Shooting in Pittsburgh Synagogue
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6323781/Active-shooter-Pittsburgh-synagogue.html
2 cops shot
8 Dead
At least eight people have died and others are injured after a shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
The shooting occurred at the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh shortly before 10am.
The gunman, who has been described as a white man with a beard, is in custody.
According to police sources, he yelled: 'All Jews must die' before being arrested.
The antisemitic gunman killed three people on the ground level, four in the synagogue's basement and at least one other person before fleeing to the third floor where he exchanged gun fire with police before surrendering.
Three cops have been shot and it is not known what their condition is.
Saturday mornings are often the busiest in the week at the synagogue, with dozens packing in to observe the Sabbath. Others were there to attend a Bris ceremony.
There are three different congregations in the building and all were likely full, according to the synagogue's former president.
White Guy with a Beard[xx(]
2 cops shot
8 Dead
At least eight people have died and others are injured after a shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
The shooting occurred at the Tree of Life Congregation Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh shortly before 10am.
The gunman, who has been described as a white man with a beard, is in custody.
According to police sources, he yelled: 'All Jews must die' before being arrested.
The antisemitic gunman killed three people on the ground level, four in the synagogue's basement and at least one other person before fleeing to the third floor where he exchanged gun fire with police before surrendering.
Three cops have been shot and it is not known what their condition is.
Saturday mornings are often the busiest in the week at the synagogue, with dozens packing in to observe the Sabbath. Others were there to attend a Bris ceremony.
There are three different congregations in the building and all were likely full, according to the synagogue's former president.
White Guy with a Beard[xx(]
0
-
quote:Originally posted by 84Bravo1
O'Bummer, was the Chief antagonist in this arson-fest.
(And) It is President, with a Capitol P, not a sub case p.
YouTrump has been/is doing a good job. IMHO.
Obviously, YVMD.
Agree about OBama.
Agree about Trump.
Yep, OBama and his kind wanted dialogue, to hear them tell it, but once everybody and their brother began t o give it to them, they simply turned up their anger and found that it was returned in kind. Duhhhh! Racist, hate mongering, culture destroying skunks. All they want is continued head of the line privileges, destruction of the traditional American away of life and other people's money.0 -
My sister and husband (who is Jewish) live about a 5 minute walk from that synagogue, in Point Breeze. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by us55840
Given the history, have often wondered why so many Jewish people are ultra anti-gun.
Makes no sense to me[?][?]
So they can bitch about being a victim. Can't claim self defense if you don't defend yourself. Also are they the one that says "god's will"?0 -
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
obozo sure did
www.heyjackass.com0 -
Tragic event to be sure. Almost as such is the rush and near glee by certain forum members and media to politicize the event.
Guns or Politicians neither caused this.
And while some are so quick to blame our President, where were the same people when Hillary said "we won't be civil until we win" or Maxine Jackass Waters egging people on to harass GOP politicians. The hatred and vile lack of concern for individual rights and the Constitution by Corey Booker, Camila Harris Etc.?
Obama fueled racism with his failure to call a spade a spade in the Ferguson shooting. Obama failed to call terrorism by it's name for fear of offending the Muslim activists. Yet the press glorifies that traitor, leaving one to only confirm that the press is LEFT0 -
Now the Synagogue doesn't want Trumpy to come and pay his respects?
Why not.
Is it because they don't like him or do they not want to politicize this horrendous event.
No they want him to denounce White Nationalism. I never heard him promote it. I heard him promote Nationalism as in America 1st.
The story
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6327535/Pittsburgh-Jewish-leaders-say-Trump-NOT-WELCOME-visit-synagogue-11-people-killed.html
C&P
A group of Jewish people in Pittsburgh have told President Donald Trump he is not welcome in the city until he has fully denounced white nationalism.
The President told reporters on Saturday that he wants to visit the Tree of Life Synagogue where 11 members of the congregation were shot and killed.
But a group of community leaders circulated an online petition on Sunday demanding that Trump ?fully denounce white nationalism? before making his visit.
