By David Futrelle
Right-wingers on Twitter stopped their incessant attacks on congresswoman Ilhan Omar long enough to notice that Notre Dame was on fire, apparently (according to police) because of a construction accident. And then they started tweeting again, with many of them simply incorporating the devastating fire into their attacks on the congreswoman and Muslims in general.
More than a few have used her now famous remarks about 9/11, taken out of context and distorted by right-wing media and MAGA trolls, as a sort of joke template, imagining her reacting with indifference of not joy to the monumental disaster.
I wonder how many MAGAs will end up believing that these fake quotes are real?
The “some people” tweeters aren’t the only ones convinced that Omar, and Muslins generally, are celebrating the fire en masse.
Others are suggesting that Omar herself is somehow connected to the fire.
A few tweeted their accusations directly at Omar, with some adding ominous, if deliberately vague, threats. These people definitely aren’t joking.
It’s still early. As the hours and days go by, I’m sure it will get uglier. The memes will spread; the YouTube videos will go up; the accusations will become more lurid and the conspiracy theories will become more baroque. Regardless of what any investigations of this fire find, there will be many on the right — if not most of them — who will not only blame Muslim terrorists for this historic tragedy but will hold Omar herself personally responsible.
I can only imagine how ugly it will get on Fox News tonight, to say nothing of the reactions on right-wing forums and the chans. We live in hateful times.
EDITED TO ADD: Here’s some of the ugliness from Fox in the wake of the fire.
And here’s Glenn Beck with his own conspiracy theory:
EDITED TO ADD PART TWO: Talia Lavin takes a broader look at the anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, citing among other things this post.
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… ahhh, fooey…
The “Angry White Male Studies” class at University is full….
That much is certain….
Amazingly, so far Fox News has shown that they accept the explanation that it was most likely an accident. They even mentioned YouTub being reprimanded for having their algorithms link footage of the fire to footage of the 9/11 attacks.
Of course, I’m sure that’ll just cause other people to jump to conclusions instead.
I don’t particularly care for Congresswomen Omar, Tlaib, or Ocasio-Cortez.
But these assholes need to shut the fuck up. And maybe a slap upside the head for good measure.
Do these pundits know that the woman-hating racist bigot in The hunchback of Notre Dame was the villain of the story?
He had a good song number though;
I just made the connection that this fire is happening right before Easter. To all Catholic and/or French Mammotheers, I am so sorry that this happened. This is devastating.
About an hour ago, I almost posted a comment here wondering how long it would take before someone blamed the Muslims, but decided it might seem too flippant. Now I can’t crow over how horrifyingly prescient I was.
Do these people not remember that Trump literally celebrated 911 because it meant his building was the taller ?
Also, is it wrong of me to feel that Trump’s tweet on the matter is the ultimate proof needed that he’s just everyone’s dumbfuck ignorant racist uncle? Nice to know that the great builder’s understanding of how buildings work is about as good as his understanding of anything else. No wonder he ran all his companies into the ground.
I am pretty sure the crazy scapegoating isn’t going to stop at Muslims, I think I know when this will end up, where it always does.
The sad part is, I don’t know how much I care what those assholes say. Seeing Notre Dame burn was painful. I am neither Catholic or French, but I remember how much I loved Notre Dame when I’ve been in Paris. The idea of it not being there when I go again is painful and unreal.
I am glad at this point at least the towers and the base structure seems it will survive.
Thanks.
Sad about the Notre Dame, and sad my rep keeps being attacked. Wondering what else I can do to help her.
Trump expressed regret over the fire and suggested using aerial tankers. He actually does something sensitive and civilized and still messes it up.
I’m surprised he didn’t complain about all the water in the Seine “going to waste.”
My wife and I were there in 2017. We felt the same sick feeling watching the fire we did when the Towers fell.
The best comment I heard came from a journalist who said, OF COURSE, as soon as it’s physically possible, either on the steps or a cleared space inside, they will celebrate Mass.
@mothkiller
Yeah. And I have my doubts how much any of these people would actually have cared about the cathedral yesterday. If they’d gone to Paris, would they have visited it? Or would they have decided not to because it sounded boring?
Now, of course, it’s a great sign of western civilization, one of those things that White People did they want to claim the credit for. I expect we’ll be hearing about it for years, along with mammoth hunting and modern science.
And it will never once occur to them that those of us who are neither French nor Christian, nor white supremacists, could mourn this destruction as much as we would if it was the Taj Mahal.
@Steven I Dutch
Well, he had to add something stupid. Otherwise everyone would assume it was just one of his handlers realizing he’d better say something. This way we know he said it himself.
Not that he thought of it himself, but that he said it.
