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While We Were All Diverted

By Hank Silverberg   
     
                     
It has been a brutal week. The aftermath of the shootings in El Paso and Dayton were horrible to see. The subsequent renewed debate over gun control was predictable and vitriolic. 

 Then there was the raid on those five food processing facilities in Mississippi where more than 600 people were taken into custody as suspected illegal aliens.

What we didn’t hear about, because it didn’t happen, was any indication that the companies involved in hiring the undocumented workers would be penalized in any way, since they broke the law by hiring those workers.    

And then high-profile sex offender Jeffrey Epstein died in prison where he was awaiting trial. It was determined to be a suspected suicide. The internet and social media exploded with conspiracy theories, including one retweeted by Donald Trump. Yes, the President of the United States was spreading rumors and promoting conspiracies. (You won't get me to repeat what his conspiracy was) It is reprehensible and irresponsible. No one should be surprised, since he also started the "birther" nonsense about his predecessor.  

The week has been exhausting for someone like me who has been a heavy news consumer all my life. (Even after I stopped getting paid to report it hour by hour.) 
While we were diverted by all this, there have been several other things that you may have missed.  
                          
Here are a few of them:   A report from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security Preparedness, produced earlier this year but held back from public release by the Trump administration, reveals that white supremacists were responsible for ALL race-based domestic terrorism incidents in 2018.

The report was finished back in April and distributed throughout the Justice Department and some federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, but was not released to the public or Congressional committees which had asked for such information.  It did appear on a New Jersey government website.  yhoo.it/2GVDcxKpic.twitter.com/y1KSKH0gUA   

The report says there were 32 domestic terrorist attacks, disrupted plots, threats of violence, and weapons stockpiling by individuals who had a radical political or social agenda. And it says they were NOT influenced by a foreign terrorist organization. There were 46 individuals involved, of which 25 were identified as known white supremacists. 

Those figures are not surprising to me and many other people, although they may be news to Fox News talking head Tucker Carlson. He said on his program that white supremacists were “not a real problem in the United States." Carlson has since been given a nice long vacation from his program by his employer because of advertiser backlash.    



Maybe the rich white guy, surrounded by the fantasy world that is Fox News, thinks it’s a “hoax,” but the rest of us know better. 

Also this week, some research from Clemson University has uncovered a bit of scary information about what you see on social media.

Those viral video scenes about “Taco Tammy” or “Cornerstore Caroline” showing racist rants across America by ordinary citizens towards minorities or immigrants, were spread by fake accounts connected to Russia. You have probably had one show up on your Facebook Newsfeed or your Twitter account and may have even shared them.     

 Two professors at Clemson identified more than 300 tweets from almost 30 suspicious Twitter accounts that promoted those racially tense incidents to help them go viral.  In many cases, they were retweeted or posted elsewhere 50 to 90 percent of the time. The professors say the original posts have been connected by U.S. Intelligence agencies to Russian efforts to disrupt our election and social structure. Those suspicious accounts have since been removed.



Also missed by many people, was a decision by Congressman Joaquin Castro after the shootings in El Paso to post the names of major El Paso-based Trump campaign donors in a tweet. Castro is the campaign manager for his brother Julian’s presidential campaign.

This tweet from Texas Senator Ted Cruz, which included Castro’s original tweet, is a good example of the response: 


 Some people called this “doxing,” but that’s not accurate. Doxing” usually includes the name, address and telephone number of those targeted. This list is just names and companies they run. The timing may have been insensitive, but it should be noted that all these donors and the amounts they gave are a matter of public record. If you give large sums of money to a presidential campaign, it is reported on their financial statements BY LAW along with your name. Anybody can check the statements. Reporters often do that closer to elections, when they are not distracted by horse race type  trivia. You as a citizen, by law, have a right to know who is financing presidential campaigns. ALL the candidates file the statements. 

Despite the insensitive timing, Republicans have no legitimate grievance here. Neither do the donors.

The purpose of the list, of course, is to inform the voter. If you don't like where they put the money you can either voice your concern to those people or stop patronizing their businesses so that the money you pay them doesn’t end up in the campaign war chest of a candidate you don’t like.

Economic boycotts have proven in the past to be a very effective political tool. It’s one of the reasons many companies give to both sides.


Normally, this is not a big deal. But this election is different. I’ve already started my own personal list of companies I will no longer purchase from because of their campaign contributions.  

    (Your comments and suggestions are welcome See section below) 


 ( My latest book can be purchased on Amazon.com, BN.Com or at reduced price by emailing me at  hanksilverberg@gmail.com for directions)



               





  

 


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