Back in 1995 when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, some first speculated that the grisly deed was the work of the Nation of Islam, under the direction of Louis Farrakhan. I was outraged since the allegations were baseless due to the fact members of that religion had never, not once, engaged in any kind of violent acts.
So, when some on the right took issue with my suggesting that the Nashville bombing might be — and I did say MIGHT BE — the work of a disgruntled Trumpist (which, by the way, would be a great name for a new political party), I could understand their anger, at least to a degree. But there’s a huge difference between my recent speculations and the speculations against Farrakhan 25 years ago.
There was no real or valid basis for the speculation against Farrakhan. White Americans simply hated or feared him for preaching self-defense, for proclaiming that his followers would meet white violence with violent self-defense. Strangely, many whites obviously believe that blacks are not entitled to protect themselves from attacks with equal or greater force.
However, in the case of my speculations, there are ample — indeed overwhelming — reasons to believe that the bomber might have been a Trumpist: Their failed Fuhrer has been spewing dog-whistle hatred and issuing thinly veiled calls for violence into the ears of his MAGA followers ever since he descended that escalator in Trump Tower five-and-a-half years ago. Anyone who says otherwise — who won’t acknowledge facts — is too dishonest to try to converse with.
Further, it’s a fact that some of this man’s followers have gone around the bend, moving from simple stubbornness to active violence, and their leader’s recent loss at the ballot box will perhaps push more of those already traveling though life on the edge into the yawning abyss.
These sycophants want to prove their loyalty to their leader by being just as demonic as he is. They sense their white privilege is being taken away from them, and they are at a complete loss as to how to stop or reverse this march towards equality. So of course some of them are going to resort to violence; it’s all they know. This bomber might have been a lone actor, but the next one might not be.
One responder to my post commented that it actually is writers like me who are responsible for the madness and violence emanating from the right because we write about it. If we simply shut up, it would cease to exist. Wrong. This is the same argument I’ve heard over the years about racism: If we blacks simply quit talking and complaining about bigotry it would go away. No, it would not, it just would remain underground, and the folks who make these kinds of silly suggestions know this, no matter what comes out of their mouths. They just don’t want to have conversations that make them uncomfortable. Tough shit.
But I can imagine how these defenders of madness must feel, since I probably would feel the exact same way: Deeply ashamed. These supporters of Trumpism, in their saner moments, have to be embarrassed by what their leader has done, and probably will continue to do: Attempt to burn the country down if he can’t remain in power.
There’s no getting around the fact the right is home to crazy conspiracy theorists of every ilk and stripe: From anti-maskers, to anti-vaxxers, to believers in the pedophile ring Hillary supposedly runs out of a pizza shop. I too would be embarrassed if those on the left spewed such off-the-wall views. And I haven’t even mentioned the neo-Nazi Atomwaffen, Proud Boys and other armed militia followers who propose kidnapping governors whom they disagree with politically.
These folks are Trumpists to their very core and if they are not ashamed, they should be ashamed over the fact they are not — ashamed, that is. Get that?
At the end of my previous article I stated, “I pray I’m wrong” in regards to coming man-made cataclysms. I’m going to continue to pray our nation escapes violence. Nonetheless, overwhelming circumstantial evidence — coupled with a number of arrests of would-be right-wing terrorist groups — informs me that we’re indeed in a very dangerous time in this country.
Trumpists, after throwing rocks of violent discontent at our democratic ideals, principles and institutions for four years, now want to hide their hands and claim they didn’t start this shit. But we know different, we know they did. And I for one am not going to allow them to run away from what they have done and are attempting to do to our country.
As the Spanish philosopher George Santayana stated, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I will not remain silent, and in the words of Horace Greeley “I WILL BE HEARD!”
From CoolCleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author at http://NeighborhoodSolutionsIn
2 Responses to “MANSFIELD: Nashville: A Lone Job?”
Robert
Hey Mansfield, some very good points! We really don’t know exactly what motivated the Nashville bomber. But we do know anyone who would do that had lost their grip on reality. It was bizarre, to say the least, but yes a lot of bizarre stuff is coming out of the MAGA camp and to not expect some weird and stupid shit to come from that direction would be naive. Let us pray it doesn’t get too extreme.
Richard Yost Pace
Mansfield,
I am sorry that I responded to your first article before reading this article. I understand your position, but again don’t see the facts that back up to assumption that the bomber was a “Trumpist.”
Most importantly, open, civil discussion is the best way to build (rebuild) community, even or especially when we disagree.
As always, best wishes