OCTOBER 23 AND 24, 2018

NEWS AND VIEWS

ALMOST ALL OF THE STORIES TODAY INVOLVE THE BOMBER, WHO PROBABLY ISN’T MAD AT ALL, BUT MERELY CRIMINAL. I HOPE THE POLICE AND FBI CATCH HIM ASAP AND PARADE HIM DOWN THE STREET IN ONE OF THOSE HIGHLY PUBLICIZED “PERP WALKS” THAT NANCY GRACE USED TO LOVE SO MUCH.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45969100
'Explosive device' sent to Hillary Clinton and Obama
OCTOBER 24, 2018 8 minutes ago

PHOTOGRAPH -- Bomb squad trucks seen outside the Time Warner building in New York City
PHOTOGRAPH -- The Time Warner building in New York City was evacuated on Wednesday morning CBS
PHOTOGRAPH -- Bill and Hillary Clinton's home in Chappaqua, New York REUTERS
PHOTOGRAPH -- Additional police were seen outside the Washington DC home of Mr Obama GETTY IMAGES
PHOTOGRAPH -- The Obama home in Washington DC GETTY IMAGES

Suspected explosive devices were sent to former US President Barack Obama and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the US Secret Service has said.

It comes two days after a bomb was found at the home of liberal philanthropist and financier George Soros in the suburbs of New York City.

The devices were discovered by technicians who screen mail sent to the former US officials.

The Time Warner building in New York was also evacuated due to a package.

CNN, which is located in the Time Warner building, evacuated its newsroom over the incident, CNN president Jeff Zucker confirmed in a statement.

Mr Zucker said the suspicious package was discovered in the building's mailroom, and that the office was evacuated "out of a complete abundance of caution".

Image copyrightCBS
Image caption
The Time Warner building in New York City was evacuated on Wednesday morning
According to a statement from the US Secret Service, a package addressed to Mrs Clinton was recovered late on 23 October.

"Early this morning, October 24, 2018, a second package addressed to the residence of Former President Barack Obama was intercepted by Secret Service personnel in Washington, DC," the statement adds.

"Both packages were intercepted prior to being delivered to their intended location. The protectees did not receive the packages nor were they at risk of receiving them."

Skip Twitter post by @KFILE


💀andrew👻kaczynski🎃
✔
@KFILE
Time Warner Center – where CNN's New York offices are located – was just evacuated. The alarm went off as @jimsciutto and @PoppyHarlowCNN were on air reporting the packages sent to the Clintons and Obamas. @ShimonPro reporting it was over "a suspicious package."

10:22 AM - Oct 24, 2018
910
988 people are talking about this
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End of Twitter post by @KFILE
A US official told the Associated Press that a "functional explosive device" was found during a screening of mail sent to the home of Mr and Mrs Clinton in Chappaqua, New York.

The FBI in New York said they were aware of the suspected packages, and that their Joint Terrorism Task force is aiding in the investigation.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Bomb squad trucks seen outside the Time Warner building in New York City
Image copyrightREUTERS
A spokeswoman for Mr Obama declined to comment on the incident, and referred reporters to the Secret Service statement.

The package sent to CNN appeared to have been addressed to former CIA Director John Brennan, according to US media.

Mr Brennan, who is a frequent contributor to the network, has become a vocal critic of Mr Trump since leaving office.

Trump ends ex-CIA head's security access
The suspected explosive devices come two days after a confirmed pipe bomb was discovered in a mailbox at the home of Mr Soros.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Additional police were seen outside the Washington DC home of Mr Obama

Mr Soros has become a frequent target for criticism by right-wing groups due to his support for liberal causes.

Officials "proactively detonated" the device, and determined that it contained explosive powder and "had the components of a bomb".

Explosive device found in Soros post box
Who is billionaire financier George Soros?
What's the reaction?

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders condemned the "attempted violent attacks" against the public figures.

"These terrorising acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

"The United States Secret Service and other law enforcement agencies are investigating and will take all appropriate actions to protect anyone threatened by these cowards," she said.

Trump Jr letter: 'You get what you deserve'
Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
The Obama home in Washington DC

Vice-President Mike Pence tweeted: "We condemn the attempted attacks against fmr Pres Obama, the Clintons, @CNN & others."

He added that "these cowardly actions are despicable & have no place in this Country", and that "those responsible will be brought to justice".

President Trump retweeted him, adding: "I agree wholeheartedly!"

The US President's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, who received a suspicious package at his New York home earlier this year, tweeted: "As someone whose family has directly been the victim of these mail threats I condemn whoever did this regardless of party or ideology.

"This crap has to stop and I hope they end up in jail for a long time."

His sister, Ivanka Trump, also condemned the "acts of violence" and expressed gratitude to law enforcement.

Chelsea Clinton, the only child of Bill and Hillary Clinton, tweeted: "Every day, I am grateful to the women and men of the United States Secret Service. Thank you."


'GET ER DONE' IS ONE OF THOSE DEEP RED ULTRAMACHO COMMENTS, SO I FEEL SURE THAT NO LIBERAL MADE THE BOMB AND LABELED IT THAT WAY. OF COURSE, THE RIGHT WILL QUICKLY STEP UP AND BE CALLING THAT JUST A “FALSE FLAG”. IT IS INTERESTING THAT TRUMP DID NOT CRUDELY POINT OUT MAXINE WATERS FOR HER “VERY LOW IQ” IN THIS SPEECH. DOESW HE FEEL THAT THE CONNECTION TO WHAT'S GOING ON WOULD BE A LITTLE BIT TOO OBVIOUS RIGHT NOW? AFTER ALL HE IS NOW TAKING THE POSITION OF COMING TOGETHER IN GOOD WILL.

I’M SURE HE KNOWS THAT HIS INFLAMMATORY LANGUAGE IS DIRECTLY BEHIND THIS, AS IT FURTHER POLLUTES THE PUBLIC MIND. IT IS SO BRAZEN FOR HIM TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE NEGATIVE THINGS THAT LIBS SAY ABOUT HIM AND HIS PUPPETS; BUT THEN BEING MALICIOUS AND FALSE IS HIS ONLY WAY OF EXPRESSING HIMSELF. IT’S REALLY RIDICULOUS, AND SAD ALL AT ONCE.

