Since I worked both of my jobs this weekend, I did not know about the Trump assassination attempt until nearly five hours after the fact, as I understand it. Both my girlfriend and I were asleep on Saturday afternoon to early evening. Me by design, since I worked the two jobs and was working overnight. By contrast, my girlfriend was recovering from jetlag from her return back from a recent trip to Europe. She had not slept much during the day (she landed on Friday evening), and so she simply fell asleep on Saturday afternoon into the evening. So we didn't know.
By the time that I learned about it, already, it was no longer just a developing story. Some things were known about it, like the gunman had been killed almost instantly after taking his shots. There was speculation that the cut on Trump's ear may have been caused not necessarily by the bullet, but by a shard of broken glass from the teleprompter. Now, it seems that it was a bullet that cut into his ear. That certainly is what Trump himself is claiming.
Who knows?
That was when I turned it off, wanting to watch almost anything else. There's just something about this particular election season that sickens me. And while this was an unusual event, I just knew that the media would pound this to death, going over and over the same points tirelessly and, frankly, shamelessly.
Truth be told, frankly, I just couldn't stomach the idea. I just wasn't interested in seeing the same clips that I had already seen maybe five to ten times in the first five to ten minutes after arriving at my overnight job. That's literally how much they had played it just in those first few minutes of my arrival. And you just knew that they were going to play it not just dozens more times during the overnight hours, but probably hundreds of times, over and over. Pardon the expression, but just killing it to death.
Sorry, but that's the way it is. Maybe that makes me a bad or irresponsible person. But I just couldn't deal with that.
Very quickly, conspiracy theories abounded, seemingly both to the left and to the right. That also was as tiresome as it was predictable.
Still, this was a very unusual event, and there are a number of unanswered questions left. How is it possible that the shooter managed to get so close to Trump? Or that people saw him and pointed him out to the Secret Service and police, yet minutes passes, and the gunman was able to take his shots? How and why would the Secret Service allow Trump to stand with his head exposed to raise his fist to the crowd several times just seconds after an assassination attempt on him? I mean, they could not have known for sure that there was not a second shooter, right? Right?
And does it not seem odd that Trump is now viewed by his supporters - and perhaps the legendary "undecided voters" - as incredibly brave and defiantly throwing his first in the air for all to see after an assassination attempt? Remember, this is the same man who always seemed to betray his cowardice in past episodes, like when he bowed out of going to the conflict in Vietnam after receiving an elite military education, or how he cowered after a bald eagle on his arm for a photo op spread his wings, or how he felt the need to go down to the bunker under the White House during the George Floyd riots.
Apparently, some of his supporters now are even claiming that this was literally no less than divine intervention. And the timing of all of this, just before the Republican National Convention begins, also feels quite convenient. It all sure seems likely to boost his chances for the coming election, coming just in time for him to receive the GOP nomination in Milwaukee in the coming days. I am not saying that this was a conspiracy. However, the timing of this could not have worked out more perfectly for him or for the Republicans.
So in this day and age, it certainly will fuel conspiracy theories from both sides of the political aisle. In fact, it already has. Many on the left have voiced the same kinds of suspicions as me, focusing on the timing of this shooting, and the fact that Trump seemed a whole lot braver than usual, and that him thrusting his fist in the air while there was blood on his face, and a big old American flag in the background, sure seems....well, again, convenient, to say the least. Meanwhile, the right seems to feel that this was a conspiracy to get rid of Trump, and that the Secret Service was in on it. Admittedly, there really are a lot of questions about how the Secret Service could possibly have been this sloppy about the security revolving around a former and possibly future president.
Now, I was trying to be very careful not to offend anybody or say anything that could be considered insensitive. Yet, I will now admit to having mixed feelings about the event. Normally, I would have some real sympathy for the target, even if it was someone I didn't like. For example, I would probably feel bad had it been, say, George W. Bush, or Bill or Hillary Clinton.
