Nov.24

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

   

GOP 49

The Terrorist Attack That Wasn't

You've probably heard about this by now, but there was a very unusual car accident at Rainbow Bridge, which allows people to cross between the U.S. and Canada, passing over Niagara Falls.

There is actually a lot that is unknown about the accident. The car was a Bentley, was coming from the American side, and the two occupants were killed. Beyond that... a mystery. There is security footage of the lead-up to the crash, which you can see here, if you wish. It's not violent or gory, and if you don't watch carefully, you'll miss the relevant part. However, if you pay attention to the top of the screen, you see a white car approach at what must be 100+ mph, and launch into the air. Frankly, and we don't mean this as a joke, but instead as the best description we can come up with, it looks like any of a hundred car-chase scenes from The Dukes of Hazzard. In any case, if this was not either a mechanical failure or a suicide, we'll be very surprised.

That said, starting with Fox, the right-wing mediasphere immediately concluded it was a terrorist attack, and that it was therefore a failure of the Biden administration. Here are a few examples of tweets sent out in the hours after the incident:

• Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ): Praying for our CBP officials and first responders.
  
  Our borders are under attack and the Biden Administration continues to sit on its hands.
  
  It's long past time to put Americans first.
  
  
• Right-wing Journalist Simon Ateba: DEVELOPING: No word from the White House yet, an hour after a car exploded at the New York-Canada border near Niagara Falls in what is now referred to as an attempted terrorist attack. President Biden remains on vacation.
  
  
• Right-wing Pundit Benny Johnson: The day before Thanksgiving, a terrorist drove a vehicle full of explosives to Niagara Falls, detonating them to cause a massive explosion at our border.
  
  This was an attempted terrorist attack.
  
  On US soil.
  
  Maybe the FBI should focus on actual national security threats instead of investigating Trump supporters.
  
  
• Ted Cruz: This confirms our worst fear: the explosion at Rainbow Bridge was a terrorist attack.
  
  Both attackers are dead, and one law enforcement officer is injured.
  
  I am praying that officer makes a full recovery and is able to spend Thanksgiving surrounded by family and loved ones....

There are two problems with the above tweets. First, the FBI (and, thus, the Biden administration) did get involved in investigating the incident. Second, the FBI has already announced that it was not a terrorist attack.

We honestly do not know why Republican fears about the southern border have now become fears about the northern border, allowing such falsehoods to spread so easily and so quickly. We know Vivek Ramaswamy talked about building a wall along the northern border during the most recent debate, but we seriously doubt right-wingers are taking their cues from him, and we assume that he must have been parroting someone else.

We'll see if this new strain of thought continues. You'll know it's reached primetime when and if Donald Trump picks it up and runs with it. Meanwhile, "Thanks, Biden!" has clearly become the new "Thanks, Obama!" Republicans are now reflexively blaming the President for everything, even if that makes no sense, and even if the incident in question... didn't actually happen. (Z)