LISTEN TO THE NEWS VIDEO ON CURRENT EFFORTS TO TRACK AND CAPTURE THE BOMBER. THEY SEEM TO BE MAKING PROGRESS.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspicious-package-found-near-new-york-home-bill-hillary-clinton-n923816
Packages with pipe bombs sent to Clinton, Obama, CNN; another package investigated in L.A.
The FBI said a second suspicious package addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was being investigated Wednesday night.
Oct. 24, 2018 / 9:20 AM EDT / Updated 9:32 PM EDT
By Jonathan Dienst, Tom Winter, Pete Williams, Alex Johnson, Andrew Blankstein, Minyvonne Burke and Corky Siemaszko

PHOTOGRAPH -- Police outside Time Warner Center after a suspicious package was found inside CNN headquarters on Werdnesday.Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

Pipe bombs sent to several prominent critics of President Donald Trump and to CNN's New York newsroom triggered a nationwide investigation and bipartisan condemnation on Wednesday.

The targets included former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Attorney General Eric Holder and former CIA Director John Brennan, officials and investigators said.

Early Wednesday night, federal and local authorities were investigating a suspicious package "similar in appearance" to the earlier packages at a postal facility in south Los Angeles addressed to Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., the FBI said. Los Angeles police said that the facility was evacuated before a bomb squad rendered the package safe and that the investigation had been turned over to the FBI.

It was the second package addressed to Waters to have been uncovered, the FBI said. The first was discovered in Maryland.

Hunt for suspect after authorities intercept several suspicious packages
OCT. 24, 201803:30

The earlier bombs — like the explosive device that was found Monday in the mailbox of George Soros' home in Bedford, New York — were all made with PVC pipe, which X-rays indicated likely contained shrapnel, three senior law enforcement officials with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News. They included a low explosive or a pyrotechnic, as in fireworks, as well as timers — likely digital alarm clocks — to set off the detonators, the sources said.

Multiple senior bomb technicians briefed on the case said the aspiring bomber had all of the components needed to set off a successful explosion. No arrests have been made.

The package addressed to Clinton was discovered on Tuesday near the Clintons' home in Chappaqua, New York, a suburb of New York City. The one addressed to Obama was intercepted Wednesday in Washington, they said.

The mail bombing targets:

Former President Barack Obama
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Former Attorney General Eric Holder
Former CIA Director John Brennan
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
Billionaire George Soros

The package addressed to Brennan misspelled his name and was sent to the wrong network. It was discovered Wednesday at the Manhattan offices of CNN, even though he is a senior national security and intelligence analyst for NBC News and MSNBC. The newsroom was immediately evacuated, and the New York police bomb squad was summoned.

VIDEO -- Pipe bomb found inside CNN headquarters
OCT. 24, 201801:10

Speaking Wednesday night at the University of Texas, Brennan said he had "full confidence in my former law enforcement and intelligence colleagues to get to the bottom of this and take the appropriate actions."

"If I and others are being targeted because we are speaking out and we're living up to our responsibilities as citizens, I think that is a very unfortunate turn of events," he said.

Related:
Explosive device sent to CNN featured Parody ISIS flag, 'Get Er Done' inscription
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio described the packages at a news conference as "clearly an act of terror."

At the same news conference, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said one of the packages was addressed to him and had been sent to his office. But the FBI said Cuomo's office hadn't received an explosive device, and a spokesman for Cuomo said the package contained computer files on the Proud Boys, a far-right hate group, some of whose members were recently arrested in Manhattan.

Image: Time Warner Center in New YorkNew York police outside the Time Warner Center in New York on Wednesday.Richard Drew / AP
Saying he was acting "out of an abundance of caution," Cuomo dispatched 100 members of the National Guard to beef up the already tight security at key New York City crossings and the airports and in the subway system.

Image: Suspected explosive device A suspected explosive device received at the CNN bureau in New York City on Wednesday.NBC News
The devices were in manila packages that bore stamps and signatures with the address of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., whose name also was misspelled, three senior law enforcement officials said.

Holder's package was mailed to the wrong address, according to law enforcement officials, and it wound up being sent back to Wasserman Schultz's address, where it was intercepted by the Secret Service.

"We will not be intimidated by this attempted act of violence," Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "This appalling attack on our democracy must be vigorously prosecuted, and I am deeply disturbed by the way my name was used.

Related – POLITICS, Trump lectures critics, media on civility after pipe bombs sent to high-profile critics

Speaking in Florida, Clinton thanked the Secret Service, saying it "intercepted the package addressed to us long before it made its way to our home."

"But it is a troubling time," she said. "And it's a time of deep divisions, and we have to do everything we can to bring our country together. We also have to elect candidates who will try to do the same."

The spate of suspicious packages came two day after a similar device was found in Soros' mailbox. Like the other targets, Soros has been a harsh critic of Trump.

VIDEO -- Security on high alert at Clintons' New York home after pipe bomb scare
OCT. 24, 201801:02

In Washington, Trump vowed to "bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice."

"In these times, we have to unify, we have to come together and send one very clear, strong, unmistakable message, that acts of political violence have no place of any kind in the United States of America," he said. "I am extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed, and we'll get to the bottom of it."

Earlier, Vice President Mike Pence thanked the Secret Service, the FBI and local law enforcement, saying that the "attempted attacks" against Obama, Clinton and CNN were "cowardly" and that those responsible for the packages "will be brought to justice."

Trump quickly weighed in with agreement on Twitter, retweeting his vice president.

Law enforcement officials said the device in Soros' mailbox was detonated as a precaution, and no one was injured. Soros, a business investor and Holocaust survivor, was reportedly not at home at the time, and he declined to comment.

One of his sons, Alexander, wrote in an opinion piece for The New York Times that before Trump was elected, the hate directed at his father "was largely confined to the extremist fringes, among white supremacists and nationalists who sought to undermine the very foundations of democracy."

"But with Donald Trump's presidential campaign things got worse," he wrote. "A genie was let out of the bottle, which may take generations to put back in."

IMAGE: One of the suspicious packages.One of the suspicious packages. Addresses have been removed to protect privacy.FBI

Jonathan Dienst, Tom Winter, Corky Siemaszko and Minyvonne Burke reported from New York. Alex Johnson and Andrew Blankstein reported from Los Angeles. Pete Williams reported from Washington.

