Unfortunately, it sometimes requires a horrific act to get people to change. Donald Trump was shot in the ear in an assassination attempt, and I’m sure this will be the final terrible gun crime that will motivate Congress, in a bipartisan act, to enable significant gun control to check the wave of violence that has swept across America. At last, Republicans will cease their stubborn attempts to defeat any change, because now it’s not just school children that are being shot, but their hero, their god-king, who had his ear notched, so of course they’ll want to prevent that kind of thing from occurring ever again.
Aww, who am I kidding? This terrible event should trigger reform, but we know what will happen instead: the MAGAs will regard this as justification for violence against Democrats. They did it, you know.
Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) claimed in a post on X that the local district attorney “should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination”; in another post, he claimed, “Joe Biden sent the orders,” responding to a statement Biden allegedly made earlier this week that “it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”
We mustn’t forget Marjorie Taylor Greene and JD Vance. The idiots think Biden ordered a hit.
“Someone just tried to ASSASSINATE President Trump. The Democrats and the media are to blame for every drop of blood spilled today. For years and years, they’ve demonized him and his supporters,” GOP Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia wrote on X. She included a video of the incident.
She added: “Today, someone finally tried to take out the leader of our America First and the greatest President of all time. Watch the video, President Trump said ‘FIGHT,’ SO WE WILL!!”
Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, said to be a leading candidate to be Trump’s running mate, blamed President Joe Biden. He wrote on X, “Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs.
That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”
It doesn’t matter if Democrats were horrified and deplore the shooting, the Republicans immediately moved to escalate the situation and blame the entire opposition for the actions of a lone gunmen.
But the worst, the very worst, are the chickenshit bothsiders in the media.
Scott Jennings on CNN right now saying this is on Dems for saying Trump will end democracy on the US.
And Bash and Blitzer are like, yes, we have to tamp down the rhetoric on both sides.
Absolute marks. Jesus Christ.
If this triggers further bloodshed, I know who to blame.
Apparently he did say that. Of course he wasn’t inciting an assassination, but it was a fucking stupid thing to say.
Trump reportedly said that he appreciated the efforts of law enforcement in the matter. Somehow I doubt that he nor the usual unhinged blowhards in his party will remember that as they continue to argue for the cutting back and elimination of those involved in the justice system.
Someone on B3ta posted a photoshop of one of those ammo vending machines next to Trump merchandise. The irony would be lost on the typical Trumpite.
and here I thought that as I got old things would be better and more wisely managed
I am afraid to ask how much stupider it can get. there do not seem to be any more grownups left
Oh well, so much for one of America’s big problems ironically solving another. A few years ago we were all hoping that Covid would do it.
Looks like we’ll just have to wait for good old obesity-related health problems to finish the job.
Biden acted in his official capacity, I don’t see where the problem is. /s
But seriously, we should stop doing a Pikachu face every time the right screeches and wails hypocritically, and instead of wasting time making clear that we condemn the act, which is useless because they scream louder, we should just make fun of Trump for having a scarred ear, not because it is right to do so, but because it is actually what will diminish him in the eyes of his moron followers.
Thomas Matthew Crooks: Who was the Donald Trump shooting suspect?
I can just picture him hiding under a bed in mar-a-lago. :-)
rsmith@9: The only good outcome of this I could imagine would be Trump chickening out and quitting the race.
Don’t see it, though. I expect he will enjoy being celebrated as a hero and martyr (while still alive) and get more unhinged.
@10.
Why would he quit? This almost guarantees his win. Now he has an excellent come back everytime someone calls him a threat to democracy. And given how weak Biden is, I just don’t see Democrats pulling a win. You should just hope that one, Republicans don’t win the Senate and two, the 70 years old Sotomayor stays alive 4 years and a few months more.
Make of this what you will.
There isn’t much in the media so far about the shooter.
How will this guarantee a win? Will people elect him out of pity now? O no, the guy who encourages political violence had it blow back at him, he’ll definitely has to be president now because that’s fair. Teddy Roosevelt almost got shot on campaign as well, it didn’t win him the White House and Teddy was a far less odious candidate than Trump.