In a letter addressed to the President, the 12 Jews from the progressive group Bend the Arc accuse Trump of contributing to Saturday?s tragedy.
?For the past three years your words and your policies have emboldened a growing white nationalist movement,? the letter read.
And there you have the code word needed "PROGRESSIVE" is commie.
Every Jewish person in this country and around the world should be lining up to kiss his ass, he has done more for them than barry did in 8 years.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
By TORONTO STAR EDITORIAL BOARD
Sun., Oct. 28, 2018
Donald Trump stood at a podium on Friday and read lines off a teleprompter. Americans, he said, ?must never allow political violence to take root... And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it.?
Coming from any other president this would be spectacularly unremarkable. It?s the kind of boilerplate language any leader would be expected to utter in the wake of a serious act of political terrorism.
Coming from Trump, however, even those banal words were a lie. Far from doing ?everything in his power as president? to stop political violence, he was busy feeding the very atmosphere in which it grows. Seeing a puddle of gasoline spreading on the floor, he lights a match and casually tosses it in.
Trump has become the United States? chief political arsonist. The events of the past week, when a spate of pipe bombs were mailed to prominent political opponents of Trump and a major media organization, sadly provided yet more evidence.
It was bad enough that Trump could not help himself from going on the offence against one of the targets of the attacks, CNN, and the media in general. Far from offering sympathy or support, he chose to tweet out one of his signature slaps at the news media:
?A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News... Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!?
This is all of a piece with Trump?s attacks on the media as ?enemies of the people,? his praise for a Republican congressman who body-slammed a reporter, and his happy grin as supporters at his rallies chant ?CNN sucks!? even as the network?s headquarters are targeted.
None of this is new or even surprising. No one has demonized his political opponents more than Trump. No one has done more to create a climate of hatred, fear and mistrust. And no one has taken so little responsibility for his own actions.
Yet Trump has gone even further in the past week. Before a suspect in the bombing was arrested, his van plastered with pro-Trump stickers, the president gave credence to the bizarre theory that the bombs might actually be the work of Trump?s opponents themselves.
The idea was they might be a so-called ?false flag? operation designed to discredit Trump and Republicans in advance of the mid-term elections. It began on the fringes of the far right and quickly gained speed with the help of Trump-friendly commentators. Then the president himself weighed in with a tweet about ?this ?Bomb? stuff? ? the quote marks around ?bomb? oozing doubt that it was all anything more than a political trick.
This is worse than merely vilifying the news media, which has become background noise for Trump. He is now using the power of his office to legitimize the most poisonous types of conspiracy theories that have long lurked in the recesses of American political life.
This, too, isn?t really new. The political scientist Richard Hofstadter laid it all out more than half a century ago in a landmark book called The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and Trump has played that tune throughout his rise to power.
As Hofstadter noted decades ago, the danger doesn?t come from the few truly paranoid people who are always isolated on the fringes of society, what he called ?men with profoundly disturbed minds.? It is, he wrote, ?the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.?
One can debate whether Trump is ?more or less normal.? What is unquestionably true after the past week is that he and his allies are consciously using ?paranoid modes of expression? to give credence to any twisted narrative they believe may serve their political interests.
To do that, Trump showed he is perfectly willing to downplay the danger of bringing the threat of violence into the political arena, and just as prepared to countenance the most outlandish conspiracy theories if he thinks that will bring him political advantage.
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
Trump has been cited as using 'Dog Whistles' when referring to himself as a 'Nationalist' as everyone knows he really means 'White Nationalist'. It is garbage.
He has said many things that are provocative to be sure, but even as I dislike much of his rhetoric, he is not inciting violence and is not stoking the flames of disunity. He speaks to an audience that understands the basics of life and the human condition in a era where those that oppose him look for every imagined nuance of discord and amplify it beyond any resemblance of its issuance or of reality.
He has not called for incivility.
He has not called for people to confront the opposition in public.