Nazis typically don’t like Catholicism. But I guess if it can be used to attack a black Muslim refugee women, they will pretend like they care deeply about an important Catholic space.
When I went in for a surgery during the first year I was together with my fiancé he bought me a beautiful small statue of saint Genevieve who has been my saint since my first holly communion. The statue was a replica of the giant on at Notre dame cathedral. I keeping looking at it and sobbing so much to think of it. We are planning on naming our daughter Genevieve because of how much strength and hope the saint has given me through out my life.
Looks like Twitter is doing something right:
Twitter Left Up Ilhan Omar Death Threats So Law Enforcement Could Investigate
Questions have emerged on Capitol Hill about how Twitter handles death threats on its platform.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/alexkantrowitz/twitter-left-up-ilhan-omar-death-threats-so-law-enforcement
I’m not Catholic or even religious. But even as an atheist this building held so much meaning for me as an Artist. The study of historic architecture is one of the basic building blocks of artistic knowledge, and everything I know about architecture came from first studying Norte Dame, and its history, in high school, (I went to an Arts High School, btw). We didn’t just study the building, but all of the history surrounding creation of it!
Interestingly, most Americans know about this church from movies and children’s cartoons.?
It hurt so much to watch this happening.
I’d expected to hear some right wing American Christian claim the fire was God’s punishment for something or other. I didn’t expect it would be twisted to go after Muslims so quickly.
@ Lainy,
I can only imagine how much this must hurt. But if it helps at all, there is strength and hope in how Parisiens are responding (the singing; the declaration that they’ll have services again soon). The human spirit is amazingly resilient. Hugs if you want them!
@Bookworm
It’s not fun, I’m not going to lie. Thanks for your support
Today has felt so unreal. For this to happen this week, before Easter, of all times… Notre-Dame is very special to me, and watching those ancient oak beams turning to embers broke my heart. I’m thankful that the stone vault seems to be intact, though I did see a photo that seems to show that at least one section over the nave has fallen. That the burning of the heart of Paris is being weaponized by the scum of the earth nauseates me. I’ve seen some cheap shots (at the Roman Catholic Church, at the French) even from heretofore reasonable-seeming people, and it’s disgusting.
As for what caused the fire, I won’t be a bit surprised if it was a welding torch or other hot tool used in the reconstruction. I had a friend who worked with a plumber who burned down a building after leaving a soldering iron plugged in. People get careless.
Apparently, this was happening at the same time as the Notre Dame fire. Something tells me it’s not gonna get the same amount of press… :-/
https://www.newsweek.com/notre-dame-fire-aqsa-mosque-1397259
Is it too soon to blame black metal?
Dans un esprit de solidarité avec le peuple Français qui passe à travers un événement tragique, j’écris se message dans la lange de Molière plutôt que le patois de Shakespeare avec l’espoir que celui-ci passe tout de même la modération grâce au pouvoir du bilinguisme ou celui de google translate.
Les événements se déroulant à Paris sont certainement frappant par la force de leurs images et il est probable que la restauration de la cathédrale prenne quelques années. Heureusement, le contenu de la voûte contenant plusieurs artefacts dont des reliques de nature religieuses comme une reproduction de la couronne d’épine du Christ, des œuvres d’art liturgique, mais aussi des écrits précieux de nature plus laïc ont tous été sauvé. Ainsi le patrimoine artistique, historique et religieux de Notre-Dame va survivre à cet incident. La structure même de la cathédrale a aussi résisté aux flammes et à l’effondrement de la flèche permettant ainsi au bâtiment que d’être restauré dans un avenir prochain. Ainsi, il existe une certaine lumière au bout du tunnel.
En se qui attrait à la réaction des extrémistes pseudo-fasciste Américains, elle ne me surprend peu. Pour eux, le monde est une caricature digne d’une bande-dessiné dans laquelle ils sont les héros bien que leur haine, leur paresse, leur lâcheté et leur manque de sagesse démontre le contraire. Tout est excuse pour le conflit et exprimer une rage quasi pathologique envers l’autre, spécialement envers une personne qui ne répond pas aux stéréotypes vitaux au maintien de l’illusion qu’ils osent appeler ”réalité”. L’idée d’une femme musulmane expriment ses opinions librement et exerçant un pouvoir politique va à l’encontre de leur vision asservie de la femme musulmane dont ils se servent parfois pour attaquer, empruntant les habits du féminisme pour mieux cacher leur haine, la Ummah. Ainsi, si une musulmane peut démontrer par ses paroles et actions que non seulement le fait d’être musulmane ne condamne pas systématiquement une femme à la servitude, celle-ci devient un danger et doit voir son image ternis au plus vite sous peine de voir certain partisans, moins endoctrinés, commencer à questionner leurs idées reçues.