The Butler Farm Show Grounds (right) on the day of the rally with the building (left) the shooter climbed on. Image: Designism – CC0
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punditman says…
Thomas Mathew Crooks was a registered Republican who once gave $15 to a pro-Democrat political action committee dedicated to environmental causes. He could be the all American kid. And that means it's way more important that he had an AR-15 in his possession before ever voting in a presidential election because American priorities are totally the best kind.
Parody aside, did Donald Trump's assailant strictly choose “bullet over ballot” —or like so many lone wolf shooters—did he just want to make a name for himself?
Witness accounts describe seeing Crooks outside the security perimeter leaping from roof to roof, then army crawling on the building he used; shouted attempts were made to alert police and the Secret Service, but to no avail before shots rang out, killing one rally attendee, critically injuring two others and grazing Trump's ear. Here is a video of people noticing the gunman at least one minute before the shooting.
The MAGA heads blame the lax security on a treasonous Deep State, which presumably means that the Secret Service, who Trump immediately thanked later, would have been “in on it” or “bought off.” As for shooter Crooks? A patsy, the victim of CIA mind control or a member of Antifa—take your pick.
Meanwhile liberals with Trump Derangement Syndrome are theorizing a staged hoax—one conjecture being that the Secret Service grabbed Trump, pulled him down, scratched his ear, then lifted him with blood streaking from his head in order to hold the near martyr, who then fist-pumped his followers while yelling “fight, fight, fight.” It’s a fringe theory yesterday but I’m sure half the world believes something like it today.
With drivel like that all over social media, it’s no wonder I've rarely opined on anything of note on Facebook for years.
This is not to say that when someone starts popping off rounds at politicians, we shouldn’t be highly discerning and skeptical of officialdom and all those involved. For instance, Lincoln’s killing was part of a broader conspiracy. And cottage industries of possibilities engulf the JFK, RFK and MLK assassinations, and undoubtedly others.
I’m always up for a good conspiracy theory, but I tend to wait more than two days. Maybe Oliver Stone is already working on something. More likely he’s waiting to see what comes next in this crazy year.
Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with verbalizing the first thought that pops into your head when chatting over coffee but when you post nonsense with no basis in reality, all you do is add garbage to an already bursting bin of online rubbish, further polluting the hive mind with biased and poorly sourced conjecture (luckily Punditman has never done that!).
As journalist and commentator Michael Tracey put it, “I can hardly look at social media right now. I increasingly loathe the instantaneous hyper-emotional reactions, the fact-free assertions, the self-serving conjectures.”
It’s enough to make you want to tune out, turn off, and drop in (to whatever you can control).
Then there were the unscripted comments of Trump and Biden.
“It is incredible that such an act can take place in our Country, stated Trump.
Incredible? No, Jackass. Not with the gun lobby you fully support.
Condemning the attack, President Biden chimed in with “the idea – the idea – that there’s political violence, or violence in America like this, is just unheard of, it’s just not appropriate.”
Unheard of? There you go again, Sleepy Joe.
Nothing New
There have been 15 direct assaults against presidents, presidents-elect and candidates, five resulting in death. Four presidents have been assassinated while in office: Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy.
Presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt was attacked in 1912, while seeking office after being out of power for nearly four years. Franklin D. Roosevelt was attacked in 1933.
Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was killed in 1968 and Alabama governor and presidential candidate George C. Wallace was seriously wounded in 1972 (Peter Gabriel later wrote a powerful song about the event, inspired by An Assassin's Diary, which was written by would-be assassin Arthur Bremer).
Gerald Ford was attacked twice in 1975, Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded in 1981, the Clinton White House was fired upon in 1994, and an attacker threw a grenade that failed to explode at George W. Bush and the president of Georgia in Tbilisi in 2005.
So the attack on Trump is not “incredible” and not “unheard of.” On the contrary, it’s all too likely and all too common (and I left a couple of incidents out).
In fact, of the past nine presidents at least seven have been targets of assaults, attacks or assassination attempts. A recent Congressional Research Service report says there have been attempts on former President Obama, Trump and President Biden.
Descending into darkness?
As one expert on al Jazeera pointed out, if you do the mental-health math of some 330 million Americans, there are potentially 30 thousand people willing to commit political violence.
Deep polarization, hatred and paranoia were already defining features of this presidential cycle. Add to that a deep sense of foreboding.
Trump has regularly dehumanized his opponents, calling them “vermin,” “savage animals” “really sick people” and has promised to “root out the communists, Marxist, fascists and the radical left thugs.”
I’m sure he’ll get right back to his usual incendiary demagoguery if he hasn’t already.
Meanwhile last week in a private call to donors, Biden said “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.” It wasn’t a gaffe because his team made sure the media got the memo, though he walked back the comment today.
Both campaigns made obligatory tone-down-the-invective statements. But quite predictably, since Saturday the level of online vitriol has gone off the charts.
I read one comment on Instagram from a registered Democrat who said he not only condones violence against Donald Trump but against Genocide Joe Biden too because he really, really hates them both. I guess for that guy life is all about balance.
On a lighter note…
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Yes, it's strange that the Security Agents didn't do a complete perimeter inspection at least out more than 200 yards (the shooter was at 146 yards). Then the red haired guy said that he and his friends saw the guy with the gun climbing to the top of the roof and they tried to notify the Secret Service, who ignored them. Yet once the first 3 or 4 shots were fired, the Security Service was able to immediately snipe the shooter to death. Either the Security Service was relatively incompetent or they were in on it.
Second, did this 20 year old registered Republican Crooks, this entirely on this own?
Third, Trump will get a sympathy bump before the Republican Convention next week and this may affect Biden's willingness to stay in the race.
We await further evidence but I agree with Chris Hedges when he says "[Americans] only hope is to organize the overthrow of the corporate state that vomited up Trump."
https://chrishedges.substack.com/