Adiel Kaplan contributed.


https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Meme-Found-on-Pipe-Bombs-ISIS-Git-Er-Done-Meme-NYC-New-York-City-Brennan-Clintons-Obama-498472241.html
Pipe Bomb Sent to CNN Included 'Get 'er Done' ISIS Meme
By Jonathan Dienst, Tom Winter, Ben Collins and R. Darren Price
OCTOBER 24, 2018

At least one of the apparent pipe bombs sent to prominent political figures around the country this week contained a parody image of the ISIS flag, with part of the terror group’s insignia replaced with the words “get ‘er done.”

Law enforcement sources tell News 4 that the device mailed to former CIA director and onetime CNN commentator James Brennan was emblazoned with the image, which includes the catchphrase of comedian Larry the Cable Guy and images of three women replacing the normal imagery on the terrorist organization's flag.

NBC News reports that the flag was originally created in 2014 by the right-wing parody site World News Bureau for an article titled "ISIS Vows Retribution For Counterfeit Flags."

It has since become a meme on right-wing websites and forums.

Chappaqua Reacts to Suspicious Devices Sent to Clintons[NY] Chappaqua Reacts to Suspicious Devices Sent to Clintons
VIDEO CAPTION -- Chappaqua residents are unnerved by news of the suspicious package sent to the Clintons. Ken Buffa reports.(Published 6 hours ago)

The owner of the site did not respond to NBC News' request for comment.

It's unclear if the other devices -- addressed to Hillary Clinton, the Obamas, billionaire George Soros and former Attorney General Eric Holder, with former Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz listed as the return address -- also contained the image.

Get the latest from NBC 4 New York anywhere, anytime


TRUMP JUST DROPPED ONE OF THOSE RECENTLY BIRTHED RIGHTIST SLURS HERE – LIBERAL “MOBS.” APPARENTLY IF HE’S DOING IT HIMSELF, BEING PERPETUALLY ABUSIVE IS OKAY. BESIDES, HE WANTS TO MAKE SURE THAT HIS FANDOM WILL REPEAT IT ALL OVER THE INTERNET.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-lectures-critics-media-civility-after-pipe-bombs-sent-high-n924156?icid=related
Trump lectures critics, media on civility after pipe bombs sent to high-profile Democrats
Americans should not “compare political opponents to historical villains” and “not mob people in public," Trump said.
Oct. 24, 2018 / 8:37 PM EDT
By Jonathan Allen

MOSINEE, Wis. - President Donald Trump lectured Democrats and the media on civility after pipe bombs were mailed to several of his high-profile critics and CNN's New York offices Wednesday, but he abandoned the specific personal attacks on individual political adversaries that have been a hallmark of his speeches on the campaign stump.

There was no mention of Hillary Clinton, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., or Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., all frequent targets in the speeches Trump has been delivering several times a week around the country.

Speaking in an airport hangar here in central Wisconsin, Trump promised to “find those responsible” for sending bombs to former President Barack Obama, Clinton and other prominent critics of the president, and “bring them to justice.”

As the president delivered his remarks, the FBI said it was investigating a second suspicious package addressed to Waters in Los Angeles after a first was discovered in Maryland earlier Wednesday.

VIDEO -- Trump calls for unity, chides media for 'endless hostility at Wisconsin rally
OCT. 24, 201802:51

Trump said he wanted Americans to “come together in peace and harmony.”

Then, without naming a party, he pivoted to condemning Democrats.

Americans “should stop treating political opponents as morally defective,” not “compare political opponents to historical villains” and “not mob people in public.”

It was clear that Democrats, whom he later lambasted in policy terms, were his target.

Some on the left routinely compare Trump to brutal dictators, including Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and the president has been campaigning against what he says are Democratic “mobs” for weeks.

Trump also said voters “must accept the verdicts of elections” — a clear reference to Democrats who have said his presidency is illegitimate because of Russian interference in the 2016 election and because he lost the popular vote.

The crowd here cheered heartily at his remark on not mobbing political officials.

At one point, Trump noted that he was “trying to be nice” when he hit Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., pointing out that he had said the words “socialist takeover” in a soft voice rather than punctuating the words.

RELATED: Watch CNN anchors report on their own office being evacuated over pipe bomb
RELATED: Middle-school girls caught moments before deadly attack

In addition to supporting Baldwin rival Leah Vukmir, Trump was in town to try to boost the chances of Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who is in danger of losing the job he’s held since 2011 to Democrat Tony Evers.

It wasn't just Democrats who were scolded by Trump.

He also pointed a finger at the media, chiding the press for "endless hostility."

"The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories," Trump said.

Some Trump supporters here said they worry about the toxicity of the current political climate, but do not blame Trump for it at all.

“I think it's nasty,” said Sue Swafford, a 66-year-old from Gresham, Wis. She quickly added that “the Democrats” are to blame.

And Linda Edwards, a retired systems engineer who worked at Xerox, pointed her finger at coastal elites.

“In some ways, they do think they are smarter than we are, and they do think they are better than we are, and they think they can make better decisions with our money than we can — and that’s B.S.,” the 71-year-old resident of Schofield said. “I’m a pretty smart cookie.”

Jonathan Allen


YOU CAN ALWAYS TELL THE SOURCE OF THESE THINGS. IF IT’S VICIOUS AND A (PARTICULARLY SILLY) LIE, IT CAME FROM THE RIGHT. IF IT’S NOBLE, INTELLIGENT AND BEAUTIFUL, IT CAME FROM THE LEFT.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/10/24/instant-inevitable-cries-false-flag-after-bomb-threats-targeting-clintons-obamas-cnn/
The Intersect
The instant, inevitable cries of ‘false flag’ after bomb threats targeting the Clintons, Obamas and CNN
By Abby Ohlheiser and
Avi Selk October 24 at 2:52 PM

We knew nearly nothing, except that the Secret Service had intercepted “potential explosive devices” targeting the Clintons and Obamas, while investigators also looked into a suspicious package at CNN’s New York offices. Days earlier, authorities found an explosive device in the mailbox of liberal philanthropist George Soros. We did not know who sent them, or why, or what exactly the potential devices were.

But John Cardillo, a right-wing media personality, was already tweeting out his suspicions.

“Investigators need to take a serious look at far left groups like #Antifa when investigating the bombs sent to Soros, Obama, and the Clintons,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “These smell like the false flag tactics of unhinged leftists who know they’re losing.”

