"But there are still around four months to go before the election, so after the shock of what happened has worn off, the bigger question could well be which candidate is more likely to prevent that slide from happening."
I've never "restacked" anything before, partly because I barely know what that means beyond a logical guess, but I restacked that.
There is no question about the answer.
I'm sorry a right wing delusional 20 year old Republican killed another right wing delusional Republican, but after all the violent rhetoric of their side, I'm not surprised. Did anyone see the middle fingers thrust into the air by the goons in front of Trump's black ambulance? Did anyone notice the confederate flag flying near the shooter's building?
People will call for unity. I call for the end of the right wing's violent rhetoric that included calls to hang their Vice President.
When Republicans care as much about children getting slaughtered in school as they do about an ear, we can chat.
Well said, Charles! There can be no unity until Republicans stop with the violent rhetoric that has become their trademark. This tendency toward violent talk and their fetish for guns have now come back at them like a boomerang.
I'm in NC, and our GOP Ultra MAGA candidate for Governor, Mark Robinson, actually stated (in a church no less!) that "Some folks need killing!". (I'm pretty sure he meant it for the LBGTQ community since he is a horrible homo- and trans-phobe). He also is in favor of a total abortion ban without an exception for the life of the mother, so women are definitely at risk, too.
Then the GOP candidate for Superintendent of Public schools, Michele Morrow, posted on social media that Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats should be publicly executed.
BTW, Morrow beat the incumbent GOP Supt. of Public Education, Catherine Truitt, in the primary in March. At a breakfast in May sponsored by the nonprofit Public Schools Forum of NC, Truitt essentially endorsed the Democratic candidate, Mo Green, who is a lifelong educator. That's really saying something considering the divisiveness in politics these days, IMO!!
I know quite a bit about Mark Robinson, because my sister lives just outside of Charlotte. But also a number of Substack writers have been focusing on him because he’s the extreme end of extreme. I also heard the story about Morrow. My best guess concerning these primaries, in which the craziest people are chosen, is that mostly only die hard MAGA republicans vote in these elections. They choose these extreme candidates and then the rest of the folks just hope for the best. Rational people need to get out and vote in primaries more often.
I am going to dare to hope that this is the beginning of the end of extremism. The lifelong optimist in me has been getting slapped around for too long lately.
I so much want you to be right about this, because although I have not been a victim of any of this violence, just knowing that it exists makes my life far less peaceful.
I understand, for sure. As I've gotten older, I've realized that how I die isn't very important to me, since I know I'll go one way or another. I'd rather not go violently, be it through a car crash or some other accident, or some right wing punk with a military grade weapon. But I try not to stress over the how.
For me it's a meta thing. I don't want younger people exposed to this. It's horribly unhealthy for school kids, for example, to be in shooter drills. For me, it was tornado drills. That was bad enough, but a tornado almost seems much less likely now than a shooter. I don't like the concept of terrified children. It makes me sad.
So it has all made me a little angry. I don't like that kids go through this, or that they need to worry about going to a festival and some jerk with a long gun will launch an assault. And when I say kids, I don't only mean little kids. I mean young people in their 20s, 30s, even 40s.
At the end of the day, the attack on Trump is about guns. And Republicans will ignore this truth and yell at Democrats about our legit concerns about fascism. Not even their cult leader getting attacked will change anything. The fact that a 20 year old kid who can't buy beer did this using an AR-15 has barely been mentioned.
Everything you wrote here rings true for me. Drills that I do remember in school had to do with living during the cold war, with the threat of atomic annihilation. I remember going through drills where we got under our desks to hide, as if doing that was going to prevent us from being affected by a nuclear explosion. It’s so profoundly absurd; but as you said, the idea that children now have to go through active shooter drills is something I never thought I would live to see. It is very sad, very disappointing.
Charles. Well stated. Well received to my senses. Box of broken glass brains for Republicans to believe and state Biden was behind the thwarted assassination. The boy apparently was beyond the bounds secured by the Secret Service. There’s something worth noting. A couple of secret service heads are going to roll. They killed the kid asap. Where were they ? Somethings off and it’s not Biden.
Whenever I take a deep dive into this, my CAnon (Charles Anon) Conspiracy light turns on because it all adds up so strangely. But I also know that if anything untoward happened, they won't be able to hide it from multiple security agencies. So I'll just wait for the final investigations to wrap up, which will take some time, obviously.
