1. I grew up as the only Jewish kid in a small town about 80 miles from Pittsburgh. Squirrel Hill is where we would go for bagels, lox, corned beef, etc. It was my connection to Jewish culture.
2. Western PA was blue when I grew up there...union-blue, socially conservative blue, cold warrior blue...but still blue. The Republicans tended to be the bankers and business elite.
3. My family encountered plenty of low-key anti-Semitism...but nothing threatening or violent...mostly comments or jokes offered in poor taste that landed kind of oddly, but which were softened with a jovial pat on the back and a "you know I'm just kidding. Love ya' man."
4. That part of the country is now blood red--the county I grew up in went 67-33 for Trump. Many of those pals from High School are now circulating anti-Soros memes on Facebook. Most have unfriended me because I'm apparently an enemy of the people.
5. I'm sure (at least I hope) most of those Trump-voting HS friends of mine are horrified about what's happening in Squirrel Hill. I hope, however, they take a second to think about the connection between all of those anti-Soros memes they've been circulating, and this violence.
6. And let's be 100% clear about why this Pittsburgh murderer and the #MAGABomber know about Soros. They know what they think they know about Soros because the President and his enablers in the MAGA-media talk about Soros. That's why.
7. TR talked about the presidency as the "bully pulpit." With his radical rhetoric, Trump is threatening to turn the "bully pulpit" into the "murder pulpit." It's far past time for the people in his party, the @gop, to insist that he reign it in.
