web1_ChristyMug.cmyk_.jpg

Christy arraigned on Butler Township burglary; fugitive back in local prison

Lehman Township officer charged with drunken driving

It&#8217;s amazing how quickly mudane daily concerns fade away in the face of terror.My Wednesday morning began with the usual diet of a newspaper editor: Angry emails, some logistical hiccups as our staff headed out to cover Vice President Mike Pence&#8217;s visit to Forty Fort, an early seminar meeting to attend, some more angry emails, a welter of deadlines.The hiccups were easily resolved. The seminar meeting was informative. The deadlines were more or less met. The emails received the care and concern they deserved.And then things changed.Tweets, Facebook posts and alerts from the Associated Press sounded an alarm: Suspicious packages. Pipe bombs. Big-name officials.Yuge names.It rekindled the fear and weariness of those post-9/11 days when anthrax scares gripped the nation. Will we be bracing for the threatening letters, packages and suspicious white powders again?It also came as no surprise, but felt more like the other shoe whose fall we&#8217;ve all been waiting for.As the AP described it, crude pipe bombs of a similar design were intercepted before reaching &#8220;prominent Democrats and a cable news network often criticized by political conservatives.&#8221;Hey, AP, let me fix that for you: &#8220;prominent Democrats and a cable news network often criticized by the President of the United States.&#8221;In fairness, President Donald Trump reacted by saying the right thing &#8212; sort of &#8212; this time.As Pence spoke at the Wyoming Valley Airport during a campaign rally, he acknowledged the status of the pipe-bomb situation for the benefit of a local audience and national cameras.&#8220;Let me be clear: We condemn these attempted acts of violence in the strongest possible terms,&#8221; the vice president said. &#8220;These cowardly acts are despicable and have no place in American society.&#8221;Pence assured the crowd that &#8220;those responsible will be brought to justice.&#8221;Then the president tweeted: &#8220;I agree wholeheartedly!&#8221; over Pence&#8217;s remarks.And later: &#8220;The safety of the American People is my highest priority. I have just concluded a briefing with the FBI, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Secret Service,&#8221; Trump tweeted.Presidential.Reassuring, in a way.Also too little, too late.It would be more reassuring if such remarks had not come just days after the president made it clear he has no regrets about praising a GOP congressman who body slammed a reporter.&#8220;Any guy who can do a body slam, he&#8217;s my candidate, he&#8217;s my guy,&#8221; Trump said of Rep. Greg Gianforte. The Montana Republican pleaded guilty in June 2017 to assaulting a Guardian reporter.When Trump made his joke during a rally in Montana, the crowd cheered.The crowds always do when Trump stands before his adoring masses and calls journalists &#8220;horrible, lying people,&#8221; when he suggests jailing his political opponents, when he jokes about wanting to punch protesters in the face.I&#8217;ve been to several of those rallies. I never felt personally threatened, but there&#8217;s nothing quite like standing before 10,000 people booing your profession egged on by the President of the United States.If the senior citizens in Make America Great Again ballcaps don&#8217;t exactly seem like brutal thugs, there&#8217;s always enough of an edge to suggest that some of the younger, fitter members of the audience hold enough of a grudge to consider avenging the leader sooner or later.We should be surprised that someone would send pipe bombs to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Maxine Waters and &#8220;fake news&#8221; CNN in such a climate?The conspiracy theories will run rampant.Maybe it was Russia or China, trying to disrupt the mid-term elections.Maybe it was our good &#8220;friends&#8221; the Saudis, trying to sow dissent and send a backhanded warning against any retaliation for that incident involving missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi and a bonesaw by making it look like someone on Team #MAGA went off the rails.Maybe it was a twisted Democrat who hoped to stir up the blue wave.Maybe we&#8217;ll know soon enough. Maybe we won&#8217;t.What is clear is that we live in a time when such hatred, if it came from within, is fanned by a commander-in-chief whose language has often been violent indeed.At a rally in Wisconsin later Wednesday, Trump told the audience: &#8220;We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony.&#8221; He even joked that he was &#8220;trying to be nice.&#8221;But, he added, the media &#8220;has a responsibly to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories.&#8221;Any guy who can do a body slam &#8230;<style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_121404513-6d71107549154e6d9ee4c43aebfc773f.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">President Donald Trump is seen at a rally in Rochester, Minn. earlier this month. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/web1_121404513-6d71107549154e6d9ee4c43aebfc773f.jpg</photo0><caption0>President Donald Trump is seen at a rally in Rochester, Minn. earlier this month. </caption0><photoCredit0>AP file photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Roger DuPuisrdupuis@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div>

On Politics: The bomb’s in the mail, but who licked the stamp?