"Responding to questions from The Washington Post, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed Sunday that the agency relied on local police at the Trump rally to fill out significant parts of its typical array of specialized protective units — including its heavily-armed counter assault team that provided cover as Trump’s detail evacuated him and the counter sniper teams that ultimately spotted and killed the shooter.
The Service had two of its counter assault agents on the scene and filled out the rest of the typical platoon with at least six members of Butler County tactical units, Guglielmi said. Two Secret Service counter sniper teams were on the scene, but two additional teams that had been recommended for adequate protection at the rally were staffed by local units, he said."
And Mike Project 2025 Johnson calls for "an end the violent rhetoric from both sides..." Um, excuse me, sir, it's the RIGHT that is and has been cheering Trumps violent rhetoric for the last 7 years.
The only thing we absolutely know for sure is that no Republican, anywhere, will be asked whether they feel a little differently about guns now. Because that would be “biased” and “injecting politics into the situation,” which is code for “asking a Republican a question they would prefer you didn’t ask.”
I hope that they are asked that. What worries me is that after reading about Putin's assasination plans for his hit list that included the CEO of Reifeisen Metal, for supporting Ukraine with weapons, which Biden's administration warned Germany about, I was already worried about someone shooting Biden and/or Harris. Now I am even more worried after hearing the Republican rhetoric. Is there anyway to get them to stop? At the same time it remains imperative that we not succumb to Fascist propaganda tactics to silence us about how Trump is a crook and Project 2025 will lead to the destruction of our nation and planet.
I write a lot of postcards for voter registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaigns. One of my favorite postcard designs for voter registration has "Thoughts & Prayers" crossed out with a red line and replaced with "REGISTER AND VOTE!"
Biden was gracious and offered tRump prayers that he was all right. He even thanked the secret service who rushed tRump off the stage. Biden was going to personally call tRump to see how he is doing.
Would tRump have done the same if the shoe were on the other foot?????
Trump doesn't have a single grace note in his body. He would be making fun of Biden while reposting comments about how it's too bad they missed. That's the choice in front of us: the decency of Joe Biden, or the gutter politics of Trump.
I think we can count on at least some MAGAs saying something like "Thoughts and prayers? Pfft. That means nothing. Its just a performance", without ever appreciating the irony.
Oh, come on! Trump has wished "luck" to both Ghislaine Maxwell when she was arrested (soon after her partner & erstwhile Trump pal Jeffrey Epstein had been disposed of) while denying he knew her well, & the creators of Project 2025, who are mostly associates of Trump, while denying he knew anything about it. Isn't that showing compassion?
Biden's timely response was exemplary, but does not change my perception that he, sadly, no longer has the mental acuity and physical capacity to be a the candidate for 4 more years in office.
How dare you? Have you personally had a face to face conversation with him? Have you listened to his other public rhetoric? Have you medical credentials to justify such a personal judgement?
It may come as a shock to you, but no one knows what the future will bring or how long they have on this earth - which is why their is a Presidential succession plan. We have a very competent VP in Kamala Harris, and she would handle the duties of president well should Joe Biden become unable to complete his next term.
FYI, as evidence of this truth, I read today that former NFL wide receiver Jacoby Jones, who played with the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens, died in his sleep - at age 40.
This is a day to mourn the loss of a good person and realize that violence can indeed alter our future. Mr. T has been proclaiming violence since 2016. Encouraged its use. He didn’t I’m sure mean it to be used in his direction but once the flames burn direction can’t be controlled. Release this man and his dictates to use violence. Clear your thoughts and your passions towards sustaining democracy, uplifting people rather than harming them. Mourn the death of this person and turn away from corruption of our country’s future. Vote Blue.
When guns were being found by the detectors for the January 6th speech, didn't tfg say something to the affect of I'm not worried, they're not here to hurt me?
I was very relieved that it wasn't a black or brown person or a recent immigrant. I remember the anti-Muslim hate crimes after 9/11 and the anti-Asian attacks during the Covid pandemic.
You, me, Jay, and probably millions of other Democratic voters were wishing the same thing for the same reasons. And yet, Republicans have figured out ways to spin this to be Joe Biden’s fault.
More senseless gun violence in America. I lost a cousin to it in 2021. TFG had much more security than children and teachers at our schools who live with this every day.
Strong last line: Ballots, not bullets. That should always be our simple answer to the flood of ridiculous gaslighting about Democrats somehow inciting violence.
Karma. Words eerily beget action. Sadly, three attendees were not immune; one died and two seriously injured at a rally led by a pompous felon claiming immunity from "his" SCOTUS. Political assassination at the ballot box is the only way. Breathe. Inform. Register. Inform. Register some more. Inform some more. Vote.
