The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
On New Year’s Day terror struck my beloved New Orleans. A U.S. citizen born in Texas and an Army veteran (served in Afghanistan) intentionally drove a truck into a crowd on Bourbon Street: 14 murdered and dozens critically injured. The truck had an ISIS flag. The killer’s Facebook posts and videos made it clear that his murderous spree was an act of terror.
President Biden said: “The FBI is taking the lead in the investigation and is investigating this incident as an act of terrorism. … my heart goes out to the victims and their families … we will not tolerate any attack … .” However, Trump couldn’t resist posting several demagogic tirades on his so-called Truth Social: “With the Biden ‘Open Border’s Policy’ I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe.”
Truth is always the first casualty in war. To repeat, the terrorist “was an Army veteran from Texas and a U.S. citizen” (Washington Post). Moreover, violent crime has been declining throughout the U.S., including in Wisconsin (FBI). The horror in New Orleans had absolutely nothing to do with our supposedly ‘Open Border’s Policy’ (unauthorized crossings have sharply declined). Trump’s bloviating was echoed by GOP Senators John Kennedy (LA) and Lindsey Graham (SC). Kennedy with no explanation questioned the FBI’s reliability and threatened its investigators, while Graham maligned the press coverage.
Making political hay out of horror. Reminiscent of some conservatives attacking Wisconsin Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin, falsely linking her to the unspeakable 2021 Waukesha Christmas parade carnage. Waukesha Mayor Shawn Reilly, a former Republican, denounced an ad falsely implying Baldwin was soft on crime, facilitating the murders by an unconscionable driver. Reilly called the ad a “pitiful political tool.” Moreover, Reilly bluntly said: “The goal is to create fear. The goal is to create division.” Will any Wisconsin Republicans call out Trump’s contemptible statements on the New Orleans terrorist attack?
Get ready for a wild ride. Chaos. And, worst of all a government of billionaires for billionaires. Already, Trump tried to force a Christmas shutdown of the federal government. Trump posted: “If there is going to be a shutdown of government let it begin now, under the Biden Administration, not after January 20th under ‘Trump’.” GOP House Speaker Johnson narrowly avoided the shutdown and kept his speakership. The price – Johnson agreed to cuts of $2.5 trillion in mandatory spending – “Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ (benefits) and food stamps” (Washington Post).
Meanwhile, Trump threatens to seize the Panama Canal and “buy” Greenland. But foreign policy isn’t a Monopoly game. Voters want financial security, not nonsense. No Trump solutions for that. Trump now admits to Time magazine that “it’s hard to bring things down (prices) once they’ve gone up.” Trump’s tax cuts for billionaires and millionaires, trade wars leading to retaliation against the U.S. and mass deportations won’t help the working-middle class. The ultimate conman!
-Kaplan wrote a guest column from Washington, D.C., for the Wisconsin State Journal from 1995—2009.
