(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Next time, 'The Springfield effect' could be directed at you [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-09-13 The Atlantic’s Isabel Fattal just highlighted a point that ought to be emphasized towards all of those who are witnessing what just happened — and is still happening — this week in Springfield Ohio. Ordinary people — in this case legal Haitian immigrants — are being harassed and threatened after being demonized by Donald Trump and J.D. Vance on social media, for no reason other than to advance their own political careers. Bomb threats, death threats and harassing phone calls have resulted in shutting down the town’s city hall (the seat of its local municipal services) and its schools. All because Trump supporters have robotically latched on to a social media meme originally advanced and propagated by Neo Nazis, then gleefully exploited by the Republican candidate for president and his “mini-me” running mate. They know the slanders are false, but they don’t care. They know their online army of unbalanced and malignant terrorists will follow up and possibly hurt people. And they don’t care. The point is that this scenario is just a preview of what awaits this country, writ large, if these people are put into office, and you are seriously mistaken if you don’t think it will affect your communities, and perhaps you personally. As Fattal explains, in her article, titled "The Springfield Effect": Consider the timeline. On Monday, Trump’s running mate, J. D. Vance, mentioned on X the claim—for which there is no verifiable evidence—that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are “abducting” and eating pets. Vance was promoting a racist theory that had been circulating in certain corners of the internet in recent days, a manifestation of the anti-Haitian sentiment that has bubbled up in Springfield after roughly 15,000 Haitian migrants arrived in the town over the past few years. MAGA supporters quickly kicked into action, sharing cat memes referencing the pet-eating theory. Trump amplified this garbage meme to 67 million people when he repeated it during this week’s debate. And Vance, an actual senator supposed to be representing the state of Ohio, jumped right in. x In short, don't let the crybabies in the media dissuade you, fellow patriots. Keep the cat memes flowing. — JD Vance (@JDVance) September 10, 2024 These are the kind of despicable human beings we’re dealing with. They just don’t care about the fallout. It’s all for the LULZ and “who cares who gets hurt.” That’s their ethic. As I noted earlier today: The entire episode is instructive in multiple ways. First, it demonstrates how quickly and easily in our digital environment a baseless slur demonizing an entire subgroup of people can be propagated by hate groups. It also confirms how conservatives, notably including the Republican presidential ticket itself, will eagerly fan and spread such disinformation, no matter how harmful, if it is perceived as helping them politically. And it also confirms the close symbiosis between such Neo-Nazi groups and the Trump campaign, for whom they hold such high regard. This is the fallout from Trump and Vance’s gleeful embrace of this right wing, internet-fueled trash: Yesterday, Springfield’s mayor, Rob Rue, reported that the city had received multiple bomb threats via email, consisting of “hateful language towards immigrants and Haitians”; the threats prompted the evacuation of Springfield City Hall, two schools, and a local Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles facility. Today, a second wave of threats led to the evacuation of multiple city buildings and two elementary schools. Rue told The New York Times that “it’s frustrating when national politicians, on the national stage, mischaracterize what is actually going on and misrepresent our community.” According to the New York–based The Haitian Times, as well as The New York Times, some Haitian residents in Springfield say they are being intimidated and fear for their safety. So how do you think Trump, Vance and their rancid minions are going to behave towards anyone who opposes them or their policies, should they be allowed back into office? Who do you think they will look to for support? What do you think they’ll do, to demonize and harass the people Trump tells them to, who they think they can just exploit for political gain, and walk away? As Fattal notes: Writing on Tuesday about the MAGA-world cat content, my colleague Ali Breland noted, “This kind of posting almost never stays online. It’s all fun and games, until it isn’t.” The memes don’t stay online, because they’re made and amplified by people who take action in the real world—Donald Trump and J. D. Vance among them. These people do not care who they hurt to get what they want. And that’s a big, big problem. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/13/2270202/-Next-time-The-Springfield-effect-could-be-directed-at-you?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/