I'm writing postcards and letters to register new voters and get out teh vote each and every day! I'm past my canvassing days - especially in this beastly weather - the heat index today was 104 F at the peak of the day and is still at 99 F.
While I vehemently oppose political violence, donald is getting no sympathy from the only thing he’s very adept at, promoting violence. Karma’s a bitch.
Jay, thank you for taking a break from your justly deserved day off to yet again talk us off the metaphorical ledge and with the trading card show us who Darth Rumpus really is.
I saw last night that Josh Hawley, in his endless and futile quest to appear relevant, called for an investigation into today’s shooting. Because of course otherwise law enforcement would have ignored it or swept it under the metaphorical rug. Sigh. I suppose this is a code phrase for blame the “Biden crime family”, hold hearings that accomplish nothing except to keep republican members of congress from doing what they were actually elected to do.
Anyone but dumb josh hawley knows that there will be an investigation by the Secret Service, the FBI, and local law enforcement. hawley's an idiot who doesn’t know when to keep his pie hole shut.
I get a strong "projection" feeling about this bit with pointing the finger at President Biden. If these Maga R's excel at anything, it is a flawless ability to project their character flaws onto others, specifically Democrats. We've already heard and seen it ad nauseam as their almighty and perfect dear leader calls out violence and laughs at any tragedy that comes to anyone on the other side. It never ends, and they are so transparent that it requires absolutely zero effort to see it when it happens.
And sadly, they will be able to convince some of their profoundly stupid MAGA goons that Joe Biden somehow “ordered“ this attempted assassination. I mean, they’ve been able to convince approximately 1/3 of US citizens that the 2020 election was stolen.
Josh, Hillbilly Vance, Li'l Mikey Johnson, they just "know" who the culprit is...if not Joe Biden directly, then maybe they'll settle for "antifa", or BLM as organizing the shooting...SOMEBODY, ANYBODY other than the now-dead shooter Crooks.
I’ve never even thought 2016 and 2020-2021 was done with us. 2024-2025 and beyond isn’t done with us. We are going to have to remain laser focused on defeating illberal authoritarianism for a while. It won’t just end with an election loss by Trump, it’s been embraced by too many, even in positions of leadership. Welcome to a repeat of the 19th-20th centuries. Humans never retain the lessons they should learn from the past for very long.
If we manage to pull through again, this movement will ALWAYS be right under the surface, as it always has been. Future generations must remain vigilant, but in the meantime, unfortunately, more laws need to be passed to try and prevent such things from manifesting themselves (and we'll need a SCOTUS that agrees those laws are Constitutional).
As Trump's *favorite book* says, 'Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.' Trump has been playing with the fire of political violence for years, and now he's gotten burned. I'm sorry that, once again, it was a Trump supporter who died as a result of his toying with and normalizing political violence.
I hope this incident tamps down the irresponsible rhetoric calling for violence, whether its a 'civil war', a 'second American revolution', or any other loose talk that gives an unstable person the permission structure to try something this heinous. But I fear that Trump will, instead, be blaming Biden and fundraising like crazy off of this.
One thing was abundantly clear yesterday: we were lucky to have a sane, normal and utterly decent person in the White House when this happened. After seeing the difference between President Biden's reaction to an assassination attempt on his political rival, and the gleeful celebrating Trump did when someone tried to assassinate Nancy Pelosi and attacked her husband instead, the choice is clear. Decency and Biden or degeneracy and Trump.
It's so interesting (to me, anyway), that I postulated this exact scenario to my husband last night - right wing, gun nut, thinking he's "helping" by taking a pot shot at Trump. In my version, though, it was a "staged" event, whether Trump and others knew about it beforehand or not.
Of course they'll spin this to their advantage, and very few of them will likely mourn or even mention the other three victims who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time (even if nothing had occurred).
I noticed something 'off' about the Secret Service's sloppy reaction to the shooting. Normally, they would have completely covered the target until they were safely in the bulletproof vehicle and on their way out of the event. These 'agents' let Trump re-expose himself for several seconds (for a fortuitous photo op), giving plenty of opportunity for another shooter in the crowd to finish the job. If that were indeed the case, Trump would be dead. I am awaiting the inevitable expert analysis of the video evidence. I absolutely would not doubt that this event could have been staged to garner sympathy for Trump.
