I worked at the Boston Globe for nine years, longer than I've ever worked anywhere. I have a lot of friends who still work there. I also have a family member who works there. So, naturally, I was interested to read about this maniac who was busted out in California for threatening the lives of my friends and of a member of my family. From CNN:

Robert D. Chain of Encino, California has been charged with one count of making threatening communications in interstate commerce, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said in a press release Thursday. Chain, 68, is due to appear in federal court in Los Angeles Thursday afternoon. The US Attorney's Office said Chain will be transferred to Boston "at a later date."

Of particular interest to me was the nature of the apparent threats. Encino Man has a high-priced writer, I'm thinking.

The Boston Globe newsroom. Boston Globe Getty Images

Chain is accused of making several threatening phone calls to the Globe beginning almost immediately after the paper announced on August 10 that it was calling on newspapers across the country to publish editorials the following week standing up to Trump for referring to the press as "fake news" and "enemies of the people." According to court documents, on August 16, the day the editorial campaign was published in newspapers around the country, Chain made a call to the Globe's newsroom in which he said, "You're the enemy of the people, and we're going to kill every f***ing one of you. Hey, why don't you call the F, why don't you call Mueller, maybe he can help you out buddy. ... I'm going to shoot you in the f***ing head later today, at 4 o'clock."

El Caudillo Del Mar-A-Lago is having another of his organized wankfests on Thursday night, this one in Indiana. On Thursday afternoon, of course, the first of several memorial services for the late John McCain was held. Former VP Joe Biden spoke and, though he was rambling in that Joe Biden way, the ending, as it was, punctuated by a pounding on the podium, was worth following the speech all the way through.

Joe Biden eulogizing John McCain in Arizona. Jae C Hong/AP/REX/Shutterstock

Bottom line was, I think John believed in us. I think he believed in the American people. Not just all the preambles, he believed in the American people, all 325 million of us. Even though John is no longer with us, he left us clear instructions. ‘Believe always in the promise and greatness of America because nothing is inevitable here.’ Close to the last thing John said to the whole nation, as he knew he was about to depart. That's what he wanted America to understand. Not to build his legacy. He wanted America reminded, to understand.



I think John's legacy is going to continue to inspire and challenge generations of leaders as they step forward. And John McCain’s impact on America is not over. It's not hyperbole. It is not over. I don't think it's even close close...



Now John is going to take his rightful place in a long line of extraordinary leaders in this nation's history. Who in their time and in their way stood for freedom and stood for liberty and have made the American story the most improbable and the most hopeful and the most enduring story on earth. I know John said he hoped he played a small part in that story. John, you did much more than that, my friend. To paraphrase Shakespeare, we shall not see his like again.

After that, of course, the national stage got surrendered back to the current president* of the United States to rant and to rave in his own mad way and all that came to me were the words of Robert Chain, now in federal custody in California.

You're the enemy of the people, and we're going to kill every fcking one of you.

It's working. Don't let anyone tell you different.

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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