Political Terrorism !

America is just days away from the midterm elections which have the power to change the political majority in the Senate from Republican to Democrat.  This will certainly be the judgement vote on how Donald Trump's presidency is viewed across the country.

Both political parties are desperate to get out the vote and because voting is optional in America that means  galvanising those apathetic about politics to go to a polling booth and record their vote.  This is resulting in major efforts to get those not on the voting roll to register and this requires residents to prove their identity.  Providing such proof varies widely from state to state.

In the past, people of colour were often forcibly prevented from recording a vote in the southern states and because they traditionally voted Democrat the outcome of this midterm election may rest in their hands.  Trump won office with the support of a redneck majority and this election result may well hinge on how successful each side of politics is in marshalling their supporters.

Now a curious new element has entered the fray.   Packages containing crude - but deadly - pipe bombs have been mailed to leading Democrat identities that include Barak Obama and both Bill and Hilary Clinton.  So far most have been detected in mail centres and the FBI is investigating but this terror attack is heading to a wide selection of people and organizations with Democrat connections, including the CNN news service.

Each bomb package contains the name and address of the supposed sender and in all cases this is given as Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is the Democrat Congresswoman from Florida.  So far, nobody has suffered injury because none of the bombs have actually exploded.  In some cases the name of the addressees are misspelt.

Donald Trump is getting the blame from some quarters because of his vitriolic response to any form of criticism.  The intensity of his remarks can generate hatred towards his political foes and the news organizations that carry their message.  It seems that terrorism is now a part of internal politics in America.

The rather amateurish nature of these bombs and the packages in which they are packed could be intended to deceive.  It seems quite clear that Russia instigated a very sophisticated misinformation campaign to support Trump in the 2016 presidential election.  It may be intended that this attack is construed to appear to be the work of redneck Trump supporters seeking to damage his political detractors.  Crude bombs may appeal to the redneck fringe to consolidate the vote that put Trump in office and maintain that momentum in the midterm.

Of course it may also have the opposite effect.   Many Americans are deeply offended by the growing gun culture that is dividing the country and these bombs may cause them to withhold their votes.  The midterm lacks the enthusiasm of a presidential election and usually turns against the party holding a majority.  It is hard to see just what this bombing campaign hopes to achieve !