Team Trump points to imaginary ‘Bowling Green Massacre’

And if there had been a massacre in Bowling Green that went ignored by rascally news organizations, Trump’s White House counselor might have a credible point.But the massacre “didn’t get covered” because it doesn’t exist.This incident, which did get covered, is what Conway appears to be referring to: “In May [2011], two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green, Ky., were charged with trying to send sniper rifles, Stinger missiles and money to the Qaeda affiliate in their home country. Neither of the men, Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, was charged with plotting attacks within the United States. A federal sting operation prevented the weapons and money from going to Iraq.”The men were arrested, charged, and convicted. They’re both in federal penitentiaries now.Because there have been so few incidents like these on American soil, Republicans have tried to use this example of the Iraqis in Bowling Green for all sorts of reasons. Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), for example, insisted in 2014 that these two men “attempted to attack Fort Knox.”If you don’t remember an attempted attack on Fort Knox, it’s because that didn’t actually happen, either.All of which leads us to a few simple questions. First, if the Muslim ban were a sound policy, why does the White House keep making stuff up? Second, how much more mileage do Republicans intend to get out of this one incident from 2011?And third, how soon will conservatives everywhere convince themselves that the Bowling Green Massacre really did happen, but those darned liberals just refuse to admit it?Update: Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) claimed this week that there was an “attempted bombing” in Bowling Green. Again, in reality, that never happened. The Kentucky Republican just made this up. [Correction: I’d originally said Paul’s quote came this morning. He apparently made the comment on Tuesday.]