It’s always amazing how “progressives” here coincidentally do their best to always frame everything in a way that favors fascists.
I was gone all day yesterday and got home at 10 PM. Having fun on a summer weekend.
My first reaction on seeing the headline, was “fucking idiot”. Referring to the shooter if this isn’t clear. With everything that has gone wrong since Trump was elected in 2016, this is all we need right now.
Seems like things have been steadily getting worse in the USA since Bush was elected in 2000. It hasn’t been steadily worse, more a zigzag that averages into a downward trend. The zigzags downward were mostly due to the GOP’s incompetent rule. Bush started a pointless war in Iraq that accomplished nothing and then ended with the Great Recession.
I’m not expecting any thing different for the foreseeable future.
This matters a lot because…I live here.
People who were sympathetic to Trump now take this as an all-clear to go public with their sentiments – and their money.
Elon Musk “Fully” Endorses Donald Trump After Rally Shooting
Billionaire Bill Ackman endorses Trump in US presidential race
O no, the fascist Musk supports the fascist Trump. Something he’s not made any secret out of for years. O no, some parasitic hedge fund manager supports the party that’s all about making those people richer! That’s so unexpected!
Seriously, you are really just looking for the flimsiest of excuses to push a Trump victory narrative. Because then worker’s paradise or something.
Is this when we send our thoughts and prayers?
@17: Yes, that’s the appropriate response.
And for everyone claiming this will guarantee Trump’s victory? Yeah, maybe if the election were held next week. Instead, it’s just going to give him a bump now, which is going to be gone by the time the election rolls around and Trump has three and a half more months to remind people why they don’t like him.
the Democrats’ message needs to be: “This is where the Republican culture of violence and hate gets us.” With reminders of how they called murdered schoolkids “crisis actors,” made fun of Pelosi’s husband when he got beaten half to death, made excuses and lies for their Jan. 6 riot, etc, etc.
JoeMyGod has a comment thread half full of such reminders:
https://www.joemygod.com/2024/07/trump-offers-condolences-to-families-of-victims-and-says-i-was-shot-with-a-bullet-that-pierced-my-ear/
Old news by the time I saw it…sad ending…Donny’s big bald spot was caught on camera.
All I could manage when my dad change the channel to it briefly was “I honestly don’t care”. About Trump’s life that is. I’m saving up somethings like “too bad someone didn’t choose that to be the time for more guns to be an answer huh?”
I don’t see how we get through this without going out of our way to directly challenge the lies told about us by our fellow citizens in public. Again and again. TRUMP AND OUR FELLOW RIGHT-WING CITIZENS HAVE BEEN LITERALLY DEHUMANIZING AND TALKING ABOUT OUR DEATHS FOR YEARS. My own parents require my silence while I live with them for their delicate beliefs to survive.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this was actually some sort of over the top “suicide by cop” gambit, with the shooter thinking that now everyone will remember him forever. Which they probably won’t, because people tend to forget the names of mass shooters and assassins/would be assassins in fairly short order. They remember the target, if famous enough, or where it took place.
I don’t give a shit about Biden’a bullseye comment. How many non-literal violence references does Trump and the political right use? The answer to someone complaining is “until I see you in the faces of Trump and company with the non-literal violence shut the fuck up!”
@13:
The election is about those 5-10% undecided people and also motivating your base to show up.
First as @15 says, it will encourage anyone who liked Trump to come and vote.
Second, a huge part of US populace are conspiracy theory minded. Some will think it is staged but some will think it’s deep state trying to take out Trump. Again this is more motivation.
Third, Democracts will be contentiously hammered about their irresponsible rhetoric and calling Trump a fascist and everytime Biden or Democrats call Trump a “threat to Democracy” he will claim Democrats are a threat to Democracy by threatening to jail and murder their opponents.
The chaos and insanity continue to increase. I both laughed and cried when I saw a yard sign that said kennedy24.
