Because The President Said So

Two weeks before the midterm elections, which would determine the balance of power in Washington and statehouses everywhere, a number of unexploded pipe bombs and other suspicious packages have turned up at the doorsteps of prominent Democrats and other critics of President Donald Trump.

Former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, former attorney general Eric Holder, congresswomen Maxine Waters and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the New York headquarters of CNN were among those who got the packages Wednesday.  Federal officials are investigating.

President Trump and White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders made statements condemning the acts, saying there's no place for political violence in this country.  Those words ring hollow when you consider how much damage Trump's and Sanders' words and deeds have done here and abroad for nearly two years.  Trump might not be behind the aborted attacks, but he's done plenty to inspire others to carry out his dirty work.

• He dragged his feet in demanding answers about the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, because too much of the United States' oil and the Trump family's money is tied up in ally Saudi Arabia.
• Calls the media the "enemy of the people" and supports a Republican congressional candidate who attacked a journalist.
• Whips up a frenzy over a "caravan" of Central American immigrants making its way across Mexico to escape the violence and poverty of their homelands, on its way to a possible confrontation with soldiers at the U.S. border.
• Tears up nuclear agreements dating back to the days of Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev because he thinks Russia's been cheating.
• Starts a trade war with China, with tariffs threatening both countries' economies.
• Refers to Stormy Daniels as "horseface".
• Lingering resentment over the way Brett Kavanaugh was approved as Supreme Court justice.
• A man was arrested for allegedly groping a female passenger during a flight.  He told police he thought Trump said it was OK to fondle women without their permission.

The President stokes all this anger and rage in those free-for-all rallies he holds in places where he's popular.  At one of those in Houston recently, he declared himself to be a nationalist, which meant that in his world such qualities as racism and xenophobia are fine with him.  And there are apparently enough people out there who agree with him.

So if the net effect of these assassination attempts is to get rid of the competition while making America great again, Trump is well on his way to doing that. Whatever happens on Election Day will determine how much more power Trump and the Republicans will have, and how much more intimidation Americans can take.