Terrorism as a Feature, not a Bug

In discussions with Republican lawmakers, there is a telling quote, where the Republican leader of the state senate unequivocally states that she and her family are at risk of violence if she does not support Trump’s claims of vote fraud

We need to deal aggressively with the problem of stochastic terrorism.

This is far more corrosive to American society than anything that Osama bin Laden could have ever dreamed of:

Last week, allies of President Trump accused Republican leaders in Pennsylvania of being “cowards” and “liars” and of letting America down.

Mr. Trump himself called top Republicans in the General Assembly in his crusade to twist the arms of officials in several states and reverse an election he lost. The Pennsylvania lawmakers told the president they had no power to convene a special session to address his grievances.

But they also rewarded his efforts: On Friday, the State House speaker and majority leader joined hard-right colleagues — whom they had earlier resisted — and called on Congress to reject Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s 81,000-vote victory in Pennsylvania.

………

Kim Ward, the Republican majority leader of the Pennsylvania Senate, said the president had called her to declare there was fraud in the voting. But she said she had not been shown the letter to Congress, which was pulled together hastily, before its release.

Asked if she would have signed it, she indicated that the Republican base expected party leaders to back up Mr. Trump’s claims — or to face its wrath.

“If I would say to you, ‘I don’t want to do it,’” she said about signing the letter, “I’d get my house bombed tonight.”

It is clear that there is a large undercurrent of right-wing terrorism in US society, and it is equally clear that law enforcement has been completely penetrated by these folks. 

Dealing with this is going to be like peeling an onion, you have to do it layer by layer, and there will be lots of tears.

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