Sunday, February 19, 2017

Terror in Melbourne, Florida

Last night there was a terrorist attack in Melbourne, Florida, at the airport.  The victims were decorum and truth.  The United States integrity around the world and the first amendment to the US Constitution were severely injured.  There were about 9000 witnesses who cheered on as the perpetrator stood on podium and lobbed attack after attack on reality.

Last night Donald Trump, the President of the United States held a campaign rally one month into a four year term.  The rally, an attempt to feed his need for adulation after a week of chaos and losses at the White House, seemed to be designed to attack the media and any one who has been critical of President.  In the process he continues to set up the attempt to destroy the free press.  He basically said that people shouldn't believe the press but only him.  Senator John McCain, former Republican Presidential nominee in an interview said that this is how dictators get started.

During part of the rally, President Trump referenced a terrorist attack that happened in Sweden on Friday night.  Here is the problem, there wasn't one.  The Swedish government is now asking for the White House and the US government to clarify what he was talking about.  In fact a former prime minister of Sweden asked what the US President was smoking.  This is troubling because it appears that the reason for this falsehood was that Friday night the President watched Fox News and saw a segment about a man who is documenting violence in Sweden that is blamed on some immigrants.  It appears the segment had images from the propaganda film and President Trump thought it was live.  It wasn't cleared up almost 24 hours later.  That means the President of the United States believed for an entire day that a major terror attack occurred in major ally in Western Europe and didn't have the curiosity to explore facts about it, including what the US might do to help.  Think about that, he believed that there was a terror attack on the west and he didn't even call the country to simply say "hey what can we do to help".  But he brings it up at a rally to rile up the crowd to support his ban on Muslims coming to the country.  By the way, President Trump has not said anything about one of his admirers who actually committed a terror attack about 1 hour from the US border in Canada, and the only thing that might be stopping him is that he doesn't care because the victims were Muslims.

But if this was the only one of its kind we could say something about it being a simple mistake but members of his communication team have referenced at least two non-existent terror attacks.  This President has also lied, yes lied, about the size of his crowd at inauguration, voter fraud in the election, his electoral numbers and the very notion of how his White House is operating.  He doesn't seem to care if what he says is true because most of his lies are easily checked.  But he also doesn't seem to understand is the voice of the White House is a powerful thing, that it alters the way the world operates.  It causes militaries around the world to go on alert, changes markets and can change the environment of a place, an alliance or a conflict. But it also instills a sense of distrust in reality among his supporters.  Often facts are ignored by them if their dear leader tells them to believe him and not their lying eyes.   Trump's words were not bombs, but it can inflict terror on many.  When the White House and the President are simply going to make up lies and then just blurt them out they can cause far reaching damage.  No humans died in Melbourne, but we are seeing the mass killing of reality, values and the institutions that make our country for the people, all of them.  And that is terrifying.  

No comments:

It is All a Conspiracy

 Sometimes an event could have a giant impact on the world we live in, but not have a similar cause.  A disgruntled man takes aim from a six...