Cardillo wasn’t alone. Bill Mitchell, a pro-Trump Twitter mainstay and radio host, was also convinced that the real target of the potential explosive devices was the political power of Republicans.

“These ‘explosive packages’ being sent to the #Media and high profile Democrats has Soros astro-turfing* written all over it so the media can paint the #GOP as ‘the dangerous mob.’ Pure BS.” Mitchell wrote. His tweet, which is still live on Twitter, has more than 2,000 retweets.

Online speculation is an inevitable result of a breaking news story on the Internet. On Wednesday, #MAGABomber was the top trending topic on Twitter, propelled by a combination of those assuming the bombs were motivated by Trump’s rhetoric against Democrats and the media — and those who were using the hashtag to criticize it. On the pro-Trump Internet, breaking news speculation has increasingly helped to push the once-fringe idea of politically motivated “false flag” attacks into the mainstream.

Within minutes of the news of the suspicious packages, the “false flag” narrative began circulating in pro-Trump spaces like the r/The_Donald subreddit. Rising posts linked to articles about Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the radical Weather Underground organization, which claimed responsibility for a series of bomb attacks in the 1970s. Another rising post said, “FALSE FLAG. When you hear the MSM screaming about attempted violence by Trump supporters two weeks before Midterms just remember what leftists are capable of.”

Later on Wednesday, Rush Limbaugh promoted the false-flag theory, suggesting that a “Democratic operative” was more likely to have sent the devices than a Republican. “Republicans just don’t do this kind of thing,” Limbaugh said on his radio show. " You’ve got people trying to harm CNN and Obama and Hillary and Bill Clinton and Debbie “Blabbermouth” Schultz and, you know, just, it might serve a purpose here."

New York Police Department officers stand outside of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan on Wednesday. (Eugene Reznik/Bloomberg News)

Discovery of the devices came just after a big success for the pro-Trump Internet. Ever since Trump’s inauguration, Trump’s online base has amplified and fed a meme claiming that “violent leftist mobs” present a major, immediate threat to the safety of the president and all of his supporters. During the confirmation process for Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, that meme became the mainstream conservative reaction to protesters who opposed Kavanaugh’s elevation to the Supreme Court. As my colleagues in politics recently reported, stoking fears of the “angry mob” of Trump opponents has become a key part of the GOP’s strategy to energize their voters for the midterms.

[‘An angry mob’: Republicans work to recast Democratic protests as out-of-control anarchy]

Many Republican leaders set aside the “liberal mob” talk to condemn the attacks, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), and Vice President Pence.

Even as some pro-Trump media personalities started to walk back their “false flag” claims, they referred to the “liberal mob” meme to justify that speculation in the first place.

Michael Flynn Jr., who deleted his tweet calling the situation a “total false flag operation,” followed up with a series of tweets claiming he was just asking questions, and that the timing of the incident was “suspicious.” Flynn Jr., the son of Michael Flynn (who was briefly Trump’s national security adviser), has previously spread the Pizzagate conspiracy theory.

You see? The left already blaming the @GOP for this....

If I’m wrong about this being a political stunt, I’ll own up to it.

But timing is everything folks. And the timing given how close we are to midterms is HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS! https://t.co/lXFKXB2W5k

— Michael Flynn Jr⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@mflynnJR) October 24, 2018
Just asking questions folks...

Why would a conservative pull off planting these bombs at this exact time and specific to the Clintons, Obama’s, and CNN HQ?

Either way and no matter your political affiliation, political violence of any kind doesn’t do this country ANY good.

— Michael Flynn Jr⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@mflynnJR) October 24, 2018
Frank Gaffney, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist who has previously hosted Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his radio show, also invoked the leftist mob in his own assessment of the news:

None of the leftists ostensibly targeted for pipe-bombs were actually at serious risk, since security details would be screening their mail. So let’s determine not only who is responsible for these bombs, but whether they were trying to deflect attention from the Left’s mobs.

— Frank Gaffney (@frankgaffney) October 24, 2018
I'll bet money that this is liberal/socialist trying to make GOP look bad. No conservative would EVER do this. Think how many times in past year someone found racist messages and it turned out fake created by liberals looking for sympathy or attention. https://t.co/FSzer1dzvd

— Wayne Allyn Root (@RealWayneRoot) October 24, 2018
From the Haymarket riot to the Unibomber, bombs are a liberal tactic. https://t.co/P3YvUorxwL

— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) October 24, 2018
False-flag theories have probably always been popular among conspiracy theorists, who can attempt to discredit literally any event that proves inconvenient to their worldview.

But it’s only the past few years — as social media networks balloons in influence and President Trump inserts conspiratorial thinking into the national discourse, including some ideas that originate on social media — that false-flag theories have become almost a feature of the landscape.

The first viral false-flag theory may have been the 9/11 “truther” movement, whose devotees spammed out blog posts and suspect documentaries claiming the U.S. government secretly masterminded the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks as a pretext to start the Iraq War. (In some versions, CIA operatives imploded the World Trade Center with demolition charges; in others, the government used cruise missiles disguised as planes.)

[Algorithms are one reason a conspiracy theory goes viral. Another reason might be you.]

Similar theories would occasionally bubble up into the news throughout the 2000s and early 2010s, such as Roseanne Barr’s claims about the Boston Marathon bombing.

But since Trump’s election in 2016, false-flag fantasies have become almost as regular as the tragedies they are used to discredit.

See, for example:

A baseless theory that spread virally soon after the Parkland school shooting in February, claiming the U.S. government had staged the massacre as an excuse to seize people’s guns. The children who survived the shooting were “crisis actors,” according to believers, as were the grieving parents. Nearly identical rumors have circulated online after many other school shootings.

Two conspiracy theorists who drove to a church in Sutherland Springs, believing the Department of Homeland Security had staged a recent mass shooting there, and demanded that the church pastor prove to them that his dead 14-year-old daughter had ever existed.

Widespread claims that a man who fired a gun inside a D.C. pizza restaurant in late 2016 (he believed it was a secret child sex dungeon) was actually a false-flag actor trying to discredit other conspiracy theorists.

The mega-viral QAnon conspiracy theory, a core component of which is the belief that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is only pretending to investigate Trump’s inner circle for possible crimes — and is actually allied with Trump in a global war against liberals.

The /pol/ message board on 4chan* is a hotbed of conspiratorial delusions even on a slow news day. On Wednesday, it was deluged with suspicion.

