke any country at any time. Great thinking. Todd Young [R-IN] is a sycophant to Trump. This is really great since Putin has told his country Russians will “go to heaven as martyrs” in the event of a catastrophic nuclear conflict with the West. Do these IDIOTS Todd Young & Trump realize that nukes kill and destroy everyone and everything? They should be negotiating and stopping this increase in weapons of total destruction. Read what is the current GOP line.
……………………………………
Dear Ms. Ring,
Sincerely,
Todd Young
United States Senator
You get an automated response. No one reads your letters. Keep writing. Someone might actually pay attention.
I am deeply surprised that anyone here would be calling for limits on the First Amendment. Who would monitor and censor speech and print media and Internet as is done in China? A new arm of the government led by Kelly Ann Conway? Why would you want to give the Trump administration MORE power than it already has? He will be in power 6 more years and then Pence for 8. If you think you have oppression NOW, imagine what life would be like with a modified or absent first amendment? The first ten amendments were required by the states before they would ratify the constitution. The Bill of Rights is essential for political freedom.
No part of the Constitution is sacred. Every now and then, they need to be thought over and adjusted, if needed, to the changing environment. More and more people think, the 2nd amendment is outdated for various reasons, if for nothing else, because of today’s much more powerful weapons.
Since 1791, public speech has become a powerful weapon too. It was already dangerous in the 1920’s and 1930’s in Europe, but now its reach is out of control.
I really do not see how we can call for the control of one weapon but let another roam free.
In general, declaration of any freedom should be accompanied by an appropriate set of rules or they will be exploited. Do we have appropriate rules accompanying the freedoms of the 1st and 2nd amendments?
I saw the photo of the white van covered with Trump, Pence, CNN stickers. I wonder how long it will take for Ann Coulter and Rush L to apologize for their terribly off balance comments? HA. How long will it take for the Orange IDIOT to realize that he is causing this hatred to flare, resulting in damaging acts? That’s an even bigger HA. There is probably part of Trump that enjoys seeing a supporter work this hard. This dictator-in-waiting probably wants all the opposition to disappear in any manner possible. It works for Kim Jong Un, MbS and Putin, the people he adores.
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The connection between hateful rhetoric and terrorizing acts is glaringly obvious, but some refuse to see it By Margaret Sullivan | The Washington Post
The Trump effect is a straight line from years of his hateful rhetoric to real-world danger. It’s a line that goes directly from disrespect to pipe bomb.
And — almost inevitably — it will eventually go from failed attempt to spilled blood.
…If you can’t see it, you aren’t looking. But on Wednesday, plenty of people weren’t looking.
The news reports of bombs sent to the most frequent objects of President Donald Trump’s sustained criticism brought a torrent of nonsense. This was a false-flag operation, some charged, instigated by Trump’s enemies to bring sympathy.
Ann Coulter tweeted that bombs have been, throughout history, “a liberal tactic.”
And radio behemoth Rush Limbaugh, as quoted in HuffPost, jumped in with his view that Republicans don’t do this sort of thing, and a Democratic operative was the more likely culprit.
As usual, Trump himself projected blame everywhere but where it belongs…
There’s danger in “lock her up,” in birtherism, in retaliating against former CIA director Brennan by revoking his security clearance. There’s danger in calling reporters “the enemy of the people” and in celebrating Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte for roughing up Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs.
And the danger only grows. Last week, a Montana Republican official resigned her post after not only cheering Gianforte’s body-slam but, in remarks on a radio show, taking it an ugly step further:
“If that kid had done to me what he did to Greg, I would have shot him,” she said…
https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2018/10/25/margaret-sullivan
How horrible to have crowds chant, “Media sucks.” Trump is definitely giving power back to the people. Let’s see: tax cuts for the wealthy; DeVos who wants to kill public education; Ben Carson who wants to raise rents for poor people; putting the military on the southern border to protect us from rapists and drug dealers; using tax money to keep us safe by upping our nuclear capacity; building a Space Force to keep us safe from aliens; underfunding the EPA and wanting Wheeler to pollute the environment; cutting funding for the IRS so that I can’t get my refund check from last April; cutting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau so that it is now worthless; bowing to the NRA and wanting more guns to keep us safe; wanting cheap insurance policies that don’t cover much; raising premiums for pre-existing conditions; getting rid of Roe vs Wade; undermining unions; putting conservatives in courts to undercut our civil rights; cutting the State Department since Trump is now our official negotiator and the great goal of the GOP, which Trump would sign since he signs anything…cutting or eliminating Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
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Trump accuses media of trying to ‘score political points’ after suspect charged for mail bombs
BY CHRIS MILLS RODRIGO – 10/26/18 07:41 PM EDT
…Trump argued during a campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday night that the “media has a major role to play whether they want to or not” in repairing the civility of political discourse.