I thought that was a bizarre scene to watch play out with the SS all around him, and he kept managing to pop out in the open, pushing his fists out. It was the last time he did it that I exclaimed out loud, "Oh, come on, give me a break; this is not showtime." Seeing him posturing with his tiny fist pumping irked me to no end. I did notice the one SS guy, the taller one, kept trying to get his arm up over the top of T's head, and finally, about when they were a few steps from the back of the SUV, he managed to accomplish it.
A hand held up over a head isn’t much protection. Maybe they should have some kind of helmet-like device at the ready? Or some type of pop up metal shield?
Normally, the person under protection doesn't, while under assault, resist one's own personal protective detail (though it does happen, and is gamed in advance as effectively as possible along with myriad other scenarios).
How does one engage in invasive emergency procedures when the subject isn't cooperating? One must balance the need for swift decisive full-coverage with avoiding unduly harming the subject. Looks like there might've been a lot of split-second risk/benefit and cost/benefit assessments taking place among those agents, at great risk to their lives and their professional standing/reputations. (Tragically, there was a similar conflict, regarding the open-topped vehicle, between the Service and JFK in Dallas, TX on 22 November 1963.)
You wouldn’t be implying “Fake News” by any chance, would you? The ultimate “show” by the ultimate fake showman and a dead shooter. Who would ever be the wiser?
Very difficult to accomplish when you have an uncooperative “target” you’re trying to protect. Audio picked up T insisting they not move him til he got his shoe & then again as they are trying to protect him & move him off the stage “wait, wait” & that’s when he did his theatrics for the photo op of his lifetime; fist in the air, US flag behind him, telling his worshippers to “ fight, fight.” He will absolutely have that photo blown up & on the wall behind him at the convention starting on Monday & one in every single one of his properties with a fake gold frame around it.
Thank you for your factual, measured response to the assassination attempt on candidate Trump. I particularly like your suggestion that we now attempt to push through sensible gun legislation, in an attempt to pass laws that curb unfettered access to guns. As you state, at least this vote might once again put on the record those Congress members who are truly pro-life.
Put them on the record, & considering who was the supposed victim of this shooting, there might be more inclination for some Republicans to vote for it. In other words, this is the optimal time to propose this legislation.
"But there are still around four months to go before the election, so after the shock of what happened has worn off, the bigger question could well be which candidate is more likely to prevent that slide from happening."
I've never "restacked" anything before, partly because I barely know what that means beyond a logical guess, but I restacked that.
There is no question about the answer.
I'm sorry a right wing delusional 20 year old Republican killed another right wing delusional Republican, but after all the violent rhetoric of their side, I'm not surprised. Did anyone see the middle fingers thrust into the air by the goons in front of Trump's black ambulance? Did anyone notice the confederate flag flying near the shooter's building?
People will call for unity. I call for the end of the right wing's violent rhetoric that included calls to hang their Vice President.
When Republicans care as much about children getting slaughtered in school as they do about an ear, we can chat.
One day after the mass shooting at Perry High School, he said we have to get over it
And his lovely comments about Paul Pelosi, worstened by his offspring with the second assistant B-western movie villain beard.
So I guess Trump needs to as well.
Well said, Charles! There can be no unity until Republicans stop with the violent rhetoric that has become their trademark. This tendency toward violent talk and their fetish for guns have now come back at them like a boomerang.
I'm in NC, and our GOP Ultra MAGA candidate for Governor, Mark Robinson, actually stated (in a church no less!) that "Some folks need killing!". (I'm pretty sure he meant it for the LBGTQ community since he is a horrible homo- and trans-phobe). He also is in favor of a total abortion ban without an exception for the life of the mother, so women are definitely at risk, too.
https://newrepublic.com/article/183443/mark-robinson-north-carolina-gov-candidate-hateful-rant-killing
Then the GOP candidate for Superintendent of Public schools, Michele Morrow, posted on social media that Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats should be publicly executed.
https://politicsnc.substack.com/p/and-you-thought-mark-robinson-was
BTW, Morrow beat the incumbent GOP Supt. of Public Education, Catherine Truitt, in the primary in March. At a breakfast in May sponsored by the nonprofit Public Schools Forum of NC, Truitt essentially endorsed the Democratic candidate, Mo Green, who is a lifelong educator. That's really saying something considering the divisiveness in politics these days, IMO!!
https://politicsnc.substack.com/p/republican-superintendent-of-public
I know quite a bit about Mark Robinson, because my sister lives just outside of Charlotte. But also a number of Substack writers have been focusing on him because he’s the extreme end of extreme. I also heard the story about Morrow. My best guess concerning these primaries, in which the craziest people are chosen, is that mostly only die hard MAGA republicans vote in these elections. They choose these extreme candidates and then the rest of the folks just hope for the best. Rational people need to get out and vote in primaries more often.