In one of the most popular threads, amateur detectives opined that the envelope sent to CNN did not have sufficient postage stamps for the weight of the pipe bomb it contained, and so must have been built at the cable news headquarters. (The 4channers did not seem to be aware of a New York Times report that the bomb had been delivered by courier.)

Another thread fixated on a tweet Trump sent in late October, 2012: “Be careful of an Obama ‘bomb’ to win election!” It’s unclear what “bomb” Trump was talking about, but on 4chan some people took the tweet as proof that he predicted a false flag attack years ago.

Be careful of an Obama "bomb" to win election! Would be a horrible thing to do.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 26, 2012

Abby Ohlheiser
Abby Ohlheiser covers digital culture for The Washington Post. She was previously a general assignment reporter for The Post, focusing on national breaking news and religion. Follow

Avi Selk
Avi Selk is a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post. He previously worked for the Dallas Morning News. Follow


astro-turfing*
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroturfing

This article is about the type of advocacy. For the artificial grass, see AstroTurf.
Astroturfing is the practice of masking the sponsors of a message or organization (e.g., political, advertising, religious or public relations) to make it appear as though it originates from and is supported by grassroots participants. It is a practice intended to give the statements or organizations credibility by withholding information about the source's financial connection.

The term astroturfing is derived from AstroTurf, a brand of synthetic carpeting designed to resemble natural grass, as a play on the word "grassroots." The implication behind the use of the term is that instead of a "true" or "natural" grassroots effort behind the activity in question, there is a "fake" or "artificial" appearance of support.

4chan - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4chan

4chan is an English-language imageboard website. Users generally post anonymously, with the most recent posts appearing above the rest. 4chan is split into various boards with their own specific content and guidelines. Registration is not possible (except for staff).

Launched on October 1, 2003, the site was modeled on Japanese imageboards, particularly Futaba Channel. 4chan's first boards were originally primarily used for posting pictures and discussing manga and anime. The site quickly became popular, expanded, and now features boards dedicated to a wide variety of topics, from anime/manga to videogames, music, literature, fitness, politics, and sports.

The site has been linked to Internet subcultures and activism groups, most notably Anonymous, the alt-right and Project Chanology.[3][4] 4chan users have been responsible for the formation or popularization of Internet memes such as lolcats, Rickrolling, "Chocolate Rain", Pedobear, and many others. The site's "Random" board, also known as "/b/", was the first board to be created, and is the one that receives the most traffic.[5][6] The Random board has minimal rules on posted content. Gawker once jokingly claimed that "reading /b/ will melt your brain".[7] The site's anonymous community and culture have often provoked media attention.

4chan users have been instrumental in pranks such as hijacking Internet destinations to cause images of Rick Astley to appear in place of their content, coordinating attacks against other websites and Internet users, and posting threats of violence in order to elicit individual and public reactions. The Guardian once summarized the 4chan community as "lunatic, juvenile ... brilliant, ridiculous and alarming".[8]


8chan - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8chan

8chan, also called Infinitechan or Infinitychan (sometimes stylized as ∞chan), is an American imageboard website composed of user-created boards. Each board is moderated by its owner, with minimal interaction from other site administration.[3] To own a board one must either create it or claim it if the board has had inactivity for over a week.

Several of the site's boards have played an active role in the Gamergate controversy, encouraging Gamergate affiliates to frequent 8chan after the topic was banned on the unaffiliated imageboard 4chan. The site has been linked to Internet subcultures and activism.

As of April 2018, the site is the 3,857th most visited site in the world,[2] and in November 2014, it was receiving an average of 35,000 unique visitors per day and 400,000 posts per week.[4]

8chan was created in October 2013 by computer programmer Fredrick Brennan,[4][5] also known by the nickname "Hotwheels".[6] Brennan created the website after he observed what he perceived to be rapidly escalating surveillance and a loss of free speech on the Internet.[4] Brennan, who considers the imageboard 4chan to have grown into authoritarianism, describes 8chan as a "free-speech-friendly" alternative,[4] and originally conceptualized the site while experiencing a psychedelic mushrooms trip.[6][7]

IF THE TRUTH ABOUT KHASHOGGI IS EVER FULLY DISCOVERED AND MADE PUBLIC, WILL I BELIEVE IT? THIS IS AS BAD AS THOSE RIGHTWING CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN THE ARTICLES ABOVE. I AM TERRIBLY SORRY THAT A FRIENDLY AND DECENT WRITER FOR THE WASHINGTON POST IS DEAD AT THE HANDS OF HIS FELLOW COUNTRYMEN. THE RULE OF THUMB SEEMS TO BE, “IF IT’S GOOD, KILL IT.”

https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2018-10-23/shifting-saudi-account-of-writers-death-confirms-key-parts
Shifting Saudi Account of Writer's Death Confirms Key Parts
Facing global outrage over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, the government of Saudi Arabia is offering an evolving version of what transpired inside their consulate, from silence to acknowledgement of key aspects.
Oct. 23, 2018, at 3:59 p.m.
BY MATTHEW LEE, AP Diplomatic Writer

PHOTOGRAPH -- Turkish police crime scene investigators, looking for possible clues into the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, work in an underground car park, where authorities Monday found a vehicle belonging to the Saudi consulate, in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018. Saudi officials murdered Khashoggi in their Istanbul consulate after plotting his death for days, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday, contradicting Saudi Arabia's explanation that the writer was accidentally killed. (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing global outrage over the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, Saudi officials are now acknowledging that the journalist was targeted inside the kingdom's consulate in Turkey and a body double was on hand to aid in a cover-up — the latest twist in the kingdom's evolving efforts to explain Khashoggi's death.

This new version of events — which was described to The Associated Press by two Saudi officials — comes three weeks after the kingdom said Khashoggi left the consulate on his own and insisted Turkish claims he was killed by an assassination squad were unfounded.

Now Saudi officials tell the AP they did in fact send a team to Turkey that included a forensics expert and a member whose job was to dress in the 59-year-old writer's clothes and pretend to be him — though they still insist that his death was an accident.

This account attempts to distance Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman from the killing, even though officials linked to the 33-year-old ruler have been implicated. But the fact that the Saudis are acknowledging some aspects of the account provided by Turkish authorities suggests that the kingdom is feeling intense global pressure, including from President Donald Trump and members of Congress, some of whom have called for cutting off arms shipments and imposing sanctions.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter and the ongoing investigation into Khashoggi's death.

