It’s Good Trump wasn’t Assassinated, but…
It’s a good thing that Trump wasn’t killed this weekend. Not for any of the reasons that politicians and pundits have been saying. Not because it would be a terrible thing if Trump died or any nonsense about violence having no place in American politics. Certainly not because Trump is a human being whose life has value. It would be just fine, a net positive for the country and the world, if Trump died. But not by assassination. Trump being assassinated would be a terrible and disastrous event. Being assassinated would make him a martyr. It would enhance the power of his semi-coherent neo-fascist cause. It would inspire his idiot followers and act as the impetus for them to incite a war. Frankly, I’m surprised that even just having him get grazed by a bullet didn’t have that effect.
While Trump getting murdered would likely have precipitated catastrophe, that he lived will be comparably horrible. Almost getting shot in the head will prove to be one of the best things that ever happened to him. He can now present himself as the brave candidate, the strong man, who survived an assassination attempt and stood tall. That was the way he was playing it, seconds after the shooting. He stood, against all sense and the efforts of Secret Service agents, and pumped his fist in the air, defiant, to the delight and adoration of his sycophantic horde. It honestly couldn’t have gone better if the whole thing had been planned.
Which demands the question: could it have been staged?
Perhaps it’s a little early to be promoting conspiracy theories, but the event has too many holes and oddities at present, and presents the Trump campaign with too great an opportunity, not to consider whether the whole thing was set up. A twenty year old kid with no apparent history of activism, or even interest, in politics, whose only involvement in politics is contradictory and a bit confusing (he was a registered Republican who once made a small donation to a Democratic PAC), drives over an hour with his dad’s AR-15, climbs unimpeded through a building and out onto its roof, takes at least five shots at a fascist convicted criminal and former president, kills a bystander and wounds two others, but only manages to inflict a flesh wound on the supposed target, a big, tall, fat man standing alone on a stage.
People saw and reported the shooter, prior to the shooting, to police on the scene, but nothing was done about it. There was security and police all over the place, but a guy was allowed to set up, aim, and fire his rifle on an open rooftop. Then, as soon as he fired a few poorly aimed shots, they put him down in seconds. Was the whole thing just an embarrassing oversight? Did no one want to be the person who infringed upon the young man’s second amendment right to play with assault rifles in public until he actually fired it?
Then there’s the fact that Trump quickly stood, raising his head, with little resistance from Secret Service agents, to mug and pump the white power fist salute for the crowd as they inanely chanted “USA!” I’m not a law enforcement or security professional, but my understanding is that if you’re acting as someone’s bodyguard, from the time you hear that first shot, it’s your job to get them covered and rush them the fuck out of there. You don’t keep them in one spot and let them stand up so that the shooter, or other shooters, have the opportunity to keep shooting. Yes, it’s plausible that Trump is just that stupid, and so too his security detail could’ve been, I suppose, but it went so against protocol and common sense that it seems about as plausible that it could have been choreographed.
Whether or not the apparent attempted assassination was genuine, it was undeniably fucking strange. Assuming that it was real, it actually encapsulates the state of the US pretty well. A reportedly intelligent, awkward, and bullied, young white man, with easy access to a high powered rifle and ammunition, shot people without any yet discovered motive. The apparent intended target of the assassination immediately pivoted to use it as a photo op, to get likes and attention, bolster his image and fire up his base. And now everyone pretends that a shooting in this country is unusual, and says nothing about doing anything to prevent future shootings. Honestly, what could be more American? “USA! USA!” indeed.