I am going to dare to hope that this is the beginning of the end of extremism. The lifelong optimist in me has been getting slapped around for too long lately.
I so much want you to be right about this, because although I have not been a victim of any of this violence, just knowing that it exists makes my life far less peaceful.
I understand, for sure. As I've gotten older, I've realized that how I die isn't very important to me, since I know I'll go one way or another. I'd rather not go violently, be it through a car crash or some other accident, or some right wing punk with a military grade weapon. But I try not to stress over the how.
For me it's a meta thing. I don't want younger people exposed to this. It's horribly unhealthy for school kids, for example, to be in shooter drills. For me, it was tornado drills. That was bad enough, but a tornado almost seems much less likely now than a shooter. I don't like the concept of terrified children. It makes me sad.
So it has all made me a little angry. I don't like that kids go through this, or that they need to worry about going to a festival and some jerk with a long gun will launch an assault. And when I say kids, I don't only mean little kids. I mean young people in their 20s, 30s, even 40s.
At the end of the day, the attack on Trump is about guns. And Republicans will ignore this truth and yell at Democrats about our legit concerns about fascism. Not even their cult leader getting attacked will change anything. The fact that a 20 year old kid who can't buy beer did this using an AR-15 has barely been mentioned.
Everything you wrote here rings true for me. Drills that I do remember in school had to do with living during the cold war, with the threat of atomic annihilation. I remember going through drills where we got under our desks to hide, as if doing that was going to prevent us from being affected by a nuclear explosion. It’s so profoundly absurd; but as you said, the idea that children now have to go through active shooter drills is something I never thought I would live to see. It is very sad, very disappointing.
I hear you. I've been a lifelong optimist as well but this year has been very hard. We beed solidarity!
Sick
No pun intended, but boy, do I hear you!
Excellent statement sir💝
Charles. Well stated. Well received to my senses. Box of broken glass brains for Republicans to believe and state Biden was behind the thwarted assassination. The boy apparently was beyond the bounds secured by the Secret Service. There’s something worth noting. A couple of secret service heads are going to roll. They killed the kid asap. Where were they ? Somethings off and it’s not Biden.
Whenever I take a deep dive into this, my CAnon (Charles Anon) Conspiracy light turns on because it all adds up so strangely. But I also know that if anything untoward happened, they won't be able to hide it from multiple security agencies. So I'll just wait for the final investigations to wrap up, which will take some time, obviously.
It's Monday. MSNBC seems to be saying SS turned that roof/bldg area was turned over to local LE. 4 pm now: SS investigating. Something is OFF.
I agree. Here's what the Washington Post had to say about it:
https://wapo.st/3WjPF5w (This is a gifted article and not behing a pay wall).
"Responding to questions from The Washington Post, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi confirmed Sunday that the agency relied on local police at the Trump rally to fill out significant parts of its typical array of specialized protective units — including its heavily-armed counter assault team that provided cover as Trump’s detail evacuated him and the counter sniper teams that ultimately spotted and killed the shooter.
The Service had two of its counter assault agents on the scene and filled out the rest of the typical platoon with at least six members of Butler County tactical units, Guglielmi said. Two Secret Service counter sniper teams were on the scene, but two additional teams that had been recommended for adequate protection at the rally were staffed by local units, he said."
And Mike Project 2025 Johnson calls for "an end the violent rhetoric from both sides..." Um, excuse me, sir, it's the RIGHT that is and has been cheering Trumps violent rhetoric for the last 7 years.
No disagreement here!
well said! Stay strong!
The only thing we absolutely know for sure is that no Republican, anywhere, will be asked whether they feel a little differently about guns now. Because that would be “biased” and “injecting politics into the situation,” which is code for “asking a Republican a question they would prefer you didn’t ask.”
It's just "too early" to talk about gun violence, isn't it??🙃🤐😥
Has been for about 30 years now.
I hope that they are asked that. What worries me is that after reading about Putin's assasination plans for his hit list that included the CEO of Reifeisen Metal, for supporting Ukraine with weapons, which Biden's administration warned Germany about, I was already worried about someone shooting Biden and/or Harris. Now I am even more worried after hearing the Republican rhetoric. Is there anyway to get them to stop? At the same time it remains imperative that we not succumb to Fascist propaganda tactics to silence us about how Trump is a crook and Project 2025 will lead to the destruction of our nation and planet.
