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MountCleaners

(1,148 posts)
Wed Aug 2, 2017, 12:02 PM Aug 2017

I was watching "Manhunt: Unabomber" on Discovery ID, and it got me thinking...


It brought back strong memories from that era. I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago - like Ted Kaczynski, and went to Northwestern, which was bombed twice by the Unabomber, so I followed the case closely.

I learned a few things about the role of profiling in the case against Kaczynski.

It got me thinking, though - I have a memory of that era being one in which we had a sense of government as STRONG, with capable people running things. Trump has undermined confidence in government. The 1990's was also the era of Waco and the Oklahoma City bombing. What if we had a domestic catastrophe or crisis NOW? The majority of Americans would have no confidence in the government to handle it well, or to pursue justice for the victims. We have a child in the Oval Office, who thinks that all government agencies are HIS agencies. I personally have no faith in the government anymore, and I worry how a crisis or catastrophe would be handled.

We have a President who spends a lot of time lying and boasting on Twitter as if he is still in seventh grade. It sickens me to think how he would react if a tragedy were to happen. He's so insincere, he makes it clear he doesn't truly care about anyone.
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I was watching "Manhunt: Unabomber" on Discovery ID, and it got me thinking... (Original Post) MountCleaners Aug 2017 OP
You are right, we have a child in the WH - not even sure who the adults are anymore... FM123 Aug 2017 #1
Sort of along those same lines - a thought that eats at me rurallib Aug 2017 #2
True story: my FIL was once arrested & held for being the unabomber Nevernose Aug 2017 #3
I was at Northwestern MountCleaners Aug 2017 #4

FM123

(10,050 posts)
1. You are right, we have a child in the WH - not even sure who the adults are anymore...
Wed Aug 2, 2017, 12:13 PM
Aug 2017

If some real emergency were to happen - I am afraid trumpy would just lock himself in the bathroom and tweet about it.

rurallib

(62,346 posts)
2. Sort of along those same lines - a thought that eats at me
Wed Aug 2, 2017, 12:14 PM
Aug 2017

If we have a financial meltdown IMHO First we have a group that only seems to know how the top .1% function economically and second there seems to be little expertise on how economies work in this administration.

So much like your question about a non-financial crisis or catastrophe, I would add that we have no one anywhere around this administration who knows enough about global economies to be of much good in the case of a financial crisis.

And we seem to be headed for one in a hurry. That goddamned ridiculous debt ceiling is nearly upon us. If it doesn't get upped in a hurry we may be looking at the US defaulting on its debt payments. That would be catastrophic.

Nevernose

(13,081 posts)
3. True story: my FIL was once arrested & held for being the unabomber
Wed Aug 2, 2017, 12:20 PM
Aug 2017

He's just a good old-fashioned asshole who happens to be a gold miner. But because of that, on paper at least:
He lived alone
In a cabin in the woods
In Montana
Hated the government vocally
Was very intelligent
Had access to explosives
Wore aviator shades all the time.

He'd still very right wing and very anti government, but we get along quite well because, due to my extremely left wing stances, neither of us likes or trusts the government or most of our elected representatives.

Also, he really hates Trump.

MountCleaners

(1,148 posts)
4. I was at Northwestern
Wed Aug 2, 2017, 12:24 PM
Aug 2017

...in the late eighties and early nineties, and the Unabomber was the talk of the campus. After all, he started out bombing Northwestern. We were wondering if he'd had a connection to the university, and come back.

However, I seem to recall that some people suspected he was anti-technology by that point. I know this because my friends and I developed an interest in anti-technology literature.

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