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In response to the Waco Trump rally, TPM Reader MD, an Alabaman, wrote in to flag a note he’d sent in 18+ months ago. “I’m so glad to see your ed blog calling for more focus on the right-wing radicalism of the Trump campaign — not being desensitized to it. Last year I sent in the note below on the absolute shock I had — even for Trump — going into a tiny town with an outsized reputation for radical violence and intimidation. “

Here’s the email from August 3rd, 2021 …

From TPM Reader JO …

I appreciated your post yesterday about the increasingly close connection between the modern GOP and the growth of right wing radicalism and domestic terrorism over the decades since the Waco tragedies (and going back slightly earlier to the Ruby Ridge standoff — though I guess a campaign rally there would have been a bit too transparent even for Trump). The line from Waco to OKC to the Bundys to January 6 is clear and frightening — and your attention to it is why I’ve been following TPM from the start.

Donald Trump breaks through so many boundaries and norms it’s easy to get desensitized. Even though there was some press notice of it, we need a lot more attention on the fact that Trump held his campaign kick off in Waco, Texas on the thirtieth anniversary of the Branch Davidian standoff. Not only is it a gruesome and hideous anniversary to commemorate politically, it also became a core anniversary around which violent far-right radicalism congealed and intensified. That happened right off the bat. The fiery end of the standoff provided the inspiration and chosen date for the bombing attack on the Oklahoma City federal building two years later. It is the germination point for all manner of right-wing terrorism since and Trump underlined the point by using his kickoff event to celebrate and honor individuals who followed his orders and stormed Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2021, with the intent of overthrowing the lawful government of the United States.

I note this because right-wing radicalism and domestic terrorism will increasingly be a focus of ours in the months and years to come. It has always been a focus, going back to the beginning of the site over 20 years ago. But the unfortunate fact is that these themes have moved more and more to the center of American public life.

Judge rules that Vice President Pence must testify before the grand jury about events leading up to the Jan. 6th insurrection on Capitol Hill.

Do you hear that? It’s the sound of House Republicans trying to get President Biden to pay attention to their threats to throw the country into default and engage in a new round of debt-ceiling hostage taking.

It’s a dramatically different reality than the one we had the last time there was a Democratic President in the Oval Office.

Since I wrote this morning’s post there have been a number of new developments in Israel.

For my thoughts on the unfolding crisis in Israel, see my post from earlier today. This is a short post with some pointers on finding good news coverage.

In general, the Israeli protests against the so-called judicial reform package have garnered much less news attention in the U.S. than one might have expected. But these are much more than mass protests of the sort that occur with some regularity across the democratic world. It’s not too much to say that the scale and scope of these protests are without any clear precedent in Israel’s 75-year history. They have gone on for roughly two and half months, and they have continued to gather momentum, expand in scope and grow in intensity. They have increasingly cut into the central institution of Israeli society, the IDF. They have united much of the country’s financial sector in arguing that the reforms threaten the future of the Israeli economy. And today they have spurred a general strike which has brought much of the country to a standstill.

This is just a reminder that our annual TPM membership sign up drive is coming up soon. If you’re already a member, it’s an opportunity for us to thank you once again for being part of our team and making everything we do possible. If you haven’t signed up, please take the opportunity to do so during our drive. It’s pretty cheap to join for a Prime membership, not much more than the cost of one snazzy cup of coffee per month. You get access to every article we publish along with fewer ads. You also support our work, our place in the media ecosystem and you help us do even more of it. So during our drive we’re going to be talking about what we do, how we consistently punch above our weight as an organization and have the freedom to cut through a lot of the cant, unjustified assumptions and misbegotten and outdated rules we can happily violate.

As part of this I’m going to be asking existing members what makes TPM a must-read for them, where does TPM fit into the political news ecosystem for you. So look forward to that. Thanks to existing members and if you’re considering joining please do so during our drive!