OPINION: Chris Kelly Opinion: Fight Trumpist violence with votes
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Aug. 14—Ricky Shiffer died for
In an Ohio cornfield, the relentless, weaponized lies that warped Shiffer's mind were no shield against the bullets that pierced his body. He died believing he was a patriot after committing an act of domestic terrorism.
Shiffer was willing to kill FBI agents over the lawful application of a search warrant at Trump's estate in Florida. He posted this rallying cry on antisocial media:
"People, this is it. I hope the call to arms comes from someone better qualified, but if not, this is your call to arms from me. Leave work tomorrow as soon as the gun shop/Army-Navy store/pawn shop opens, get whatever you need to be ready for combat. We must not tolerate this one. They have been conditioning us to accept tyranny and think we can't do anything for 2 years. This time we must respond with force..."
Ricky Shiffer was 42.
His antisocial media posts reveal that he believed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, that the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol was committed by "Antifa," Black Lives Matter activists and undercover FBI agents and that a nail gun could break the bulletproof glass at the FBI Building in Cincinnati.
He was wrong. Shiffer paid with his life, but his rallying cry resonates with millions of Americans glued to Fox "News," Corporate Hate Radio and right-wing disinformation mills dedicated to dividing a society splitting at its seams.
On Thursday, Fox ran a photoshopped image purporting to show the judge who approved the search warrant for Mar-a-Lago getting a foot massage from convicted sex trafficker and Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. It was quickly outed as a fake, but it just as quickly became "gospel" across the internet.
As of Friday afternoon, Fox hadn't issued a correction. Trump-adoring Americans wouldn't care, anyway. Some are our neighbors, co-workers, family and friends. Most of them won't take up arms against the government.
All of them will vote. It's an important consideration for sane Pennsylvanians as we approach an election season in which democracy itself is on the ballot.
For governor, Republican voters nominated an election-denier who was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, organized two busloads of Trumpers to be there and stands accused of involvement in assembling slates of "alternate electors" that were essential to Trump's failed coup.
In a wild week of news dominated by the court-ordered search of the former president's home, it was easy to miss Mastriano stonewalling the Jan. 6 committee. The candidate showed up for the interview, but left when the committee wouldn't agree to his conditions.
Mastriano's top adviser, former Trump campaign attorney Jenna Ellis, was a key player in Trump's failed coup. "Q" rhymes with coup. QAnon conspiracists and Christian nationalists adore Mastriano. The ardor is mutual.
Mastriano's campaign paid Riverside High School and University of Scranton graduate Andrew Torba $5,000 as a "consultant." Torba is the founder and CEO of Gab, the premier antisocial cesspool for Christian nationalists, antisemites and similar kooks and cranks committed to the creation of a white, male Christian theocracy — essentially the global caliphate Islamofascists want, but with GOP Jesus on the throne.
Torba's audience is Mastriano's base. Beyond those who believe the Crusades didn't go far enough, Mastriano polls lower than smallpox. On paper, he is unelectable in a statewide race.
The same was true of Trump, but here we are — with Ricky Shiffer dead in an Ohio cornfield, FBI agents and judges being targeted for upholding the law and a former president who would gladly burn down the republic if it saved his miserable skin.
In that spirit, I've adapted Ricky Shiffer's rallying cry.
People, this is it. I hope the call to arms comes from other voices better qualified, but if not, this is your call to arms from me. Leave work tomorrow and register to vote. If you are registered, help someone else register. We must not underestimate this one. Fox "News" has been conditioning viewers to accept tyranny and convince us we can't do anything for 25 years. This time we must respond with forceful turnout ...
Ricky Shiffer died for Donald Trump. America doesn't have to lay down beside him.
CHRIS KELLY, the Times-Tribune columnist, likes presidents who don't steal top-secret documents. Read his award-winning blog at timestribuneblogs.com/Kelly.
Contact the writer:
kellysworld@timesshamrock.com;
@cjkink on Twitter;
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