Suspected pipe bombs intercepted en route to Robert de Niro and Joe Biden. An eighth explosive was reportedly found Thursday morning, this one on its way to actor Robert de Niro in New York City. Not long after, it was announced that a ninth suspected bomb was discovered on its way to former Vice President Joe Biden in Delaware, a claim since confirmed by the FBI.
Since Tuesday, suspected mail bombs have been sent to George Soros, Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters (in both Los Angeles and D.C.), and former CIA Director John Brennan via the CNN offices. All were intercepted without incident.
The package sent to Brennan's office came with a popular meme image that resembles the ISIS flag but with the Arabic characters replaced by mudflap girls and the words "Get Er Done."
The Clinton and Obama packages listed Florida Democrat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz as the return address. Schultz herself had a suspicious package sent to her Sunrise, Florida, office, though it had actually been addressed to former Attorney General Eric Holder. But Holder's address was written wrong, causing it to rebound to the return address ascribed to the representative.
For a while on Wednesday, it was hard to keep up with the rumored mail bombs, several of which turned out not to exist. Reports of pipe bombs bound for the San Diego Union-Tribune, the White House, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo were false.
Trump has taken the opportunity to cast blame on the incivility and negativity of the media. This morning, Trump tweeted:
A very big part of the Anger we see today in our society is caused by the purposely false and inaccurate reporting of the Mainstream Media that I refer to as Fake News. It has gotten so bad and hateful that it is beyond description. Mainstream Media must clean up its act, FAST! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018
The media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attacks and stories. They've gotta stop. Bring people together.
Of course, many have been leveling the same charge against Trump, saying it's his vitriol toward journalists and Democrats that inspired these acts.
And then we've got folks from Turning Point USA's Candace Owens, to radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage, suggesting or saying outright that this is all a stunt set in motion by liberals.
Thankfully, there are some trying to remind everyone that indeed, "this is not normal"—even in polarized and vitriolic times like ours, we're still seeing a fraction of the bombings and political violence we saw in the 1970s and other decades prior.
It may be hard to believe on a day like today, but between Jan 1969 and Oct 1970, New York was the site of 370 bombings, more than one every other day. https://t.co/tRrgZuysOL — Tim Mak (@timkmak) October 24, 2018
A statement from the FBI explained that:
The packages were mailed in manila envelopes with bubble wrap interior. The packages were affixed with computer-printed address labels and six Forever stamps. All packages had a return address of "DEBBIE WASSERMAN SHULTZ" [sic] in Florida. Packages identified to date were addressed to:
FREE MINDS
Reason editor Jesse Walker writes in The Atlantic about Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, a Russian woman accused of conspiring against America, and reminds us to retain some perspective:
I wrote a little something about Russians and politics and online identity games and who exactly is really good at sowing discord. https://t.co/HfDcoNhLU1 — Jesse Walker (@notjessewalker) October 25, 2018
QUICK HITS
Yemeni official: Death toll from Saudi airstrike now at 19. https://t.co/Xx57Elhu3C — The Associated Press (@AP) October 25, 2018
Libertarians sit nowhere on the left-right map. Deirdre McCloskey explains why.
Even in a piece attempting to add clarity, The New York Times uses the terms "sex," "gender," and "gender identity" interchangeably.
President Trump refuses to stop using his unsecured iPhones, reports The New York Times...
Trump has been told that Chinese and Russian spies are listening in on his cell phone calls, but he refuses to use secure landline: "White House officials say they can only hope he refrains from discussing classified information when he is on them." https://t.co/aaifyv4pfU — Catherine Rampell (@crampell) October 24, 2018
… but it's OK, say his staff, because he rarely reads intelligence briefings anyway.
Well that's a relief: "[White House officials] said they had further confidence he was not spilling secrets because he rarely digs into the details of the intelligence he is shown and is not well versed in the operational specifics of military or covert activities." https://t.co/JhnzsNRQBT — Catherine Rampell (@crampell) October 24, 2018
Meanwhile, on POTUS Twitter:
The so-called experts on Trump over at the New York Times wrote a long and boring article on my cellphone usage that is so incorrect I do not have time here to correct it. I only use Government Phones, and have only one seldom used government cell phone. Story is soooo wrong! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 25, 2018
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