He has not called for mob intimidation of all that oppose him.
Those that say he is doing these things are simply projecting their agenda upon him, and seeing in him what lurks in their dark and lifeless souls.0 -
quote:He has said many things that are provocative to be sure, but even as I dislike much of his rhetoric, he is not inciting violence and is not stoking the flames of disunity. He speaks to an audience that understands the basics of life and the human condition in a era where those that oppose him look for every imagined nuance of discord and amplify it beyond any resemblance of its issuance or of reality
Well said Don!0 -
quote:Originally posted by mjrfd99
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
obozo sure did
www.heyjackass.com
Scum of the earth... as if there was any doubt.
https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson0 -
quote:Originally posted by mjrfd99
quote:Originally posted by mjrfd99
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
obozo sure did
www.heyjackass.com
Scum of the earth... as if there was any doubt.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
quote:Originally posted by Don McManus
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
By TORONTO STAR EDITORIAL BOARD
Sun., Oct. 28, 2018
Donald Trump stood at a podium on Friday and read lines off a teleprompter. Americans, he said, ?must never allow political violence to take root... And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it.?
Coming from any other president this would be spectacularly unremarkable. It?s the kind of boilerplate language any leader would be expected to utter in the wake of a serious act of political terrorism.
Coming from Trump, however, even those banal words were a lie. Far from doing ?everything in his power as president? to stop political violence, he was busy feeding the very atmosphere in which it grows. Seeing a puddle of gasoline spreading on the floor, he lights a match and casually tosses it in.
Trump has become the United States? chief political arsonist. The events of the past week, when a spate of pipe bombs were mailed to prominent political opponents of Trump and a major media organization, sadly provided yet more evidence.
It was bad enough that Trump could not help himself from going on the offence against one of the targets of the attacks, CNN, and the media in general. Far from offering sympathy or support, he chose to tweet out one of his signature slaps at the news media:
?A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News... Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!?
This is all of a piece with Trump?s attacks on the media as ?enemies of the people,? his praise for a Republican congressman who body-slammed a reporter, and his happy grin as supporters at his rallies chant ?CNN sucks!? even as the network?s headquarters are targeted.
None of this is new or even surprising. No one has demonized his political opponents more than Trump. No one has done more to create a climate of hatred, fear and mistrust. And no one has taken so little responsibility for his own actions.
Yet Trump has gone even further in the past week. Before a suspect in the bombing was arrested, his van plastered with pro-Trump stickers, the president gave credence to the bizarre theory that the bombs might actually be the work of Trump?s opponents themselves.
The idea was they might be a so-called ?false flag? operation designed to discredit Trump and Republicans in advance of the mid-term elections. It began on the fringes of the far right and quickly gained speed with the help of Trump-friendly commentators. Then the president himself weighed in with a tweet about ?this ?Bomb? stuff? ? the quote marks around ?bomb? oozing doubt that it was all anything more than a political trick.
This is worse than merely vilifying the news media, which has become background noise for Trump. He is now using the power of his office to legitimize the most poisonous types of conspiracy theories that have long lurked in the recesses of American political life.
This, too, isn?t really new. The political scientist Richard Hofstadter laid it all out more than half a century ago in a landmark book called The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and Trump has played that tune throughout his rise to power.
As Hofstadter noted decades ago, the danger doesn?t come from the few truly paranoid people who are always isolated on the fringes of society, what he called ?men with profoundly disturbed minds.? It is, he wrote, ?the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.?
One can debate whether Trump is ?more or less normal.? What is unquestionably true after the past week is that he and his allies are consciously using ?paranoid modes of expression? to give credence to any twisted narrative they believe may serve their political interests.
To do that, Trump showed he is perfectly willing to downplay the danger of bringing the threat of violence into the political arena, and just as prepared to countenance the most outlandish conspiracy theories if he thinks that will bring him political advantage.
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
Trump has been cited as using 'Dog Whistles' when referring to himself as a 'Nationalist' as everyone knows he really means 'White Nationalist'. It is garbage.
