US bomb campaign: attacks are seen through prism of divided US

An officer keeps watch in front of the Time Warner building after one of the devices was found. Picture: AP.

The first thing to say about the would-be domestic terrorist who sent bombs to two former US presidents and others is that the person is evil, sick and most likely motivated by a deeply warped view of politics and democracy.

The second thing to say is that this cowardly act will not be seen simply for what it might turn out to be — the act of one unhinged individual. Rather it is already being viewed through the prism of a divided America.

The narratives are already playing out in an ugly way. After all, the mid-term elections are less than two weeks away and will determine the state of the congress and shape the next two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. The stakes are high so the spin from both sides is fast and furious.

Democrats are more or less placing the blame for the parcel bomber at the feet of Trump.

“Time and time again, the President has condoned physical violence and divided Americans with his words and his actions,” Senate minority leader Democrat Chuck Schumer and house minority leader Nancy Pelosi said.

Trump has done more than any other politician, they say, to divide and stoke hatred among Americans towards his political opponents and the media.

So, they imply, it’s not such a stretch to ­accuse him of inciting these ­attempted bombings. ­Really? Let’s get some perspective here.

It is true that Trump plays his politics hard and his divisive comments are often ugly and aimed at firing up his partisan base. It is also true that Trump has sought to ­divide rather than unify during his first two years as President.

He does himself no credit to label the US media as “the enemy of the people”.

That is a cheap way of trying to fool his base to disbelieve media reports that are not favourable to him. It is unhealthy and undemocratic and Trump should rightly be condemned for it.

I was at Trump’s rally in Houston this week where, as usual, he pointed to the media pack and encouraged the 16,000-strong crowds to hurl abuse at the media because it didn’t support him as much as he wanted. CNN, where one of the bombs was sent, is a ­favourite target of Trump.

CNN is no fan of the President and it has all but abandoned objective reporting on Trump from the Left. But so has Fox News from the Right. The two networks falsely promote the two idealogical ­extremes of American politics, leaving reality to fall somewhere in the middle.

All of the targets in the bomb plot were favourite targets of Trump, from the Clintons to ­Barack Obama to Democratic congresswomen to CNN and, ­earlier this week, billionaire ­philanthropist George Soros.

But one bomb plot does not create a political narrative. We should be wary of using the actions of one deranged individual to make a sweeping “I told you so” statement about Trump and the US.

The truth is that the US is ­living through one of the most ­divisive moments in its modern history.

It is polarised politically, economically, racially and ideologically. It struggles to agree how to run itself, much less on its place in the world.

The Trump phenomenon of populist nationalism is a global one, reflective of the times rather than a movement created by one man.

But every era has its crazy ­people and yesterday’s would-be bomber who targeted the Clintons and the Obamas among others is no different.

Lee Harvey Oswald and John Hinkley were no less driven by their own demons and prejudices.

For almost 20 years, from 1979 to 1995 — when the US was a much less polarised country — it was haunted by repeated attacks from bombs delivered by the so-called Unabomber, Theodore John Kaczynski. Now another crazy has emerged, trying to target former presidents and others, but at this early stage we would be wise not to read too much into it.

One nutter does not define an era.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia