Sunrise — 5:23, 5:26, 5:37, 5:43

Today's photos are all by Meade. I slept through it all.

"Last week, I took a bullet for democracy."

Said Donald Trump at his rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan just now.

If you think his convention speech went long, this speech was half an hour longer. It clocked in at two hours.

The speech wasn't just long. He was talking quite fast. Fast and crisply enunciated. Strong. I had the feeling maybe the brush with death had heightened his sense that he needs to compress his energy and do more and more. At the end, when it was time to walk out, he seemed to want to linger, as if the rally was life itself, and he didn't want to leave.

"The Trump team has already prepared opposition research books on Ms. Harris...."

"In particular, the Trump team plans to attack her over the border crisis, one that the president tasked her with finding the 'root causes' of.... They are also looking to define her based on her tenure as a senator in California and, before that, her time as the state’s attorney general and as the district attorney of San Francisco, where her record during her 2020 presidential campaign was alternately criticized as too conservative, or too lenient toward first-time drug offenders. According to people briefed on the strategy, if Mr. Biden drops out of the 2024 race but doesn’t resign as president, Republicans will argue that the reasons he quit the race are the same reasons he’s unfit to remain as commander in chief. They will try to tie Ms. Harris to Mr. Biden by claiming there was a broad effort to prevent the public from seeing the president’s deterioration and suggest she was part of that effort...."

From "Trump Campaign Prepares Attack Plan for Harris in Case Biden Withdraws/The effort, which includes expansive advertising and polling, assumes that the vice president would be the most likely candidate to replace the president at the top of the Democratic ticket" (NYT).

Things that are in the movie "Hillbilly Elegy" but not in the book.

1. Meals on Wheels

2. Funyuns

3. ... 

"Attacks without clear motivation aren’t unusual and have increased, researchers say, in part as a reflection of the ideologies that swirl together on social media..."

"... and gaming platforms, creating a toxic soup of grievances with no cohesive political agenda. Authorities have cited unclear or overlapping beliefs in recent plots or violence where, for example, white nationalism melded with misogynistic 'incel' subcultures, or when a member of a satanic neo-Nazi group invoked Islamist militancy in what the Justice Department called a 'a diabolical cocktail of ideologies.'"

From "Lack of motive in Trump attack frustrates public, but fits a pattern/Terrorism analysts say Trump’s would-be assassin is among a string of high-profile assailants with unknown or murky reasons for turning violent" (WaPo).

I thought at least you could say that shooting multiple bullets at Trump's head was anti-Trump, but apparently not.

We're supposed to stand back while the officials mull it all over, perhaps to tell us years from now that one can never really know the inside of anyone else's head. But until that modern-day equivalent of the Warren Report issues from the earnest authorities, please note that the Justice Department has bellied up to the bar of your mind and ordered a diabolical cocktail of white nationalism melded with misogynistic incel subculture and garnished with satanic neo-Nazism. Drink deeply and ideate about the right-wing morsels that might have swirled in the toxic soup of young Mr. Crooks's mind.

"The crab warned her. The goldfish warned her."

"Tell me who enlarged NATO. Tell me who did the Pacific basin. Tell me who did something that you never done with your Bronze Star — and your — like my son — and, you know — proud of your leadership. But guess what? Well, what’s happening? We got Korea and Japan working together."

That's what "Biden snapped over Zoom at Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a decorated, retired Army Ranger, according to a recording of the virtual meeting with House Democrats," reported in "Behind the scenes as Joe Biden lost control of the Democratic Party/Many Democrats described the first three weeks of July as a kind of nightmare — too extraordinary to be real, too unexpected to be believed" (WaPo).

"Lost control" is right. Lost control of the Washington Post too — whatever control he had. Selecting that quote — it's in the third paragraph of the article — shows vicious hostility. 

To get hung up by Crow's Bronze Star! Is there any coherence to "who did something that you never done with your Bronze Star — and your — like my son"?

He's saying he did something as President that Crow hasn't done, even though Crow won a Bronze Star, and he's distracted onto the topic of his deceased son, perhaps because the son is always on his mind but probably because that son also won a Bronze Star.

I wondered why Beau Biden won was awarded a Bronze Star and found some discussion here. I believe it had to do with service in a combat zone and not for a particular act of heroism.

But Crow's Bronze Star has the "V" device for combat valor or heroism during the battle. He was the a platoon leader in the 82nd Airborne Division in the Battle of Samawah in 2003. To get up in Crow's face over the Bronze Star is just insane.

Joe Biden seems bereft of the ordinary tools of human interchange. His son died. Go home and grieve constantly if that's what you really need to do, but don't use your dead son randomly as a weapon when you run short of things to say. Quite aside from how the Democrats are going to extricate themselves from the idiotic jam they've gotten themselves into, the entire world is put at risk when the President of the United States has lost his mind.

"I appreciate President Zelenskyy for reaching out because I, as your next President of the United States, will bring peace to the world and end the war...

"... that has cost so many lives and devastated countless innocent families. Both sides will be able to come together and negotiate a deal that ends the violence and paves a path forward to prosperity."

Wrote Donald Trump last evening (on Truth Social).

Zelenskyy, we're told, called Trump to congratulate him for his nomination, to "condemn[] the heinous assassination attempt," and to "remark[] about the American people coming together in the spirit of Unity."

The NYT report about the phone call says that it came "amid mounting concern in Kyiv that a second Trump administration would spell the end of American support in Ukraine’s fight against Russia." And:

"The publics of many of our allies, and those countries we seek to build stronger relationships with, have traditional Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Hindu moral values,"

"If confirmed, how would you explain to them what the United States' promoting 'human rights for LGBTQ people' would look like in their country?"

From a questionnaire J.D. Vance gave to nominees seeking Senate confirmation as ambassadors, quoted in "Leaked memo shows J.D. Vance’s anti-woke ideology on foreign affairs/Trump’s VP pick froze dozens of ambassador nominations over issues like gender transition care and diversity hiring, offering a glimpse into his anti-establishment views" (WaPo).

Sunrise — 5:38, 5:39, 5:48.

"Viewed from the traditional American abundance mind-set, MAGA looks less like an American brand of conservatism and more like a European brand of conservatism."

"It resembles all those generations of Russian chauvinists who argued that the Russian masses embody all that is good but they are threatened by aliens from the outside. MAGA looks like a kind of right-wing Marxism, which assumes that class struggle is the permanent defining feature of politics. MAGA is a fortress mentality, but America has traditionally been defined by a pioneering mentality. MAGA offers a strong shell, but not much in the way of wings needed to soar. If Democrats are to thrive, they need to tap into America’s dynamic cultural roots and show how they can be applied to the 21st century. It should be said that social dynamism is more complicated than it appears at first blush. It’s not just getting on your Harley and hitting the open road. It’s not really about rugged individualism or the libertarian version of freedom as the absence of constraint...."

Writes David Brooks, in "What Democrats Need to Do Now" (NYT).

Somehow I thought you should know he's saying that. Be it known that it’s not just a matter of getting on your Harley and hitting the open road. 

Fungus of the Day.

"Seeing Donald Trump get up after getting shot in the face and pump his fist in the air with the American flag is one of the most badass things I've ever seen in my life."

"But look, as an American, it's, like, hard not to get emotional about that spirit and that fight. And I think that's why a lot of people like the guy."

Said Mark Zuckerberg, who's not endorsing anyone this time around.

Mark Zuckerberg says that it’s "hard not to get emotional" about the spirit Trump showed getting up and pumping his fist with the American flag behind him after being shot. He says it’s "one of the most badass things I've ever seen."

What is happening? 😳pic.twitter.com/YV2MkQBIpb

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) July 19, 2024

Absolutely he's in... until he's out.

"Absolutely the president is in this race, you've heard him say that time and time again... He is the best person to take on Donald Trump."

"Absolutely the president is in this race, you've heard him say that time and time again... He is the best person to take on Donald Trump."

— Biden campaign chair @jomalleydillon says Biden is not exiting the presidential race pic.twitter.com/zElSb3fG4X

— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) July 19, 2024

"One of his signature bits, where an advertising man coaches Abraham Lincoln before the Gettysburg Address..."

"... was a pointed critique of the cynicism of professional politics. 'Hi, Abe, sweetheart' begins the man from Madison Avenue, who encourages him to work in a plug for an Abraham Lincoln T-shirt. When the president says he wants to change 'four score and seven years ago' to '87,' the ad man first patiently explains they already test marketed this in Erie. Then he says: 'It’s sort of like Mark Antony saying "Friends, Romans, countrymen, I’ve got something I want to tell you."'"

Writes Jason Zinoman, in "Bob Newhart Holds Up/He basically invented the stand-up special in 1960 and continued to be a source of comic brilliance until his final years" (NYT).

Listen to the Abe Lincoln routine here (at YouTube).

I would have blogged that passage anyway, so it is by mere chance that in 2 posts in a row I'm quoting something that contains a quote from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." The line quoted above is from Act III, Scene II, with Antony speaking at Caesar's funeral:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.
I have come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interrèd with their bones.

In the previous post, Maureen Dowd had written that Trump, at the convention, "played the Roman emperor, like a Julius Caesar who survived that 'foul deed' and 'bleeding piece of earth,' fist in the air, sitting high in the forum, gloating, as his vanquished foes bent the knee." The internal quotes, from Act III, Scene I, are spoken by Antony over the dead body of Julius Caesar:

O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth,
That I am meek and gentle with these butchers!
Thou art the ruins of the noblest man
That ever lived in the tide of times.

"At the convention, he had a new role: He played the Roman emperor, like a Julius Caesar who survived that 'foul deed' and 'bleeding piece of earth,' fist in the air..."

"... sitting high in the forum, gloating, as his vanquished foes bent the knee. Caesar had a cult of personality as well, the epitome of the strongman authoritarian politician. That Caesar was martyred. But before that he had already eroded republican rule and was on his way to emperor. (Some Trump supporters on X call Barron 'Octavian.').... Playing Caesar, Trump asked gladiators to speak before his speech: Dana White, the U.F.C. chief, to introduce him, which seemed fitting since Trump always treated politics like a blood sport, and Hulk Hogan, the W.W.E. star. Hogan ripped off his shirt to show his muscly arms and a red Trump-Vance T-shirt. He said he was 'bleeding like a pig' the last time he saw Trump at a championship match at Trump Plaza. 'I know tough guys,' Hogan said. 'But let me tell you something, brother: Donald Trump is the toughest of them all.' Trump blew Hogan a kiss...."

Writes Maureen Dowd, in "Trump the Lion, or Trump the Lyin’?" (NYT).

This makes me think of a trend from last year: "The Roman empire: why men just can’t stop thinking about it/Women across the world are asking men how often the ancient civilisation pops into their head – and the answer is frequently startling" (Guardian). Back then, the women were flummoxed. What's up with men thinking about the Roman Empire "three or four times a month," "every couple of days" or "at least once a day."

But here's Maureen Dowd, famously female, going all Roman Empire on us. Why is this happening?

"But you can see on the chart that saved my life. That was the chart that saved my life. I said, 'Look at, I’m so proud of it.'"

"I think it’s one of the greatest — it was done by the Border Patrol — one of the greatest charts I’ve ever seen. It showed everything, just like that. You know the chart. Oh, there it is. That’s pretty good. Wow. Last time I put up that chart I never really got to look at it. But without that chart, I would not be here today. Never got to look at it. I said, “You’ve got to see this chart.” I was so proud of it. But by the time I got to there. I never got to see it that day. But I’m seeing it now...."

Trump at the convention last night swivels his head to look at the chart toward which he'd swiveled his head with the head swivel that saved his life:

The "wow" was justified. The graphic display was dazzling:

Trump's convention speech had 2 phases, both brilliant, but very different.

In the first phase, Trump describes the assassination attempt from his perspective and for what he asserts is the last time:

So many people have asked me what happened. “Tell us what happened, please.” And therefore, I will tell you exactly what happened, and you’ll never hear it from me a second time, because it’s actually too painful to tell. It was a warm, beautiful day in the early evening....

This fills 20 minutes and segues into an unrushed tribute to the man who died and the 2 other men who were injured. There's an iconic stage prop, Corey Comperatore represented in the form of his empty helmet and jacket. Trump kisses Comperatore's head and pats him on the shoulder then returns to the lectern to lead a silent prayer. Again unrushed (but not overlong). We see different members of the audience in different attitudes of prayer. (Jared Kushner, eyes wide open, looked straight ahead.) 

The first phase continued with the uplifting abstract material that Trump had promised to deliver. I've copied this section in full:

Here is today's sunrise — at 5:37 — and also a place to write about the last day of the GOP convention (and whatever else you want).

I keep early hours, as the sunrise photo attests, so I can't undertake to live-blog a night-time event. Maybe I'll update this post, and maybe some of you will add comments that cover the doings, but at the very least, I hope to catch up with things in the morning. 

George Orwell said, "There are some ideas so absurd that only an intellectual could believe them."

I'm thinking about that today, watching this:

MSNBC host: JD Vance wishing to join his family plot (6 generations) in Kentucky is WHITE MALE SUPREMACY pic.twitter.com/zYfYtdSqmt

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) July 18, 2024

You have to go to college to think that up.

"... Vance offers what right-wing politicians have always peddled to downwardly mobile Americans: the quasi-spiritual saga of family-bred individual uplift..."

"... which serves to neatly underwrite the broader political fable of great-leader salvation.... As 'our country was flooded with cheap Chinese goods, cheap foreign labor, and in years to come with cheap Chines fentanyl,' Vance announced with relief, 'I had a guardian angel'—his Ohio grandmother, immortalized as 'Meemaw' in Hillbilly Elegy. The rapt convention crowd took up the chant of 'MEEMAW' in jubilant recognition, and thrilled to Vance’s later parable of Meemaw’s cache of handguns. After she had died in 2005, he related in folksy relish, 'we went through her things [and] we found 19 loaded handguns,' strewn throughout various corners of her house. The convention crowd hooted and applauded in recognition, and then Vance delivered another redemptive moral: As Meemaw contended with the challenges of aging and illness, she made sure that 'she was within arm’s length of whatever she needed to protect her family.' Here the crowd plunged into a reflexive chant of 'USA!'.... What does the domestic arsenal of an aging relative have to do with the glories of our Republic?... A bellicose citizenry must rally to save and bolster its imperiled birthright by any means necessary—under a great leader’s tutelage, of course."

Writes Chris Lehmann, in "J.D. Vance’s Phony Populism Thrilled the RNC. The Rest of Us Shouldn’t Be Fooled. The vice presidential nominee pitched himself as an avatar of the working class. Don’t believe the hype" (The Nation).

Hey, at least cover your tracks if you're writing about a book you haven't read. It's not "Meemaw." Its Mamaw.

Goodbye to Bob Newhart.

I love the old standup routines with him talking on the telephone — well before he had his sitcom. Loved the sitcom too, the first one (didn't watch the second one). Sad to see him go and glad he lived so long.

Here's the NYT obituary: "Bob Newhart, Soft-Spoken Everyman Who Became a Comedy Star, Dies at 94/He was a show-business neophyte when he stammered his way to fame in 1960. He went on to star in two of TV’s most memorable sitcoms."

"Behind the scenes, Obama has been deeply engaged in conversations about the future of Biden’s campaign, taking calls from many anxious Democrats..."

"... including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and has shared his views about the president’s challenges, according to people with knowledge of the calls, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations....  Pelosi has taken an even more active role behind the scenes, resisting efforts by Biden to end the debate about his continued candidacy, according to people familiar with her efforts...  Obama, perhaps the party’s most revered figure, has tried to keep a lower profile.... [S]ome of Biden’s aides have fumed about Obama’s role in these conversations, blaming him for not keeping the party united behind Biden’s candidacy...."

From "Obama tells allies Biden’s path to winning reelection has greatly diminished/The former president, hugely influential in the party, has told associates that Biden’s path to victory has significantly shrunk" (WaPo).

We're told "Biden aides say Obama could have stopped Academy Award-winning actor George Clooney, a close friend of the former president, from writing an op-ed in the New York Times that called on Biden to drop out of the presidential race...." Yes, he could have, and he didn't. It's sort of as if Obama had written the op-ed. Poor Obama! So "revered" he must "keep a low profile." It's almost as if we can't know what he thinks. And yet we do know, don't we?

By the way, what's up with the "perhaps" — "Obama, perhaps the party’s most revered figure"? Who else is in the running?

"She looked like someone who had other things on her mind than dress... and wasn’t all that interested in devoting a big chunk of time to catering to the male gaze."

"You could imagine her before the event, looking at her closet and exercising her own judgment about what seemed right.... ... Ms. Vance’s first appearance at the convention on Monday, in a taupe dress that practically disappeared into the background and flat shoes, was so counter to the prevailing Trump aesthetic that it was startling.... The rare photos of her until now suggest someone who isn’t particularly interested in using her clothes to attract attention, but rather to effectively get her through the day.... As she stepped into her role as a potential second lady... [s]he arrived as herself. That may seem minor, but in a campaign that prizes the visual message and is trying to position itself as a broader tent, one in which her husband’s political consistency is under scrutiny, it is a statement in itself...."

Writes Vanessa Friedman, in "Usha Vance and the Iconography of the Trump Women/The potential second lady models a new kind of Republican image-making" (NYT).

When I started reading this essay, I thought Friedman would go negative, but I don't think she did... other than in a part I didn't include above, about how "Trump women" all have "a certain kind of look... a defining gender trope" with "a lot of hair, often left to cascade in glossy, carefully controlled Breck girl waves" and a ton of makeup. I've never liked that look and wish it would go away, so I liked Friedman's appreciation of Usha Vance's relatively natural look.

Here's video of Usha Vance introducing her husband at the convention last night. The hair over the eye in the beginning was a huge distraction, and I was quite relieved when, after a cut to the audience, it had moved behind her ear.

"She's talking about J.D. Vance, someone who enlisted in the Marine Corps after... 9/11... putting his own life on the line in service to our country...."

Kamala Harris claims “JD Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country.” @JDVance1 enlisted in the Marine Corps after 9/11 and deployed to Iraq in 2005, the same year I was there during the height of the war. He put his life on the line in service to our country.

Was… pic.twitter.com/v9uSS7ASQe

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) July 18, 2024

Tulsi Gabbard was responding to this short video put out by Kamala Harris: "Donald Trump has picked his new running mate: J.D. Vance. Trump looked for someone he knew would be a rubber stamp for his extreme agenda. Make no mistake: J.D. Vance will be loyal only to Trump, not to our country."

Stephen King helps J.K. Rowling with the mathematics of fuck-giving.

I think you may mean "not giving a fuck squared." The square root, I believe, would mean a *smaller* amount of giving a fuck. I could be wrong. https://t.co/7lzylpInVV

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) July 17, 2024

Help me with the math here. Seems to me, if you don't give a fuck, you're already at zero. Rowling is talking about the smallest possible amount of fuck-giving and being silly about the math. King admits he could be wrong, and isn't he? She doesn't want more than zero, and zero times zero wouldn't give you more than zero anyway. But she wants to go smaller. 

Ah, wait! Rowling writes back: "But I was going for a fraction of a fuck. I barely give a tenth of a fuck. So I stand by my square root. What we really need here is a certified fuckologist."

 

Perfect. JK won. Reeled him in and won. Good for King, though, for expressing his idea with respect.

ADDED: Actually, JK's explanation — that she was talking about fractions (and not 0, as I assumed) — put King in the right. As Matt says in the comments: "King is correct. The square root of 1/4 is 1/2. For numbers less than 1 the square root makes it larger. 1/2 * 1/2 = 1/4." 

"A bullet couldn't stop Trump. A virus just stopped Biden. The nominees of this party getting their butts kissed. Biden getting his butt kicked by his own party."

WOW! Van Jones just spoke the truth for the first time:

“A bullet couldn't stop Trump. A virus just stopped Biden.”

“The Democrats are coming apart. The Republicans are coming together. pic.twitter.com/qJ4WGtjQ7Z

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 18, 2024

"He’s gone from saying, ‘Kamala can’t win,’ to ‘Do you think Kamala can win?' It’s still unclear where he’s going to land but seems to be listening."

Says "one senior Democratic adviser," quoted in "Biden now being ‘receptive’ about possibility of giving up 2024 re-election campaign: new report" (NY Post).

He's got Covid, so maybe that makes him vulnerable. And, yes, I've seen the articles about the dream of making him look strong — like Trump jumping up after getting shot — when/if he recovers from his new bout with the famous virus, e.g., "MSNBC’s Joy Reid compares ‘elderly’ Biden’s potential COVID recovery to Trump dodging an assassination attempt."

And let me add that I look at the polls every day, and I'm seeing Joe consistently outperform Kamala Harris. That must tighten Joe's grip. But you need to visualize the next 3 1/2 months, with both scenarios. Joe has difficulty campaigning. He's quite weak. Those who are polled have easily seen that. But they have not seen Kamala Harris as the presidential candidate. They have to imagine it. If Biden withdraws, and Harris becomes the candidate, and we see her speaking and fighting every day, will the polls show greater support for her? There's very little reason to think so. And that's why Joe isn't just a selfish bastard to hang on.

ADDED: I see Matthew Yglesias is writing "The VP is clearly the stronger candidate/The case for Kamala Harris, from a former hater."

"Look at the heat I'm getting because I, I named a, uh, the, uh, Secretary of Defense — the black man."

BIDEN: "Look at the heat I'm getting because I, I named a, uh, the, uh, secretary of defense — the black man" 🥴 pic.twitter.com/PJYzDznpIV

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) July 18, 2024

ADDED: That video clip comes from Biden's interview yesterday with BET’s Ed Gordon. Details here (at The Hill).

"They said he was a tyrant. They said he must be stopped at all costs. But how did he respond?"

"He called for national unity, for national calm literally right after an assassin nearly took his life. He remembered the victims of the terrible attack, especially the brave Corey Comperatore, who gave his life to protect his family. God bless him. And then President Trump flew to Milwaukee and got back to work...."

Said J.D. Vance, at the GOP convention last night.

Here's the whole thing:

ADDED:

Sunrise — 5:08, 5:40, 5:51.

"Law enforcement officials investigating the assassination attempt on Donald Trump told lawmakers Wednesday that 20 minutes passed between the time U.S. Secret Service snipers first spotted the gunman on a rooftop..."

"... and the time shots were fired at the former president, according to several law enforcement officials and lawmakers briefed on the matter. Officials said the snipers spotted the suspect, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, on the roof of a building outside the security zone at the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, at 5:52 p.m. ET. The shooting happened at 6:12 p.m. ET, 20 minutes later, the sources said.... The FBI director, his deputy director and the head of the Secret Service told lawmakers Crooks was identified as a person of interest a full 62 minutes before the shooting took place, according to the law enforcement officials and lawmakers briefed."

From "Secret Service spotted Trump rally shooter on roof 20 minutes before gunfire erupted/Investigators are trying to determine motive for Thomas Matthew Crooks" (ABC News).

According to the sources, the timeline presented in the briefing was as follows 

5:10 p.m. Crooks was first identified as a person of interest 

5:30 p.m. Crooks was spotted with a rangefinder 

5:52 p.m. Crooks was spotted on the roof by Secret Service 

6:02 p.m. Trump takes the stage 

6:12 p.m. Crooks fires first shots

Much more at the link. 

"There are basically four competing narratives or theories about what led to the assassination attempt against Donald Trump."

Writes Sean Davis (at X):

1) Through a combination of incompetence and innocent mistakes and garden-variety bureaucratic ineptitude, a gunman was able to penetrate security and take multiple shots at Trump. 

2) The right hand of the Biden security regime deliberately starved Trump’s security detail of resources and assigned a squad of C-team rejects to his detail knowing it would make Trump vulnerable. 

3) Includes all of option 2, but also includes the left hand of the Biden security regime independently but deliberately inciting and weaponizing, and potentially even hand-holding, mentally unwell freaks to take matters into their own hands and eliminate Trump (analogous to what the FBI did when it created and led the Gretchen Whitmer kidnapping and murder plot). 

4) The Biden regime itself explicitly attempted to assassinate Trump via its own shooter(s), and the named assassin is all deliberate misinformation and misdirection.

Go to the link to see where Davis says he is, but first take my survey:

Which of the 4 options seems most likely?

1

2

3

4

 

pollcode.com free polls

Fungus of the Day.

"Somehow, his typically insufferable manner worked well in the big convention setting."

I'm reading "'A Joyful Fellowship of Patriots': The Best and Worst Moments From Night 2 of the Republican Convention" — a collection of opinions from various NYT contributors. Asked what was the "best moment" of Night 2, there's this from Michelle Cottle:

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Vivek Ramaswamy was en fuego. His barn burner of a speech included the requisite partisan red meat, but the way he talked about the shrinking American dream could resonate well beyond the Republican base. Somehow, his typically insufferable manner worked well in the big convention setting. Go figure.

I haven't watched this yet. I'll give you the video and come back with my opinion:

 

ADDED: I've listened. Great content and delivery. But Cottle couldn't say it without calling him somehow simultaneously "insufferable." The "insufferable manner" works in the big arena. Fine. He's still insufferable (per Cottle). It's the received view of Ramaswamy and you must never forget it.

"Speaker after speaker on Tuesday bent their knees, offering tribute to a man who had once insulted them, belittled them and, eventually, defeated them."

"Senator Ted Cruz thanked 'God almighty' for protecting the man who once insinuated that Mr. Cruz’s wife was ugly and his father had been involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.... Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, for whom Mr. Trump coined the nickname Little Marco, said the former president had 'inspired a movement' among working men and women.... And Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, whom Mr. Trump mocked mercilessly for the height of his boot heels, his polling numbers and his alleged pudding-eating techniques, praised Mr. Trump.... 'Donald Trump has been demonized,' the governor said. 'He’s been sued. He’s been prosecuted, and he nearly lost his life. We cannot let him down, and we cannot let America down.' The parade of former opponents is expected to continue on Wednesday, when a man who privately fretted just eight years ago that Mr. Trump could become 'America’s Hitler' stands side by side with him on the ticket. ..."

From "In Milwaukee, a G.O.P. Transformation From Dysfunctional to Unified/On Tuesday, Republicans effectively took a victory lap in the middle of the presidential race, expressing a sense of invincibility at their convention" (NYT).

Outside the GOP convention in Milwaukee, a protester expresses mixed feelings about political violence.

Far leftist protester with a crossbow outside the RNC in Milwaukee on the Trump assassination attempt says “it’s a shame the person missed” https://t.co/wyEJeCLcoD pic.twitter.com/FcWe0SdghI

— Timcast News (@TimcastNews) July 15, 2024

"She makes us smile. She loves everybody. And how could the message possibly be any simpler than just that?"

I can't remember the last time we had a good nonhuman political animal in the spotlight. But this was Jim Justice, an oversized governor on the GOP convention stage with his overweight dog Babydog, summarizing the GOP message as vast unconditional love.

It really is a welcome relief to look at a fat dog and think about love, simplicity, and smiling. Here's a WaPo article about it:

"[I]n the hours after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, we saw J.D. Vance come out with... the most strongly worded of anyone seeking to be his VP."

"Yeah. And it has some factual problems. Here's what he said. He said: "Today [the attempted assassination] 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.' We should say there's no evidence that that's true. We don't know the motivations of the shooter. We don't know that he consumed any of that rhetoric or that Vance is even characterizing it correctly.... I think Vance in a lot of ways, kind of embodies the id of Trump and that instinct to fight. And even though these sort of manufactured statements from the campaign are calling for unity and calling for peace, what Trump really wants... is someone who is going to keep fighting, you know, factual or not."

Said Michael C. Bender on yesterday's episode of the NYT "Daily" podcast, "Trump Picks His Running Mate and Political Heir."

AND: This morning, I'm seeing "'They' didn’t shoot Donald Trump/Despite the lack of any clear motive, the actions of Thomas Crooks have been attributed to the Democratic Party at large," by Philip Bump (in WaPo). It's funny to use the passive voice — "actions... have been attributed" — exactly when you are complaining about the amorphous "They." Once again, I think of the Saul Steinberg image:

Find that image in Saul Steinberg's "The Inspector."

Bump writes: "There is no evidence that Crooks shot at Trump because he had been influenced by anti-Trump political rhetoric, and there is no evidence that Crooks was literally or figuratively part of a collective effort to sideline or kill the former president.... There’s no known connection between the known shooter and the broad, nebulous galaxy of opponents Trump and his allies envision.... So Crooks and his actions become abstract. They did it or they facilitated it or they caused it. And, for the purposes of political rhetoric, that will have to suffice."

"Good Lord. I do not want any of this to be the case. I'd far rather have the whole thing have been simple incompetence."

Wrote Jamie, in the comments to my post "Biden’s Team Deliberately Kneecapped Trump’s Security To Allow An Assassination Attempt."

The post title is a quote from a Sean Davis article in The Federalist. Instapundit pulled out Jamie's quote for his post on the Sean Davis article.

Also quoted at Instapundit is a comment from Achilles: "At first glance every trained person in the world said one thing: Bullshit."

So how are you feeling — more like Jamie or more like Achilles? The Jamie position, if I may rephrase it, is: I hope the Secret Service is as bad as it would need to be for this to have all been mere negligence. The Achilles position is: The negligence theory is beyond belief.

I'm not one for jumping into conspiracy theories, but here, the idea that it happened through multiple levels of Secret Service failures feels more like a conspiracy theory. You have to strain and get creative to explain it. If you begin in the Jamie position and desperately hope there was no intent to allow a killer access, you have to struggle to explain how that could be.

Apologies to Achilles and Jamie if I've misstated their thinking or if they don't like their names being used in this way. I'll rename the "positions" if they object. 

Sunrise — 5:24.

"Biden’s Team Deliberately Kneecapped Trump’s Security To Allow An Assassination Attempt."

Writes Sean Davis in The Federalist.

Very strong words. Read the whole thing. Excerpt:

"It felt like the world's largest mosquito."

Said Donald Trump, quoted in "In Leaked Phone Call, Trump Tries to Coax Kennedy Into His Camp/Robert F. Kennedy Jr. apologized for a leaked video of the phone call, in which Donald Trump offers anti-vaccine messaging and says the wound to his ear  'felt like the world’s largest mosquito.'" 

A leaked video of Donald J. Trump calling Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offered a behind-the-scenes look into the former president’s efforts to coax Mr. Kennedy out of the presidential race and into his camp. On Mr. Kennedy’s speaker phone, Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee, can be heard offering up the kind of anti-vaccine message that Mr. Kennedy is known for. Mr. Trump also reveals details of his call with President Biden, saying “it was very nice.” And he tells Mr. Kennedy, seemingly in an effort to win his support: “I would love you to do something. And I think it’ll be so good for you and so big for you. And we’re going to win.”

Kennedy tweets that he's "mortified" and should have "ordered the videographer to stop recording immediately." Hmm. This gets my "things not believed" tag.

"You're going to be so blessed, you're gonna be tired of being blessed."

NOT FUNNY!!!😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/ha3EeFosAj

— il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo) July 16, 2024

"My first reaction was, 'My God. This is' — look, there’s so much violence now and the way we talk about it."

"I mean, the whole notion that there is this — there’s — there’s no place at all for violence in politics in America. None. Zero. And — we’ve reached a point where it’s — it’s become too commonplace, not assassinations, but to talk about it. For example, you know, the January 6th — you know, the attack on the Capitol, the — I — I — Lester, I got in this race early on in 2020 — for the 2020 race. I wasn’t gonna run again because I’d lost my son. I didn’t — you know? And — until I watched what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia. Those folks coming out of the woods with torches, carrying swastikas, singing the same Nazi bile that was accompanied by this Ku Klux Klan and a young woman was killed. And — and it was a bystander. And — the president — then president was asked, 'What do you think?' He said, 'The very fine people on both sides.' Not fine people on both sides. No excuse. Zero."

That's our President, Joe Biden, asked by Lester Holt to describe his first reaction to the assassination attempt. Biden stumble and bumbled his way back to his happy place, the Charlottesville hoax!

Quoted in "Transcript: Read the full Biden interview with Lester Holt on NBC News /President Joe Biden sat down for an interview with NBC News anchor Lester Holt" (NBC News).

Amber Rose at the GOP convention.

Full text: here. The answer to your question who is Amber Rose: here. 

This is one of the speeches given while Trump sat to the right of the stage. Excerpts:

Trump walks out into the GOP convention: What was your reaction?

I watched live last night — did you? — and I'm rewatching now:

0:06 — Trump ambles out slowly. He's got a patch of white gauze atop his upper ear. 

0:16 — We're seeing him backstage, where he can — with his famous and his unfamous ear — hear the crowd cheering. He looks serious... and tired.

0:22  — Lee Greenwood, live on stage, begins Trump's theme song — If tomorrow all the things were gone — and Trump raises his arm into a fist pump — the gesture last seen 2 minutes after he nearly died.

0:35 — He's mouthing some words, he waves, does another fist pump, looks down, gives a thumbs up, mouths "Thank you, thank you."

0:57 — I remember thinking last night that he looks different and I flashed on the possibility there could be a body double then estimated it at zero when he turned sideways and we could see his idiosyncratic ducktail.

2:00 — Ascended onto the podium, he looks happy now. He moves to the speaker's position, but he gives no speech, only a mouthed "Thank you" and another fist pump. He smiles for a moment then walks over to join a select group of family and friends. Not Melania, but Tiffany and the 2 older boys. J.D. Vance, Byron Donalds, Tucker Carlson. Lee Greenwood: "He is here tonight to show his courage, his defiance against somebody who tried to kill him."

2:08 — His facial expression becomes softer, gentler. He seems as if he might cry.

2:25 — From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee — we know he is sensitive to music, and hearing this song again, now, must be an overwhelming emotional experience. Watch his face at this point.

2:53 — He dances slightly. 

3:13 — He's calmed down a bit now and is smiling and waving. 

3:43 — There's some restrained interaction with Vance after which his eyes swivel Vanceward, as if it might be possible for Trump to observe him unnoticed.

3:51 — Vance points at something, which seems to warm things up, and the 2 men chat. Then the 2 men point together. Pointing at something out of our view — perhaps at nothing at all — is a standard political gesture, and the 2 men seem to flow smoothly into this performance.

4:09 — The song ends, Trump salutes, the crowd chants the chant from the scene of the attempted assassination: "U-S-A! U-S-A!"

4:24 — Trump joins the chant. He's got a very wide smile, and again, I feel that he's holding back tears.

Sunrise — 5:23, 5:46, 5:50, 5:52.

"...I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of Vice President of the United States is Senator J.D. Vance of the Great State of Ohio."

"J.D. honorably served our Country in the Marine Corps, graduated from Ohio State University in two years, Summa Cum Laude, and is a Yale Law School Graduate, where he was Editor of The Yale Law Journal, and President of the Yale Law Veterans Association. J.D.’s book, 'Hillbilly Elegy,' became a Major Best Seller and Movie, as it championed the hardworking men and women of our Country. J.D. has had a very successful business career in Technology and Finance, and now, during the Campaign, will be strongly focused on the people he fought so brilliantly for, the American Workers and Farmers in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, and far beyond…."

Writes Donald Trump (at Truth Social).

I'm happy with this choice. Aren't you?

ADDED: "Trump chooses Sen. J.D. Vance, a former critic, as his vice-presidential pick/Vance is a rising star in the party who has closely aligned himself with Trump in recent years, after criticizing him forcefully in 2016" (WaPo)(free access link). Excerpt:

"Folks, if they had this subject on their radar that you had a potential threat... Why was President Trump even on stage at that point?"

"Why was President Trump even on stage at that point?"

New from @dbongino: Sources tell him that “they had been monitoring [the sh*oter] since he came in around that external perimeter area…they lost track of him, apparently, and he was hiding in a building about 300 yards… pic.twitter.com/I6d3As7vEU

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) July 15, 2024

AND:

"Trump Says He Will Announce V.P. Pick Today."

The NYT reports.

The convention began as the stream of good news for Mr. Trump turned into a torrent. Already lifted by what some supporters call a miraculous intervention during the shooting... the former president was handed an unexpected gift on Monday. A judge he appointed, Aileen Cannon, flouted decades of precedent to dismiss in its entirety the [documents] case... 

The veepstakes is down to three: Mr. Vance, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Burgum. Mr. Trump told Bret Baier of Fox News that he would announce his choice on Monday but did not say when. Trump campaign officials had envisioned a grand entrance for the former president on the first night, with his pick joining him on the stage for a big reveal. But the pick might be announced during the day instead....

"That chart that I was going over saved my life.... The border patrol saved my life... I was going over that border patrol chart... If I hadn’t pointed at that chart and turned my head to look at it, that bullet would have hit me right in the head.'"

Said Donald Trump, quoted by his doctor Ronny Jackson, quoted in "Trump Credits Chart for Saving His Life, His Former White House Doctor Says/The former president said he would have been struck 'right in the head' if he hadn’t turned and pointed at an immigration chart, Dr. Ronny Jackson said in an interview" (NYT).

Dr. Jackson recounted Mr. Trump sounding “determined,” adding, “He wasn’t the least bit flustered.” Others around Mr. Trump described him similarly, saying he had said he was grateful he was safe. He told advisers he wanted to move on with the Republican National Convention this week in Milwaukee, to make no changes to his schedule and to press ahead....

On Sunday, Republican officials were contemplating possible changes to convention speeches, and it remains to be seen how much the assassination attempt is woven into the presentations in Milwaukee.... 

When you find yourself on the precipice of the other guy's slogan...

HE CAN'T EVEN SAY IT!!!😎🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/vCFo5I3NpD

— il Donaldo Trumpo (@PapiTrumpo) July 15, 2024

Nothing is inconceivable after it happens. What is the thought you don't want to think that would make it conceivable?

Let me quote one more thing from the new episode of "The Daily" podcast, "The Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump." 

The reporter Glenn Thrush talked about the forthcoming investigation of the security provided to Trump:

I think this is going to be regarded as one of the darkest days in the history of the Secret Service. Now, all of us who have covered the White House have traveled with agents — tremendously high level of professionalism. And the job is difficult, bordering on impossible at times, but allowing someone to have a clear firing line to a major presidential candidate in the middle of this kind of highly polarized environment is frankly inconceivable.

That seems to demand a link to the "inconceivable" montage from "The Princess Bride" — the one that ends with "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Allowing the clear firing line is not inconceivable. In fact, nothing is inconceivable after it happens. But maybe it was inconceivable before it happened. Yet even then, I think it was only inconceivable to those who chastely excluded ugly thoughts from their lovely mind. Knowing that it happened, now you can't turn away. You must find the additional elements to the story that make it make sense.

Thrush adds that "the FBI and folks at the Department of Justice were fairly unvarnished in private, in their criticism of the way that the Secret Service planned this." We need "a significant investigation." Obviously. Who can be trusted? I'll bet we never learn what really happened — why the Secret Service did not secure that rooftop.

"He looked at her in disbelief, she recounted, as if he couldn’t believe she’d called the police over such a matter and asked: 'Why are you acting like you’re not a Muslim?'"

From "As Gambia weighs end to genital-cutting ban, this girl was cut behind mother’s back/The West African country could become the first in the world to overturn a prohibition on female genital mutilation" (WaPo)(full-access link).

Fatty, the imam promoting the ban’s repeal, appeared to refer to Fatou’s story in a sermon earlier this year, saying that a woman who takes her husband to court should be “ashamed.” Fatty compared her story with that story of a “good woman” who refused to take her husband to court even after he beat her so badly she lost four teeth.

UPDATE: "Gambia will maintain its ban on female genital cutting following a historic decision by the National Assembly on Monday that marked a victory for women’s rights advocates in this West African nation" (WaPo).

“I am relieved but sad that we had to be taken through this torment,” said Fatou Baldeh, a Gambian activist and survivor who has received international attention for her advocacy against the practice. “I am so proud of Gambian women for not giving up. We refused to let go.”

"Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that the entire case should be thrown out because the appointment of the special counsel who brought the case, Jack Smith, had violated the Constitution."

The NYT reports.

In a stunning ruling, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, found that because Mr. Smith had not been named to the post of special counsel by the president or confirmed by the Senate, his appointment was in violation of the appointments clause of the Constitution....

This will be appealed, but in the end Trump will win. In any event, he has won more time. 

ADDED: Here's the opinion. Excerpt:

How quickly Trump "pivoted to a complete understanding of what the image was, what the moment meant..."

I'm listening to the NYT reporter Glenn Thrush on the new episode of "The Daily" podcast, "The Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump."

And the thing I found most extraordinary, having covered Trump on and off all these years is how quickly — when he realized that he was physically okay — that he pivoted to a complete understanding of what the image was, what the moment meant politically. Right? And, and there's just this extraordinary moment of defiance where he balls his fists and the crowd starts to chant "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!." 

I just can't emphasize how extraordinary that was. And just like he had this instinct that this may have been a horrific event, but he was somehow seeing it as a political one. He was making use of it and, and really connecting with the people at the rally.

Somebody who worked with Trump for many years said this to me a long time ago. A lot of other politicians play the music. They can read the notes, Trump can hear the music. And that was one of those moments where he intuitively understood the moment, understood the image, understood the sound, and behaved in a way that maximized his position going forward. It was really, really something else.

Trump takes whatever comes to him and uses it as material. He did it in an instant, immediately after a close brush with death. Now, he has a longer but still short space of time before he gives his convention speech. What music is he hearing?

Is he Trump, the changed man, or Trump, the defiant one, same as ever?

Not only did he have a near-death experience — with all the potential for real spiritual change as well as the opportunity to appear dramatically changed — but he also has a new near-certainty that he will win the election, and with that comes an opportunity to speak in presidential terms, bringing us together... and leaving the Biden campaign in the dust... in the embarrassing tatters of its Trump-is-Hitler theme.

"To anyone drawing a parallel between my film Bob Roberts and the attempted assassination of Trump..."

"... let’s be clear. What happened yesterday was a real attempt on a presidential candidate’s life. Those that are denying the assassination attempt was real are truly in a deranged mindset. A human being was shot yesterday. Another killed. They may not be human beings that you agree with politically but for shame folks. Get over your blind hatred of these people. They are fellow Americans. This collective hatred is killing our souls and consuming whatever is left of our humanity."

Writes Tim Robbins. 

Thanks, Tim. 

How can the it-was-staged theory get any traction when we know Corey Comperatore was shot dead? Do they think that was fake? 

Dashboard sunrise.

At 5:10 this morning, a strong thunderstorm was about to hit, and I stayed in the car.

I know Biden just gave an Oval Office speech, but I don't feel like making a separate post about it. "We need to get out of our silos," he said. Talk about that or anything else you want. I'm signing off for the night.

A bunch of comments wrongly shunted into the spam file in the last few days.

I just noticed and let them out. I need to check that more often. Sorry, especially to anyone who spent time wondering what they might have done wrong. The answer is nothing. It was the software finding fault inappropriately.

Thanks for all the great comments!

"I really believe she wrote that" — I exclaimed when I read Melania's letter.

There are numerous signs of her authorship:

pic.twitter.com/IGIWzL6SMJ

— MELANIA TRUMP (@MELANIATRUMP) July 14, 2024

Here's the line — in paragraph 5 — that prompted my exclamation: "A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine." A native speaker of English would not have used the word "recognized" like that. I'm sure many people are mocking her for that now — yes, even monsters can see that Trump is an inhuman political machine — but to me, it means she wrote it herself.

Later, she repeats the idea of Trump as a "political machine," but the idea is that he is human: He has a "human side" — "core facets" that include "laughter, love of music, and inspiration" — but these things are "buried below the political machine." That's an individual, perhaps awkward, way to say that the would-be assassin saw only the political surface and not the real human being. 

Some other signs of her personal voice: 

About that photograph...

Not only is this moment historical, but the photo that @evanvucci took is also perfect.

The level of compositional mastery comes from over two decades of experience in the field and a sharpness that only comes from thousands and thousands of "reps."

1/5 pic.twitter.com/AQO7d0BYUB

— David Altizer (@dvdaltizer) July 14, 2024

A new chapter in The History of Ears.

I'm reading "From Van Gogh to Mike Tyson: a brief history of ears," a 2009 Guardian article, by Lucy Mangan.

Found after trying to think of a list of famous ears, a list to which Trump's ear will now take one of the top 2 spots. I think Van Gogh's ear still belongs in first place.

I'd thought of the ear Mike Tyson bit off but had forgotten whose ear it was. (It was Evander Holyfield's.)

I'd thought of a movie ear —

"Doherty rose to fame in 1990 as the fresh-faced brunette Brenda Walsh on Fox’s 'Beverly Hills, 90210.'"

"Along with her twin brother Brandon, played by Jason Priestly, the Walshes were the classic fish-out-of-water family that had recently moved from Minnesota to Beverly Hills and were constantly amazed at the antics of the L.A. rich kids.... .. Brenda become the cast member everyone loved to hate on. She was labeled a diva in the press and there was even a pre-internet newsletter called 'I Hate Brenda.'..."

From "Shannen Doherty, ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ and ‘Charmed’ Star, Dies at 53" (Variety).

I didn't watch "Beverly Hills 90210" but I remember the "I Hate Brenda" newsletter — that harbinger of the social media we live inside today. And I remember her from the great movie "Heathers."

Here's a Reddit discussion of "I Hate Brenda":

"We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness."

Wrote Donald Trump, in Biblical prose, this morning, on Truth Social.

Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.... Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed. In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win. I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin.

ADDED: What's great here, rhetorically, is the combination of love and fighting. No one can forget his fist pumping and repetition of "Fight! Fight! Fight!" less than 2 minutes after he "felt the bullet ripping through the skin." But as his antagonists call for shared love — and an abandonment of fighting — he brings the love into his fight message, merging love and fighting. Notice that he isn't calling us to fight against any human being — indeed, he calls all Americans to fight on his side.  The enemy is "Wickedness" and "Evil."

"The gunman who fired shots at former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday night has been identified by the FBI as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks."

"Crooks was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about an hour south of Butler.... 'We do not currently have an identified motive,' said Kevin Rojek, FBI Pittsburgh special agent in charge.... A law enforcement official said early Sunday that there are no foreign terrorism ties known at this time and the suspect was not on the radar of law enforcement.... Federal investigators said the gunman was not carrying identification, so they analyzed his DNA to provide a biometric confirmation of his identity...."

CBS News reports.

That article also contains material about the seeming underperformance of the Secret Service:

"Whoever did this has done so much damage to the left...."

The opening of my comedy show last night a few hours after the shooting if anyone wants to know my thoughts…. pic.twitter.com/bMov0INLEr

— Bill Maher (@billmaher) July 14, 2024

That's "The opening of [Bill Maher's] comedy show last night a few hours after the shooting."

Garnering conspiracy theories... and views.

I'm reading "Misinformation spreads swiftly in hours after Trump rally shooting/Conspiracy theories swell around false flags, Deep State, Biden and the Secret Service, filling the information vacuum as consumers choose their own reality" (WaPo)

Minutes after shots were fired, right-wing social media influencers and elected Republicans began insinuating that powerful figures were responsible, directly or indirectly, for the attempt. Rep. Mike Collins (R-Ga.) posted to X that “Joe Biden sent the orders,” garnering over 4 million views, and later called for Biden to face charges for “inciting an assassination.” 

More broadly on social media, a TikTok user who posts under the handle @theoldermillenial.1 told his 1.2 million followers, “I guess because the court cases weren’t going so well, they decided to try a different avenue. Guys, don’t forget, this is what the left is capable of.”.... 

[M]isinformation experts urged the public not to share unconfirmed information online.... But far-right channels on encrypted platforms were abuzz with a mixture of shock, rage and conspiracy theories. Triumphant slogans (“You missed!”) and calls for civil war captioned the instantly totemic image of a bloodied but defiant Trump raising a fist with the flag in the background. Without any clear word from authorities on suspects or motives, MAGA extremists instantly embraced the idea of a politically motivated assassination attempt. Disinformation swirled as trolls looked for easy clicks by sharing uncorroborated footage and information about people they claimed to be the assailant.

This makes it sound as though people were just exploiting the opportunity to draw traffic to their accounts, but it is the completely natural and uncontrollable need to communicate about an unfolding event. We're supposed to wait for "clear word from authorities"? We're still waiting for clear word from authorities about the JFK assassination!

Can this, then, be a moment?

I'm reading the what the Editorial Board of The Washington Post put up at 10:53 ET last night, "What do we want to do, America? We have all been touched by toxic politics — regardless of our beliefs":

In this moment, we have to recognize that we have all been touched by toxic politics — regardless of our beliefs or where we fall on an ideological spectrum.

Can this, then, be a moment to pause and rediscover our better selves? To hear our inner voices, as clearly as we heard those shots? Americans, what do we want to be?

I'm giving this post my "civility bullshit" tag, which I use for insincere calls for civility. I think the editors want to escape criticism for the overblown, hateful rhetoric its side has aimed at Trump over the years, and it fully intends — consciously or not — to return to its old ways when it will serve its political interests.

ADDED: Here's the moment I would like all politically sentient Americans to reflect upon. When you saw that there was an attempt to murder Trump, what did you think? How did you feel? Look into your own heart and see yourself. I know how I felt, and I experienced it in real time, with a minute and 2 seconds of wondering Did we just witness an assassination? — before we heard the famous voice say, "Let me get my shoes." My conscience is clear. I experienced horror and disbelief, and I did not want to lose Trump. But some Americans — how many? — must have thought, Oh, damn, they missed. We could have been rid of that bad bad man. Look into your own heart and see yourself.