It would be too dangerous, but I’d like to put up two yard signs:
brainworm for president 2024
and
full diaper terrorist for president 2024
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the piece of shit who harassed David Hogg when he spoke before Congress, has the nerve to blame Democrats. She’s completely vile. An utter waste of breath.
The hypocrisy of the right-wing is appalling.
I don’t think it’ll guarantee a win, but it probably will give Trump a boost.
Disgusting, as with so many other problems, that Republicans deny the concept of stochastic terrorism until it happens to one of theirs.
PZ posted: Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) claimed in a post on X that the local district attorney “should immediately file charges against Joseph R. Biden for inciting an assassination”
I react: WTF, I just read an article that claimed (probably true) the shooter was a registered repugnantcant!
Main Slime News, Rtwingnut politicians, xtian terrorists simply can’t utter an honest sentence. In general, human society proves it is a failure at every turn.
As someone pointed out here already, when 82-year-old Paul Pelosi was beaten on the head with a hammer by a home invader, it was nothing but jokes from Trump and Jr.
I give zero fucks about Trump. I just can’t wait for the memes showing Mike Tyson gnawing at that ear which probably already exist.
One of those thoughts: “For they sow the wind and reap the storm-wind” (Hosea 8:7)
And, I should recognize that
@8 Reginald Selkirk already had a link to the article about the ‘repugnantcant wanna-be assassin’
@30 robro said: One of those thoughts: “For they sow the wind and reap the storm-wind” (Hosea 8:7)
However, with no insult intended to robro, Instead of quoting an obscene book of fiction, I would rather read how On reader supported news, Marc Ash has an article ‘Violence Begets Violence’.
Expect to see the picture of the bloody, defiant Trump, fist in the air, flag in the background continuously until the election. This is the best thing that could have happened to Trump. And the Democrats have suspended attack ads for the time being and will probably tone them down for an even longer time. And, of course, this isn’t the time to talk about gun control.
You mean like this one?
Some people need killing – North Carolina lieutenant governor Mark Robinson, June 30, 2024
Oh wait, that’s not really non-literal.
shermanj @ #32 — No offense taken but I see the saying as more poetry than fiction. In any case, there’s nothing wrong with fiction or poetry. It’s the fiction about the fiction that’s problematic in our world.
I got my chance.
I pointed out his dehumanizing Hitler talk, how he gets away with non-literal violence talk that gets dismissed as joking, or somehow not serious (when hiding the violence but maintaining the feelings is the point), and how Trump has inspired mass shootings of black and LGBT people. How Trump has been dehumanizing me and calling for my death for years along with the right-wing.
He just turned the TV off left for church saying something about how the situation can’t be known until there is more, and I pointed out everything I mentioned is in the past and I already read about it.
We’ll see what happens.
@34
Or the one where the President of The Heritage Foundation and author of Project 2025 Kevin Roberts exclaims “the revolution will reman bloodless if the left allows it.”
I dunno.
This obviously won’t change the ammosexuals’ attitude one tiny bit, but I wonder about the orange simian himself: It seems he actually heard the bullet whizzing just millimetres away from his alleged brain.
A life-changing moment maybe? It’s all fun and games until one hears real bullets whizzing all over the place.
We’ll see.
I know this sounds like paranoia from my part but I want to get it out there. Now that Trump, Republicans, and the media have a perfect excuse to smear all critics and blame them for this regardless of facts, they expect Trump to win now and perhaps that the GOP will gain a trifecta in 2024. Afterwards, the GOP have a perfect excuse and sympathy among voters to start supressing critics and politicial rivals in earnest. With a trifecta and Trump bringing in loyalists regardless of competence, we will witness sham investigations, misinformation and propaganda which will see anyone critical of Trump somehow be implicated in a conspiracy against him. The GOP was already obsessed with the idea of a “deep state” that wants Trump taken down. This event is the perfect excuse to claim it was all true and start implicating people they don’t like. This event will be cited as justification enough regardless of the facts.