I will not be silenced by this. This changes nothing about who tRump really is and what his agenda is. He must be stopped.
I think this will make Trump more insane ( if that’s even possible)& more violent.
Afraid not. Pandora opened that box of Furies in Nov 2016.
The "Trump Assault Ban". Inspired!
Or the “our thoughts & prayers” are with you.
Always thoughts and prayers! No talk about gun reform. It’s sickening
Exactly it is sickening! Makes me so mad!
I write a lot of postcards for voter registration and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaigns. One of my favorite postcard designs for voter registration has "Thoughts & Prayers" crossed out with a red line and replaced with "REGISTER AND VOTE!"
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1513210248/50-register-vote-postcards?
That is the thing to do!
“Too soon.”
No accusations of border crossing vermin being the perpetrator(s).
Biden was gracious and offered tRump prayers that he was all right. He even thanked the secret service who rushed tRump off the stage. Biden was going to personally call tRump to see how he is doing.
Would tRump have done the same if the shoe were on the other foot?????
Trump doesn't have a single grace note in his body. He would be making fun of Biden while reposting comments about how it's too bad they missed. That's the choice in front of us: the decency of Joe Biden, or the gutter politics of Trump.
Just like he made jokes about the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosis husband.
Exactly. And called the kidnapping/assassination plot against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer a 'fake story.'
Trump prefers candidates who don't get shot. Getting shot is for suckers and losers.
Yep. That’s his MO for sure.👏👏👏
No of course not. He'd find some way to make it about himself and would grift off it.
He already is...
I think we can count on at least some MAGAs saying something like "Thoughts and prayers? Pfft. That means nothing. Its just a performance", without ever appreciating the irony.
And you know, when Biden said he was praying for Trump, you just knew it was God's honest truth. How can people not love this man?
Absolutely not. Empathy and concern are not anywhere in his DNA.
Oh, come on! Trump has wished "luck" to both Ghislaine Maxwell when she was arrested (soon after her partner & erstwhile Trump pal Jeffrey Epstein had been disposed of) while denying he knew her well, & the creators of Project 2025, who are mostly associates of Trump, while denying he knew anything about it. Isn't that showing compassion?
Trump would have accused Biden of staging the incident as a political bid for sympathy.
Well, some people are accusing Trump of staging his assassination attempt. However, claims against Trump have more basis than any against Biden.
I wouldn’t put it past the monster to have done exactly that.
Aw HELL no, he wouldn’t have and we all know it too.
Biden's timely response was exemplary, but does not change my perception that he, sadly, no longer has the mental acuity and physical capacity to be a the candidate for 4 more years in office.
How dare you? Have you personally had a face to face conversation with him? Have you listened to his other public rhetoric? Have you medical credentials to justify such a personal judgement?
Oh please, spare us your trolling.
It may come as a shock to you, but no one knows what the future will bring or how long they have on this earth - which is why their is a Presidential succession plan. We have a very competent VP in Kamala Harris, and she would handle the duties of president well should Joe Biden become unable to complete his next term.
FYI, as evidence of this truth, I read today that former NFL wide receiver Jacoby Jones, who played with the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens, died in his sleep - at age 40.
You, too, are an e pert in neurology???
Absolutely not.
Definitely NOT!
Absolutely not. trump would have praised the shooter as a "good person"
No
This is a day to mourn the loss of a good person and realize that violence can indeed alter our future. Mr. T has been proclaiming violence since 2016. Encouraged its use. He didn’t I’m sure mean it to be used in his direction but once the flames burn direction can’t be controlled. Release this man and his dictates to use violence. Clear your thoughts and your passions towards sustaining democracy, uplifting people rather than harming them. Mourn the death of this person and turn away from corruption of our country’s future. Vote Blue.
When guns were being found by the detectors for the January 6th speech, didn't tfg say something to the affect of I'm not worried, they're not here to hurt me?
Yes, he said exactly that. How ironic that a white male Republican tried to take him out.
I was very relieved that it wasn't a black or brown person or a recent immigrant. I remember the anti-Muslim hate crimes after 9/11 and the anti-Asian attacks during the Covid pandemic.
You, me, Jay, and probably millions of other Democratic voters were wishing the same thing for the same reasons. And yet, Republicans have figured out ways to spin this to be Joe Biden’s fault.
Exactly my thought.
"As ye sow, so shall you reap." As an atheist, I like that one better than "You asked for it, you got it."
"Do unto others...
