All I can say is, I hope this turns out to be the only such incident between now and the election. And I hope the perpetrators are caught and prosecuted, and have the proverbial book thrown at them. Like others have said already, arson is bad shit - people get killed in fires, and fires can easily get out of hand.
And it’s past time for this election to feel like an election, and stop having overtones of the beginning of a civil war. 150+ years later, we’re still dealing with the reverberations of the last one.
You’re confusing win probabilities with the apparent quantity of voter support. For instance, a 50-43 polling average at the state level might translate into win probabilities there of 88% and 12%, respectively.
Oh, I was not talking to the average Trump supporter, but I was referring to the people on the fence or important ones. In old Germany people like Hindenburg still distrusted Hitler, but then they decided or were convinced that the fire was a good reason to let the guy with the funny mustache to run the gig.
Hillary’s side burns down buildings, though they prefer to do it as a group activity. Trump’s side likes punching minorities in the face and shooting up abortion clinics. Not enough to go on yet.
I live in the town where this happened. My jaw literally dropped when I heard about it. The Republican Party has rented office space in that complex for as long as I’ve been here with absolutely no issues whatsoever.
This is a small town of about 5,000 people, and a pretty laid-back place in general.
A few random thoughts:
**Left Hand of Dorkness’ **idea of anarchists being responsible is interesting - the ones here are strongly feminist, anti-racist and anti-capitalist, but violence really isn’t their style. Also, as far as I can tell in the photos that have been shared so far, I don’t see any anarchist tags, so if it was someone in that movement, they’re probably acting on their own. I think asahi’s idea of someone on the fringe left being responsible for this to be more likely.
The BATF has been called in to help investigate. I’m not sure that complex has surveillance cameras, though some individual businesses may. We’re definitely not accustomed to having this kind of thing happen here.
If I were Clinton (or the Democratic Party in NC), I’d be offering free use of a new building at Democratic expense first thing tomorrow.
Shows both compassion, makes nice with the opposition, and probably doesn’t cost that much, but helps repair fences. Don’t know if the Republicans would accept that offer, but it might be worth making.
The big difference is that Trump promises to pay for their legal costs if caught, and he also blames Clinton as being part of it if indirectly. Don’t see such inflamatory words coming from Clinton.
I hope this won’t effect me when I go on a train while in Downtown Chicago. I’d take a CTA train and someone will ask me: “excuse me sir, are you voting for Trump?” There was a lady in an academy I just left a week ago that was asking me that, and the worry is that because I’m a white male, I’m going to be profiled as a Trump supporter (even though I’m not- I’m independent).
I can understand that he’s the most vile since Goldwater, but there’s no need to burn offices and threaten to blow up golf courses to say you don’t like him. That’s why we have voting booths- the pen is mightier than the sword.
Shit, tell me about it! That happens to me all the time in Chicago. I usually give 'em a crosseyed confused look, and a wink. They will generally smile and wink back.
Rather than having NC Dems or the HRC campaign provide replacement space to the GOP, how about encouraging both the D’s and the R’s to chip in to cover at least the insurance deductible the actual owner of the property is now out?
From looking at Google Street View it seems this GOP office was located right between a Dance Studio an an Eye doctor’s office. The graffiti was spray painted on the side of a shop selling balloons and gifts. All of those businesses are likely to feel some impact while any investigation occurs.
I think it’s funny. All the violence seems to be on the Anti-trump side yet somehow we’ve got a board full of people attacking trump for inciting violence.