This is from CNN:
Biden needs to step down. I used to believe him stepping down was foolhardy and bad strategy but we are now in very dangerous uncharted territory if he loses. In most rising authoritarian or illiberal regimes throughout recent history, a event like a assassination or attack on a autocratic figure prompts the ascending authoritarians, the mainstream media and political centrists to team up and weed out anybody who was critical of the affected parties (starting with unpopular political movements to ease it in), despite having nothing to with such events along with popularizing and even mainstreaming illiberalism. I’m honestly concerned that if Trump and his allies (especially in the courts) win in 2024, we may legitimately see them eventually criminalize or outright jail critics of all stripes, citing this event and fantasies over the “deep state” and labeling all critics as enemies of the state. Sorry if I sound like madman but that’s the thought that’s been bugging me since then I just wanted to share it. Maybe others can take solace that they aren’t the only ones feeling overwhelmed right now.
I bet the words ‘Reichstag moment’ are being whispered between the GOP leadership right now. And possibly yelled tomorrow.
Enough of the US population is soaked in unhinged conspiracist fantasies that even if the saner 70% stand against the 30% faithful, it’ll have to be with deeds rather than words. You’ve fucking lost it, America. Not today, and probably not tomorrow, but can you really see the election and its outcome being peaceful?
I honestly don’t see why Biden has to step down. The margins are so close that switching from hand-wringing to support looks better to me. I’ve yet to see a good reason for Biden to step down. I’ve seen posts with cherry-picked moments claiming Biden looks like he has problems with old age things that apply to Trump more. He could just step down if there is anything in the future. I’ve seen people get newly worried about gaffs from someone who had lots of them and all it takes is a moment to see what was meant. Something that takes no time to get past in meetings and such. I see people hand-wringing about debates that don’t seem to have anything to do with what these candidates will be doing, and letting the media slide in ignoring lies, ignoring an untrustworthy human.
If Trump wins I’m fine shaming people who did all of that hand-wringing IF they start complaining. Things are so close I’m just fine doing that.
Why the media isn’t getting inboxes of shaming already is because it’s easier to hand-wring.
@43. Yeah you’ll right. The fact a devoted leftist like me can get panicked so fast is more of a failure on my part than anything. I’m concerned I’m far from the only one though. The newest arguments I’ve heard is that this event will lead Trump to increase his margins at the expense of Biden. That the right-wing will be energized to vote for him and even moderates/centrists may vote for him out of solitary and pity. Some have also mentioned the Biden campaign will be defanged now that they plan to ease off from attacking him and place less focus on him as a threat to democracy (which he still is), stuff that would actually bring out voters to least oppose Trump if they don’t care for Biden. IDK what to think at the moment but I’m still concerned.
Not all of us though.
You do realize this was most likely a false flag event?
Staged by the GOP using crisis actors to blame the Democrats and declare martial law.
The alleged shooter was even a registered Republican.
(This is sarcasm. I’m sure if someone shot Biden’s ear, this is exactly what the GOP would say.)
@kitcarm
I’m more about the ones actually posting and blogging cherry-picked stuff. Your comment did inspire mine, but not directly. Otherwise there’s a place to opine ones fear, it’s part of figuring it out.
I’m also more about anyone after the election getting blamey with such, and I’ve no reason to think that you are in that group so tried to make it a general comment.
@40. If this was reversed, there’s no way Republicans would tone it down. If this happened to Biden, Republicans would still use their aggressive and reckless tactics and rhetoric against him and the media would be silent about it or try to imply “well, he was unpopular” type of writing. Yet, article after article coming out soon will blame Democrats for inciting violence, encourage us to let Trump win for repentance and even relinquish the idea that liberal democracy is good so let’s give Trumpian autocracy a try. All this dreck over only speculations and fantasies coming from the article writers.
Sure they can. Concentrate on how Trump refuses to adhere to civil norms, denounce political violence and respect the outcome of free and fair elections. That if the national dialogue is deteriorating, he is responsible for a good deal of it.
Does being lightly shot by a GOP gun- enthusiast translate into votes? I’m guessing no, people don’t pity vote, but I am not surprised that the billionaire owned media is obsessing about their election polls and Biden, rather than writing articles linking all the violent rhetoric of MAGA to actual violence.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap?
