8/3/19 The Day America Realized the Price We Pay for Trump's Bigotry

In the coming days, the President and his defenders will argue that his hateful rhetoric had nothing to do with the Walmart rampage in El Paso yesterday. But Americans know better, even Trump's supporters know better this time. The killer [we will never mention his name] explained, in detail, why he thought he was acting to save America and his verbiage about protecting the nation from an "invasion" mirror the President's own words. And, most tellingly, his efforts to shield Donald Trump from blame, simply and convincingly indict the President.

The killer published his manifesto on the extremist online forum 8chan before the shooting in El Paso. It's sick and it's warped, but it also sounds like much of the white nationalist nonsense circulating among America's growing cadre of alt-right nit-wits.

The killers manifesto. Daily Kos: “In general, I support the Christchurch shooter and his manifesto.” .. “This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas. They are the instigators, not me. I am simply defending my country from cultural and ethnic replacement brought on by an invasion.”

"Ethnic replacement" is a moronic conspiracy theory favored by white nationalists, and by using the wording, "Hispanic invasion of Texas," it's fairly obvious he didn't get much out of his Texas history class, but then it gets interesting. The killer tries to inoculate the President from blame by explaining that his views predate Trump.

The killers manifesto, Daily Kos: "My opinions on automation, immigration, and the rest predate Trump and his campaign for president. I [am] putting this here because some people will blame the President or certain presidential candidates for the attack. This is not the case."

But his attempt to shield the President simply highlights his belief that Trump supports some of his warped, racist views and might face some blame for his actions. Why else include it? It's not like he felt he had to similarly insulate Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden from blame. He is a fan and sees a kindred spirit in our President, and doesn't want him to be harmed politically.

But, let's be clear; while Donald Trump may share the view that America is facing an "invasion" of Hispanic immigrants, he doesn't support the El Paso killer's actions. However, when you traffic in racism and xenophobia, you have to realize that some damaged souls will hear you and be moved to act on their worst impulses. If you broadly and continually categorize Mexicans as rapists and drug dealers, you have no right to claim later that you didn't stoke the flames of violence against them.

I think Beto O'Rourke captured it well yesterday when asked if the attack could be linked to President Trump's bigoted rhetoric about immigrants and people of color. He answered, "yes," and then continued to explain why.

CNN: "We've had a rise in hate crimes every single one of the last three years during an administration where you've had a president who's called Mexicans 'rapists' and 'criminals,' though Mexican immigrants commit crimes at a far lower rate than those born here in the country," O'Rourke said while speaking to the media after meeting with victims and medical staff at University Medical Center in El Paso. "He is a racist and he stokes racism in this country, and it does not offend our sensibilities, it fundamentally changes the character of this country and it leads to violence.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg also made a strong statement along the same lines.

Axios: "America is under attack from homegrown white nationalist terrorism."

"White nationalism is evil, and it is inspiring people to commit murder, and it is being condoned at the highest levels of the American government ... The president of the United States is condoning white nationalism. ...

Maybe it's being optimistic, but perhaps this is the day that America says, "enough" and starts to hold this President accountable for his hateful, bigoted language and twitter rants. Perhaps.

#news #altright #whitenationalism #trump

By Don & Curated Content