An “Act of Terrorism”

At times you get embarrassed to be considered part of the same species as some of our elected officials. There have been far too many of these times of late.

Recent trips to some of the cities struggling with the aftermath of police shootings have led the whitest white man in America, Mike Pence, and his benevolent benefactor, the Donald to conclude just one thing. The fires that have resulted from the back and forth of the protesters, police and bugaloo boys are acts of political terrorism. The “terrorism” has been perpetrated of course by the protesters, some of whom include known ne’er do well groups such as the “Wall of Moms”.

Let me just say, I am shocked and appalled. Has anyone ruled out the Saudia Arabian Islamic Fundamentalists who hate us for our way of life? Has anyone ruled out a rogue Boy Scout attempting to get their bonfire badge? Has anyone ruled out the local TKE fraternity? They are a well known bunch of fire starters.

Speaking of Firestarters, where was the little girl from the Stephen King novel? Has she got an alibi? Once you fly through the looking glass with the current Republican administration, anything is possible right? By defining the protests as political terrorism it opens a whole new can of worms for everybody.

If one were to Google “Political terrorism”  one would find a list of criteria that experts feel must be in place to separate political terrorism from, say, a drunk bunch of college kids. I think this definition makes an interesting distinction: “Political terrorism differs from criminal terrorism in that political terrorism usually involves efforts to influence an audience. Generally speaking, the criminal terrorist does not want a big audience.”

So a political terrorist creates an act that gains maximum exposure to his cause. Think bombing the statue of Lord Nelson by the I.R.A, the Paris Bombings or the Centennial Park bombing in Atlanta. These were huge events that were designed to get maximum coverage for the terrorist’s manifesto. Eric Rudolph would not have been satisfied with setting fire to the Pic N Pay in Murphy, N.C.

The use of the term “political terrorism” doesn’t pass the smell test, and probably everyone flaunting the term knows it. It’s been fifty years since anyone on the Left has been motivated enough about a cause to bomb anything. While the thoughts of a second term of this president are completely frightening, it doesn’t rise to the level of targeting the Danish Brotherhood Lodge in Kenosha. The fires in Kenosha are not a rallying cry for the Left, believe me.

It is political fodder for the Right, though. Now the Donald has some actual protester violence set here in America to replace the previous Ukraine footage he used in his ads. The visualization of burning cities will be used to convince his followers that the Biden campaign and the Democratic Party will lead to complete anarchy. The Donald conveniently forgets that the fires, like the Covid, occurred on his watch, and, whatever the problem, “he alone can fix it”.

If you don’t see the similarities between the Donald and the rise of some other famous white supremacist dictators, then you should read more. The Reichstag bombing would be a good place to start.