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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/25/the-guardian-view-on-the-us-pipe-bombs-rage-and-resistance
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| The Guardian view on the US pipe bombs: rage and resistance | The Guardian view on the US pipe bombs: rage and resistance |
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| In his novel 1984, George Orwell invented the Two Minutes Hate, whereby the residents of Oceania express their rage and vitriol towards its enemies. The daily ritual forged a powerful, even irresistible unified consciousness: “a hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness ... seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current,” he wrote. | In his novel 1984, George Orwell invented the Two Minutes Hate, whereby the residents of Oceania express their rage and vitriol towards its enemies. The daily ritual forged a powerful, even irresistible unified consciousness: “a hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness ... seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current,” he wrote. |
| More than one observer of Donald Trump’s rallies as a presidential candidate drew a comparison with those sessions when they watched his supporters chant “Lock her up! Lock her up!” about his political opponent and when he whipped up visceral anger towards the media present. Since gaining the presidency he has if anything intensified his rhetoric and praised physical violence; last week he lauded Greg Gianforte, the congressman from Montana, for violently attacking a Guardian reporter. In this poisoned political climate, it is frightening that pipe bombs were sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and other senior Democrats, as well as CNN and Trump critics including Robert De Niro. But it is almost as frightening that no one was truly surprised. Hateful and violent words not only intimidate and threaten, damaging democracy in themselves, but legitimise and inspire physical actions. | More than one observer of Donald Trump’s rallies as a presidential candidate drew a comparison with those sessions when they watched his supporters chant “Lock her up! Lock her up!” about his political opponent and when he whipped up visceral anger towards the media present. Since gaining the presidency he has if anything intensified his rhetoric and praised physical violence; last week he lauded Greg Gianforte, the congressman from Montana, for violently attacking a Guardian reporter. In this poisoned political climate, it is frightening that pipe bombs were sent to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and other senior Democrats, as well as CNN and Trump critics including Robert De Niro. But it is almost as frightening that no one was truly surprised. Hateful and violent words not only intimidate and threaten, damaging democracy in themselves, but legitimise and inspire physical actions. |
| The first victims of political violence in the Trump era were Republican: majority whip Steve Scalise and others. The shooter had volunteered for the Bernie Sanders campaign; Mr Sanders swiftly and forcefully condemned the violence. Contrast Mr Trump’s responses. When Heather Heyer was killed two months later, as she protested against a far-right rally in Charlottesville, he said there were “very fine people on both sides”. This week he denounced acts or threats of violence as an attack on democracy – but then tweeted that anger is caused by the “purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News”. He was not only victim-blaming; he was fomenting the rage already shown to be so dangerous. And he did so deliberately. | The first victims of political violence in the Trump era were Republican: majority whip Steve Scalise and others. The shooter had volunteered for the Bernie Sanders campaign; Mr Sanders swiftly and forcefully condemned the violence. Contrast Mr Trump’s responses. When Heather Heyer was killed two months later, as she protested against a far-right rally in Charlottesville, he said there were “very fine people on both sides”. This week he denounced acts or threats of violence as an attack on democracy – but then tweeted that anger is caused by the “purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News”. He was not only victim-blaming; he was fomenting the rage already shown to be so dangerous. And he did so deliberately. |
| When Mr Trump attacks the media, or Democratic politicians, or migrants making their way towards the US, as he has done from the moment he launched his presidential bid, it is not merely because such issues appeal to his base. It is because anger and loathing in themselves unify and supercharge those political forces. There are many reasons why people supported him; some abhor his cruelty. But vitriol is not just an extreme consequence of political beliefs, it is instrumental in building and mobilising rightwing populism globally. George Soros, another bomb target, has been demonised in eastern Europe. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has described refugees as “the scum of the earth”; in the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte said he would be “happy to slaughter” 3 million drug addicts. | When Mr Trump attacks the media, or Democratic politicians, or migrants making their way towards the US, as he has done from the moment he launched his presidential bid, it is not merely because such issues appeal to his base. It is because anger and loathing in themselves unify and supercharge those political forces. There are many reasons why people supported him; some abhor his cruelty. But vitriol is not just an extreme consequence of political beliefs, it is instrumental in building and mobilising rightwing populism globally. George Soros, another bomb target, has been demonised in eastern Europe. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has described refugees as “the scum of the earth”; in the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte said he would be “happy to slaughter” 3 million drug addicts. |
| In the UK too we have seen an escalation in the rhetoric of division and violence. Nigel Farage describes the prime minister’s chief Brexit adviser and British civil service as “the enemy within”. Far-right activist Tommy Robinson described the media as “enemies of the people” this week. Even after Jo Cox was shot dead by a far-right terrorist, and an alleged neo-Nazi pleaded guilty to plotting to kill her colleague Rosie Cooper, British MPs saw fit to suggest that Theresa May should “bring her own noose”. | In the UK too we have seen an escalation in the rhetoric of division and violence. Nigel Farage describes the prime minister’s chief Brexit adviser and British civil service as “the enemy within”. Far-right activist Tommy Robinson described the media as “enemies of the people” this week. Even after Jo Cox was shot dead by a far-right terrorist, and an alleged neo-Nazi pleaded guilty to plotting to kill her colleague Rosie Cooper, British MPs saw fit to suggest that Theresa May should “bring her own noose”. |
| When political opponents and the vulnerable are dehumanised and treated as enemies, no debate or compromise is possible; only destruction. Political history in the US and elsewhere is in part the history of this strain of violence. To resist we must understand its true purpose and utility. | When political opponents and the vulnerable are dehumanised and treated as enemies, no debate or compromise is possible; only destruction. Political history in the US and elsewhere is in part the history of this strain of violence. To resist we must understand its true purpose and utility. |
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