Biden should simply make an anti-violence campaign ad that features this incident, Jan 6th, Charlotte,etc, interspersed with voice clips and screenshots of trump and ilk calling for violence.
Sadly, there are plentiful examples.
So you obviously didn’t watch the debate. The “cherry-picking” would have been needed to find moments when Biden looked and sounded as if he was all there, not the reverse.
I’m kind of beyond the point of making predictions about the future. I was skeptical of conventional wisdom before, and I’d say we’re living in increasingly unconventional times.
I agree that this assassination attempt helps Trump, but it’s too far from the election to be anything like determinative. There’s plenty of time for other unpredictable events that shift the election one way or the other.
On the bright side, two different women tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford.
He still lost the election to Jimmy Carter.
Based on past history, I wouldn’t be too sure that this assassination attempt is going to help Trump at all.
raven @53
Ford pardoned Nixon. The country was still dealing with the aftermaths of Watergate and Vietnam. Ford, unlike Trump, didn’t seem all that charismatic. He was lampooned by Chevy Chase for clumsiness on SNL. I don’t know if Ford is a good analog.
Hopefully Teddy Roosevelt isn’t the more apt analogue though. Unlike Trump he was a legitimate badass, going on to give a long speech after being shot by a would be assassin. Luckily the speech manuscript and a glasses container may have saved his life. He would go on, after spoiling an election which saw Woodrow Wilson win, to embark on a dangerous journey down a Brazilian river which was hazardous enough to have perhaps reduced his life span a bit due to a nasty leg infection. We would never see Trump do something that removed from his luxury lifestyle. Trump is no TR.
AugustusVerger @13
There was no almost about it. TR got shot.
He did good enough in a three way to help torpedo Taft and Wilson then won that election.
In my @55 I guess I overlooked Debs. He wasn’t part of the three-way, instead watching the action from an adjacent chair.
I’ll bet that the shooter besides being White and Republican-registered, will be revealed as a “good Christian.”
No report of a killer would be complete without the neighbor insisting that he was a nice kid.
Dem Billionaire’s Aide Pushes ‘False Flag’ Shooting Conspiracy Theory
The good news: apparently there are Democratic billionaires.
I know the right wingers love them some ‘false flag’ action, but it sounds unlikely to me.
Trump is a coward. He is not willing to die for his cause, because his cause is himself. And the MAGA movement is so Trump-centered that I am not sure that any positive reaction from the shooting could be transferred to any replacement candidate.
Would he be willing to be wounded? This is not a detail he could rely on. The shooter used an AR-15, not one of the best sniper rifles available today. For Trump to be in on this, he would have to wear a squib, not rely on the accuracy of live fire. And we know there was live fire as several other people were hit.
Just saw on the news, about a half dozen secret service agents(executive branch employees aren’t they?)hugging trump trying to get his head down and into their van, he wasn’t very cooperative, having to wave.
Of course if they find Biden involved the Supreme court just decided he has immunity to just about anything.
Please excuse my ignorance, but how was this fellow identified so quickly using DNA? Why would a 20 year-old who was not in the military and had no police record have his DNA in a data base? Is this routine for kids now? Was this explained and I just missed it? How extensive and how well organized are these data bases that a sample from an unknown individual could be identified so quickly? I’ve never given anyone a DNA sample (blood tests yes, every time I get my annual physical). So I wonder, is my DNA in someone’s data base? I haven’t paid overmuch attention to the Trump story — I was driving yesterday, so I heard the news (one could hardly avoid it). It wouldn’t surprise me if I missed all the explanations.
@61: I had some of the same questions. This seems a more likely scenario:
I suggest, with no actual knowledge, that the gun was traced first, and the DNA testing was done to verify suspected identity, not find an unknown.
And a different viewpoint:
cough, cough
That’s a combo delusions of grandeur and a failure to remember Januray 6.
Hi, Reginald — Thanks for the clarification
We were warned there’d be a lot of disinformation about this initially. The two stupidest things I’ve heard so far is that Biden ordered it, and (from the left) that Trump faked it.
