The new right-wing talking point is that yesterday’s attempted assassination of Trump was Biden’s fault – and a lot of them are saying it.
What kind of leadership is this? It’s leadership by shitpost and pot stirring, by liars spewing nonsense. Here’s some real leadership:
In case you don’t want to watch the video, it’s Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro naming the poor man who was killed yesterday and asking for everyone to tone down the hateful rhetoric.
They politicize everything and accuse others of politicization. They call for killings and sow hatred, and accuse others of what they do.
The one thing Democrats must do is to push back on the notion that naming these anti-democratic proto-fascists as what they are is somehow a violent act, or promulgates violence. They know that Project 2025 was hurting them, badly, and they’re hoping that their smokescreen will scare Democrats and the media away. We can’t let it.
kissel
You reap what you sow. That about sums it up for Republicans.
Chief Oshkosh
Red on red violence is a terrible, terrible thing. It’s the scourge of our rural areas. I call on Mr. Formerguy to present a plan at the RNC convention that addresses red on red violence.
scav
Seeing this whole kurfuffle was basically one of theirs expressing an opinion, isn’t this whole thing just a post-primary pre-convention rearrangement of the candidate chosen that everyone in the media were so fond of pontificating about as the one way forward?
Nora
@kissel: Truer words were never spoken.
Dangerman
Noun verb 2025, etc.
Jeffro
So…the guy who hints at violent retribution almost as often as he lies got shot at?
so…the party that refuses to ban assault weapons almost got its MAGA messiah clipped by one?
(yawn)
karma, she’s really something, eh?
Chief Oshkosh
Gov. Shapiro strikes a good tone here. However, when he was going down the list of good things about Cory, the guy who died, all I could think was “Cory should have made better life choices.”
trollhattan
Like this guy very much. My introduction to him under very shitty circumstances.
trollhattan
@Chief Oshkosh: Same. One of infinite reasons I would make for one lousy public servant.
Old School
At the end of Biden’s Trump update a little while ago, a reporter can be heard trying to get Biden’s attention with “Mr. President, do you regret…”
I assume it going to be a rhetoric question.
Cacti
Trump promised a bloodbath if he lost.
The Heritage Foundation said there would be blood if their policies were opposed.
The Trump endorsed candidate for NC governor got up days ago in a church and literally said “some people need killing”, and was applauded for it.
Trump set a mob on the US Capitol to try and overturn an election he lost.
Trump mocked an actual kidnapping plot against Gretchen Whitmer by right wing extremists.
Trump and his vile children mocked the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi by another right wing extremist.
Trump created the culture of violent, eliminationist rhetoric where we find ourselves now. Dems need to point the finger of blame right where it belongs.
And knowing the grand tradition of Dems to apologize for everything, I fear they won’t, while the Rs will use this as their Reichstag fire moment for the Trump dictatorship in waiting.
$8 blue check mistermix
@Chief Oshkosh: He was a firefighter who died protecting his wife and daughters. That was his last life choice.
Chris Johnson
I say, learn to call the shooter ‘not a real Republican’. Call him a Groyper, a fanatic, an outlier.
Give them an offramp because they’ve been trying to manufacture people like this kid for many years (as has Putin, in fact that’s probably the main source) in the belief that they could be kept in line and used as muscle.
Doesn’t work. Let them acknowledge it doesn’t work, let them have an offramp.
The shooter was ‘not a real Republican’. I don’t know if you can legitimately call him a Groyper, I just know Nick Fuentes was making noise about how Trump was controlled by the Jews. Every extremist cult-leader who turns against Trump for playing to the moderates, is a fracture point now. They can be othered, and should have been a long time ago.
different-church-lady
Yes, in the wingnut mindset “Don’t vote for my opponent, he’s bad for Democracy” = “Kill my opponent.”
And the media will amplify it, because they have become sociopaths.
thruppence
Now a nicked ear will be turned into the Red Badge of Courage
different-church-lady
@Cacti: Both Biden and Trump need to tone down Trump’s statements.
Kay
This is interesting. From 2020:
They also searched GW Bush and Obama – turned up zero cases. None.
Eyeroller
I don’t know whether he’ll do it or what the “optics” would be (fuck you MSM) but Biden should call on Trump and Congressional Republicans to join him in supporting <some specific> legislation for gun control that would get past the corrupt Supreme Court. Put them on the spot. Their fee-fees don’t matter. He could do that in a completely general and respectful tone.
different-church-lady
@Old School: ”Hey fuckface reporter, do you regret? Anything at all? Are you capable of regret?”
Chief Oshkosh
@$8 blue check mistermix: Yes. According to what Shapiro stated was told to him by the widow, that is 100% correct.
trollhattan
@Chris Johnson: If only his last name had been Rittenhouse.
raven
Serious Euro pre-game grabass!
Cacti
No apologies from any Dem. The MAGA cult made this mess.
trollhattan
This fucking picture. Most of your fellow citizens get to own the very same rifle capable of more spewed lead.
https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/C377/production/_133493005_trump_nyt_payable_circle1600.jpg
Also, gettaloada dose stubby fingers.
hells littlest angel
@Chief Oshkosh: The problem is that their primitive culture just doesn’t value life.
Mike in Pasadena
I’ve read several MSM reports on the shooter, Crooks. None said anything about his social media accounts except a Discord account that was little used. Anybody hear more about his social media use? Ok, I’ll go back and read the rest of the comments.
Amy!
Cool story, though. Biden is able to reach white male 20 year old registered Republicans to radicalize them against DJT? Pity Biden’s so old and decrepit; someone like that would prolly make an excellent leader, if only he were young and vigorous.
But it’s all a lie, anyway. Vance is most famous from his first major public appearance as a fabulist.
Lily
brantl
@Old School: rhetorical.
Old School
@brantl: A question about rhetoric.
Suzanne
I want to note that Josh Shapiro is an excellent governor, and I hope he has a long career in public service. He should be one of the first names mentioned when we talk about talent in the Democratic Party.
Eyeroller
@Mike in Pasadena: He was wearing a tee shirt from a popular (among a certain demographic) YouTube channel about guns and explosives. Apparently DJT Jr. was also a fan. The YouTube algorithm could easily have sent him to groyper videos from there.
People seem not to think that YouTube is “social media” but it sure as hell is. It seems to be responsible for a lot of the radicalization going on among young white men.
counterfactual
Anecdote is not data, but: I was talking to a MAGA-type relative last night. When he didn’t mention the news, I brought it up. He spouted of a few early and wrong details but then started talking about weekend mass shooting in the Black part of the nearest Big City, then on to some conspiracy theory about the Las Vegas shooting of a few years ago. He’s said that Trump is useless, but Biden is so much worse (don’t ask me how that makes sense).
An assassination attempt of a former president is just another mass shooting event and no more remarkable.
trollhattan
@Eyeroller:
Youtube is also the news source for a hell of a lot of the yoot, and quite a few grownups, something I’m re-reminded of frequently.
It’s not what I’d call a net positive.
West of the Rockies
@Lily:
Intriguing info.
zhena gogolia
@Mike in Pasadena: A friend in a certain East European country asked me this morning if the video the shooter made was genuine. I said I didn’t know of any video. They’re passing something around over there.
Mousebumples
Friendly reminder to anyone who’s feeling worn out right now. If you need to disconnect, take care of you.
I’m mostly not online today. Back to laundry for the week ahead and hopefully some GOTV activities later.
trollhattan
Melanie, of “I really don’t care do u?” and “Be best” would like y’all to ascend above the hate.
This, clearly is when Trump pivots to the center.
Princess
I honestly wonder whether squishy indie normies are going to look at the shooting and the ranting and raving by the gop afterwards and think, “Hmm. Drama. I remember all this drama all the time. Life under Biden is so much more peaceful,” and vote accordingly. Most people don’t want to think about the president.
trollhattan
@zhena gogolia:
Yes
https://bbc.com/news/videos/c3g6k02k960o
Mike in Pasadena
Did I say something wrong by asking about the shooter’s social media accounts? My comment was up for five minutes, then disappeared. I thought I was obeying the rules but I guess not. . . .
Timill
@Mike in Pasadena: Comment #26 is still there…
Ghost of Joe Liebling’s Dog
@trollhattan: This is the day that Melamina truly became president.
raven
Dude was bullied in HS.
Mai Naem mobile
I know they’re going to blame the Secret Service and probably the town police etc. How much is the Secret Service supposed to use on TFG? They’re supposed to cover Mar-A-Loco, the NJ club and Trump tower on top of his other clubs. They’re supposed to cover his minor son and his wife who apparently doesn’t seem to be with him most of the time and seems to spend a lot of time with her family so that has to ve covered. I’m wondering if at this point in the campaign Eric, Ivanka,Jr and Tiffany also have to be covered at their own multiple residences. Ofcourse the supposed billionaire won’t pick up any of these costs.
Mart
Democrats should not use our policies in their ads, it could get us shot.
Suzanne
@Eyeroller:
Not just the radicalized sort. From my vantage point, my Spawns and all their friends are far more into YouTube and Instagram (and podcasts) than any sort of legacy media. Most of it’s fine, but of course the atomized nature of social media means that you may have no shared frame of reference, no shared set of facts.
Eyeroller
@trollhattan: The shooter didn’t make that video, somebody on the ground made it. So we don’t know whether it’s what zhena’s friends are sharing.
Frank Wilhoit
“Democrats”, or “the Biden campaign” , or “the Left”, have never said anything about Trump, or his intentions, that he did not first say himself.
Eyeroller
@Mike in Pasadena: I see it, and I responded, so if you’re not seeing it, it’s not because you’re being punished for something :-)
Mai Naem mobile
@trollhattan: Melania did not write that and whoever wrote it probably cribbed it off HRC or Michelle Obama.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … Phys.org:
It’s not even mid-July.
:-(
We took a short vacation to Acadia and drove around the Bay of Fundy (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) a few years ago. Beautiful country, and it was very damp (fog every morning). We didn’t get up to Newfoundland and Labrador, but the idea of that part of Canada drying out is rather frightening.
Fingers crossed that folks are able to get away to safety.
Cheers,
Scott.
Soprano2
What if the assassin had succeeded? Can you imagine the cluster fuck that would have been for the R’s? He hadn’t even chosen his VP yet!
I just heard someone at the restaurant where we’re eating claim the shooter was antifa. That’s probably going to be the thing the R’s are going to claim without a lick of evidence.
Dorothy A. Winsor
It probably says something bad about me that I had to force myself to think of this as a big deal. Violence at a Trump rally felt expected.
Soprano2
@zhena gogolia: The person I heard saying he was antifa also made a reference to some video where he said what he was going to do. Who knows if it’s real or not.
Miss Bianca
@Chris Johnson: why would I *not* call this kid “a real Republican”? The Republicans have been indulging eliminationist rhetoric and action for years now. It’s finally catching up to them. Let them own it, for a start, and any who do are welcome to my thoughts and prayers, such as they are.
Eyeroller
@Soprano2: If you are able to answer, do what “Subaru Diane” said to her brother when he made that assertion: “The shooter was a registered Republican.” Shut him right up, then, she said, he apologized.
Also, it turns out that the $15 ActBlue donation was made by a 69-year-old Democrat who lives in the county and happens to have the same first and last names (neither of which is particularly rare). So that mystery was cleared up. Kid was straight ultra-conservative so probably got sucked into the groyper world.
scav
@raven: So, umm, aren’t bullied young white conservative males allowed to express their legitimate frustration in traditional all-merkan ways? It’s getting so confusing . . .
jonas
Indeed, aren’t MAGAts the ones always going on about the tree of liberty needing to be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots and all that? Right now I’m trying to conceive of a real number large enough to express the number of rusty implements I would like J.D. Vance to fuck himself with.
Miss Bianca
@Frank Wilhoit: QFT
Eyeroller
@Soprano2: Oh, now I know what people are talking about!! It’s a fake. The person in the video is some Italian footballer. I suppose it’s dubbed. Laura Loomer was spreading one. It’s likely there are other fakes.
Soprano2
@Dorothy A. Winsor: My first theory was that two of the attendees got into a fight and one pulled out a gun and started shooting. I wondered how someone got a gun into the rally.
Suzanne
On Xhitter, BTW, it is being shared that the Thomas Crooks who gave $15 to ActBlue is a different Thomas Crooks, not the shooter. Don’t know if this has been confirmed yet.
zhena gogolia
@Princess: That’s what I was thinking! We were free of this chaos for a few years!
TurnItOffAndOnAgain
What’s blackly funny about this kind of rhetoric that Biden was just given the authority to directly get rid of Trump if he was the kind of man who would use it. So even if this was an outcome the president wanted, via the SC, wouldn’t it be legally A-OK?
zhena gogolia
@trollhattan: No, this was some kind of manifesto video where he spoke about his hatred of Trump. I haven’t heard of anything like that (not that I’m glued to the news, mind you).
Eyeroller
@zhena gogolia: See below, whatever it is, it’s fake.
The first fake I heard about was some Italian footballer with, presumably, dubbed dialog (I won’t listen to those things). It was being spread by, among others, Laura Loomer. It’s very likely there are others out there by now.
You can find the high-school yearbook picture of the shooter (from only two years ago) and compare to whoever is in the video and it should be painfully obvious…
minachica
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
@Soprano2: Yesterday an idiot troll on Twitter claimed to be the shooter but locked his account down shortly thereafter. He has a really long-haired mullet, so if that’s the video, it’s all BS.
Princess
@Eyeroller: Nope. Donation shows the same address as the shooter. Fake news.
zhena gogolia
@Eyeroller: No, I’m talking about a supposed manifesto video they’re showing over there. I think it must be fake.
Suzanne
@Princess: I look back with great nostalgia on the No-Drama Obama years. Little did I know.
M31
@Soprano2: that was my theory, too! something like, one of them said his Cybertruck was more manly than the other one’s Ford F150 and BLAMMO
but nope, just a run-of-the-mill school shooter
only in American is that concept possible :-(
cain
@Cacti: The media is going to try to find one pol who will apologize specifically they want Biden to apologize.
cain
@raven: So that will be a new angle – conservatives being bullied for their beliefs in high school. VICTIM!
jackmac
Here are some words that describe the odious J.D. Vance (courtesy of my Apple OS built-in dictionary):
Repulsive, repellent, repugnant, disgusting, offensive, objectionable, vile, foul, abhorrent, loathsome, nauseating, nauseous, sickening, hateful, detestable, execrable, abominable, monstrous, appalling, reprehensible, deplorable, insufferable, intolerable, unacceptable, despicable, contemptible, beyond the pale.
I’ll add “asshole” to the mix.
Anything positive about him?
Nope.
Eyeroller
@Princess: So back to a mystery. His high school classmates identified him as very conservative and consistently so. Something like losing a bet sounds most plausible, then.
trollhattan
@zhena gogolia: Ah, got it. That I’ve not seen any mention of.
cain
@Soprano2: JD vance is rested with his choice VP – Lauren Boebert
gene108
@different-church-lady:
Project 2025 was seeping into people’s consciousness. It could motivate the disaffected anti-Trump voter to vote for Biden.
With claiming talking about Project 2025 caused this assassination attempt, they’ve set the field for debating it. Any attempt to bring up how bad it is will be met with “my opponent is using heated rhetoric that led to an assassination attempt”.
It’s the “go for the kill” message discipline that makes Republicans so good at working the media. They all say the exact same short paragraph, when asked a question. It’s like a superpower they’ve developed compared to Democrats each saying their own, some times contradictory, statements.
trollhattan
@Eyeroller:
I am reminded of Mark David Chapman who murdered a fallen hero of his, because reasons. Opportunity definitely played a part in choosing Lennon over other potential targets.
Not much in common among that list once you get past “is famous.”
Princess
@Eyeroller: That’s what I think. After Jan 6 he bet someone Biden would never be inaugurated and paid up after he was.
TBone
@Lily: maybe that’s why he did it. Maybe he finally started to resent standing up for conservative views all alone (or even with others) if it meant standing by someone like Dotard, who regularly trashes any views contrary to whatever pops into his own addled brain. Maybe he saw what we see.
general P.S. who TF takes children to a Rump rally?
raven
@cain: It was his clothes that they made fun of.
Jeffro
Someone trying to shoot the orange madman is, technically, “anti-fascist”. Wrong and evil, but yeah, technically ‘antifa’
(not in the way they mean, of course)
Eyeroller
@Princess: And I just realized that it means that his family’s home address is now public information and that doesn’t sound like a particularly good thing…
Tony Jay
@trollhattan:
Well, at one time or another they all had sex with Nancy Reagan. Could have been that.
SiubhanDuinne
@Princess: Same name, same address? I’m making a WAG that the kid was named after his grandfather and it’s a three-generation household.
Another Scott
@TBone: People who can’t find a sitter??
Could be all kinds of reasons.
Cheers,
Scott.
Eyeroller
@raven: Also in his senior picture he looks, well, kind of dorky. He seems to have had few friends and it wasn’t necessarily because of his political views. But he wore “hunting” clothes all the time (which the other kids seemed to mean by “weird clothes”) so sounds like he came from a family of gun nuts.
Chief Oshkosh
@Eyeroller:
That’s good to know. Is there a link for that?
Eyeroller
@SiubhanDuinne: I would not assume that at all. In fact I think it’s unlikely. Princess is probably on the right track–he thought Jan 6 would succeed and made a bet with somebody that Biden would not be inaugurated.
Eyeroller
@Chief Oshkosh: Seems to be untrue though as I mentioned above, they’re saying “same address” as the kid and that means the home address is now public.
trollhattan
@Eyeroller: It was daddy’s gun.
Wonder if the wingnuts are concerned daddy might not get that AR back?
Lily
Pinning it on Dems as entirely political avoids naming it as another mass shooting with AR-15 rifle. Til we know more, “attempted mass killing at a crowd event” might apply together with “attempted assa–ination.”
His family got the rifle 6 months ago and this advertised event was an hour away. It’s surely probable he hated T or all politicians. Also possible (for ex, if he had kill fantasies or lethal paranoia, or an unrecognized 1st psychotic break that can happen at 20) the opportunity of the event called him. As compared to the drive of a premeditated assa–ination plan targeted at just one person. Just a thought.
M31
the attendee who was killed (so a poster on bsky says) had as his Facebook profile picture a drawing of a bulldozer with the text “TREAD ON THEM”
he seems nice
trollhattan
@Tony Jay: Heh. “That woman flattened more mattresses than a brace of great Danes.”
Eyeroller
@TBone: A lot of groypers have turned against Trump. It’s apparently a wedge issue with them. I and a few others are betting he was a groyper.
Archon
Donald Trump is the least sympathetic politician in American history. I doubt even swing voters are shedding tears for Trump.
Democrats should condemn the attack and move along.
Memory Pallas
@cain:
They found him. Quote from Jared Golden of Maine, “We can start by dropping hyperbolic threats about the stakes of this election. It should not be misleadingly portrayed as a struggle between democracy or authoritarianism.”
LanceThruster
Is there really any shock how unscrupulous political messaging is?
“Who’s being naive now, Kay?”
As far as the narrative of Trump being an existential threat to democracy, I don’t disagree with its validity. I just wish Democrats would operate in a manner showing they truly comprehend that. So many of the same failed strategies are being employed it seems. The base is routinely scolded with that maxim about candidates declaring, “Republicans fall in line, but Democrats need to fall in love.”
If a Biden loss/Trump victory (or any combination of thereof) could be that point where historians note was the moment democracy died whether people realized at the time or not, how then could there be any democratic hopefuls with ambitions for that office that think waiting for a time more advantageous to their run is defensible? There won’t be a next time according to that particular strain of doomsayers (and I don’t disagree there either). Trump has vowed retribution and while I don’t think that stringing up his enemies with piano wire immediately is the most likely scenario, when second guessing the Madness of King Orange, trying to calculate what’s an impossible occurance vs what’s only improbable is a tough bit of handicapping where the Mendacious Marmalade Manchild is concerned. Our system of supposed checks and balances has shown a particularly troubling vulnerability to single point failures, as NASA describes areas where a viable redundancy is not in place to prevent catastrophic mission failure.
Hate on Trump and the GOP all you want; they’ve earned it. But they’ve shown they also understand the long game. And Trump has found a solution in his Kobayashi Maru maneuver. His stacking the courts as thoroughly as he and his party have is as if they’ve they crawled under the control panel ripping out the wire bundles as they go until they can run the simulation getting the outcome they want. I heard it was a Marine maxim saying, “If a dumb idea works, it’s not a dumb idea.”
[as a defense against me screwing up and losing my long-winded rants as happens a bit too frequently, I’m going to post what I have to this point, and continue my filibuster in a reply to myself]
O. Felix Culpa
@M31:
That bluesky poster also wrote:
TBone
@Dorothy A. Winsor: you are not a bad person for being unsurprised that violence would occur at a place where violence is encouraged. “Don’t be too nice when you’re putting them in the squad car” and so many more statements – he has been glamorizing HANNIBAL LECTER!
I felt the same way.
That’s why I shake my head at parents taking children to such a hate rally.
Eyeroller
@Memory Pallas: That’s the guy who already said he couldn’t vote for Biden. He’s not really a Democrat; he once worked for Susan Collins.
Suzanne
@SiubhanDuinne: There’s apparently a Thomas Crooks in Cranberry Township, which is a suburb on the other side of PGH from Bethel Park. I don’t know if the donation thing is fully run to ground yet.
The streets around the guy’s house are all shut down. I just got back from the mall down there in Bethel Park, nothing looked amiss but I am sort of generally freaked out by the whole thing,
japa21
It is worthwhile to remember that Trump is the not biggest threat to our country. On his own, he couldn’t do any damage. It is the true believers that are doing all the real work behind him. At one time, that group was fairly small. It is now known as the Republican Party. I have not hear one Republican denounce Project 2025, not one. They are all in favor of it and will not hesitate to continue the plans if anything happened to Trump.
Oh, and by the way, I heard the Brown Shirts in the 30’s also blamed their critics for their violence.
trollhattan
@Eyeroller:
Saw the other day Susan, Princess of Clan Furrowed Brow Collins has endorsed Nikki Haley. That’s gonna move some needles.
Suzanne
@Eyeroller: Apparently his mom was a Dem, dad was Libertarian.
M31
@O. Felix Culpa:
yeah but Biden used the word ‘target’ or some other common English phrase, so bothsides
hrprogressive
@Chris Johnson:
Nope.
Every single one of these fanatics is exactly a “Real Republican”.
Try as people like Michael Steele, Tim Poole, and Olivia Troye might, their parents and grandparents “GOP” is dead and buried.
From 2016 onward, the people who remain in the Trump camp are firmly part of the Fascist Republican Party.
Period. End of sentence.
These people have told you who they are, and some people still refuse to believe them.
When I asked Adam why this appeared to be the case, he cited, essentially, people putting their head in the sand saying “it can’t happen here” while it is happening here.
These people, from Trump, to Heritage, to everyone else have said they will violently seize power in this country if they aren’t allowed to just “peacefully” take over.
I will not sit here and claim to “support violence” or praise what happened yesterday.
But I’m not going to stop pointing out that literally one Party in this country has been slowly stoking and fomenting the Fascist Fire for almost 15 years (going back to the Tea Party, IMO).
They continue to do it, and will continue to do it till they are stopped.
Hopefully, peacefully and electoral.
But you all have got to start preparing for the worst case scenarios.
Now.
I know nobody here wants to hear that, but tell me when I’m telling lies.
O. Felix Culpa
About a week ago, the Trump-endorsed candidate for North Carolina governor said:
“Some folks need killing.” (paywalled Rolling Stone article)
Trouble is, when you stir shit up, you can’t always control where it flies.
matt
Blaming Biden is politicizing the tragedy and it’s unseemly to do it so soon after.
Betty Cracker
@Mai Naem mobile: If you read the third lady’s entire statement, there’s a glaring spelling error and some truly abysmal writing. I don’t think HRC or Michelle O would tolerate such shoddy work. Maybe she stole it from some internet rando.
Another Scott
@O. Felix Culpa:
He’s a real prince.:
(Emphasis added.)
Here’s hoping the good people of NC don’t let him anywhere near the big chair.
Cheers,
Scott.
Sasha
I respect the seriousness of what happened yesterday, but I am also going to recognize that Trump is no different than he was the day before yesterday and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
zhena gogolia
@Sasha: Bottom line.
eversor
I see cybertruck comments again.
It is NOT a truck. I do not know what it is. But a TRUCK it is not. My ass walks or takes METRO to work. I own a TRUCK as well for reasons. It’s a Ford F250 Turbo Diesel. This is an actual truck. As I can actually haul shit with it. We also own a BMW i4 electric. This is an actual car.
I’ve been in a Cybertruck and several Teslas and they are not trucks or cars. Especially because his ask at cost is no cheaper than the fucking Ford or BMW options which actually do truck and car rather well. And the repair chain is vastly better.
What I want, and I don’t trust Elmo to make it, is a fast electric bike to replace my 1000cc Yamaha bike. That is an actual bike. And it gets such amazing distance for gas that I use it constantly unless I need to haul shit or it’s raining. But again, Yamaha is a real company, and not run by idiots like Elon.
The only good thing I can say about Tesla is their charging station network. And Elmo is firing that division fast.
Elon needs to die and his companies broken up.
jonas
@M31: I’m old enough to remember how outraged Republicans were when a crazy gunman tried to kill Gabby Giffords, who a short time earlier had been featured in some GOP ad with a target superimposed over her and Dems suggested maybe that kind of rhetoric and imagery was inappropriate and were told they were being too sensitive and politicizing everything.
The hypocrisy, gaslighting, and projection coming from Republicans will be all turned up to nuclear levels in the coming days.
I also suspect we’ll be deluged with about a million deepfake videos, spammed social media accounts and other stuff trying to “prove” this Crooks guy was formerly a staffer for AOC or a member of BLM or whatever.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
“It’s the democrats fault they didn’t stop us Republicans from calling out the crazies to start breaking things.” VD Vance.
This is more of the “Dems are the only ones with agency”
Eyeroller
@Suzanne: I know what a lot of “Libertarians” really are but that makes it interesting that he would register R — I assume L is an option. We do not have party registration in my state so I don’t have a comparison.
Kay
@Memory Pallas:
Golden is excited about Trump being elected because Golden plans to join with Republicans to destroy Social Security. That’s why he goes to work every day – to strip the safety net from people.
Sister Golden Bear
@thruppence: With a huge amount of waving the bloody shirt.
WheatBoy56
@Cacti: Exactly. Republicans make threats of violent retribution and center their ideology on idealizing intimidation and brute force against their political opponents, and decades ago began supporting policies to flood the country with guns. They are very lucky that Trump was not killed
O. Felix Culpa
Not sure if anyone has linked to this essay yet, by Gil Duran and George Lakoff:
Donald Trump and the language of violence
MinuteMan
@trollhattan:
It could be auctioned off for a small fortune I bet.
Another Scott
@Chief Oshkosh: MuellerSheWrote is saying everyone is wrong that the ActBlue donation was someone else.
(Twitter version)
She doesn’t give a cite there.
Who knows.
It’s still early, and lots of the things we think we know may be wrong or incomplete.
Hang in there, everyone.
Cheers,
Scott.
O. Felix Culpa
@Betty Cracker: One wag suggested it was written by ChatGPT.
Miss Bianca
@Eyeroller: what is a “groyper “?
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca: I’ve been asking the same question and finally bestirred myself to look it up. Per Wikipedia:
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca:
I’ve been asking the same question and finally bestirred myself to look it up. Per Wikipedia:
They sound nice.
(My previous response is in moderation because too many Wiki links.)
Sister Golden Bear
@Soprano2:
They’ll also be claiming the shooter was trans — as they routinely do after any recent mass shooting that gets attention. It’s part of their strategy to justify eliminating us. With extreme prejudice. I wish I was exaggerating.
Mike E
Euro final is a sizzler, 1-1 nearing end of the 2nd half.
Tony Jay
Deleted because it was about football and supposed to be on a different group.
Was really incisive and accurate though.
Princess
@Another Scott: She is correct. The donor and shooter are the same person. I like the losing bet theory.
Chief Oshkosh
@O. Felix Culpa: It’s a good essay; hope it gets picked up by major media, but I doubt it will. As for Trump changing – not possible.
Tony Jay
@O. Felix Culpa:
They know everyone thinks it’s something to do with Gropers, don’t they?
Mike E
@Tony Jay: 30 more minutes might not be ideal for England…not over yet
And, it’s over.
O. Felix Culpa
@Chief Oshkosh:
Yeah, I also thought the notion that Trump would change wasn’t even seriously entertained by the authors, but I suppose they felt they had to mention the possibility.
Sister Golden Bear
@raven: I know you’re not justifying it, but FFS do people realize just how many queer/trans kids get bullied in high school — and somehow we don’t go on shooting sprees. If all of who were bullied ever did…
But then again, bullying queer/trans kids into committing suicide has long been a feature not a bug to conservatives.
O. Felix Culpa
@Tony Jay: I have to confess, that’s where my thoughts went first. In terms of what their name means, obvs. :)
Miss Bianca
@Another Scott: you know, I honestly don’t give a crap about who the hell the Act Blue donation came from. Chasing after it is a “SQUIRREL!!” level distraction, far as I’m concerned.
Eyeroller
@Princess: IIRC it was made on Inauguration Day, which seems significant.
It’s not impossible that the older Thomas Crooks is his grandfather–if he’s 69 the age seems to be about right–but the first name is very common and the last name isn’t all that rare, so they could be unrelated.
Tony Jay
@Mike E:
And that’s what happens when you don’t press and let the Spaniards pass the ball.
Eyeroller
@Miss Bianca: It’s being thrown in Democrats’ faces as if it somehow proves he really was “Antifa” or some such crap.
Geminid
@Eyeroller: Has Jared Golden said he won’t vote for Biden? Last I heard, Golden had said that he expected Biden would lose, which is a different thing.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … Nitter (Twitter version):
Let’s hope this has legs. We can’t let these mass shootings continue without substantial push-back.
(via MuellerSheWrote)
Cheers,
Scott.
Miss Bianca
@O. Felix Culpa: Thanks for looking that up and sparing me the trouble. Is that neologism’s resemblance to the term “groper” merely coincidental, I wonder…?
O. Felix Culpa
@Sister Golden Bear:
It should go without saying that no one should be bullied. And, it seems like poor little white guys getting bullied mysteriously becomes and explanation (permission?) for their bad behavior. While other populations endure terrible hostility and yet, as you say, don’t go on shooting sprees.
Eyeroller
@Geminid: He escalated.
zhena gogolia
@Tony Jay: My goddaughter in Madrid says everyone is distracted today.
Miss Bianca
@Tony Jay: oops, see that you got there first!
Mike E
@Tony Jay: they show life at the end but alas, a bit late.
O. Felix Culpa
@Miss Bianca:
Apparently they take the name from a really ugly cartoon frog or toad named “Groyper,” perhaps related to the other rightwing “Pepe the Frog.” Looks like a malicious green Jabba the Hutt.
These people have lousy aesthetics as well as hateful politics.
Miss Bianca
@Eyeroller: right, because registering as a Republican is such an “antifa” move, after all.
Eyeroller
@Miss Bianca: It comes from the name of a cartoon green frog-like thing meant to look like Pepe the Frog, but there was no explanation of how the name of the cartoon character originated. Like so much awfulness, it seems to have started on 4chan.
Tony Jay
@zhena gogolia:
They’re going to be deserved winners. England simply can’t play attacking football in panicked spurts after long stretches of ultra boring positional defensiveness. Not against teams that can dominate position and move the ball quickly, which is basically as Spanish as paella and dramatic telenovelas.
And it’s over. Well done, Spain.
Sister Golden Bear
@hrprogressive:
If Republicans want to claim they’re not, then they need to come get their people
Which they won’t. For all the reasons you listed
Mike E
@O. Felix Culpa: there’s a documentary on the original frog character called Feels Good Man iirc, the artist was an amateur who neglected to copyright his work and of course it got twisted into the ugly memes everybody knows about. You can find it on YouTube I think, I had no idea about its origins.
O. Felix Culpa
@Mike E: Thanks for that info! That said, I think I’ll pass on sullying my beautiful mind with the origins and permutations of ugly, twisted RW memes. :)
I gotta get out of this place
@O. Felix Culpa: that’s it – the violent rhetoric the NRC and especially the Fox Channel uses all the time: “2nd Amendment solutions”. It’s non-stop 2nd Amendment time from those guys and their guests.
Now you have someone who’s heard “2nd Amendment solutions” over and over, and, thought… that’s what I’ll do! Who knows what his beef was with Trump, or if it was some weird way of making himself famous, whatever – the non-stop repeating of “2nd amendment solutions” showed him the way to go.
I doubt anyone at Fox will realize/admit they were the ones gave this idiot the idea of how to go about solving his problem. I also doubt that they will stop with the violent rhetoric.
Jackie
@thruppence:
He’s finally “earned” the Purple Heart he stole from a veteran.
Watch his MAGA groupies nick off the top of their right ears in solidarity.
artem1s
@Eyeroller:
conservative candidates sure understand that youtube is social media. I see some pretty awful political ads tucked into the most innocuous popular movie and music videos.
Mike E
@O. Felix Culpa: I found it fascinating and tragic; the artist was naive and meant well. Moral of the story: trademark your work, then sue the shit out of these assholes.
Eyeroller
@artem1s: I got an ad for PragerU on one I think I found from one of NotMax’s links. Didn’t even want to watch long enough to be able to skip.
Chris Johnson
@O. Felix Culpa: This.
Mea culpa on the suggestion that the shooter be painted as ‘not a real Republican’ and instead a Groyper or some such thing. I realize this didn’t go over well.
I’m trying to think politically, like Joe Biden will have to do. I would like him to have something to say to give, for instance, the Nikki Haley supporters… some excuse to back away from claiming that yes, in fact they are all groypers now.
I think them all being groypers would be BAD. I want an excuse for any of them that are reachable (and if they are, now they know damn well not to admit it!) to back off.
If they didn’t know that was electoral poison, they’d not have had Trump distance himself from Project 2025 in the first place, and the shooter might never have gone after Trump at all. They know it’s bad for them to double down, but now they’re literally at gunpoint and probably believe it’s the radicals doing it.
So yeah, any excuse to sow dissension in the ranks. I’m sure Liz Cheney and indeed Dick Cheney would join me in saying the shooter was not a Real Republican, and likewise the groypers aren’t Real Republicans. It would be nice if there were more, and I don’t care if their motives are just ‘not getting blown the fuck out in a general election’, I want them drawing a line.
I don’t believe the groypers are capable of running the military, nor the FBI, or even all the police forces (probably some though). I don’t believe groypers automatically win in an internecine struggle among the Republicans. But pre-emptively surrendering to them seems bad.
Geminid
@Eyeroller: Evidently. I see that 3 days ago Golden said he was uncertain as to whether he was voting for Biden or not. So he didn’t really take a position but is straddling the fence. He’ll have to come down on one side or the other by October, I think, and if he comes down on the wrong side I expect district Democrats will punish him on November 5. Golden can’t win without maximizing Democratic votes so he’ll be out of the next Congress.
LanceThruster
[continued – pt 2]
The part about the complaint of the Democrats’ voter base needing to fall in love is a big part of the problem, but not in the way the leadership thinks. Thank Glob there’s a segment willing to push back and stand firm to their ideals at least enough to make that part of their calculation as to who has earned their vote.
The leadership will say a Republican’s pro-life position is unacceptable, but endorse a pro-life Democrat against a pro-choice primary challenger saying it’s too risky as the district/state leans too red, and we wind up with crap like Manchin and Lieberman and Sinema who might as well be GOP anyway. Someone more cynical might think Dems like being in a position to not deliver and insist their hands were tied as the votes were not there. I’m of the mind that there’s value in doing the right thing even when victory is not assured, as it shows the base they’re at least willing to fight tooth and nail for those positions the base wants to be fought for. People respect that. At that time the Democrats actually make the attempt, I’ll let you know if my hypothesis holds up.
Not that there aren’t instances where pragmatism is the most prudent course of action, but it’s as if their motto were, “Trust us to tell you what’s not possible.”
That brings us to the topic of trust. The leak where a certain party favorite said in a closed-door speech to Wall St that they had a public position and a private one is about as perfidious as one can imagine, but we were told not to trust our eyes and ears. Gaslighting to the rescue!
Concerns about visible displays of cognitive decline follow the same playbook. And the more evident it became, the greater the gaslighting. We are told not to trust our eyes and eyes, that every single aspect of what was claimed to be happening was discounted as nothing but disinformation asserted exclusively by opponents, including the circular reasoning that a supporter expressing any similar concerns however valid was a tool of the opposition by definition. I personally am sick to death of not even treating an alternate viewpoint as at least being made in good faith. It’s certainly easier for those disagreeing to dismiss me as a Trump troll.
But the gaslighting most regularly involves shifting the goalpost. Not addled to no choice even if/despite true. Best option even if better option cuz too hard/too risky. That was the overwhelming choice of primary voters and we will not betray that trust under any circumstances, ignoring that situations change, and the extent that outcomes were engineered by various means. What does it say about a commitment to the vox populi when there’s enormous pressure not to challenge the favorite of the leadership, or pressuring those who entered the contest thinking their vision for the direction of the party and the nation was deserving of being heard providing alternatives the base could then weigh. The game is played where instead of welcoming opportunities to go head to head confident in one’s ability to close the deal advocating for what they see as the most compelling arguments made on a level playing field, they instead choose to stack the deck often in ways that establish that they see alternative choices as an unacceptable threat, as their certainty of the rightness of their views does not include a matching certainty that they can make that case effectively, concluding the risk in trusting the voters to arrive at the same conclusion on their own is far too great. We must destroy democracy to save it!
I’m an idealist piece of crap always trying to throw a wrench in the gears of the steely-eyed realists committed to telling everyone else what is not possible in ways large and small making it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but if I had my druthers, the best way forward for the party and highest percentage play to ensure a victory against the forces of darkness and regression would be the equivalent to a Truth and Reconciliation Commision such as at the end of South African apartheid.
The party trying to move forward while maintaining the shenanigans they perpetrated did not happen is ultimately self-defeating, and I fear that their take-away will be that the problem wasn’t the gaslighting itself, but that there wasn’t enough of it.
I think it was HST saying something like, “When it’s said violence is not the answer, my first thought is it hasn’t really been tried.”
[Next up in pt 3 – “When you come at the king, you best not miss.” Cui bono? It’s not who you think!]
O. Felix Culpa
@Mike E: I see. The story is more about the naive originator and what happened to his work without trademark protection. Thanks for the clarification.
scav
@thruppence: Nicked ears indicate spaying.
SomeRandomGuy
Democrats should start calling Trump a “baby killer” so that everyone will understand they are not calling for violence against him. How does that sound? It worked for Rs, didn’t it?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I am waiting for the candidates in Trump’s VP reality show are made to stand there and get shot in the ear like their master did.
artem1s
@Princess:
If the GOP was capable of a measured response they could probably make a lot of hay out of this. But as we’ve already seen they can’t help themselves. It’s dialed up to 12 within a couple of hours. People who have just seen a near assassination want reassurances that their elected leaders and law enforcement is on it, not some loudmouth egging on the rest of the violent psychos with guns. The set of GOPers who saw J6 and were horrified and shocked are well aware of who is calling for violence and who is packing heat and who isn’t. The set of extremists who looked at the videos and thought they could spin this so people would believe the J6 insurrectionists were just ‘tourists’ still don’t realize how horrified normies are at the violence.
Eyeroller
@Chris Johnson: I doubt more than a handful of “normie” Republicans know what the groypers are. If we assume the shooter was (we still don’t know), it was apparently unknown to his parents.
I looked at MuellerSheWrote’s Nitter timeline and she re-whatevers Rachael Bitecofer who says this looks more and more like the typical school shooter, but aimed against Trump for some so-far and perhaps forever inexplicable reason. He checks a lot of the boxes. Bullied, not many friends, dorky looking, no indication of a girlfriend, lived at home with parents at 20. She also pointed out that “Trump’s a natural showman and got the photo of a lifetime. People will always think it was staged because of the way that went down.”
Ksmiami
@hrprogressive: Agreed. The Republican Party is a full on fascist menace
Eyeroller
@Geminid: I must have taken that statement as “won’t vote for him” but it is still an escalation from “wish he wouldn’t run.”
O. Felix Culpa
@Chris Johnson:
I’m sure today’s Republican Party would say the same about Cheney père et fille: Not Real Republicans.
I think Groypers absolutely should be included as Republicans and Trumpists; after all, they participated in Jan. 6 on Dear Leader’s behalf. I’ll consider them as Not Republicans as soon as Republicans denounce them and renounce all their ways. Until then, the Republican Party deserves its association with them.
I’ll just add that you might be overcomplicating things a bit. Most people aren’t going to get into the weeds about these sub-groups and labels.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@O. Felix Culpa:
Gee, where have we heard that kind of language and where did it lead? Oi vey.
@Memory Pallas:
I hope there’s somebody in Maine to primary that guy.
And this from noted, deep-thinking political hack Tulsi Gabbard:
Geminid
@Eyeroller: It’s definitely an escalation. Rep. Golden may be talking himself out of a job here.
If he does, so be it. That’s a seat that might be slipping away anyway, and I think losing it will not substantially impair prospects for a Democratic majority in the next Congress.
Geminid
@O. Felix Culpa: This is “Groyper” group is not very numerous, and I think a lot of them don’t vote anyway.
Eyeroller
@Geminid: They are major troublemakers, however.
Princess
@Chris Johnson: I get why you suggested it but given he aligned himself with republicans, that’s what he is. Let the ones who don’t want be associated with that puzzle out their own political futures.
indycat32
A question: how good a shot do you have to be to hit someone at the distance the shooter was from Trump? Was he aiming for Trump or is it possible he was shooting randomly, got “lucky”, hit the teleprompter which cut Trump’s ear. Sorry for the wording, but don’t know how else to phrase it.
Miki
@scav: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Other MJS
The one thing the Republicans can’t say out loud is “This is just what we needed.”
I’m praying for an open mike somewhere.
JoyceH
@Eyeroller:
Tell you what, when I heard the shooter was a Republican, my first thought was a disgruntled QAnoner, disappointed that The Storm never arrived (and he was so looking forward to those public mass executions!) and that JFK Jr was still dead.
But then we hear that he was bullied at school, and the gun was his dad’s. New scenario. (All from my own imagination.) Dad is a Trump-supporting gun-hugger. When hearing of his son’s bullying, his reaction was to tell the kid to ‘man up and grow a pair’ – and maybe take him to the gun range to show him how to be tough and manly. And here’s the result. “Look at me, Dad! Manly enough for you?”
RSA
They can quote TFG, if they like.
Me, I’ve already gotten over this one.
Geminid
@indycat32: My understanding is that the range was somewhere around 160 meters, and that this is not so difficult a shot if a shooter is practiced and the rifle has a scope.
But I do not shoot, and someone here who does will probably weigh in more knowledgebly..
Mike E
Carlos Alcaraz winning the Wimbledon men’s final set up the Spain Euro final as quite the day for the nation…. just watched the replay on ABC, he beat Djokovic in straight sets
Eyeroller
@JoyceH: Dad was supposedly a Libertarian, although we know where they tend to fall. It was Dad’s gun and probably not his first one. Kid was known by his classmates to be very conservative. Wore hunting gear to school which is part of the reason he didn’t fit in.
Another Scott
@indycat32:
Rifles are made to kill people at a distance.
Wikipedia – Longest recorded sniper kills.
He wasn’t anywhere near that far away, those are different guns, etc., etc.
Nobody has yet said anything about how much practice he had with the rifle, etc. It’s an unanswerable question at this point.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I am thoroughly tired of the picture I keep seeing that, as my wife put it, “looks like Iwo Jima”. TFG raising his hand triumphantly under an American flag with the Secret Service clustered around him looking very Iwo Jima-ish.
stinger
@indycat32: rather than “got lucky”, you might say “by chance”.
cain
@trollhattan: Don’t worry, that was before the shooting right? She’ll change her vote back to Trump because “he’s learned his lesson”
different-church-lady
@Memory Pallas:
This is true. Instead it should be accurately portrayed as a struggle between democracy or authoritarianism.
SiubhanDuinne
@Ceci n est pas mon nym:
Iwo Jima was the first thing I thought, and it pops up, unbidden, every time I see that image. I thought it was just me so I didn’t say anything.
Captain C
@Memory Pallas: At least in this case, Jared Golden is full of shit.
Eyeroller
@indycat32: In an earlier thread people who know a lot more about guns than I do said (this was in the context of hunting) that an AR15 is not good for precision targeting. But it’s presumably what was handy. I have no idea how much practice the kid had with it.
I steeled myself and looked at a picture of Trump and could see a line of blood along his cheek that matched with a line along the center of the upper ear. I think flying glass would be more likely to produce multiple injuries, not one well-defined line. So if the bullet came that close, it’s likely he was aiming for Trump. But I read that the usual round is a fairly small and light bullet so it could probably graze somebody without doing much damage.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: Well, that Iwo Jima picture was staged.
Eyeroller
@Other MJS: They don’t need to say it, some Democrats (not necessarily electeds, not yet anyway) are saying it.
cain
@Another Scott:
You weaponize that gun debate because you know the GOP wants to leverage that shooting of Trump. But of course, if you start throwing in gun control – which we have been very consistently saying – it’s going to be hard for htem to say “it’s Biden fault” while at the same time insisting that free access to AR-15s is a right”
raven
@zhena gogolia: The second one was.
indycat32
@stinger: You’re right. I didn’t think of it. I did say excuse the wording.
Captain C
@O. Felix Culpa: Aren’t they the ones who don’t allow themselves to masturbate, or is that the Proud Boys? Either way that makes for a lot of wound-up, frustrated incels.
indycat32
@Eyeroller: Thanks for the info. I know nothing about guns, and don’t really want to.
stinger
@indycat32: No worries.
Suzanne
@Eyeroller: I interpreted the blood on his face as a streak, but I could be totally wrong about that. But you can see him reach for his ear and then kind of pull his hand across his face.
Eyeroller
@Suzanne: He talked about feeling the bullet “rip through his ear.” Dude, you got grazed. If the bullet had actually gone through his ear it would have done a lot more damage than seems to have happened. I don’t think the upper part was detached. It may have needed some stitches and perhaps a little more shoring up.
Mapaghimagsik
@Memory Pallas:
Oh, maybe, just fuck him. It is a deciding point between democracy and authoritarianism
KimK
Yes, this!
cain
Interesting post on reddit referencing a FB of the daughter of the person who died. He basically threw himself on his family and protected them and got shot instead. That’s great reflexes – https://www.reddit.com/r/Pennsylvania/comments/1e34old/the_daughter_of_the_man_that_lost_his_life_at_the/
Our side of course are very decent and one person said he knew the guy personally and said he was a great guy. Took care of people. Always weird when such a person follows Trump.
Of course, we know that Trump is never going to call that family and offer his condolences. You know that Biden would. I wonder if they’ll appreciate the difference.
Let’s see how long he goes before he gets criticized for not calling the victim.
Manyakitty
@jackmac: JD Vance surprised me. I thought he’d be a worthless empty suit, but he is legitimately evil.
different-church-lady
@Eyeroller: It could have gone in one ear and out the other without doing any damage.
(With this post, I hereby declare “too soon” as over.)
different-church-lady
@Manyakitty: They grow up so fast…
pat
Just found this and lost the place where I found it. Has it been reported anywhere else?
VFX Lurker
The human figures in both images form an asymmetrical triangle.
SiubhanDuinne
@Suzanne:
He’s famously phobic about the sight of blood. Poor Donald, seeing all that 🩸 on his hands must have been awful.
(Don’t yell at me, I’m sure being shot or shot at is in fact a legitimately awful experience and I’m not making fun of the seriousness of the moment.)
me
@pat:
I saw it at https://bsky.app/profile/bencollins.bsky.social/post/3kxbddk6tev2c
Steve in the ATL
So bottom line is that trump was injured by his teleprompter?
Jackie
@pat: Here’s a link:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-sources-gunman-trump-rally-pointed-rifle-officer-111933866
Jackie
@Steve in the ATL: He never liked teleprompters; said they worked terribly. The teleprompter took umbrage.
Harrison Wesley
@Jackie: “No President has been wounded more than me! Not Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley and Kennedy put together! Bigly!”
rk
@cain:
I read what his daughter wrote. Almost every line was, ” the media won’t tell you this about my father……”. I don’t get it. Like why won’t the media portray your dad as a hero? He gave his life to protect you so why not? It’s just bizarre. In every scenario there’s always villain. I feel sorry for her, but it’s very typical Trump supporter.
Suzanne
@SiubhanDuinne: A few years ago, I injured my left hand while taking the Spawns on a sledding trip. There was a lot of blood and I was freaking out but also trying not to freak my kids out, or the few dozen other people around me at the time. I acted pretty weirdly, apparently. I’m not going to judge anyone for their reactions in a situation like that.
Another Scott
I finally watched the C-Span.org video. It’s only about 8 minutes before the shooting. It goes on for about 35 minutes.
It answers some of my questions.
People were looking over to the side because he was talking about some graph illustrating that “millions and millions” of people shouldn’t be in this country. It was basically the same lies that he was spouting at the debate.
I thought it was illuminating that he claimed to be there supporting some GQP senate candidate and he barely mentioned the guy’s name.
It’s also clear when he is reading from the teleprompter and when he’s just ad-libbing everything.
Finally, yeah, he was very concerned about his shoes. And his “fist pumps” and “fight, fight” are kinda pathetic from that view. Nothing like Iwo Jima. ;-)
Don’t let the media’s demand for clicks and engagement gaslight us into thinking that the race has changed.
The candidates are Biden and Trump.
The choice is an easy one.
Eyes on the prizes.
Cheers,
Scott.
Steve in the ATL
@Another Scott: indeed. I prefer candidates who didn’t get shot at!
TBone
Are the Rethugs in Congress still gonna proudly wear their AR-15 lapel pins to work every day?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/03/assault-rifle-pins-gop-clyde/
George
@cain:
Has there been independent verification that the guy threw himself on his family to protect them? Because it seems like the amount of time from the first shot to when the guy himself was shot probably was one or two seconds. If his reflexes were that good, then good for him for protecting his family. It might just be trauma-induced mythology, however.
zhena gogolia
@Suzanne: Same here.
Manyakitty
@different-church-lady: alas
zhena gogolia
@Manyakitty: I knew he was evil from the first smarmy book review I read in the NYT.
Elizabelle
NPR was talking about TFG getting a sympathy vote. Uh, no. Turned them right off. (Was awaiting Biden’s speech, which I still haven’t heard.)
Another Scott
@Elizabelle: Biden’s speech is scheduled for 8 PM ET.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W2vMYxF4BE
Cheers,
Scott.
Manyakitty
@zhena gogolia: fair enough. He’s loathesome.
Jackie
@George: It’s been covered by CNN and NBC and Faux, and I’m sure other media.
Elizabelle
I feel so sorry for the dead retired fireman, and for the shooter. Bullied and never fit in; sad little guy.
Elizabelle
@Another Scott: Thank you. Since it’s partly about Trump, maybe the networks will carry it.
Eyeroller
@Elizabelle: Somebody I read somewhere said NPR was citing Putin’s charges that Biden had created the atmosphere that caused this.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@SiubhanDuinne:
That’s why I want an investigation into his underwear/pants. Massive “accident” was the first thing that came to mind irt Cadet Bone Spurs.
Elizabelle
@Eyeroller: they did say something along those lines indeed. This was special coverage before Biden was scheduled to speak this afternoon. I got where I was going before Biden ever spoke. NPR, reminding me again why I never give those clusterfuckers a dime.
M31
@Elizabelle:
bullied and never fit in, AND grew up in a house full of guns
might have come out the other side under other circumstances
Sid
@Elizabelle: Fuck that guy- his Facebook profile picture is a drawing of a bulldozer captioned “TREAD ON THEM”. You and me (and my family) are “THEM”.
I might send $1 with a comment to the inevitable GoFundMe when I can choose between Corey’s Chickens Came Home to Roost or Corey Lived by the Sword and Died by an AR-15 or Corey Got Hoisted By His Own Petard.
George
@Jackie:
Thanks.
LanceThruster
@cain: – and when the mental health component is added to the mix, neither party seems willing to advocate for Medicare for All despite the potential for at least some tragic occurrencesto be prevented.
When something like strict gun control, or drug smuggling interdiction, or more guns or less guns in the bands of the people, or schools, or whatever is championed as an approach that is guaranteed to save lives and the politicians/party advocating that approach condemns those not supporting their approach as not caring enough about saving American lives , my first thought is the rank hypocrisy. The lack of universal healthcare results in the early deaths of far more Americans than virtually all the others combined, each and every year, year after year. Saves lives,, and saves money (GAO assessment). Those arguing not want to pay for another’s bad choices are lack of means, already pay for it, and pay considerably more for it, with less effectiveness. Politicians could make the exact same passionate arguments about saving lives for this, but they don’t because they know who profits from the status quo, and that includes them because lobbies distribute campaign cash quite generously to those willing to put the lobby’s interest in maintaining the status quo over the interests of its own citizens.
