Thread by @greenfieldjohn, Here's right wing @chicagotribune columnist @John_Kass trying to pretend that he wasn't [...]

Here's right wing @chicagotribune columnist @John_Kass trying to pretend that he wasn't a cog in Trump's election fraud machinery that resulted in yesterday's tragedy.

Trib editor @colinjmcmahon, I hope your paper does some soul-searching about the role that Kass played here.

Let's look at Kass' claims today that Trump alone, rather than pundits like himself who enabled Trump's campaign of election fraud lies, are to blame for yesterday's attack on democracy that resulted in 4 deaths. I'll compare them to what Kass has written over the last 2 months.

From today's column: "There is one man responsible for what happened Wednesday" As if there wasn't a whole ecosystem of sycophantic politicians, from Pence and McConnell on down; permissive social media platforms owners; and sympathetic "journalists" like Kass who enabled this.

Here's Kass' predictable "Looting that happened during BLM protests was just as bad" claim. As if people breaking into stores while legit racial justice demonstrations were happening is comparable to guys with Confederate flags and "Camp Auschwitz" T's desecrating the Capitol.

After two months of Trump's nonstop, deluded claims that the election had been stolen led to this treasonous crescendo, Kass finally admits, "Trump had no evidence of widespread voter fraud," in effect locking the barn door after the horses have been stolen.

But let's look at what John Kass has actually written since November 7, when it became obvious that Biden had won the election fair and square. In effect, Kass gave oxygen to Trump's fantastical, dangerous claims of fraud, contributing to this dark day in American history.

The title of a Nov. 11 Kass column accused Biden, not Trump, of "playing with fire." The piece accused the president-elect of "threatening Americans who dare question the evenhandedness of the election" and said Biden should instead push for vetting of "election irregularities."

Here's some classic "very fine people on both sides" nonsense from Kass, claiming that Democrats shared equal blame with Trump for right-wing paranoid about stolen votes.

Kass quoted WaPo's Jennifer Rubin and CNN's Jake Tapper noting that baselessly, dangerously claiming the election was stolen would reflect poorly on one's character in the future. Kass implied that was McCarthyism. Their statements have aged well; his hasn't.

Clearly Kass helped fuel the fire of Trump's claims that Biden stole the election by shaming people who pointed out the obvious: The president's assertions of stolen votes were cynical obvious lies that could harmful consequences for our democracy.

Even in today's column Kass legitimizes the traitors who stormed the Capitol, blaming their anger on news outlets accurately debunking Trump's lies and arguing FB and Twitter were guilty of "silencing" conservative speech, when they actually amplified Trump's conspiracy theories.

Kass acknowledges that Trump "incited a riot," but doesn't admit to his own role in advancing the narrative that MAGA followers may have had legitimate grievances against a potentially fraudulent election.

Kass rightly points out the hypocrisy of Trump telling yesterday's domestic terrorists after the fact to be peaceful while continuing to spout lies about the election. But Kass doesn't admit that he himself argued Trump's Bogus claims about stolen votes should get a full hearing.

And, of course, even in a column about treasonous actions by the right that led to senseless deaths, Kass couldn't resist a dig at the Dems, implying that by stating the obvious -- the violence, and Trump's incitement of it, needed to stop immediately -- Biden was opportunistic.

And in even in a column about the most disgusting expression of right-wing fascism in modern U.S. history, or ever, Kass, can't resist accusing (Jewish and POC) Democrats of scheming to use their new control of the Senate to advance their personal political ambitions.

Schumer and Harris' religion/ethnicity/race are relevant here due to Kass' recent history of advancing anti-Semitic and racist conspiracy theories that Jews and Black people are conspiring to destroy public safety, as people like Ald. @MattMartinChi noted.
https://www.robertfeder.com/2020/07/27/tribune-colleagues-blast-john-kass-column-antithetical-values/

Kass ends today's column by once again saying of yesterday's traitorous, bloody riot is "It’s all on [Trump.]"

But in the same breath he again actually also blames "the media, the academics, Big Tech, Big Business" for spurring this shameful white supremacist mutiny.

I'd love to see Kass do a mea culpa, apologizing to the public for the role he played in the tragedy by arguing that Biden, rather than Trump, was "playing with fire" in the wake of the election.

But judging from today's "not my fault" column, that's obviously not happening.

And we certainly can't expect classy behavior on this occasion from Kass' nominal supervisor Tribune Opinions editor @McQuearyKristen, the right-winger notorious for once publicly wishing Chicago would be devastated by a Katrina-level tragedy.
https://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2015/08/17/the-tribunes-kristin-mcqueary-takes-a-katrina-strength-pounding

That leaves EOC @colinjmcmahon.

Colin, are you proud your paper has paid John Kass 6 figures over the last 4 years to amplify Trumpism, contributing to this tragic, but inevitable end result?

If not, what will the Trib do to prevent Kass from enabling fascism in the future?

End of thread; thanks for reading. Stay safe everyone.

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