Yes, I’m sure Biden would recruit a troubled 20 year old to carry out an assassination.
And Trump wouldn’t have the resources to fake an attempt. The Secret Service would have to be in on it, which is doubtful. They’re a security detail, not Trump’s (or anyone else’s) personal hatchet men.
If I was conspiracy-minded, I’d say that the most likely suspects would be (in no particular order) Russia on the theory that Putin had decided Trump had outlived his usefulness, Iran in retaliation for Trump’s ordering that missile strike that killed a high-ranking member of the Iranian military years back, or a right-wing billionaire who was gambling on the idea that they’d benefit regardless of whether or not the assassination attempt succeeded. I don’t think any of them are reasonable scenarios, but I find them more plausible than the idea that either Biden or Trump was the one responsible for ordering it.
I expect the shooter was identified by pulling his wallet out of his pocket. Nobody has reported that he was identified via DNA afaict. There was an expedited request to the ATF to provide the identity of the person who purchased the gun.
I expect the maga-sphere is having a difficult time spinning an attempted assassination that was carried out by a registered Republican.
I am already tired of the logic free claim that this will somehow help the felon win the election. How?
Vast chunks of his own party clearly hate him because of who he is. This isn’t going to change anything.
That seems unlikely to me. Given the choice that the USA would be presided over by a competent and stable Democrat, vs by Trump; Putin would prefer the chaos.
Russia accuses Biden administration of creating atmosphere for attack on Trump
Yes, why does The Left keep calling Trump a fascist and a threat to democracy, just because he has borrowed the policies, the rhetoric and the iconography of fascists and has repeatedly expressed favoritism for authoritarian leaders, and fostered a violent attempt to overthrow a democratic election? It’s so unfair.
I expect not, since it was specifically reported by multiple reliable news outlets that the shooter was not carrying ID at the time.
one source
You seem poorly informed. But thanks for sharing your views.
@67: a second source
BBC
@Reginald
A biometric ID is not a full DNA sequence, it’s a blood test that would confirm that the person who bought the gun was closely related to the shooter. It’s more reliable than dental records.
No need to be snide about it.
Thomas Matthew Crooks: What we know about the Trump attacker
His high school had a rifle team? I have been living in ‘Murica all my life and i did not know this was a thing.
I didn’t know rifle teams were a varsity sport in high school either.
More from Wikipedia: According to John Lott:[3]
Until 1969 virtually every public high school—even in New York City—had a shooting club.
According to this source, the number of high school rifle teams has been going up lately.
I remember an interview with British actor David Niven talking about his wartime service with what we now call special forces. He didn’t go into detail but he said he knew war correspondents s who wrote about bullets “whizzing” by had not been under fire because he he knew from personal experience that [supersonic] rounds made a sharp crack as they went by.
I’ve been shot at twice.
Once it was a small caliber pistol on a city street. I heard a baffling snap as the bullets hit windows and the sidewalk, followed by the pop of the gun a few blocks away. No whizzing.
The other time was a large caliber hunting rifle. No whiz. I instead heard the terrifying sound of the bullets cutting through the tall grass I was hiding in.
prior enlisted, and part of that is pulling the targets (behind a big huge safe earth berm) downrange of the people currently shooting.
I don’t know anything about subsonic ammunition, all the ranges I’ve been on used 5.56, 7.62, and 50 cal primarily.
If a high-powered rifle round passes closer to you than it’s point of origin, you will hear a brief, sharp, “crack” type of sound, very similar to a whip-crack. I understand this to be the “sonic boom” of the projectile. A brief moment later, depending on how far you are from the point of origin, you’ll here the “pop” sound of the firearm’s discharge. I’m lucky enough to never have been in a combat zone, but it’s a weird experience, and I hope to never experience it again.
On live fire ranges, I have experienced ricochets make a “whizzing” sound, and they are scary as hell.