He has said many things that are provocative to be sure, but even as I dislike much of his rhetoric, he is not inciting violence and is not stoking the flames of disunity. He speaks to an audience that understands the basics of life and the human condition in a era where those that oppose him look for every imagined nuance of discord and amplify it beyond any resemblance of its issuance or of reality.
He has not called for incivility.
He has not called for people to confront the opposition in public.
He has not called for mob intimidation of all that oppose him.
Those that say he is doing these things are simply projecting their agenda upon him, and seeing in him what lurks in their dark and lifeless souls.
Perhaps you should reflect upon the meaning of "provocative".
And while "nationalist" may carry a number of connotations, I was trying to think of those nations openly describing themselves as "nationalist" in political orientation that turned out to be a decent place for its citizens to live.
There was Nationalist China......and, then ?
'A Brief History of Time' was provocative, as was the Declaration of Independence, and Luther's translation of the Bible into German.
Perchance you would like to be specific in why you would want someone to reflect upon the meaning of a word?0 -
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
quote:Originally posted by 84Bravo1
O'Bummer, was the Chief antagonist in this arson-fest.
(And) It is President, with a Capitol P, not a sub case p.
Trump has been/is doing a good job. IMHO.
Obviously, YVMD.
Whataboutism and an erroneous grammar claim.
https://writingexplained.org/ap-style/ap-style-president
Is that the best argument you have ?
Erroneously declaring "whataboutism" while correcting someone's grammar is the ultimate in humorous hubris.[:D][:D]0 -
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
quote:Originally posted by Don McManus
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
By TORONTO STAR EDITORIAL BOARD
Sun., Oct. 28, 2018
Donald Trump stood at a podium on Friday and read lines off a teleprompter. Americans, he said, ?must never allow political violence to take root... And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it.?
Coming from any other president this would be spectacularly unremarkable. It?s the kind of boilerplate language any leader would be expected to utter in the wake of a serious act of political terrorism.
Coming from Trump, however, even those banal words were a lie. Far from doing ?everything in his power as president? to stop political violence, he was busy feeding the very atmosphere in which it grows. Seeing a puddle of gasoline spreading on the floor, he lights a match and casually tosses it in.
Trump has become the United States? chief political arsonist. The events of the past week, when a spate of pipe bombs were mailed to prominent political opponents of Trump and a major media organization, sadly provided yet more evidence.
It was bad enough that Trump could not help himself from going on the offence against one of the targets of the attacks, CNN, and the media in general. Far from offering sympathy or support, he chose to tweet out one of his signature slaps at the news media:
?A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News... Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!?
This is all of a piece with Trump?s attacks on the media as ?enemies of the people,? his praise for a Republican congressman who body-slammed a reporter, and his happy grin as supporters at his rallies chant ?CNN sucks!? even as the network?s headquarters are targeted.
None of this is new or even surprising. No one has demonized his political opponents more than Trump. No one has done more to create a climate of hatred, fear and mistrust. And no one has taken so little responsibility for his own actions.
Yet Trump has gone even further in the past week. Before a suspect in the bombing was arrested, his van plastered with pro-Trump stickers, the president gave credence to the bizarre theory that the bombs might actually be the work of Trump?s opponents themselves.
The idea was they might be a so-called ?false flag? operation designed to discredit Trump and Republicans in advance of the mid-term elections. It began on the fringes of the far right and quickly gained speed with the help of Trump-friendly commentators. Then the president himself weighed in with a tweet about ?this ?Bomb? stuff? ? the quote marks around ?bomb? oozing doubt that it was all anything more than a political trick.
This is worse than merely vilifying the news media, which has become background noise for Trump. He is now using the power of his office to legitimize the most poisonous types of conspiracy theories that have long lurked in the recesses of American political life.
This, too, isn?t really new. The political scientist Richard Hofstadter laid it all out more than half a century ago in a landmark book called The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and Trump has played that tune throughout his rise to power.