There was no way to corroborate the Saudi account, which paints the suspects as rogue operators. It also contradicts many observers who believe the complex scheme that led to Khashoggi's death could not have occurred without the knowledge of Crown Prince Mohammed, who essentially runs the kingdom.

"It would have likely had the approval of the Saudi government," said Robert Jordan, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia during President George W. Bush's administration.

Pro-government media in Turkey have reported that a Saudi hit squad of 15 people traveled to Turkey to kill Khashoggi, who wrote columns critical of Mohammed's rule while living in self-imposed exile in the U.S. The team left the country hours later in private jets, Turkish media reports said.

Khashoggi was in Turkey for a scheduled visit to obtain documents for his upcoming marriage to a Turkish woman.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Tuesday for the 18 suspects detained in Saudi Arabia by authorities there to be tried in Turkish courts and rejected the idea that the men acted on their own. "To blame such an incident on a handful of security and intelligence members would not satisfy us or the international community," Erdogan said in a speech to ruling party lawmakers in parliament.

The Saudi officials who spoke to the AP acknowledged that the kingdom sent a team to Turkey, but said the men were acting on a directive issued by King Salman's predecessor, King Abdullah, to bring Saudi dissidents abroad back to the kingdom — ostensibly to take part in a "national dialogue" over the country's future.

They acknowledged the plan allowed for removing Khashoggi from the consulate and questioning him at a "safe house."

Asked why such a team would include a forensics expert and a body double, the Saudi officials said had the safe house option been used, the plan was for the forensic expert to wipe clean evidence that Khashoggi had been at the consulate and for the body double to leave the facility to give the false impression that Khashoggi had left on his own.

Instead, the two officials said, the operation with Khashoggi turned violent. They said that the team included a former Khashoggi colleague who advised him to return to the kingdom. When that failed, the writer, by their account, asked if he was going to be kidnapped. Told he was going to be taken to a safe house, they say he started to yell for help. That's when an unidentified person on the team applied a chokehold, which the officials said was intended only to keep Khashoggi quiet but ended up killing him instead.

The officials said the nine members of the 15-strong team who were inside the consulate at the time then panicked and made plans with a local Turkish "collaborator" to remove the body. One official said the body was rolled up in some sort of material and taken from the consulate by the collaborator.

Neither official could account for Turkish claims that Khashoggi's body was dismembered with a bone saw inside the building.

Khashoggi vanished on Oct. 2 after entering the Saudi consulate. His fiancee, who was waiting outside the building for him, alerted authorities when he failed to come out.

At first, Saudi officials said he had left the building and they did not know his whereabouts.

Authorities in Turkey then began releasing details through the media there, showing surveillance photos of members of the team entering the country, including one member of the crown prince's entourage, and sources presenting increasingly grisly accounts of the killing. On Monday, media outlets broadcast images of a body double strolling outside the consulate in Khashoggi's clothes, a detail confirmed by Erdogan.

The Saudi officials said their initial response to Khashoggi's disappearance was based on a false report filed by the team sent to Istanbul, which maintained he had left the consulate after refusing to agree to return home.

After the Turks challenged that account and it became clear Khashoggi had not left the consulate, Saudi officials remained almost entirely silent on the matter.

It wasn't until Oct. 20 that Saudi Arabia acknowledged that Khashoggi was killed in the consulate, claiming he died as the result of a "fistfight," a claim that drew immediate skepticism from the kingdom's Western allies.

On Sunday, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Fox News that Khashoggi's killing was "a rogue operation," echoing Trump, who suggested on Oct. 15 that "rogue killers" could be responsible.

"The individuals who did this did this outside the scope of their authority," al-Jubeir said in the interview. "There obviously was a tremendous mistake made and what compounded the mistake was the attempt to try to cover up. That is unacceptable to the government."

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


PROGRESSIVISM COMPARED

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/23/bernie-sanders-elizabeth-warren-democratic-party-2020-differences
Think Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren are the same? They aren't
Bhaskar Sunkara
Tue 23 Oct 2018 06.00 EDT

Though Warren is an ally of many progressive causes, the best chance we have to reconfigure a generation of American politics lies with Sanders

PHOTOGRAPH -- ‘There are significant differences between Warren and Sanders’ approach to politics and what their respective victories would mean in a country desperately in need of change.’ Photograph: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

For progressives subjected to daily outrage from the Trump administration, there’s something to look forward to. In 2020, they’ll be spoiled for choice – presumptive candidates in the Democratic field are tacking to the left and both Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are acting like people running for president.

RELATED: Don't bet on Beto O'Rourke to win Texas for the Democrats
John Daniel Davidson

While a 2020 campaign by Sanders wouldn’t be surprising given that he ran before, Warren has long denied that she has any interest in becoming president. That seems to have recently changed. Warren said last month that she would “take a hard look” at running in 2020. And then, last week, she made headlines by releasing a DNA test to counter Donald Trump’s claims that she was misleading people over her ancestry – a move largely interpreted as preparation for a presidential run.

Warren and Sanders have been conflated for years – commentators often talk of a “Sanders-Warren wing” of the Democratic party. But the two are not the same, and though Warren is an ally of many progressive causes, the best chance that we have to not just construct some better policy, but reconfigure a generation of American politics lies with Sanders running and capturing both the Democratic primary and the presidency.

Arguing between two seemingly good choices can seem from afar like the bickering of two rival fan clubs. But there are significant differences between Warren’s and Sanders’ approaches to politics and what their respective victories would mean in a country desperately in need of change.

To understate things, Sanders’ background is unusual. He was trained in the dying remnants of the Socialist party and cut his political teeth in trade union and civil rights organizing. His lifelong lesson? The rich were not morally confused but rather have a vested interest in the exploitation of others. Power would have to be taken from them by force.

Sanders’ message from his early days in third-party politics to today has been remarkably consistent. Back in the early 1970s he denounced “the world of Richard Nixon, and the millionaires and billionaires whom he represents”. Even back then he was reminding audiences: “This is the world of the 2% of the population that owns more than one-third of the personally held wealth in America.”

Warren’s career started as an academic, teaching at law schools and establishing herself as an expert on bankruptcy and consumer protection. Believing that markets fundamentally worked, but the rules of the game needed to be fairer, Warren was a registered Republican until 1995.

