If you’ve been around here at all you know I spent the last 20+ years of my life as a sixth grade teacher. I started my teaching career late in my working life and, apparently, that allowed me to end up being a mentor to many young teachers as my experience in the classroom grew. (For much of the latter part of my career I was the “most experienced” adult in the building) One thing I tried to make clear to younger teachers was the importance of virtually EVERY word that would come from his/her mouth each day in the classroom. As the teacher you have NO idea what each student experienced at home that day, that week, that month or, for that matter, in their lifetimes while your WORDS are finding a resting place in their minds. The possibility would always exist you could set a student “off” with your WORDS and which would cause people to react by wondering “what just happened?”
I say this because what we’ve seen in the past week in American politics is the result of careless words spoken with one intention are resulting in violence and tragedy. WORDS matter! Of course, I’m talking about how Trump’s hate speech has penetrated the minds of two vulnerable, seemingly pathetic, and now considered disgusting people who interpreted Trump’s HATE speech as a “call to arms.” One man responded to Trump’s attacks on various democrats along with CNN by sending (I believe) 14 pipe bombs aimed at two former presidents (Obama and Clinton), two former intelligence officials (Brennan and Clapper), CNN and a bunch of others (Including George Soros – a favorite rhetorical “punching bag” of the right wingers in America)
The worst part of all this is what happened in Pittsburgh in a Jewish Synagogue a few short blocks from my brother-in-law’s home where I stayed for a couple of months last year. 11 people were MURDERED while worshiping in their Synagogue along with several others wounded – which included 4 police officers who were attempting to stop the carnage. These MURDERS were the work of a right wing zealot who took Trump’s words about the “caravan” of refugees headed North in Southern Mexico literally.
Trump referred to this “caravan” as an ATTACK on our Southern border – an “invasion.” Well, the man who MURDERED the 11 Jews in Pittsburgh responded to those words on Social Media as if he was “all in” in the fight against these people Trump refers to as “dangerous” – some “MS13 gang members, Middle Eastern terrorists” who represent a threat to America. This deranged MURDERER took it upon himself to start killing Jews because HIAS (the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society), which has been helping immigrants since the 1880’s is, apparently, affiliated with this Synagogue, and he (the MURDERER) was quoted as saying he needed to KILL “as many Jews as possible.” His last posting on his social media feed said, “Screw the optics, I’m going in” – as if he was a “freedom fighter.”
Of course, Trump’s “mouthpiece,” Sarah Sanders, seemed offended that anyone would possibly connect this guy’s actions with Trump’s words. But, as I used to tell my teaching associates, WORDS MATTER! There’s no way for Trump to just shrug off any culpability in these MURDERS. Of course, he didn’t ORDER the guy to do this, but, as I’ve said, WORDS MATTER! And, undoubtedly, Trump’s words were a catalyst for these murders. Sadly, Trump is so unhinged and calloused to all this that he was back out spewing the same WORDS soon after this happened – and, he’s PROUDLY claiming he’s going to “tone up” the rhetoric in response to being asked if he would now “tone it down.” This is his reflex reaction. Apparently, Trump’s only regret in all this is that it “slowed momentum,” regarding his HATE speech.
And, of course, there was MORE – and, other “stuf,f” which would have been huge news in “another other day” doesn’t even “move the needle.” While people were looking for the MAGA bomber, a Trump supporter (another MURDERER) was attempting to break into a Black Church in Kentucky which had about 10 people inside. Fortunately, the doors were locked and he was unable to get inside so he took off for a nearby supermarket where he randomly killed TWO African Americans – a man and a woman – indiscriminately, then taking off before being captured shortly thereafter. The connection to Trump is not as clear in this instance, but clearly another HATE crime on top of the other high profile HATE crimes of the past couple of weeks. All while Trump is busy GINNING up his “base” with absurd LIES about a group of asylum seekers who may or may not make it to the U.S. border in a month or two. They’re 1000 miles away, they’re WALKING, and it’s mostly women and children – fleeing violence and poverty in their native countries.
Trump and many of his supporters are having difficulty “digesting” that America is a nation of immigrants. And, America has two sides to her history. There’s, for sure, a good side – but, many – especially those who’ve enjoyed “white privilege” for years – don’t want to acknowledge America’s “dark side.” If you’re not a student of history I don’t want this to be a history lesson, but the reality is that MOST of us came from somewhere else at some point in the history of our families. And, even those who are “Native American” immigrated to America from Asia – it’s just they got here a REALLY long time ago. They had been here for THOUSANDS of years before the European “invasion” which led to the destruction of many native tribes. A couple of the “black marks” would be the genocide of the Native American people’s and, of course, the issue of slavery.
In fact, it’s very likely the heritage of the African Americans MURDERED in Kentucky goes WAY back farther than the white racist who MURDERED them – likely thinking they were some kind of threat to him. Sadly, the election of President Obama brought a plethora of racists out from “under the rocks” and, of course, Donald Trump used that as his “bridge” to the “White House.” Having an overt racist in the “White House” is not new to America, it’s just that many, including myself, thought we were “past that” with the election of President Obama. Clearly, I was wrong – which I recognized soon after Obama took the oath of office – as I observed the so-called “Tea Party” – a group which, to this day, refuses to acknowledge the roots of their movement.
