I am friends with a married couple who are Kiwis. I met them five years ago when they were visiting the wife’s sister who lived in the senior community where I live. They traveled from New Zealand twice a year and we became friends. We communicate regularly via email. When she passed away a couple of years ago they continued to visit since the had friends and family here. The last time they visited they brought me an anti-Trump dog toy.
I alert them to articles about New Zealand’s growing right-leaning political scene when it makes the American press.
I’ve even considered moving to New Zealand because I see it as a beautiful, progressive and peaceful country if Trump wins a second term, being held back primarily because of the difficulties in relocating my two dogs there.
Now we have an unspeakable but must be spoken about tragedy there. It is nothing but terrorism plain and simple in every way, shape, and form.
In a small country like New Zealand which has a population of less than five million, this act of terrorism ought to have the same impact that 9-11 did here. However, it was committed against Muslim people, not by them. I have hopes that New Zealanders will treat it as such.
By grim coincidence, it came just after President Donald Trump told Breitbart “You know, the left plays a tougher game, it’s very funny. I actually think that the people on the right are tougher, but they don’t play it tougher. Okay? I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump — I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad.”
The killer praised Trump in his so-called manifesto:
The Australian-born suspect who shot dead dozens of Mulim worshippers in Christchurch, New Zealand, has published a manifesto citing US President Donald Trump and Anders Breivik, the Norwegian white supremacist who murdered 77 people in Norway in 2011.
The 74-page dossier by Brenton Tarrant, which has been described by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a "work of hate", praised Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose". (from AlJazeera)
Trump is a sicko president who lives in a deluded macho world filled with bluster and violent fantasies. He revels in inciting his rally with calls to act out their own aggressive impulsive against those Trump considers enemies.
We may yet learn whether Trump’s rhetoric influence this act of terrorism. Even if it didn't his hateful white nationalism and vehement anti-Muslim views are reprehensible and no doubt are having an impact not only in the United States but across the world. Trump is not only an enabler, but he is also an encourager. In legalese, one might even consider him an accessory before the fact in such mass murders.
Even Trump’s tweet offer sympathy to New Zealanders this morning rings hollow (if he even wrote it) because the next tweet demonstrates his insensitivity and barely hidden prejudices. This is because an hour after the sympathy tweet he brought up something he is calling “the ‘Jexodus’ movement which this Jew at least considers to smacks of a kind of warped anti-Semitism because it lumps all Jews together.
3 Hrs. My warmest sympathy and best wishes goes out to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the Mosques. 49 innocent people have so senselessly died, with so many more seriously injured. The U.S. stands by New Zealand for anything we can do. God bless all!
2 Hrs. The ‘Jexodus’ movement encourages Jewish people to leave the Democrat Party. Total disrespect! Republicans are waiting with open arms. Remember Jerusalem (U.S. Embassy) and the horrible Iran Nuclear Deal! @OANN @foxandfriends
Barack and Michelle Obama’s tweet sends condolences to both the people of New Zealand and the Muslim community.
Update:
Trump’s Biker Threat Came From the Putin Playbook, But Tweet Deleted After Mosque Massacre
“Oops. Trump threatened biker violence against leftists, then deleted the tweet after the New Zealand mosque massacre manifesto praised him as a ‘symbol of renewed white identity.’” Daily Beast
Friday, Mar 15, 2019 · 7:59:15 PM +00:00
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HalBrown
From The Daily Beast:
Sources close to Trump have consistently said how much he loathes getting blamed for anti-immigrant, racist, or even pro-Trump acts of violence that have occurred in the wake of his political ascendance. But instead of compelling him to bring down the temperature or tamp down the rhetoric, his loathing causes him to dig in further. He has never, according to his advisers and friends, dabbled in self-reflection.
“If anything, it causes him to amp it up,” a former senior White House official said.
Saturday, Mar 16, 2019 · 12:43:59 AM +00:00
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HalBrown
New Zealand’s prime minister asked Trump to do this one thing after the mosque attack — but he completely failed
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke with President Donald Trump on Friday in the wake of the horrific attack at two mosques in Christchurch that is believed to have killed 49 people.
In recounting her conversation with Trump, she said: “He very much wished for his condolences to be passed on to New Zealand.”
She continued: “He asked what support the U.S. could provide. My message was sympathy and love for all Muslim communities.” When asked what his response was, she said, “He acknowledged that and agreed.”
But despite agreeing to the request on the phone, Trump didn’t follow through. When Trump held a public event on Friday in the Oval Office and addressed the devastating attack, he was seemingly unable to share the “love” and “sympathy” for all Muslim communities that Ardern had requested.