"American carnage" in Kenosha: Trump comes closer to advocating right-wing terror

[marmar]

"American carnage" in Kenosha: Trump comes closer to advocating right-wing terror
Trump has flirted with right-wing vigilantism for years. His re-election strategy seems to be a full-on embrace

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
SEPTEMBER 2, 2020 1:58PM (UTC)


(Salon) In the aftermath of tragedies and disasters, the country naturally turns to the president for words of reassurance. Whether it's a mass shooting or a terrorist attack or a hurricane — all events that happen more often than we'd like — the president is called upon to comfort those directly affected and bring the nation together to face whatever the aftermath might be.

Depending on your political bent, you might think of Ronald Reagan after the Challenger explosion saying, "We will never forget them as they 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'" Or maybe George W. Bush standing in the rubble of the World Trade Center or speaking at the Islamic Center of Washington six days after the attacks to quote from the Quran and declare that "Islam is peace." I think of Barack Obama singing "Amazing Grace" after the Charleston church massacre and Bill Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing, saying, "You have lost too much, but you have not lost everything. And you have certainly not lost America, for we will stand with you for as many tomorrows as it takes."

This is a big part of the job that presidents are required to perform, and certainly some are better at it than others. But no president has ever been as terrible at the task as Donald Trump. He is simply incapable of being empathetic or reassuring. He doesn't even try. Instead of trying to bring the country together in a time of almost unprecedented stress and trauma, he has decided to intensify the nation's anxiety for his own personal and political gain. If there's ever been a more cynical election strategy I can't think of it.

Trump and his campaign are making no secret of the fact that they believe protests and civil unrest will make people vote for a second term and so they are stoking the discord as much as possible. They think they can finesse his administration's disastrous response to the deadly pandemic and the resulting economic catastrophe by ginning up chaos in the streets and focusing people's attention away from the other problems in their lives and aiming their anxiety at Black Lives Matter protesters, progressives and big cities. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2020/09/02/american-carnage-in-kenosha-trump-comes-closer-to-advocating-right-wing-terror/

[dchill]

1. "Advocating right-wing terror" is Un-American Carnage.

It's anti-American and par for the course for Trumputin.

[marmar]

2. Actually, if you look at history, it's all too American.

[dchill]

3. Well, not Constitutionally, it's not.

Typically, you'll have a President who is at least appearing to abide by his oath and not looking to Russia to get elected and trying to unite the public.