Nationalist in Chief

Fake Press and Immigrants:  The Pittsburgh Synagogue shooter who I don’t plan to mention by name because he isn’t deserving of any fame, though he is probably well on his way to becoming a hero and martyr of the white nationalist movement, was inspired to commit his heinous crime by the lethal combination of his rabid anti-Semitism and fear that the Tree of Life community was helping immigrants and refugees “ruin” the American way of life.  At least that’s what he posted on Gab, the social network for haters banned from posting on mainstream sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Gab is temporary offline, seeking a new web host, having just been dropped by its old host, one that suddenly found a conscience, or more likely fears the loss of business from its other users. Trump, who last week bragged about being a Nationalist, conveniently leaving out the white part, had to be pressed to strengthen his statement of concern and condemnation of the massacre by first daughter Ivanka and son in law Jared.  He is way more stressed about the possibility that the focus on Pittsburgh will cause a few more white suburban soccer moms to vote Democrat, or worse yet, cause some members of his base to stay home, than the slaughter of eleven Jews, and is already back to his old anti-press rhetoric and doubling down on his anti-immigrant policy. So yesterday, he tweeted “There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame...” For her part Kellyanne Conway extended the blame to late night comedians and their anti-religiosity.  During a rare “daily” news conference Sarah Huckabee Sanders defended Trump’s press targeting saying that he’s “not referencing all media, he’s talking about the growing amount of fake news that exists in the country, and calling that out.” And later, on Fox’s Laura Ingraham, Trump made it clear that he wasn’t targeting all the press, just the fake press, meaning the press that isn’t Fox and doesn’t criticize his actions.  He said “You have news out there that is so fake…. I watched Meet the Press this weekend, everything was so falsely put.”  Funny, I watched it too, and didn’t pick up on any of the false narrative that was so obvious to his twisted mind.  Neither did Kellyanne’s husband George Conway, yesterday he encouraged other twitter users to pile on Trump for his unwarranted criticism of journalists.  As to immigration, yesterday the administration announced that an additional 5200 active duty military troops are being sent to the Mexico border to protect the country from the onslaught of women, children and young men armed with dolls and backpacks seeking refuge and jobs in the US.  That dangerous horde, which Fox’s Laura Ingraham says is infected by HIV, measles, pertussis, rubella, rabies, hepatitis A, influenza, TB, shigellosis, syphilis, and Chagas, not to mention athletes foot and halitosis with another Fox guest tacking on leprosy, has already dwindled from 7000 to less than 3500, and if recent history is any guide, will probably be way below 1000 by the time that it reaches the border, something that won’t happen for another month or so. Five soldiers for every migrant, a little overkill don’t you think? Apparently Fox’s own Shepard Smith didn’t get the “stoke the fear” memo, instead he questioned Trump’s anti migrant tirade and Ingraham’s disease drivel saying “Tomorrow is one week before the midterm election, which is what all of this is about, there is no invasion. No one’s coming to get you. There’s nothing at all to worry about." That said, stoking fear and keeping America white remains at the top of Nationalist in Chief Trump’s agenda, Axios reports that he plans to issue an executive order that would remove the right to birthright citizenship for babies of non-citizens and unauthorized immigrants born on U.S. soil.  It’s far from certain that he has the power to do that, but then again that hasn’t stopped him before.  Another court fight looms. Also, thought the pipe bomber targeting prominent Democrats and the “fake” press has been caught the pipe bombs haven’t stopped arriving at their destinations, yesterday another one showed up at CNN Atlanta. And that’s why it’s called snail mail.  

On the Road Again:  Trump’s pre-election travel itinerary is full with visits to red states with especially vulnerable Democratic Senators.  Reports are that he’s mostly given up on maintaining control of the House but is doing his best to make sure that Republicans maintain control of and possibly increase their position in the Senate.  His performance ratings have dropped back to 40%, down from last week’s pre-Pittsburgh and pipe bomb 44%, nevertheless he still has the power to energize his base so the value of his presence in places like Florida, Missouri, and Montana can’t be understated.  It’s not clear that his presence in Pittsburgh is worth much, but as of now, he plans to squeeze in a flyby today so that he can appear to be in solidarity with the Tree of Life Synagogue families, many of whom will be attending funerals during the day and could do without his looming presence.  Pittsburgh Mayor Peduto asked him to “stay away while we are burying the dead”  adding “All attention should be on the victims, we do not have enough public safety officials to provide enough protection at the funerals and to be able, at the same time, [to] draw attention away to a potential presidential visit.”  Still Jared and Ivanka who love to attend funerals so much that they showed up uninvited to Senator McCain’s want him to go, so he will probably show up with them and an appropriately mournful Melania in tow.  Trump isn’t the only one on the road, VP Pence was off campaigning in Michigan yesterday.  Apparently all the Jewish Rabbis in the area were otherwise occupied so instead, in a misguided attempt to show sympathy for the Tree of Life victims or as an intentional slight, take your choice, Pence had his usual opening  benediction delivered by a Messianic Jews for Jesus “rabbi” who opened by invoking "God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, God and father of my lord and savior Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah, and my God and father, too." Yikes, not much more to say about that.