May 10, 2020: Hate, Stupidity, and QAnon

 

5/10/20: Hate crimes aimed at Asian-Americans have spiked. Since the start of the health crisis, with rising hate fueled in part by Trump’s insistence that we call this the “China virus,” there have been 1,200 crimes directed against Asian-Americans because of race. Victims include people of Japanese, Vietnamese, and Filipino ancestry. 

Because: racists tend to be stupid, even when choosing targets for attack.

 

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Hate, stupidity and QAnon go together.

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One is reminded of a spike in hate crimes against Sikhs, after Trump spent the early days of his presidency warning that all Muslims were potential terrorists. Sikhs, of course, aren’t Muslim. 

As Time notes the crimes have often been heinous. An Asian-American New Yorker had acid thrown in her face. A California high school student was beaten badly and sent to the hospital. An enraged shopper at a Texas Sam’s Club stabbed three patrons – including two children, ages 2 and 6 – because, he shouted, they were “Chinese and infecting people with the coronavirus.” Two of his victims were left in critical condition.

 

None of this should surprise. We knew from the moment Trump announced he was running for office, that he was going to stir hate and fear whenever it suited his purposes. His initial target was Mexican “rapists” and “murderers.” Then he moved on to Muslims. Then it was dark-skinned immigrants from “shithole” countries like Haiti and Nigeria. Neo-Nazis came to believe Trump was speaking a language similar to their own. Many, like Richard Spencer, adopted Donald as the champion of their cause. 

Now, as a haters’ “bonus,” the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has announced that anti-Semitic incidents increased by 12% last year, reaching a new high in 2019. Yearly incidents: 

2016:  1,266

2017:  1,986 (a 57% increase during Trump’s first year in office)

2018:  1,879

2019:  2,107

 

One modern driver of anti-Semitism is QAnon, a conspiracy theory which rose in step with the rise of Donald J. Trump. 

According to the ADL: “Fundamentally, the theory claims that almost every president in recent American history up until Donald Trump [emphasis added] has been a puppet put in place by a global elite of power brokers hell bent on enriching themselves and maintaining their Satanic child-murdering sex cult.” 

Hillary Clinton was purportedly a member of the “Deep State,” which is also referred to as “The Cabal.” That word is derived from the word “cabala,” a mystical Jewish tradition, making the anti-Semitic roots of QAnon clear. Many of the “leaders” of the purported plot are prominent Jews, including George Soros. These liberal elites are said to  control “the banking system, the Catholic church, the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries, the media and entertainment industry; all working around the clock to keep the people of the world poor, ignorant and enslaved.” Now, even the global pandemic is said to be the work of this satanic crew.

 

Who, then, will break up the ring, bring its leaders to justice, and save us all? Well, “all,” not counting Catholics, Muslims, and Jews, and immigrants with darker pigmentation than most Trump fans. 

Donald J. Trump!  

By one count, at least 40 candidates for state or federal office, including several running for Congress, were sympathetic to QAnon. A number of those fools were defeated in the primaries, but they included: 1 Libertarian, 1 Independent, 1 Democrat and 37 members of the GOP. 

My favorite might be C. Wesley Morgan, a longshot for a seat in the U.S. Senate, shown here with:

Morgan and Trump.

  

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WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS tell reporters that the message this week will be one of hope. Testing is now sufficient to meet state’s needs. “The secondary message will be the American people can have confidence as they begin to go back out into the public square,” says one Trump aide. “We will have governors in to highlight their safe reopen plans. We’ll also highlight private-sector efforts to get the country to reopen safely.” 

See, it’s all good!

 

BLOGGER’S NOTE: That same day, 1,107 Americans died from COVID-19. By June 21 the toll does decline, bottoming out at a still-fearful 397 deaths in one day. By August 11, however, we will peak a second time, averaging 1,161 deaths per day. And in November, the worst stretch of all will still be ahead.