As Hofstadter noted decades ago, the danger doesn?t come from the few truly paranoid people who are always isolated on the fringes of society, what he called ?men with profoundly disturbed minds.? It is, he wrote, ?the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.?
One can debate whether Trump is ?more or less normal.? What is unquestionably true after the past week is that he and his allies are consciously using ?paranoid modes of expression? to give credence to any twisted narrative they believe may serve their political interests.
To do that, Trump showed he is perfectly willing to downplay the danger of bringing the threat of violence into the political arena, and just as prepared to countenance the most outlandish conspiracy theories if he thinks that will bring him political advantage.
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
Trump has been cited as using 'Dog Whistles' when referring to himself as a 'Nationalist' as everyone knows he really means 'White Nationalist'. It is garbage.
He has said many things that are provocative to be sure, but even as I dislike much of his rhetoric, he is not inciting violence and is not stoking the flames of disunity. He speaks to an audience that understands the basics of life and the human condition in a era where those that oppose him look for every imagined nuance of discord and amplify it beyond any resemblance of its issuance or of reality.
He has not called for incivility.
He has not called for people to confront the opposition in public.
He has not called for mob intimidation of all that oppose him.
Those that say he is doing these things are simply projecting their agenda upon him, and seeing in him what lurks in their dark and lifeless souls.
Perhaps you should reflect upon the meaning of "provocative".
And while "nationalist" may carry a number of connotations, I was trying to think of those nations openly describing themselves as "nationalist" in political orientation that turned out to be a decent place for its citizens to live.
There was Nationalist China......and, then ?
America has had a strong nationalist bent from the very beginning.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Don McManus
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
By TORONTO STAR EDITORIAL BOARD
Sun., Oct. 28, 2018
Donald Trump stood at a podium on Friday and read lines off a teleprompter. Americans, he said, ?must never allow political violence to take root... And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it.?
Coming from any other president this would be spectacularly unremarkable. It?s the kind of boilerplate language any leader would be expected to utter in the wake of a serious act of political terrorism.
Coming from Trump, however, even those banal words were a lie. Far from doing ?everything in his power as president? to stop political violence, he was busy feeding the very atmosphere in which it grows. Seeing a puddle of gasoline spreading on the floor, he lights a match and casually tosses it in.
Trump has become the United States? chief political arsonist. The events of the past week, when a spate of pipe bombs were mailed to prominent political opponents of Trump and a major media organization, sadly provided yet more evidence.
It was bad enough that Trump could not help himself from going on the offence against one of the targets of the attacks, CNN, and the media in general. Far from offering sympathy or support, he chose to tweet out one of his signature slaps at the news media:
?A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News... Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!?
This is all of a piece with Trump?s attacks on the media as ?enemies of the people,? his praise for a Republican congressman who body-slammed a reporter, and his happy grin as supporters at his rallies chant ?CNN sucks!? even as the network?s headquarters are targeted.
None of this is new or even surprising. No one has demonized his political opponents more than Trump. No one has done more to create a climate of hatred, fear and mistrust. And no one has taken so little responsibility for his own actions.
Yet Trump has gone even further in the past week. Before a suspect in the bombing was arrested, his van plastered with pro-Trump stickers, the president gave credence to the bizarre theory that the bombs might actually be the work of Trump?s opponents themselves.
The idea was they might be a so-called ?false flag? operation designed to discredit Trump and Republicans in advance of the mid-term elections. It began on the fringes of the far right and quickly gained speed with the help of Trump-friendly commentators. Then the president himself weighed in with a tweet about ?this ?Bomb? stuff? ? the quote marks around ?bomb? oozing doubt that it was all anything more than a political trick.
This is worse than merely vilifying the news media, which has become background noise for Trump. He is now using the power of his office to legitimize the most poisonous types of conspiracy theories that have long lurked in the recesses of American political life.
This, too, isn?t really new. The political scientist Richard Hofstadter laid it all out more than half a century ago in a landmark book called The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and Trump has played that tune throughout his rise to power.