The “Tea Party” will claim they formed as a result of the TARP bailouts, but that’s about as disingenuous as it gets. If you saw the signs at the “Tea Party” rallies, they were motivated by racial hatred aimed at Barack Obama. This was “white America” realizing they were soon to be a “minority” part of America. Our “liberal media” was, apparently, willing to ignore the racist signs and words at the “Tea Party” rallies and believe the LIE they were formed because of the bailouts. Of course, if that was actually true, they would have affiliated themselves with the democratic party because the TARP bailouts were the work of Henry Paulsen and George W Bush – as the Bush/Cheney regime had orchestrated a financial crisis which easily could have been another “Great Depression.”
At that moment in our history, the republican party was in “tatters.” Bush/Cheney had LIED America into two intractable wars that, for people like me, brought back memories of Viet Nam – only, this became worse because, well, we’re still there 17 years later. Not only were we dealing with STUPID wars, we were dealing with “leaders” who SHOULD have been facing WAR CRIMES charges for authorizing TORTURE, and they’d run the economy “off the cliff.” How bad was the economy? Well, our “free market” republicans offered $700 BILLION of taxpayer money to Wall Street. Supposedly, this is what riled up the “Tea Party.” Well, the republican party was in such a bad way they were willing to “latch on” to this racist based movement because, well, what else could they do? They needed someone – and, the “Tea Party” was willing to say anything at anytime – regardless of the veracity. Perfect for republicans.
This is the same way republicans latched on to Donald Trump. You see they, what I (and many others) call the puppet masters – those surreptitiously “pulling the strings” out of the limelight – those with all the money, often referred to as the “top 1% – are all about “winning.” At all costs – “the end justifies the means.” “Republicans” have wavered from “never Trump” to cowering to Trump based on “winning.” It should be interesting to see how they respond should the “mid-terms” bring a result they don’t like. Trump clearly represents the “Tea Party” faction which has been a “headache” for traditional republicans since the Bush/Cheney time. What will happen if they start “losing?”
A couple weeks ago Trump declared himself a “Nationalist” (like Hitler, Stalin, Putin, etc.) in front of a doting audience which either didn’t understand what that means or were “on board” with having a president who wears his racism like a medal on his lapel. There are cells of “White Nationalist” all across America – I still remember Chuck Norris, famously of “Walker Texas Ranger,” pointing this out shortly after President Obama took his oath of office – and, they are, by and large, armed to the hilt. The man who MURDERED the 11 Jews in Pittsburgh had a cache of 10 weapons ranging from the AR15 he used in the attack to a shotgun in his car. He had more weapons than a “hunter” could use in a season, without reloading. And, every time there’s a mass shooting and you hear “gun control” in the news, assault weapons fly off the shelves of the gun dealers.
I say this because a good friend of mine, who I haven’t been able to sway from being a Trump supporter, has predicted to me “there’s going to be a civil war.” I never ask him to elaborate – mainly because the idea is anathema to me – but, when I think about it, the Trump rhetoric is likely designed to cause all these “cells” of right wing “patriots” to reject ANY finding by Robert Mueller that might suggest Trump shouldn’t be our so-called president. Like, for instance, if he actually DID “collude” with the Russians. As the “evidence” unfolds, it’s becoming more and more likely that’s where Mueller is headed. Of course, a finding of “obstruction of justice” would only be surprising to me if it WASN’T part of Mueller’s report. I believe there was “collusion” (which is actually, in this instance, TREASON) but we have to wait for all the evidence.
The latest reports are that Roger Stone was relaying the information “Wiki Leaks” published at strategic points of the 2016 campaign to the Trump surrogates – which may have included Steve Bannon. I’ve said all along, it appears to me it’s likely there’s a connection between Cambridge Analytica (Bannon) and the Russians. Someone had to be helping the Russians strategically “target” their messaging and it was Cambridge Analytica who STOLE the “data” of over 50 MILLION Facebook users – and, if you remember correctly, it was Facebook the Russians used to peddle their divisive propaganda. My point? Well, I believe there’s a good possibility Trump has serious legal jeopardy and he’s verbally preparing his “base” who believes anything he says – “there’s no collusion.”
And, they’re armed to the hilt and we can see from several examples in Trump’s first couple of years all he cares about is Trump. I believe Trump KNOWS how these people (often referred to as the “alt right”) will respond to his demise should it happen and he not only does not care, he’s encouraging it. Again, his only regret about his words that set off the Pittsburgh MURDERER is that it “slowed the momentum” of his furious campaign in an attempt to fool republicans into voting for “him.” As he’s said, in the Mid Terms “a vote for republicans is a vote for me.” He’s NERVOUS about having a democratic House – that will ACTUALLY investigate the “Russia Thing.” That’s exactly why I (and MILLIONS of others) say, a vote for Democrats is a vote to save our republic!
Trump continues to act like a Mafia boss and any violence involved in “protecting” him is simply, in his mind, collateral damage. Trump is the result of an ugly side of America and her history. Getting rid of him will be the result of, what some have referred to as, America’s “better angels.” “We the people” have an opportunity to make an in process “correction” in the Mid Term election next week. There’s a lot to learn from what has happened in the last 2+ years and, my hope, is that younger progressive leaders will emerge and they are eager to lead honorably. As Trump, himself, has said may times, “We’ll see………………”
Final Thought: May God Bless all those people in Pittsburgh who quietly protested Trump’s visit after the Murders along with all those who are mourning the tragic deaths which resulted from HATE speech that should have no place in America. My prayer is America will reject Trump and what he stands for so that we can lead a rejection of this “nationalism” before it spreads to far across Europe and other parts of the world.