Also, that was pretty close range, so I don’t think there would have been much of a lapse twixt the projectile’s “crack” and the firarm’s “pop” – I didn’t check the sources, but saw something with a map of the area, found it on google maps, and if all that is true, it looked like it was around ~150 yds/meters. It’s been a long time since I was enlisted, but I believe are range quals were at 200 and 300 yds(using a ~12″ circle (approximately head sized), and 500 yds using a human torso sized target. And I don’t believe we were even allowed to use the prone position (most stable/accurate) for the 200 yd range, I think that was some combination of standing/sitting/kneeling. It’s not a difficult shot to make, with a little bit of training…
#73. I was a member of my HS rifle team (late 50s). We used 22 caliber rifles and would go to the range in the basement to practice during study halls unsupervised by our advisor. I have several varsity letters awarded for being a member of the team.
@microraptor #66
As conspiracy theories go, I think the billionaire conservative is the most likely, both with regard to ability and choice of method. Frankly, the people most likely to benefit from a successful assassination of Trump is whoever is in position to replace him, since they get to take up the cause the great leader, without the inconvenience of actually having him around.
Unlikely, but significantly more likely than Biden doing it.
I am glad I am not the only one (@Rich Woods #42) who is thinking about the R Word.
How are we feeling about the 21st Century’s Reichstag Fire?
Louis
PZ #75,
DAMN those tenure committees get rough.
Louis
P.S. More seriously, YIKES! I’m sorry that happened. Incidental being shot at or targeted being shot at? In both cases, I am glad their aim was poor or, from my perspective, good/poor enough not to hit you.
Thing is that central premsie is right – and remains so despite the shooting. Trump actually IS an authoritarian (& misogynist, rapist, racist, criminal, etc..) fascist who must be stopped.
At all costs? Dunno preferably withas little cost as possible but given the implications and almost certain damage he’s going to do to the world…
FWIW Aussie ABC has just broadcast this 4 Corners special – Investigating Trump, Project 2025 and the future of the United States which I’d reccommend watching on that. (55 minutes long.)
PS. Before anyone writes off this coming American election, let’s remember that it ain’t over till its over. We are still well over three months away from Election Day (E Day) and an awful lot can – and no doubt will – happen before then. Not sure when early voting begins and, okay, that shortens the time beforehand somewhat but there is the old saying about a week being a long time in politics and there’s the quasi-tradition of “October surprises” and who knows what could and hopefully might happen yet.
One things for sure, Defeatism and just giving up is NOT going to deliver anything good and nor is falling for the oldest yet still most horribly effective trick in the political book of divide and conquer and falling into in-fighting amongst our side here. The Democratic party and lefts need to unite and work together like never before behind their candidate whoever it is to make sure Trump is stopped politically and the relatively more progressive side here gets the Congress and then is able to change the hijacked SCOTUS. Everyone, I think, badly needs to realise that and rally around keeping the number 1 priority STOPPING TRUMP in mind at all times. So incalculably much depends on this,.
MTG faces calls to resign after wild statement on Trump shooting: ‘Democrats are the party of pedophiles’
@ 74, 75, 76: thx for the clarification, I guess my ignorance of firearms is showing pretty well. Also, I assumed that even a bullet from a AR15 would go subsonic quickly due to air resistance and metal deformation, but what do I know… the only two times I shot something was with a rather impressive 7,62-chambered M1 Garand of 1946 vintage during my enlistment. No whizzing, but of course I was behind it and busy not hitting anything, like the rest of the firing line. We probably shot each other’s targets, the sky, the ground, the berm and so on, much to the desperation of our instructors.
Also, 75-PZ: that’s harrowing! Even more so that at first you don’t even realize. Unholy crap.
Forbes Removes Ridiculous Article That Asked If Trump Shooting Will ‘Appeal To Black Voters’
OK, since it’s not over till it’s over, what are the best things we can be doing to fight the US falling to fascism? If one is in a non-purple state, where to direct energy and money?
Here in Washington state, after the state primaries I intend to make some small donations to congressional campaigns in purple districts. After the Democratic convention
i’ll make a donation to the presidential campaign. What else?