"Barack Obama is to blame": 13 Alabama conservatives on Charlotteville

[eppur_se_muova]

Updated by Jeff Stein Aug 15, 2017, 9:50am EDT

DECATUR, Alabama — Several Alabama voters blame President Barack Obama for the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville this weekend because, they say, he sowed division in American politics.

Attendees at a rally for Rep. Mo Brooks, a conservative House Republican running for Senate, in Decatur on Monday said they were confident that philanthropist George Soros was bankrolling both sides of this weekend's violent clashes.

And on conservative Alabama talk radio, Black Lives Matter activists quickly emerged as a top culprit in the bloodshed. Callers, citing Facebook posts, claimed that BLM protesters had thrown bricks at the car that then hit and killed Heather Heyer.

“There’s a lot of wrong on both sides, and unfortunately all the liberal media talks about is the wrong on one side,” said Tom Cowles, 61, a retired engineer from a wealthy section of northeast Alabama.

On Tuesday, I talked to a few dozen people at three campaign events for three conservative Senate candidates about Charlottesville. I also listened for three hours to 101.1 FM Yellowhammer News, a conservative talk radio station in Alabama. While nearly all decried the acts of violence and said they rejected white hate groups, the Alabama conservatives also blamed the mainstream media for ignoring the violence of the left, argued that the Ku Klux Klan was originally an organization of the left, and complained about Black Lives Matter.

I recorded our conversations; the transcripts of their answers are below.
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Truly jaw-dropping rationalizations from those interviewed: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/8/15/16148144/alabama-conservatives-on-charlottesville

[lapfog_1]

1. They must have been really bad at throwing bricks

Because the car I saw ACCELERATE down the street toward the group of counter protesters sure didn't look like anyone even scratched the paint.

[ck4829]

2. One of those sides are frickin' Nazis.

[underpants]

3. They remember mouthwords good

[hurple]

4. Yes, he is

Seeing a successful, poised, sophisticated black man in the presidency sure did set these neanderthals off.

So, he is to blame, the same way the wife is to blame when her husband beats her.

(Or, in other words, not at all)

[erpowers]

5. 6 Months Into His Term

How are the events that took place in Charlottesville, Va. the fault of President Obama when we are six months into Donald Trump's term? I bet if you ask these people if President Obama is the reason we have not been attacked by Islamic terrorists they will tell you no and say that is all due to Trump. For a group of people who are constantly telling others to take responsibility for their actions Republicans are rarely willing to take responsibility for their actions.

[Skittles]

6. LOL

Obama "sowed division" by daring to win the presidency TWICE (electoral AND popular with NO HELP FROM RUSSIA)

fuck you, RACIST ASSHOLES

[Blue_Tires]

7. Why are we even fucking asking them when we know their response?

[StevieM]

8. Wow, that was quite a read. And, of course, it culminated with nonsense about Seth Rich.

These people are seriously nuts.