I'm going to channel my inner Stephen Colbert for a moment.
Today seven pipe bombs were discovered to have been sent to six people: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, George Soros, John Brennan, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Maxine Waters. Holder was supposed to get a bomb, but it was misaddressed, so it was sent to a fake return address belonging to Schultz.
Because these were all people that Donald Trump has insulted, sometimes viciously, and Trump has called journalists the "enemy of the people" -- Brennan's bomb was sent to CNN, where he works as an analyst -- along with calling Democrats "evil," it was great that Trump apologized at a campaign rally for his incendiary insults, vowing to moderate his tone so as not to add fuel to the fire that led to someone making and sending the bombs.
No... just kidding. Of course Trump didn't do this.
This is the sort of shtick that Colbert frequently engages in -- leading his audience to think that Trump has done something reasonable and presidential for once, then revealing that what he actually did was something quite different.
One would think that so long as Trump was going to appear at a campaign-type rally in Wisconsin tonight, he'd use that event to bring the nation together after the Democrats, and Democratic sympathizers (that's how I'd characterize Brennan, CIA Director under Obama) were targeted by the pipe bombs.
After all, earlier in the day Trump had said, “We have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message that acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America.”
Somebody else must have written that line for him, because soon after Trump was blaming the media for those threats of political violence, even though Trump bears the most responsibility for inciting violence against those he disagrees with.
MOSINEE, Wis. — President Trump blamed the media and others for incivility after a string of homemade bombs were sent to former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, former president Barack Obama and others, even as he refrained from acknowledging his own inflammatory rhetoric at a rally here Wednesday evening.
...“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 said.
In an apparent swipe at Democrats, Trump denounced those who “carelessly compare political opponents to historical villains” and who “mob people in public places or destroy public property.”
The president, who has frequently used nicknames such as “Lyin’ Ted” or “Crooked Hillary” to mock his rivals, called for those in the political arena to “stop treating their opponents as morally defective.”
Every day, it becomes more clear that an egotistical asshole occupies the White House. I really can't think of one good thing to say about Donald Trump.
He lies incessantly. He cozies up to dictators and disrespects our allies. He exhibits zero compassion. He is acting more and more like an authoritarian. He has no sense of decency. He takes pride in breaking every norm of how a president should behave.
Dana Milbank gets it right in a Washington Post column he wrote today.
What hath Trump wrought?
...Trump recently maligned all the targets of Wednesday’s attack. Thirty-six hours earlier, Trump fired up yet more “Lock her up!” and “CNN sucks!” chants. He roiled the crowd to boo “low IQ” Waters. Trump spread false conspiracy theories that Soros funded the migrant caravan and anti-Brett M. Kavanaugh protesters. After Holder said “when they go low, we kick them,” Trump threatened: “He’d better be careful what he’s wishing for.” Trump called Brennan “a total lowlife” and a “very bad guy” who “disgraced the country.”
...But one public figure’s rhetoric has been more violent than all others, and he has the biggest megaphone.
He encouraged supporters to “knock the crap out of” protesters and offered to pay attackers’ legal bills. He expressed his wish to punch a heckler in the face. He urged police not to “be too nice” to suspects. He shared a doctored video of himself attacking CNN in a wrestling match. He suggested supporters could use guns to stop Clinton judicial nominees and fantasized about Clinton’s security detail being taken away.
Most recently, Trump hesitated to criticize Saudi Arabia for Saudi operatives’ killing of Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi as the president keeps up his attacks on journalists as enemies of the people.
I'll tell you who the biggest enemy of the people actually is: Donald Trump. I can't wait for 2020 to come, so we, the people, can dump Trump.
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