The Big Question

It sure is tempting to make a big deal about the latest Truth Social rant by Trump, in which he shared a video of his lapdog Lindsey Graham on a Fox News Sunday show threatening “riots in the streets” if Trump is indicted.  It’s just as tempting, or even more tempting, to raise a ruckus about a YouTube video of members of a white supremacist militia, the Patriot Front, going through training with riot shields that looks a whole lot like preparing for the kind of assault on a government building we saw on January 6, 2021.  And then there is the poll from YouGov and The Economist released last Friday that found that 43 percent of our fellow Americans think that a civil war is at least somewhat likely during the next ten years.  Among responders calling themselves “strong Republicans,” 54 percent felt that a civil war is coming.

What are we supposed to make of this story just posted by Rolling Stone headlined:  Trump Woke Up and Went on a 60-Post, QAnon-Fueled Social Media Spree?  Yes, you read that right:  According to Rolling Stone, “Former President Donald Trump spent Tuesday morning feverishly sharing content from supporters on his social media platform Truth Social, posting or re-posting more than 60 times since early Tuesday morning, including content from QAnon accounts and the far-right message board 4chan.  In the face of a DOJ probe over his post-presidency handling of classified documents, Trump has sought reassurance from his most loyal followers, including accounts like “Patriotic American Alpha Sauce” and “ULTRA-MAGA 4LIFE” who post memes lauding the former president.”

So, I guess the Big Question we should be asking is how seriously should we take all the talk about political violence that has sprung up suddenly over the past five days?  I mean, a poll is just a poll, and there’s an old saying that you can get a plurality of Americans to agree with a statement that the sun is unlikely to come up tomorrow morning.  But it is difficult to dismiss something like this:

Owen Morgan (Telltale) @telltaleatheist

leaked patriot front video shows the members training for war