(Orange County, North Carolina, ftr. We have too many Orange Counties in this country.)
I am so god damn angry about this. The American experiment will not survive once violence becomes the norm. There is no place for this sort of shit in our country.
This is unacceptable. The BATF is working with local authorities to investigate. I assume the FBI will want in on it too. Godspeed their efforts.
A Gofundme page has been set up for donations to help the Republican office re-open. I won’t link it but a simple google search for “gofundme firebomb” will find it for you.
I’m waffling between “crazed left-wing loon” and “O’Keefian false flag action” on this one. I’m not remotely discounting the possibility that the attack was genuinely done by someone who opposed Trump because, well, crazy angry people be crazy and angry, and there’s plenty of those in any demographic. But similarly, it wouldn’t be the first time that a Republican faked an attack on themselves to try to tarnish the reputation of supporters of the Democratic candidate. Remember that woman in 2008who claimed she’d been assaulted by an Obama supporter and had “B O” scratched into her cheeks? That was in October as well, at a point when Obama was comfortably ahead.
The other thing that bothers me is the message. “Nazi Republicans get out of town or else”. If you’re pissed off enough to firebomb an office you don’t write a polite note about it; you write “NAZI SCUM FUCK OFF”. And you certainly don’t carefully write out “Republicans” when it’s already pretty clear who you’re talking about. You know who writes things like “Nazi Republicans get out of town or else”? Strawman Liberal. Really the police ought to be looking for him. Man, I hate that guy.
On the other hand, everything was spelled correctly, so that rules out Trump supporters…
I don’t think you should get to call yourself a Democrat if you support firebombing your political opponents. Democracy means letting dissenting views make it to the polling booth, not suppressing other political parties with acts of terrorism so that you can win by default.
:dubious: The American Experiment was founded on and sustained by violence. The only difference is that it’s a Republican office in NC being firebombed rather than, say, an NAACP office in Colorado.
“The American Experiment” is a phrase that refers to the regular democratic elections by which we choose our government. It proceeds in an orderly manner on the idea that power will be passed in a peaceful way based on the results of regular elections.
You’re correct that violence is a recurring part of American life but firebombing a political office is specifically an attack on the system of government that is central to America’s existence. Bombing a non-political office, even if for political motives, is not as direct a threat to our government, hence the phrase “American Experiment” doesn’t quite apply.
“Acting on an anonymous tip that the firebombing was carried out by someone with a strong dislike for Trump, police have taken approx. 231 million people into custody for questioning.”
Sorry, I was unaware this was a term of Art. Got any cites where I can read up a bit more about this specific usage, as opposed to the general usage?ETA: I’m familiar with de Tocqueville, but he doesn’t just focus on elections.
Yeah, because all of that shooting at Redcoats and lynching Tories was completely peaceful and quiet. Same with that whole Civil War thing, clearly it was called ‘civil’ because Grant and Lee traded sharply worded letters back and forth without raising their voices. And it certainly would have ended outright if any elections were violently suppressed during Reconstruction! And just imagine if a group like Weather Underground were to start bombing government offices, we’d just fall apart!
The attack is a bad thing, but the idea that it means the end of America or that it’s a change from the past is absurd. The American Experiment started with violence, has endured plenty of violence, and has worked for longer than The French Experiment, the German Experiment, or the Russian Experiment.
We don’t know anything yet, nothing, nada damn thing. But one of these dumb-ass Bozos will shoot his mouth off and be arrested by close of business tomorrow. Bet me.
