In spite of the fact that more than 900 people have been charged to date for their part in the insurrection, five people died as a result of injuries received during the insurrection, and four officers have taken their own lives in the wake of the insurrection, Donald Trump stated on September 1 that he would consider full pardons for all involved if he is reelected.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has served with distinction under both Democratic and Republican administrations has been subjected to death threats for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Up until Trump took office, this position has been completely non-political, as it should be. Fauci's job is to protect the public health, which was also a no-brainer until the Trump administration took power. Dr. Fauci is not the only public health official to face threats. In general, those on the front line of this pandemic have been subjected to abuse by both conservative politicians and the general public over some absurd perception that their "medical freedom" was being taken away.

People may laugh at comments like that, but they should have stopped laughing a few years ago because what Donald Trump said is true. Not only has he normalized white supremacy, but he has normalized the use of violent political threats over and over to strike back at his critics. He has done this both with words and with tweets.

Donald Trump should no longer be looked at as merely a harmless carnival barking clown. Trump is neither funny nor amusing. He's a dangerous violent fascist. Perhaps the mainstream media is afraid to call what's going on in America for what it is, but we are not. The fact is that the use of violence and the threat of violence is the hallmark of a country moving from democracy into fascism.

A good example of this is how violence was used to help Mussolini come to power in Italy. Don't kid yourselves. It can happen here.

Speaking about the media, the role of journalism is to expose this kind of behavior, not find ways to dance around it with the false smokescreen about being fair and balanced, and "listening to the other side." There can be no breaking bread with fascists. Period.

Trump's true believers do not care about the continual calls for violence that have come, not only from him, but from his enablers in the GOP. In fact, they embrace it. If you need evidence, perhaps you should review some of the footage from the insurrection, and then take a trip down social media lane and see how his followers try to justify it.

Since Adam Kinzinger chose to serve on the J6 Committee, he and his family have been subjected to vile threats of violence from Trump's supporters, some of whom are

members of his own family.

Scott Esk, running for a seat in the Oklahoma house has justified abusing his own children based on his religious beliefs. He has also advocated for executing LGBTQ people.

Several GOP candidates have a history of either abusing or threatening to kill others. Eric Greitens released a political ad that showed him hunting old guard Republicans (or RINOs) in his own party brandishing an automatic weapon. This is a man who was forced to resign as governor because he was abusive to his family. It doesn't matter that he (thankfully) lost the primary. What matters is that the GOP didn't even bat an eye when the ad was released.

In fact, more than 100 GOP 2022 midterm ads have featured weapons making violence the defining characteristic of hard-core conservatism. Nothing is more disturbing than seeing an older woman, like Kay Ivey, Governor of Alabama, brandishing a Smith & Wesson in a political ad. It's one thing to own a gun. It's quite another to make it your calling card, but that is what the GOP has done.

Trump has endorsed Herschel Walker, a man with a history of abusing not only his ex-wife but also at least one girlfriend. When Mitch McConnell was asked about backing Walker, he responded:

"There are some things written that indicated he’s had some challenges in his life. On the other hand, the good news is, he’s made several impressive performances on national television."

He's had "challenges" in life? Really? That's all McConnell's got? For GOP leadership in both the House and Senate, it's pretty clear that making the right impression and winning at all costs are all that matter.

The mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in May of this year resulted in the deaths of 10 people and the wounding of another three. The perpetrator was 18-year-old Payton Gendron, who bought into the "great replacement theory" which states that immigrants and nonwhite people are invading America to 'replace' white voters in order to achieve their political agenda. He left behind a 180-page document full of hate-filled paranoid thoughts on the subject. 

The "great replacement" theory is not only promoted by right-wing talking heads like Tucker Carlson, Alex Jones and Nicholas Fuentes of America First, but also sitting members of our legislature, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, and Elise Stefanik. 

To download a PDF 'explainer' of The Great Replacement Theory, use the button below.

The definition of terrorism (above) is broad, but terrorism takes several forms and has been evolving since the 9-11 terrorist attacks. For those who do not know about or have not heard of the term stochastic terrorism, it is defined as:

The public dehumanization of a person or group that results in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot be predicted.

This is the kind of terrorism that the Republicans engage in all the time now, and it started with the demonization of immigrants. It's Donald Trump calling Mexicans rapists and criminals.

It's the right wing and the GOP referring to teachers as "groomers" of the children that they teach.

It's the right wing calling antifa and BLM "violent" and accusing them of starting the insurrection when the actual evidence and facts prove otherwise. Hell, the right-wing insurrectionists filmed themselves and put it out there on social media for all to see, proud as peacocks.

Stochastic terrorism is Paul Gosar, a sitting GOP congressman, calling for the FBI to be destroyed after exercising a legal search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago:

Gosar's tweet appeared on August 8. On August 11, Ricky Walter Schiffer attacked the FBI field office in Cincinnati with an AR-15-styled rifle. 

Here's an example of stochastic terrorism being used against transgender health care providers at Boston Children's Hospital, one of the nation's preeminent health care facilities for children.

Some of the false information spread includes the allegation that Boston Children's Hospital performs gender-affirming surgeries on minors. This is patently false and is completely debunked in this USA Today fact-check article.

It has also been alleged that BCH doctors provide 'gender reaffirming hysterectomies' on young girls, another outright lie. Hysterectomies are a last-resort treatment for pediatric endometrial cancer. This social media behavior is reprehensible and harmful.

As a result of these lies, health care providers have been the target of death threats and the hospital has been the target of bomb threats.