As Hofstadter noted decades ago, the danger doesn?t come from the few truly paranoid people who are always isolated on the fringes of society, what he called ?men with profoundly disturbed minds.? It is, he wrote, ?the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.?
One can debate whether Trump is ?more or less normal.? What is unquestionably true after the past week is that he and his allies are consciously using ?paranoid modes of expression? to give credence to any twisted narrative they believe may serve their political interests.
To do that, Trump showed he is perfectly willing to downplay the danger of bringing the threat of violence into the political arena, and just as prepared to countenance the most outlandish conspiracy theories if he thinks that will bring him political advantage.
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
Trump has been cited as using 'Dog Whistles' when referring to himself as a 'Nationalist' as everyone knows he really means 'White Nationalist'. It is garbage.
He has said many things that are provocative to be sure, but even as I dislike much of his rhetoric, he is not inciting violence and is not stoking the flames of disunity. He speaks to an audience that understands the basics of life and the human condition in a era where those that oppose him look for every imagined nuance of discord and amplify it beyond any resemblance of its issuance or of reality.
He has not called for incivility.
He has not called for people to confront the opposition in public.
He has not called for mob intimidation of all that oppose him.
Those that say he is doing these things are simply projecting their agenda upon him, and seeing in him what lurks in their dark and lifeless souls.
It all goes back to Charlotteseville...they are still furious that Trump dared put half of the blame on ANTIFA for the violence. They demand that he blame the "white nationalists" for the entire incident, and when Trump refused to do that they started this nonsense that he didn't condemn white supremacy with enough vigor.
They've dying to find any possible thread to link his blonde hair, and national pride to Hitler.0 -
quote:Originally posted by shilowar
quote:Originally posted by Don McManus
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
By TORONTO STAR EDITORIAL BOARD
Sun., Oct. 28, 2018
Donald Trump stood at a podium on Friday and read lines off a teleprompter. Americans, he said, ?must never allow political violence to take root... And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it.?
Coming from any other president this would be spectacularly unremarkable. It?s the kind of boilerplate language any leader would be expected to utter in the wake of a serious act of political terrorism.
Coming from Trump, however, even those banal words were a lie. Far from doing ?everything in his power as president? to stop political violence, he was busy feeding the very atmosphere in which it grows. Seeing a puddle of gasoline spreading on the floor, he lights a match and casually tosses it in.
Trump has become the United States? chief political arsonist. The events of the past week, when a spate of pipe bombs were mailed to prominent political opponents of Trump and a major media organization, sadly provided yet more evidence.
It was bad enough that Trump could not help himself from going on the offence against one of the targets of the attacks, CNN, and the media in general. Far from offering sympathy or support, he chose to tweet out one of his signature slaps at the news media:
?A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News... Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!?
This is all of a piece with Trump?s attacks on the media as ?enemies of the people,? his praise for a Republican congressman who body-slammed a reporter, and his happy grin as supporters at his rallies chant ?CNN sucks!? even as the network?s headquarters are targeted.
None of this is new or even surprising. No one has demonized his political opponents more than Trump. No one has done more to create a climate of hatred, fear and mistrust. And no one has taken so little responsibility for his own actions.
Yet Trump has gone even further in the past week. Before a suspect in the bombing was arrested, his van plastered with pro-Trump stickers, the president gave credence to the bizarre theory that the bombs might actually be the work of Trump?s opponents themselves.
The idea was they might be a so-called ?false flag? operation designed to discredit Trump and Republicans in advance of the mid-term elections. It began on the fringes of the far right and quickly gained speed with the help of Trump-friendly commentators. Then the president himself weighed in with a tweet about ?this ?Bomb? stuff? ? the quote marks around ?bomb? oozing doubt that it was all anything more than a political trick.
This is worse than merely vilifying the news media, which has become background noise for Trump. He is now using the power of his office to legitimize the most poisonous types of conspiracy theories that have long lurked in the recesses of American political life.
This, too, isn?t really new. The political scientist Richard Hofstadter laid it all out more than half a century ago in a landmark book called The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and Trump has played that tune throughout his rise to power.
As Hofstadter noted decades ago, the danger doesn?t come from the few truly paranoid people who are always isolated on the fringes of society, what he called ?men with profoundly disturbed minds.? It is, he wrote, ?the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.?
One can debate whether Trump is ?more or less normal.? What is unquestionably true after the past week is that he and his allies are consciously using ?paranoid modes of expression? to give credence to any twisted narrative they believe may serve their political interests.
To do that, Trump showed he is perfectly willing to downplay the danger of bringing the threat of violence into the political arena, and just as prepared to countenance the most outlandish conspiracy theories if he thinks that will bring him political advantage.
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
Trump has been cited as using 'Dog Whistles' when referring to himself as a 'Nationalist' as everyone knows he really means 'White Nationalist'. It is garbage.
He has said many things that are provocative to be sure, but even as I dislike much of his rhetoric, he is not inciting violence and is not stoking the flames of disunity. He speaks to an audience that understands the basics of life and the human condition in a era where those that oppose him look for every imagined nuance of discord and amplify it beyond any resemblance of its issuance or of reality.
He has not called for incivility.
He has not called for people to confront the opposition in public.
He has not called for mob intimidation of all that oppose him.
Those that say he is doing these things are simply projecting their agenda upon him, and seeing in him what lurks in their dark and lifeless souls.
It all goes back to Charlotteseville...they are still furious that Trump dared put half of the blame on ANTIFA for the violence. They demand that he blame the "white nationalists" for the entire incident, and when Trump refused to do that they started this nonsense that he didn't condemn white supremacy with enough vigor.
They've dying to find any possible thread to link his blonde hair, and national pride to Hitler.
Right on target.0 -
quote:Originally posted by shilowar
quote:Originally posted by Don McManus
quote:Originally posted by Barzillia
By TORONTO STAR EDITORIAL BOARD
Sun., Oct. 28, 2018
Donald Trump stood at a podium on Friday and read lines off a teleprompter. Americans, he said, ?must never allow political violence to take root... And I am committed to doing everything in my power as president to stop it.?
Coming from any other president this would be spectacularly unremarkable. It?s the kind of boilerplate language any leader would be expected to utter in the wake of a serious act of political terrorism.
Coming from Trump, however, even those banal words were a lie. Far from doing ?everything in his power as president? to stop political violence, he was busy feeding the very atmosphere in which it grows. Seeing a puddle of gasoline spreading on the floor, he lights a match and casually tosses it in.
Trump has become the United States? chief political arsonist. The events of the past week, when a spate of pipe bombs were mailed to prominent political opponents of Trump and a major media organization, sadly provided yet more evidence.
It was bad enough that Trump could not help himself from going on the offence against one of the targets of the attacks, CNN, and the media in general. Far from offering sympathy or support, he chose to tweet out one of his signature slaps at the news media:
?A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News... Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST!?
This is all of a piece with Trump?s attacks on the media as ?enemies of the people,? his praise for a Republican congressman who body-slammed a reporter, and his happy grin as supporters at his rallies chant ?CNN sucks!? even as the network?s headquarters are targeted.
None of this is new or even surprising. No one has demonized his political opponents more than Trump. No one has done more to create a climate of hatred, fear and mistrust. And no one has taken so little responsibility for his own actions.
Yet Trump has gone even further in the past week. Before a suspect in the bombing was arrested, his van plastered with pro-Trump stickers, the president gave credence to the bizarre theory that the bombs might actually be the work of Trump?s opponents themselves.
The idea was they might be a so-called ?false flag? operation designed to discredit Trump and Republicans in advance of the mid-term elections. It began on the fringes of the far right and quickly gained speed with the help of Trump-friendly commentators. Then the president himself weighed in with a tweet about ?this ?Bomb? stuff? ? the quote marks around ?bomb? oozing doubt that it was all anything more than a political trick.
