Oregon man tries to blame “antifa” after drunk driving his truck into a telephone pole
The Republican Party’s descent into madness is accelerating. Egged on by their paranoid president, conservatives have begun to embrace all manner of deranged worldviews.
Much digital ink has already been spilled about the rise of QAnon, the elaborate far-right conspiracy theory that contends that Donald Trump is secretly battling to save the world from a secret cabal of satanic pedophile Democrats. The incredibly disturbing and incredibly idiotic narrative is gaining steam within the GOP, to the point where several QAnon-supporting candidates have already won Republican primaries and could soon be serving in Congress.
On top of QAnon, we’ve also seen the proliferation within conservative America of anti-semitic canards about liberal billionaire George Soros. Fearmongering about anti-fascists (antifa) has also been mainstreamed within the GOP to the point where many otherwise average Americans have become convinced that black-clad death squads could descend on their suburban cul-de-sac at any moment.
Republican voters are gripped by fear and divorced from reality which—in addition to making it hard to discuss real solutions to this country’s problems wit them—makes it incredibly easy for grifters and bad faith actors within their own party to exploit and manipulate them.
Sign the petition to tell Congress to stop Trump’s sabotage of the post office!
The fact that conservatives seem so willing to believe in the most ridiculous claims if they support their prior assumptions perhaps explains in some part a bizarre story to come out of Oregon. Bellingcat‘s Robert Evans reports that he was in Portland and came across the scene of a startling car crash. A vehicle had been upended against a telephone pole after a drunk man attempted to buy beer from a local store, was declined service, and raced out of the parking lot. He struck a guide wire on the pole, flipping the vehicle.
The bizarre part of the story is that after clambering out of the vehicle, the man allegedly accused a bystander of being “antifa” and having caused the crash. Who in their right mind would think anyone would believe such a pathetic defense?
Whether he made the ludicrous accusation because some right-wing paranoia came surging up out of him or whether he was simply coming up with the best excuse he could muster in his inebriated state is unclear. What is clear is that the president’s antifa rhetoric is seeping deeper and deeper into our culture and if we don’t exorcise him from the White House this November there is no telling what will become of this country’s already damaged collective psyche.
I'm in SE Portland, doing errands, where I just ran across this. The short story is that a drunk man attempted to buy beer from a Plaid Pantry. He was turned down and peeled hard out of the parking lot, where he struck the guide wire on that pole. pic.twitter.com/ergpOWo4eB
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) September 17, 2020
You can see the parking lot better in this shot.
After crashing, the driver crawled out and, according to a witness, accused passersby of being “Antifa” and having caused the crash. pic.twitter.com/03tmlQgYot
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) September 17, 2020
Also: the driver is presently in Police custody.
— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) September 17, 2020
We want to hear what YOU have to say. Scroll down and let us know in our NEW comment section!
