[guest post by Dana]

Dylann Roof, who opened fire at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church last year, killing nine parishioners, was found guilty today:

Roof was charged with 33 counts in his federal indictment. He was found guilty on every single one. Family members of the nine parishioners gunned down last year nodded silently as each charge was read aloud. Some held hands, their eyes shut tightly, as each guilty verdict was announced in the courtroom just a mile from the church.

According to reports, Roof’s mother had a heart attack during the proceedings when she heard prosecutors lay out in graphic detail her son’s plans to start a race war.

It will be determined in January whether Roof will be sentenced to death or face life in prison. Roof is planning to represent himself at the sentencing phase of the trial.

Interestingly, a recent poll revealed more black South Carolinians would rather that Roof be given a life sentence instead of the death penalty:

According to the poll, 64.9% of African Americans in South Carolina oppose the death penalty, while 69.4% of white South Carolinians say they support it. Blacks were also more than twice as likely to support a sentence of life without parole for the church killings than to support the death penalty. Nearly two-thirds of black South Carolinians (64.7%) said that Roof should be sentenced to life without parole if convicted of the nine killings, while less than a third (30.9%) favored the death penalty.

The views of white South Carolinians were diametrically opposite, with 64.6% saying they think Roof should be sentenced to death if convicted and 29.9% prefering life without parole. 5.6% of whites said they did not know which sentence should be imposed.

As a reminder, this is the divine love of grace and strength and mercy offered to Roof from surviving relatives at a bond hearing:

Nadine Collier, daughter of victim Ethel Lance
“I forgive you. You took something very precious away from me. I will never get to talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you, and have mercy on your soul. … You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people. If God forgives you, I forgive you.”

Relative of Myra Thompson
“I would just like him to know that, to say the same thing that was just said: I forgive him and my family forgives him. But we would like him to take this opportunity to repent. Repent. Confess. Give your life to the one who matters most: Christ. So that He can change him and change your ways, so no matter what happens to you, you’ll be okay.”

Felicia Sanders, mother of Tywanza Sanders
“We welcomed you Wednesday night in our Bible study with welcome arms. You have killed some of the most beautiful people that I know. Every fiber in my body hurts and I’ll, I’ll never be the same. Tywanza Sanders was my son. But Tywanza Sanders was my hero. Tywanza was my hero. … May God have mercy on you.”

Wanda Simmons, granddaughter of Daniel Simmons
“Although my grandfather and the other victims died at the hands of hate, this is proof, everyone’s plea for your soul, is proof that they lived in love and their legacies will live in love. So hate won’t win. And I just want to thank the court for making sure that hate doesn’t win.”

Sister of DePayne Middleton Doctor
“That was my sister, and I’d like to thank you on behalf of my family for not allowing hate to win. For me, I’m a work in progress. And I acknowledge that I am very angry. But one thing that DePayne always enjoined in our family … is she taught me that we are the family that love built. We have no room for hating, so we have to forgive. I pray God on your soul.”

And, because some “professional” journalists simply can’t help themselves from a delusional exploitation of the horrific event, and because there will always be hate, there is this:

Roof’s crime is so monstrous that it may rankle to put him on the same continuum as Trump. But to see both with clear eyes is to see the link between demonization and aggression, between Trump’s rhetoric, simmering with menace, and the wave of harassment, intimidation, and outright violence that followed his victory. It’s to see both Donald Trump and Dylann Roof as heralds of the darkest forces in American life, to see their common heritage in a rising tide of white identity and white nationalism.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

In the ongoing saga of the election and Russia’s involvement, the question of why President Obama didn’t respond more forcefully about the hacks when he read about them on the internet is being asked.

Tonight we are being provided this explanation:

The Obama administration didn’t respond more forcefully to Russian hacking before the presidential election because they didn’t want to appear to be interfering in the election and they thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win and a potential cyber war with Russia wasn’t worth it, multiple high-level government officials told NBC News.

“They thought she was going to win, so they were willing to kick the can down the road,” said one U.S official familiar with the level of Russian hacking.

The report goes on to state that President Obama privately confronted Vladimir Putin in September, drawing a red line in cyber space and warning the Russian president to knock it off or there would be “unspecified consequences if the hacks continued.”

Unlike the president, there are those who actually think that maybe, just maybe it would have served us better if there had been a more robust response to the situation:

“I think it is a legitimate question and I think given the stakes at the national level the question deserves an answer,” said ret. Adm. James Stavridis when asked by NBC News about the level of the administration’s response. “In retrospect it certainly seems as though it was a mistake not to call the Russians sooner and respond to them in a very forceful way.”

The president didn’t defend the U.S. because in his mind, Hillary was going to win, thus ensuring that his legacy was secure. That is the kind of man he is. Because politics.

–Dana

The revelation comes in a New York Times piece about Republican opposition to Bolton. After discussing the misgivings of Senator Bob Corker, and the outright opposition of Rand Paul, the article tells us:

Mr. Bolton, a State Department official under Mr. Bush who also served for a short time as United Nations ambassador, is also facing stiff resistance from some of the Republican Party’s best-known leaders in world affairs — some of them veterans of the Bush White House who often found themselves at odds with him during that period.

They include Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state and national security adviser, who clashed with Mr. Cheney; Robert M. Gates, a former secretary of defense; and Stephen J. Hadley, also a former national security adviser, according to two people with knowledge of their thinking who asked not to be identified.

Another impediment is that Mr. Tillerson has expressed misgivings about having Mr. Bolton as his deputy, according to a person who has spoken with Mr. Trump in recent days. But Mr. Bolton remains under consideration for the job.

The story comes from the New York Times and is co-authored by Maggie Haberman, the reporter considered reliable by the Hillary crowd. The detail about Tillerson is based on a single anonymous source. However, it’s corroborated by the opposition of Rice, Gates, and Hadley — all people who vocally supported Tillerson for the State post.

Why Tillerson dislikes Bolton is unclear. One wonders if Bolton’s hawkish stance on Russia is the problem for Tillerson, the recipient of an Order of Friendship medal from Putin. But that very hostility to Putin and Russia would be comforting to folks who are worried that the selection of Tillerson signals a willingness to roll over and let Uncle Vlad rub America’s belly.

It will be interesting to see how Trump handles this.

[Cross-posted at RedState.]