In the six years since she won her Senate seat, Warren has established herself as a credible, progressive Democrat. But her background hints at the difference between her more wonkish approach – seeking to construct better policy but not an alternative politics – and the class-struggle, worker-centric approach of Sanders. Not surprisingly, Warren has been keen to assure business interests that she believes that “strong, healthy markets are the key to a strong healthy America” and that she “is a capitalist”.

Warren does have significant support among the Netroots Nation crowd, but it’s telling that she also appears to be getting traction among prominent Democratic party policy types: Anita Dunn, Brian Fallon, John Podesta, Neera Tanden and Matt Yglesias, among others, have had positive things to say about her in the media lately. Sanders – an outsider without ties to many prominent in the liberal politics during the Obama years – gets no such love.

Yglesias, in particular, has showed interest in Warren’s Accountable Capitalism Act, a plan that, to her credit, is far more ambitious than that of her other Democratic colleagues. It would require the largest businesses to engage in “codetermination” with their employees, giving workers more say in management, and limit corporate political activity and what executives could do with their company shares.

But it relies on notions of “corporate citizenship”, and it’s clear in her Wall Street Journal op-ed promoting the act that Warren sees neoliberalism as an ideological shift that can be corrected while retaining many of the existing parameters of capitalism. For Warren, US capitalism used to be good: “Corporations sought to succeed in the marketplace, but they also recognized their obligations to employees, customers and the community.” But then something changed in the 1980s: “Building on work by conservative economist Milton Friedman, a new theory emerged that corporate directors had only one obligation: to maximize shareholder returns.”

But it wasn’t a moral failing that brought about neoliberalism, but a structural shift: corporations in the 1970s couldn’t keep up with militant wage demands from unions, the after-effect of the Opec oil shock and increased international competition. Profitability sagged. Without a broader ideological agenda, capital knew that it had to restructure itself and saw labor regulations and unions as impediments. Neoliberal mantras and ideology followed these developments.

The only way to undo that U-turn is to rebuild the trade unions and leftwing political movements that could actually bring about a different sort of political economy. And that won’t come from the politics of shared responsibility, or clever policy initiatives, it’ll come from the mobilization of people on the streets, and in their workplaces and communities. Sanders is the only candidate that can open up those possibilities.

The Democratic party went awol in 2016 – and is still missing
Cas Mudde

It will be easy for Sanders supporters to spread their vision to people who feel unrepresented by establishment politics. With his relentlessly disciplined messaging, Sanders has communicated to millions exactly what he is about. It isn’t “corporate citizenship”, it’s creating a “political revolution” to get what’s rightfully ours from “millionaires and billionaires”.

More and more people are struggling and looking for an alternative: Medicare for All, a jobs program, tuition-free college and a living wage are all incredibly popular. In large part, this is because of Sanders and the movements he has spent his life supporting and has recently helped revitalize. Whether or not they want to call it democratic socialism, millions of Americans are ready for a political revolution built around their needs.

Elizabeth Warren is a progressive who can be an important part of a broad coalition for change, but we need a democratic socialist leading that coalition if we’re to deliver it.

Bhaskar Sunkara is the founding editor of Jacobin


TO ME THE PROBLEM WITH MODERN MIDDLE OF THE ROAD DEMOCRATS IS THAT THEY DO NOT EVEN PRETEND ANY MORE TO BE WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE, BUT FOR THEMSELVES INSTEAD. TO MAKE THE MATTER CLEARER, READ BHASKAR SUNKARA’S ARTICLE ABOVE AGAIN. MOST AMERICANS ARE NOT POLITICAL THEORISTS, BUT WORKERS. WE ARE A NONPROFESSIONAL CITIZENRY WHO ARE NOT QUITE A “PROLETARIAT,” BUT STILL A LARGE CLUSTER OF REASONABLY LITERATE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE VERY LITTLE CLAIM TO BEING TRULY MIDDLE-CLASS, IF THE MEDIAN INCOME AND CULTURAL ADVANCEMENT ARE THE CRITERIA. WE ARE “LARRY THE PLUMBER.”

I KNOW THERE ARE LAWYERS AND DOCTORS OUT THERE, BUT MOST OF US ARE NOT. WE NEED TO BRING THE AMERICAN PUBLIC ALL THE WAY UP BOTH FINANCIALLY AND INTELLECTUALLY TO THE POINT AT WHICH WE CAN REALLY MAKE OUR OWN WAY UP FURTHER, AND CLIMB THAT FABLED LADDER OF PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT. WHY NOT BE IN THE SENATE OR THE PRESIDENCY? THAT’S A LONG WAY OFF FOR MOST OF US, SO WE JUST DON’T BELIEVE IT IS POSSIBLE. THE PEOPLE DIDN’T LEAVE THE PARTY. THE PARTY SLOUGHED US OFF AS DEAD WEIGHT.

I THINK MOST DEMOCRATS DO BELIEVE IN MINORITY EQUALITY IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO FIGHT POLITICALLY TO CREATE A FAIR SYSTEM OF LAWS THAT WILL KEEP THE POOR OUT OF THE WRETCHED HOUSING THAT WE KNOW SO WELL, AND ACTUALLY PUNISH A POLICE OFFICER WHO PUMPS A BLACK MAN FULL OF BULLETS RATHER THAN MAKING A NORMAL ARREST. SO FAR, WE ARE STILL GIVING THEM THE PERSONAL DISCRETION TO SHOOT. I DID NOTICE THAT A POLICE OFFICER WAS ACTUALLY SENT TO PRISON A MONTH OR SO AGO ON A MURDER CHARGE, THOUGH PROBABLY FOR A YEAR OR TWO AT THE MOST; WHEN OFFICERS ARE NOT ACTUALLY PUNISHED IN THOSE CASES, THAT VERY PERSONAL PRIVILEGE OF THEIRS IS THE MESSAGE THAT IS SENT.

WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO IN THIS COUNTRY. THAT’S WHY I’M FOR BERNIE RATHER THAN MOST OTHER DEMOCRATS. I BELIEVE THAT “CULTURAL ISSUES” HAVE A WAY OF SMOOTHING THEMSELVES OUT WHEN THOSE HUGE ECONOMIC DIVIDES ARE LESSENED AND EVENTUALLY LEVELED TOTALLY. A BLACK PERSON’S ABILITY TO SUE THE PANTS OFF THE ROGUE COPS AND COMMAND RESPECT IN THE COURTROOM IS VERY EFFECTIVE. I BELIEVE I JUST SAID SOMETHING THAT IS TRULY “SOCIALIST” JUST THEN.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/20/democratic-party-awol-2016
The Democratic party went awol in 2016 – and is still missing
Cas Mudde @casmudde
Thu 20 Sep 2018 08.52 EDT

The party has no clear leader, no convincing analysis of why they lost the election, and no strategy to do better next time

PHOTOGRAPH -- The Democratic national convention at the Wells Fargo Center, on 28 July 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Photograph: Alex Wong/Getty Images

On 8 November 2016 Donald Trump won the US presidency. But it was also the day the Democratic party went awol. Almost two years later, the Democrats are still not to be found. They have no clear leader, or even leadership team, no convincing analysis of why they lost the election, and, consequently, no strategy to do better next time.

In a July 2017 Washington Post-ABC News poll a majority of Americans (52%) said the Democratic party “just stands against Trump”, while just a minority (37%) believed the party “stands for something”. I seriously doubt these numbers will have changed much since then. As Democratic leaders limit their interventions to anti-Russia and anti-Trump platitudes, they might rally their partisan core, but they lose the bigger base – including millennials.

Now, before you start shouting “fake news” or “uninformed voters”, do you really know what the Democratic party stands for? I don’t. Sure, the Democratic party has always had different factions. Just like the Republican party it is a “big tent” party. In fact, the 2016 presidential elections showed that the US has four potential main parties, forced by an unforgiving electoral system into two actual parties. But because the Republicans hold the presidency, they have less of a problem with presenting a clear face (if not necessarily position) to the American voter. The Democrats don’t have this luxury.

Do you really know what the Democratic party stands for? I don’t.

Democratic partisans will counter that, since Trump came to power, Democrats have won many of the local and state races that have been held. But they glance over the fact that these races were won with many different candidates and positions, some diametrically opposed to each other. Moreover, some races were won despite, rather than because of the Democratic party.

In several races the local (or national) party establishment worked against candidates they believed might scare away the “moderate Republican” – the political unicorn that was to bring Hillary Clinton the presidency. The fact that some of these candidates, often more outspokenly leftwing and/or non-white, like my district’s representative, Deborah Gonzalez, (Georgia House district 117) nevertheless won their seat, shows how insular the party establishment is.

Does this mean that the Democratic party should embrace “identity politics – ie cater to a variety of specific identity-based groups – and “democratic socialism” to regain political power? Not necessarily. While Andrew Cuomo’s response to Cynthia Nixon’s much-hyped but ultimately unsuccessful primary challenge was both arrogant and petty, he was at least partly right to say that, so far, the insurgent progressive wave is “not even a ripple”, at least if he speaks with regard to the United States rather than the Democratic party.

There is little doubt that in certain parts of the country, most notably the Democratic strongholds on the coasts, so-called “democratic socialists” (read: social democrats) are successfully challenging the Democratic establishment. Whether they can defeat both Democrats and Republicans will have to be proven in November, but it is not unlikely. Still, while voters in the rest of the country might be ready for a liberal representative, even a non-white one, voting for a socialist might be a step too far.

This is the case, for example, in Georgia, where the Democrat Stacey Abrams takes on Republican Brian Kemp for the governorship. Abrams, an African American woman, has her main support in the city of Atlanta, while Kemp, a white man who is channeling his inner Trump, is strongest in the white rural parts of the state, which decades of gerrymandering have given disproportionate power in Georgia politics. Abrams is often seen as an example of “identity politics”, but this says more about the writer than the candidate. As Briahna Gray has argued convincingly, Abrams actually represents a much more traditional Democratic position, built on a liberal agenda and a multiracial coalition. Which is exactly why she is competitive in a state like Georgia.

Running both liberal and 'socialist' candidates is the best strategy for the Democratic party at this point

Running both liberal and “socialist” candidates is the best strategy for the Democratic party at this point. They have to cater to an increasingly polarized country, in which the polarization is no longer just between the two parties, but also within them. However, an electoral victory in the midterm elections can only be translated into a political victory if the two camps can find common ground that goes beyond anti-Trump platitudes. Lacking this, they can at best hope to slow down the Republican onslaught on the political system.

Obviously, liberals and “socialists” should stop attacking each other with petty personal insults, of which the New York gubernatorial primary was a sad example. And while it is useful to have a fundamental debate on how much redistribution is desirable, and whether we should have Obamacare or universal healthcare, we are so far away from implementing even the most modest proposals. To do that, Democrats first have to defend the liberal democratic system, which requires a basic agenda that can be supported by both camps within the Democratic party as well as the (fast-decreasing) section of liberal democratic Republicans.

At the very least, this agenda should include three types of reforms. First, Democrats on both sides should develop a coherent and comprehensive program to ensure free and fair elections. This includes concrete proposals for non-partisan districting, to prevent partisan and bipartisan gerrymandering, but also campaigns and legislation to minimize voter suppression. Neither proposal should be partisan, even if Democrats have, at least in the short term, more to win from it.

Second, and related, Democrats have to come together on campaign finance reform. Obviously, this is a divisive internal issue, with “Wall Street” Democrats profiting more from the current system. But this advantage is primarily internal, ie in fighting off primary challengers, as the money floodgates opened by Citizens United primarily benefit Republicans candidates. At the same time, within the Republican party, it has strengthened the hand of a small group of rather extreme donors, from free market zealots like the Koch brothers to supporters of the right-wing Israeli government like Sheldon Adelson.

Third, and finally, Democrats must develop a basic program for criminal justice, which does away with racialized legislation, notably in the so-called “War on Drugs”, and significantly limits the use of private prisons. Given the financial costs of both, they will find tactical allies among both libertarians and conservatives within the Republican Party. In fact, some might even support disentangling criminal convictions from taking away voting rights, particularly with regard to “ex-convicts”.

While none of these reforms, or their combination, will bring about the liberal or “socialist” utopia the two camps of the Democratic Party strive for, it will ensure that the expected electoral Midterm victory is not wasted on internal bickering or anti-Trump grandstanding, while the Republican is organizing a conservative backlash around President Trump for the 2020 elections.