Finally, we heard Trump denounce race-based hatred, white nationalism, today. However, we can never forget or forgive the fact that Trump disbanded the DHS Domestic Terrorism Unit last April.
From the Daily Beast’s report last April:
In the wake of this move, officials said the number of analytic reports produced by DHS about domestic terrorism, including the threat from white supremacists, has dropped significantly. People in and close to the department said this has generated significant concern at headquarters.
“It’s especially problematic given the growth in right-wing extremism and domestic terrorism we are seeing in the U.S. and abroad,” one former intelligence official told The Daily Beast.
The group in question was a branch of analysts in DHS’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A). They focused on the threat from homegrown violent extremists and domestic terrorists. The analysts there shared information with state and local law enforcement to help them protect their communities from these threats.
Okay, let’s you and I deal with a couple caveats right off the bat, but bring it around to Trump anyway.
First, this was the Department of Homeland Security’s unit, not the FBI’s, and there is no doubt at all that the FBI continued to monitor domestic terrorism. They more likely would tell the president to go f-himself before they ever disbanded a unit dedicated to such a law enforcement threat. Indeed they are the ones who have been producing reports about domestic terrorists all along, even when Trump didn’t like their reports.
But even with the FBI studying these groups, it is highly doubtful that they shared their intelligence with local law enforcement to the degree that DHS did. It is in the FBI’s DNA to keep their own intelligence secret from just about everyone. These are the people, after all, who decided to investigate Trump as a possible threat to this nation. They kept that lid tight, too.
Second, nowhere in the story is there any evidence that Trump actually ordered the DHS Unit disbanded. He did not issue a formal order. Of course, no president would ever issue a formal order like that because the next attack would be blamed squarely upon that president.
However, we know that Trump micromanages to the point of mental illness, and there is not a chance in hell that the secretary of DHS would disband that unit without being told to disband that unit, or that person would be the one that received all blame during the next attack.
Thus, with those two possible caveats dismissed, we can state that Trump unequivocally disbanded this unit because he wanted it easier for white nationalist groups to operate. He likely doesn’t want them to kill, but he likely wants them to fester, to bring more people in, because he can then be their champion. He need not say a thing beyond “What’s wrong with nationalism?”
Of course, “what is wrong with nationalism” is the fact that these groups’ raison de’ etre is to elevate the white race above others, in the name of “saving” their country.
This nation has a long way to go with respect to civil rights. However, until Trump, this nation made progress. We allow gays to marry. We elected a black president. We may damn well elect a woman president this time, instead of one just getting “more votes” like last time.
But one candidate promised to make “America great again.” Just like “nationalism,” the implicit meaning is that America was once great, prior to all these programs lifting up the previously marginalized.
Never doubt that Trump truly does want to bring those days back. He just doesn’t want to lose political power in doing it. He noted today that “white nationalism” is not okay. He only came around to it because he needs to appease suburban moms who want to believe America is making progress. He ordered the unit disbanded in order to appease those very groups, collecting their votes, too.
It is always about Trump, never forget.
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Peace, y’all, we’re going to need it.
Jason
This is most worrying. I see a number of posts and blogs decrying stochastic terrorism, suggesting we shut down the public discourse between white nationalists and the little minds they intend to subvert. I recall back a few years when many wanted to see holocaust denial made illegal as it is in many European countries. I argued that is a bad idea and I feel the same today. Yes, rah rah the 1st amendment, but more importantly, let these folks focus a big spotlight on themselves so we can observe them. This allows law enforcement to observe and analyze potential threats and act on them. We need this now more than ever.
Our main threat is our Mindless Bleater. It would seem these acts of terrorism are his end game. Maybe his is the voice that needs sup[ressing, puppet master of these rogue agents. I have been revisiting the events 25 years past in Rwanda, noticing too numerous parallels. How was a whole country primed to murder over a million of their neighbors on a word from their leader? The tension had been carefully built and the atrocity was committed not solely by militias, but by average citizens. It takes some amazing brain washing to get a civilian population to brutally club or machete their fellows in such a bloodbath.
I don’t know what the answer is, but I do see this murderous trend is being enabled and fed from the top. It is clearly the will of our President and his supporters. Those who fail to support his objectives are as vulnerable as the main targets. He is shutting down any structure that might prevent this carnage. We need to realize how bad it can get and act swiftly in our own interest.
White Nationalism is a phony name. Call it what it is – WHITE SUPREMACY.
I can go with either one. To me, white nationalism invoke fascism more, and militancy too. The race hatred is inherent. But I recognize your point too. So, in some ways I think it is a wash. But that is just my opinion.