This is worse than merely vilifying the news media, which has become background noise for Trump. He is now using the power of his office to legitimize the most poisonous types of conspiracy theories that have long lurked in the recesses of American political life.
This, too, isn?t really new. The political scientist Richard Hofstadter laid it all out more than half a century ago in a landmark book called The Paranoid Style in American Politics, and Trump has played that tune throughout his rise to power.
As Hofstadter noted decades ago, the danger doesn?t come from the few truly paranoid people who are always isolated on the fringes of society, what he called ?men with profoundly disturbed minds.? It is, he wrote, ?the use of paranoid modes of expression by more or less normal people that makes the phenomenon significant.?
One can debate whether Trump is ?more or less normal.? What is unquestionably true after the past week is that he and his allies are consciously using ?paranoid modes of expression? to give credence to any twisted narrative they believe may serve their political interests.
To do that, Trump showed he is perfectly willing to downplay the danger of bringing the threat of violence into the political arena, and just as prepared to countenance the most outlandish conspiracy theories if he thinks that will bring him political advantage.
Far from using his power as president to stop violence from taking root, he is cultivating the soil in which it grows.
Trump has been cited as using 'Dog Whistles' when referring to himself as a 'Nationalist' as everyone knows he really means 'White Nationalist'. It is garbage.
He has said many things that are provocative to be sure, but even as I dislike much of his rhetoric, he is not inciting violence and is not stoking the flames of disunity. He speaks to an audience that understands the basics of life and the human condition in a era where those that oppose him look for every imagined nuance of discord and amplify it beyond any resemblance of its issuance or of reality.
He has not called for incivility.
He has not called for people to confront the opposition in public.
He has not called for mob intimidation of all that oppose him.
Those that say he is doing these things are simply projecting their agenda upon him, and seeing in him what lurks in their dark and lifeless souls.
It all goes back to Charlotteseville...they are still furious that Trump dared put half of the blame on ANTIFA for the violence. They demand that he blame the "white nationalists" for the entire incident, and when Trump refused to do that they started this nonsense that he didn't condemn white supremacy with enough vigor.
They've dying to find any possible thread to link his blonde hair, and national pride to Hitler.
The claims of Trump being a racist pre-date Charlottesville. Trump made a correct statement following Charlottesville that there were good people on both sides of the divide. There were. There continue to be good people on both sides of the Flag and Monument question. While I disagree with those who would deny history and work to remove the monuments dedicated to those who fought for self-determination in the 1860s, I also understand that there are those amongst them who are motivated by positive intentions.
Likewise, the radical left needs to understand that those of us who believe in the acceptance and reality of history look at the Battle Flag and a statue of RE Lee (as an example) not as symbols of oppression, but as symbols of the last great battle for self-determination on this continent.
We do not celebrate slavery. We abhor the concept of slavery. We also abhor the concept that in a mere 85 years, the ringing truths of our Declaration of Independence were tossed asunder for largely economic reasons.0 -
The recent BIG KICKER was Charlottesville. No doubt about it. 0 -
What happened to Montana Joe and his page two reminder?! I always enjoyed that! 0 -
quote:Originally posted by kimi
What happened to Montana Joe and his page two reminder?! I always enjoyed that!
Some one made some nasty comments about him doing that, don't know if that was why but the timing is about the same. Might have been in the P3 thread. Don't remember exactly, just remember it was a childish criticism of MJ, out of the blue and never gave it another thought until now.0 -
quote:Originally posted by mag00
quote:Originally posted by kimi
What happened to Montana Joe and his page two reminder?! I always enjoyed that!
Some one made some nasty comments about him doing that, don't know if that was why but the timing is about the same. Might have been in the P3 thread. Don't remember exactly, just remember it was a childish criticism of MJ, out of the blue and never gave it another thought until now.
Unreal that someone would say such about Joe. Joe's page 2 comment reminded me of Paul Harvey each and every time. Loved it and hope Joe continues his winning ways back to us with 'Page 2'!0
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