More senseless gun violence in America. I lost a cousin to it in 2021. TFG had much more security than children and teachers at our schools who live with this every day.
I'm sorry for your loss.
Strong last line: Ballots, not bullets. That should always be our simple answer to the flood of ridiculous gaslighting about Democrats somehow inciting violence.
Trending as a hash tag!
Karma. Words eerily beget action. Sadly, three attendees were not immune; one died and two seriously injured at a rally led by a pompous felon claiming immunity from "his" SCOTUS. Political assassination at the ballot box is the only way. Breathe. Inform. Register. Inform. Register some more. Inform some more. Vote.
I'm writing postcards and letters to register new voters and get out teh vote each and every day! I'm past my canvassing days - especially in this beastly weather - the heat index today was 104 F at the peak of the day and is still at 99 F.
While I vehemently oppose political violence, donald is getting no sympathy from the only thing he’s very adept at, promoting violence. Karma’s a bitch.
My sentiment exactly
Jay, thank you for taking a break from your justly deserved day off to yet again talk us off the metaphorical ledge and with the trading card show us who Darth Rumpus really is.
I saw last night that Josh Hawley, in his endless and futile quest to appear relevant, called for an investigation into today’s shooting. Because of course otherwise law enforcement would have ignored it or swept it under the metaphorical rug. Sigh. I suppose this is a code phrase for blame the “Biden crime family”, hold hearings that accomplish nothing except to keep republican members of congress from doing what they were actually elected to do.
Anyone but dumb josh hawley knows that there will be an investigation by the Secret Service, the FBI, and local law enforcement. hawley's an idiot who doesn’t know when to keep his pie hole shut.
Josh is looking for evidence of a "direct order" from Joe Biden, as is the entire far-right blogosphere..what a surprise....NOT!
I get a strong "projection" feeling about this bit with pointing the finger at President Biden. If these Maga R's excel at anything, it is a flawless ability to project their character flaws onto others, specifically Democrats. We've already heard and seen it ad nauseam as their almighty and perfect dear leader calls out violence and laughs at any tragedy that comes to anyone on the other side. It never ends, and they are so transparent that it requires absolutely zero effort to see it when it happens.
And sadly, they will be able to convince some of their profoundly stupid MAGA goons that Joe Biden somehow “ordered“ this attempted assassination. I mean, they’ve been able to convince approximately 1/3 of US citizens that the 2020 election was stolen.
Josh, Hillbilly Vance, Li'l Mikey Johnson, they just "know" who the culprit is...if not Joe Biden directly, then maybe they'll settle for "antifa", or BLM as organizing the shooting...SOMEBODY, ANYBODY other than the now-dead shooter Crooks.
He's not really dumb; he's 1) cynically playing to those among his followers who are and 2) keeping his name out there.
There is a difference between being smart/intelligent and lacking common sense. I wonder if that is closer to what JH is all about.
Oh you mean Josh Hawley, the Christian nationalist who says America is a Christian nation? That Josh Hawley? Gawwwd help us!
Yes, the one who high-kneed it out of there when the insurrectionists invaded the Capitol.
I've seen one Republican in congress say that Biden ordered the hit.
And I'm sure this will be amplified by FOX.
How asinine! If Biden ordered a Seal Team hit, they wouldn’t have missed!
Call it a Trump Assault Ban. Perfect !
Yes, this is brilliant. The more often the Regressives can be boxed into a corner and forced to show their true colors, the better.
I've used that already. It's a great title for a bill.
I was quoting Jay but omitted the quotation marks.
I’ve never even thought 2016 and 2020-2021 was done with us. 2024-2025 and beyond isn’t done with us. We are going to have to remain laser focused on defeating illberal authoritarianism for a while. It won’t just end with an election loss by Trump, it’s been embraced by too many, even in positions of leadership. Welcome to a repeat of the 19th-20th centuries. Humans never retain the lessons they should learn from the past for very long.
If we manage to pull through again, this movement will ALWAYS be right under the surface, as it always has been. Future generations must remain vigilant, but in the meantime, unfortunately, more laws need to be passed to try and prevent such things from manifesting themselves (and we'll need a SCOTUS that agrees those laws are Constitutional).
As Trump's *favorite book* says, 'Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind.' Trump has been playing with the fire of political violence for years, and now he's gotten burned. I'm sorry that, once again, it was a Trump supporter who died as a result of his toying with and normalizing political violence.