As far as Trump making a big deal of his boo-boo, it is a big deal regardless of Trump being a piece of crap. Would it be fair for Hillary to mock him because he came through it by dumb luck alone, and not like with her combat zone savvy where she had the foresight to run “Serpentine! Serpentine!!” on the tarmac in Bosnia like a broken field runner destined for tge Hall of Fame? She would never dream of such a thing, and her humility is in evidence that she’d much prefer you didn’t even bring that up. Our own man in office was brought down by a treacherous sand bag lying in wait, but he bounced right back up, the help given dragging him back to his feet not needed but he didn’t feel the need to make it an issue. Stairs that function as designed for everyone else, conspire to bring low the commander in chief, and strikes repeatedly as he gets back up knocking him down again, but no matter how many times, never quits and emerges victorious. The stairs may have impressive stats on sacks… but who ultimately came away with the “w” because that’s what counts.
The reality is the saying “dodged a bullet” is literally true in every sense save there was any conscious attempt at dodging. The randomness of fate/chance and the needed convergence of time and position were narrowly missed, or we might have all witnessed Trump’s coconut looking like practical effects in a Scanners scene. I’m glad we all missed that and quite sorry for anyone who became collateral damage without knowing anything about who they are or the views they hold, even with the implications others might make about those wanting to be front row for a Trump rally.
How will his single word call to action (“Fight”) as he was whisked away by the Secret Service rally his “troops”? How significant was it that his supporters didn’t flee in panic (some just by just being oblivious of the situation sure) but were observed placing themselves between Trump and the threat, the crowd defiantly chanting “USA! USA!! as a bloodied but still standing (as in not prostrate, mortally wounded) Trump was ushered to safety. Pretty damn dramatic regardless the players. I imagine a bounce in the polls is forthcoming even before the convention starts. The rhetoric employed there will likely increase alarm with cause from a demagogue shameless enough to stoke the flames, but he’ll continue defensive as he blames the “unfair” demonization. At a private fundraiser Biden is reported to have mentioned the need to put a target on Trump’s back. Metaphor is just that, but at the same time Sarah Palin was condemned for a graphic with a bull’s eye over Dem candidates whose defeat she called for.
I truly feel both candidates want their opponent to stay the same at this point. The Trump camp indicated it doesn’t want Biden to drop out, and Biden’s campaign is predicated on keeping Trump out.
I think a case could be made for how the Trump benefits by a failed assassination attempt attributing it to providence. God clearly has other plans for him. Faking the scenario we witnesed just isn’t feasible, period. But truth being stranger than fiction is supported in that tge timing seems unbelievably advantageous to Trump on the whole, and only a little less so for Biden by taking the focus off him for a bit.
Both sides insist the facts coming to light tells them everything they need to know (registered as Republican vs donation to Democratic cause). There’s a rush to assign ownership of this murderous nutjob. There’s certainly some curious elements regarding if security protocols were followed sufficiently. An elevated platform with a direct line of sight of stage could easily be a scenario used in a trading exercise. It’s a temporary type structure (cargo container office?). How long has it been there, for what purpose was that particular position chosen? Seems like a pretty good vantage point for agents to observe the crown in addition to a visible presence often being something law enforcement seek to establish. What’s to make of the claimed dismissive attitudes by agents when a few minutes before shots fired, individuals in attendance informed them of seeing a suspicious person on the roof of the structure who appeared to have a rifle? The security teams have radios FFS, it’s not like they had to sprint over there themselves like a scene film for a Hollywood thriller. No drones doing surveillance from above? I’m sorry, but that seems a no-brainer in due diligence.
The Dems might as well treat this like the failed bomb plot in the Fuhrerbunker, with glorious leader emerging alive but shaken. Both camps are asserting the long knives are out for their leaders whether by treachery, cowardice, or incompetence. How this all plays out in the end is cause for much trepidation and rightly so, but I must admit I find the real world equivalent of those mystery gatherings (attended one upon request of a friend. I was bored, felt it was contrived, performed on the level of a mediocre school play, and I wasn’t even close to solving the mystery, and demonstrated I should have probably been embarrassed for how little attention I was actually paying). Here, the incompetence of the players actually adds to the tension.
What will happen next?!? 🤔
Miss Bianca
@Sid: Hoist. *Hoist* by his own petard.
*Shakespeare pedant*.
Citizen Alan
@Lily: Unless he left a manifesto or something like that behind, we will never know what specific madness motivated him. My personal head canon is that he really was aiming for the teleprompter because he thought an attempted assassination of Trump would ensure he won the election. Basically, a lone wolf trying to enact the Bob Roberts scheme. It is no more improbable than any other theory.
Chris Johnson
Nonsense. Certain things really push the hell out of strained credibility. Taking it entirely at face value is also not feasible, period.
The trouble is we can’t tell what the hell it is. It’s deeply narrativized and manufactured, but what aspects of it are authentic? It’s really, really tough to tell what of it is authentic.
Gets worse when people take a real, intensely posed and framed photo of Trump doing his fist pump (or indeed just after) and photoshop it with added AI to make all the Secret Service people be smiling happily. You see that and you go ‘that’s awful’, but the source photo is also there to be seen.
RSA
@pat: I found the text on the site of the National Post, a Canadian venue I know nothing about. They did have the best subheadline I’ve seen on this topic:
I think that last phrase puts the event in proper perspective.
Citizen Alan
@Elizabelle:
I’m coming around to the idea that a lot of these “sad little guys” are already mentally damaged and they get “bullied and never fit in” because the kids who have to share a classroom with them sense them as being dangerous.
Anybody else remember after the Parkland shooting? There was this poor girl who had been tutoring the shooter and refused to continue because she thought he was dangerous, and MAGA scum actually blamed her because if she’d been nicer to him and maybe gone out on a date with him, he wouldn’t have killed anyone. Sick freaks.
Subsole
@Eyeroller:
Oh yeah.
There’s an old joke from 2015: if you don’t know who Ben Shapiro is, then Youtube’s algorithm is broken.
Another Scott
@Another Scott: It’s a good speech. Biden sincerely reminding us of our better angels and the importance of trying to live our ideals.
Cheers,
Scott.
Subsole
@Soprano2:
Yep. Everything is a false flag, if it embarasses you.
This worldview is not about logic, or making sense of the world. It is about giving oneself a permission structure.
ArchTeryx
@Manyakitty: Anyone who read even the cliff notes version of Hillbilly Elegy would have figured that out a nanosecond afterward.
Subsole
@jackmac:
Dude’s trust-fund trailer trash.
Subsole
@Tony Jay: Oh no! I can’t believe Ziggy would stoop so low!
dnfree
@LanceThruster: Now it apparently turns out that the Democratic donation was by an older man with the same first and last name. So that’s been explained.
Subsole
@Miss Bianca: Y’know those hammer-and-sickle Marxists who want to collapse society and replace it with a “workers’ paradise”?
That, but they’re nazis, and they want, essentially, to be Southron fire-eater plantation owners.
They’re right wing accelerationists.
Subsole
@rk:
Again, I would guess it is all about permission structures. If they are an innocent victim being abused by the large and powerful media, then their abuse of the rest of us, their sense of superiority, is justified.
Manyakitty
@ArchTeryx: good thing I never even wasted that much time on it.
Matt McIrvin
@cain: It’s not hard for them at all. Their slogan is “guns don’t kill people, people kill people,” and they want those guns everywhere making life dangerous because it justifies draconian crackdowns on people. If guns are everywhere then any tiny deviation from social orthodoxy could be like a bomb, and we have to regard it with terror and stamp it out– and that’s the world they want.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Elizabelle: ‘
News is meant to inform, not enrage. The people at Totebagger Radio don’t get that.
The more people that stop giving them money ala FTFNYT, might send them a message. Or not given their true funding source is the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Bushies captured them 20 years ago.