The crowd responded by chanting “media sucks.”
“The media’s constant unfair coverage, deep hostility and negative attacks only serve to drive people apart and to undermine healthy debate,” Trump continued.
The president then accused the news media of attempting to use the mail bombing case as ammunition against him and the GOP.
“We have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party,” Trump charged.
He then pointed to last year’s shooting at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Va., where the gunman targeted Republican lawmakers.
“When a Bernie Sanders supporter tried to murder congressional Republicans … we did not use that heinous attempt at mass murder for political gain because that would have been wrong,” Trump said.
“Nor do we blame the Democrat Party every time radical leftists seize and destroy public property and unleash violence and mayhem,” he said.
“Yet, the media has tried to attack the incredible Americans who support our movement to give power back to the people.”…
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/413437-trump-accuses-media-of-trying-to-score-political-points-after-suspect
Thanks, carolm. I appreciate your newsclips.
I suppose, out of “fairness,” the media should not have revealed that Cesar is a MAGA nut. Don’t show his van or his social media posts. Keep it secret.
I haven’t seen anyone mention the fact that: “Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh have suggested Democrats sent packages to … which have seen 12 pipe bombs sent to a range of figures from former president … Fox Business TV host Lou Dobbs wrote: “Fake News – Fake Bombs. … On Wednesday, after a caller said the bomb plot didn’t “pass the smell …”
“High-profile conservatives claim mail bombs are an attack by the left”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/26/pipe-bombs-false-flag-claims-ann-coulter-rush-limbaugh-conspiracy-theories
I don’t watch anything FOX. Time is precious so I don’t waste it that way.
I also don’t listen to or read Coulter or Limbaugh or any extreme right freak for that matter.
The only reason I’m aware that the Alt-Right lying, misleading, conspiracy theory media machine is spreading this FUD propaganda is because it was one of those news items that pops up as recommended reading after I log on to the internet. I never clicked the link but I didn’t forget the lead so it was easy to Google right before I wrote this comment and come up with the piece in The Guardian that shows us why deplorable Always-Trump people have a place to tune in to support their hate, their bias, and their racism.
We are what we watch, we read, and we eat. The deplorables that get their hate-bias support from the extremist Alt-Right are ugly people no matter how physically beautiful they might be. Physical beauty is only skin deep and never reveals what’s going on below that thin skin.
If given a choice between a far right liberal and an extreme right conservative, I’d rather be friends with a liberal any day and never with anyone on the extreme right, the closed minds that blaze with racism and hate.
I LOVE Borowitz!! [Remember this is satire.]
Trump Blasts Media for Reporting Things He Says
NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report)—The Republican Presidential nominee, Donald Trump, tore into the media on Thursday for what he called its “extremely unfair practice” of reporting the things he says.
“I’ll say something at a rally and I look out and see all these TV cameras taking every word down,” Trump told Fox News’s Sean Hannity. “No one in politics has ever been subjected to this kind of treatment.”
“It’s unbelievable and, frankly, very unethical,” he added…
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-blasts-media-for-reporting-things-he-says
I figured we were in trouble when Trump got a “pass” for his Putin love fest in Helsinki (following his snubs of our allies). If nothing changes in the midterm elections as a result of this ridiculously obvious example of “cause and effect”, I think we’ve got to look at this as a serious wake up call.
“LONDON (The Borowitz Report)—In an unexpected televised address on Saturday, Queen Elizabeth II offered to restore British rule over the United States of America.”
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/queen-offers-to-restore-british-rule-over-united-states
Máté Wierdl: Thanks!! I’ll TAKE the British offer. I LOVE Borowitz. I sent this to friends in Malaysia [one of whom is a Brit], Australia, Canada and of course the USA.