Domestic Terrorism: The Real National Emergency

by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist

This past week a military officer, Coast Guard Lieutenant Christopher Paul Hassan, was arrested in his small basement apartment in the Maryland suburbs of our nation's capital.  When agents of the federal government kicked in his door, they discovered not only a large cache of weapons and ammunition, but also writings that documented his extremist right-wing views as well as a "hit list" of journalists and Democratic politicians.

Hassan, a former Marine, was currently serving at the Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC.

In some of his documents Hassan had railed against the "liberalist / globalist" ideology which he said is destroying "traditionalist" peoples - especially whites.  He also said that he was looking to Russia with "hopeful eyes" or to any land that despises the West's liberalism.   Hassan's writings argued that violence would be necessary to counteract the "liberalist" ideology, and he predicted that "much blood will have to be spilled to get 'whitey' off of the couch" and presumably into the fight for a white nation state.

In addition to his bizarre writings and the stockpiling of arms and ammunition, it is also believed that Lt. Hassan was trying to develop ties to the American Neo-Nazi movement.

While Donald Trump continues to falsely report that the number of illegal immigrants from Latin America is on the rise, and that much of America's drug trafficking occurs across our southern border - other types of crimes really are increasing.  The Southern Poverty Law Center, which meticulously tracks both individual hate crimes as well as extremist movements, says that hate crimes against minorities in the United States are definitely on the rise, and that there has also been an increase in domestic terror attacks based on white supremacist ideology.

A lot of the hype against immigrants is just that - hype - jingoistic garbage stirred up by Donald Trump and Fox News to create a climate favorable to their purposes - a phony emergency being orchestrated by a squad of shameless con artists.  But domestic terrorism, on the other hand, is real, and it poses a threat not only to individual lives and a way of life, but it also undercuts the very basis of a stable democracy.

Donald Trump wails and shouts his moral indignation at a group of shoeless Central Americans walking north in the hope of being granted sanctuary in the United States.  He calls them "animals" from "shithole" countries.   But when a group of Nazi's carry torches and injure and even kill people in Charlottesville, Virginia, he puffs about the "fine people" on both sides of the issue.  And then when an actual domestic terrorist is caught with a big stockpile of arms almost within walking distance of the White House, a man whose list of enemies closely mirrors the same people whom Trump openly touts as his enemies, our leader is silent.

Domestic terrorism is a blight on our society and a real threat to our democratic processes.   The fact that it does not even merit a mention from our Commander in Chief tells us and the rest of the world that Donald Trump's political agenda is focused solely on maintaining his power, prestige, and position - and it has nothing at all to do with maintaining the spirit and principles that made the United States a worldwide beacon for democracy.

Trump is in it for himself, and if he senses that his best interests will be served by staying silent about domestic terrorism, then that is exactly what he will do.

Our real national emergency continues.