I hope this incident tamps down the irresponsible rhetoric calling for violence, whether its a 'civil war', a 'second American revolution', or any other loose talk that gives an unstable person the permission structure to try something this heinous. But I fear that Trump will, instead, be blaming Biden and fundraising like crazy off of this.
One thing was abundantly clear yesterday: we were lucky to have a sane, normal and utterly decent person in the White House when this happened. After seeing the difference between President Biden's reaction to an assassination attempt on his political rival, and the gleeful celebrating Trump did when someone tried to assassinate Nancy Pelosi and attacked her husband instead, the choice is clear. Decency and Biden or degeneracy and Trump.
It's so interesting (to me, anyway), that I postulated this exact scenario to my husband last night - right wing, gun nut, thinking he's "helping" by taking a pot shot at Trump. In my version, though, it was a "staged" event, whether Trump and others knew about it beforehand or not.
Of course they'll spin this to their advantage, and very few of them will likely mourn or even mention the other three victims who had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time (even if nothing had occurred).
I noticed something 'off' about the Secret Service's sloppy reaction to the shooting. Normally, they would have completely covered the target until they were safely in the bulletproof vehicle and on their way out of the event. These 'agents' let Trump re-expose himself for several seconds (for a fortuitous photo op), giving plenty of opportunity for another shooter in the crowd to finish the job. If that were indeed the case, Trump would be dead. I am awaiting the inevitable expert analysis of the video evidence. I absolutely would not doubt that this event could have been staged to garner sympathy for Trump.
I agree with you on its being staged AND the SS were sloppy. I read comments by ex-SS and he mentioned that.
I thought that was a bizarre scene to watch play out with the SS all around him, and he kept managing to pop out in the open, pushing his fists out. It was the last time he did it that I exclaimed out loud, "Oh, come on, give me a break; this is not showtime." Seeing him posturing with his tiny fist pumping irked me to no end. I did notice the one SS guy, the taller one, kept trying to get his arm up over the top of T's head, and finally, about when they were a few steps from the back of the SUV, he managed to accomplish it.
A hand held up over a head isn’t much protection. Maybe they should have some kind of helmet-like device at the ready? Or some type of pop up metal shield?
I agree. Something seemed hinky about the whole "scene."
Dave McCormick said he was introduced by trump and got up to go on stage, but trump told him to wait. Suspicious.
Normally, the person under protection doesn't, while under assault, resist one's own personal protective detail (though it does happen, and is gamed in advance as effectively as possible along with myriad other scenarios).
How does one engage in invasive emergency procedures when the subject isn't cooperating? One must balance the need for swift decisive full-coverage with avoiding unduly harming the subject. Looks like there might've been a lot of split-second risk/benefit and cost/benefit assessments taking place among those agents, at great risk to their lives and their professional standing/reputations. (Tragically, there was a similar conflict, regarding the open-topped vehicle, between the Service and JFK in Dallas, TX on 22 November 1963.)
You wouldn’t be implying “Fake News” by any chance, would you? The ultimate “show” by the ultimate fake showman and a dead shooter. Who would ever be the wiser?
Very difficult to accomplish when you have an uncooperative “target” you’re trying to protect. Audio picked up T insisting they not move him til he got his shoe & then again as they are trying to protect him & move him off the stage “wait, wait” & that’s when he did his theatrics for the photo op of his lifetime; fist in the air, US flag behind him, telling his worshippers to “ fight, fight.” He will absolutely have that photo blown up & on the wall behind him at the convention starting on Monday & one in every single one of his properties with a fake gold frame around it.
I was totally thinking that too!
Thank you for your factual, measured response to the assassination attempt on candidate Trump. I particularly like your suggestion that we now attempt to push through sensible gun legislation, in an attempt to pass laws that curb unfettered access to guns. As you state, at least this vote might once again put on the record those Congress members who are truly pro-life.
That is how we finally got the assault weapons ban, Reagan was shot.
Dianne Feinstein was responsible for that but then when it came time for renewal, Congress let it slide. That was and is a travesty.
It was georgie W that let the ban expire. Look where we are today…
Put them on the record, & considering who was the supposed victim of this shooting, there might be more inclination for some Republicans to vote for it. In other words, this is the optimal time to propose this legislation.
🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼
Violence is never the answer.
There are no innocent bystanders at a Trump rally. There are only those who align themselves with hatred and, yes, violence.
They each reaped what they sowed, or at least stood by and allowed.
Not sorry.
The man who helped first responders carry the man who was killed instantly to a tent, was an OB/GYN doctor. Obviously an anti abortion doctor.
Agree 💯