But Trump? He with his infamously big mouth, and with that trademark mocking tone freely employed in the past when violent tragedies happen to other people? Trump, who mocked Gold Star families and mocked John McCain for being a POW of the Vietnam War - the same war that Trump himself opted not to fight in after receiving an elite military education - and saying that he preferred war heroes who don't get captured? Trump, who kept insulting John McCain even after he had died? Trump, who mocked Nancy Pelosi's husband after he had endured a violent attack? Trump, who has sometimes encouraged his own people to lash out in a violent manner, although just enough to be able to deny it and claim innocence after the fact?
Sorry, but at the risk of sounding insensitive to what happened, his despicable character makes it hard for me to feel sympathy, especially when he basically just had his ear grazed. Yes, he just got shot at, and perhaps even was nearly killed. But that does not make him any less the threat to democracy that he was before this, and possibly even more of a threat.
During his first term, people kept asking what would be Trump's "Reichstag fire" moment. In other words, the moment when he uses a supposed emergency to grab as much power as possible. This feels like it has that kind of potential. It seems like now, he has obtained the sympathy of many people, which is frankly hard to believe.
I will not pretend to really understand what it is people see - or perhaps what they fail to see - in this man. Apparently, he has a strange kind of charisma that appeals to the darker sides of people's nature. Fans and supporters of his will acknowledge or concede that he is flawed, but it is obviously so much more than that. To admit that he is flawed is to simply deny the obvious fact that "nobody is perfect." But a much stronger statement is needed when it comes to Trump, and it is this: he not only has horrible character traits, but actively takes pride in them, flaunts them. Even more than that, he encourages such behavior in others. This, I believe, is his real appeal. He releases people from any kind of responsibility or accountability to be halfway decent, or even to be grown-ups. He grants them permission to release the worst versions of themselves, to be comfortable in their prejudices, to take active pride in their harmful mindsets and behaviors.
That is not to justify the political violence of this past weekend. However, I feel that turning Trump, of all people, into some kind of a victim worthy of sympathy also is wrong. This man is no victim, nor is he the brave hero who defied a brutal assassination attempt and stood defiantly with fist raised, and the American flag in the background, as the perfect photo op.
The fact of the matter is that Trump is the same threat to American democracy now as he was last week, before the shooting and near assassination. And we need to remember that, and to guard against that threat, lest we forget Project 2025, and January 6th, and the fact that he did not back down from charges that he would abuse his power and be a dictator if he gets back to the Oval Office.
That much has not changed, regardless of the assassination attempt against him. If anything, the threat is growing larger as a result. Lest we forget, this man - far from being the victim of political violence - is actually the man behind quite a lot of political violence in mind and in action. It is political violence with the ever clearer and more obvious intent of subverting what remains of our democracy so that he can grab as much power and privilege for himself as he can. Trump remains a potentially lethal threat to what remains of our American democracy.
Links to the articles used in writing this particular blog entry:
Gunman behind attempted assassination on Trump had head blown off by Secret Service, sources say; rally-goer killed By Social Links forJoe Marino and Social Links for Chris Nesi Published July 13, 2024 Updated July 13, 2024, 8:51
https://nypost.com/2024/07/13/us-news/gunman-behind-attempted-assassination-on-trump-shot-and-killed-by-secret-service-sources/
Here’s What Is Known About the Suspected Gunman by Jack Healy, Mike Baker, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Katie Benner July 14, 2024 Updated 5:
Authorities identified the gunman as a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, a town about an hour’s drive from the site of the shooting.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/14/us/politics/trump-gunman-thomas-crooks.html
The Gunman and the Would-Be Dictator Violence stalks the president who has rejoiced in violence to others. By David Frum A photomontage illustration of Donald Trump. Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Anna Moneymaker / Getty; Rebecca Droke / AFP / Getty. JULY 14, 2024, 10:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/07/donald-trump-democracy-dictator/679006/
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