Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

… gradually, and then suddenly.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Fight them, without becoming them!

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

The lights are all blinking red.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

A norm that restrains only one side really is not a norm – it is a trap.

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

the 10% who apparently lack object permanence

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Weird. Rome has an American Pope and America has a Russian President.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Shit Magnet Attracts Some Shit

Shit Magnet Attracts Some Shit

by | 247 Comments

This post is in: 

Well, apparently the shots fired near Trump’s golf course (not Mar-a-Lago) in Florida were related to a guy with an AK-47 in the bushes a couple of holes ahead of where Trump was golfing:

US Secret Service agents opened fire on a man armed with a gun who they believed was targeting Donald Trump as he played at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The agents were several holes ahead of Trump when they spotted a gun poking through the bushes, one of the people said. The man then fled in a vehicle that was later apprehended. An AK-style rifle was found at the scene.

Trump was nearby but was safe, according to the Trump campaign. “President Trump is safe following gunshots in his vicinity. No further details at this time,” Trump communications director Steven Cheung said.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office is expected to hold a press conference this afternoon. Palm Beach officials were briefed by local law enforcement that they believed Trump was the target, according to a person familiar with the matter.

This is from the Post’s coverage:

The Secret Service has long been concerned about Trump’s vulnerability on his golf courses, which remain open to parts of the public and are often near heavily trafficked areas.

Here’s the thing about narcissists:  the shortest distance between two points is never the path they take.  Their ego needs always, always come first.  So, even though the Secret Service advised against outdoor rallies, Trump had one in Butler, PA, and a nutter took a shot at him.  Now, in the middle of a campaign where he’s sowing nothing but hate, he decides that he’s going to golf on Sunday, and something the Secret Service warned about happened yet again.  (If anyone has a link to a site that tracks campaign appearances, I’d love to see it, because Trump isn’t doing much but golfing and showing up for anemic rallies on occasion.)

I’m not saying this is Trump’s direct fault — the point I’m making is that people like him are shit magnets because they aren’t serious about anything other than their own self-image.  Trump’s was seriously damaged this week in the debate, and Tay-tay’s Harris endorsement was nearly lethal.  So he needed a little time on his course with his emotional support team, which presumably included Laura Loomer and a cast of a few other third-rate sycophants who glom onto him like remoras.  Never mind that his personal comfort zone is a place where he might think twice about going after causing so much pain to so many people.  He had his needs, and those always come first.

(Also, don’t miss Watergirl’s post about Jennifer Schiff’s new book, directly below this one.)

Reader Interactions

247Comments

  4. 4.

    different-church-lady

    I’m relieved to know that Trump will protect our constitutional rights to the arms people are trying to kill him with.

  5. 5.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I wouldn’t be surprised if its a GOPr trying to get rid of their losing ding dong who’s the top of the ticket. There’s a clip of Megyn Kelly absolutely  losing it post debate immediately after being told that Taylor Swift had endorsed Harris Walz.  If Kelly’s acting like that, you can imagine how some rando unstable GOP nutjob is feeling.

  7. 7.

    cmorenc

    50 days out from a tight Presidential election, Trump is spending Sunday playing golf?  Priorities, priorities.

  8. 8.

    Ken

    It would be insane to suggest it*, but if someone wanted to destroy Trump, making him feel unsafe at his rallies and golf games would be an excellent plan.

    * So expect to see it being suggested by Fox and the House Judiciary Committee in five… four…

  9. 9.

    different-church-lady

    Also: obviously I’m not going to do this, but you just know if it had been Harris the entirety of MAGA would be screaming “FALSE FLAG!!!” at the top of their lungs.

  10. 10.

    different-church-lady

    @cmorenc: You never know when you’re going to be looking for your ball in the rough and stumble across a health care plan for America.

  13. 13.

    Falling Diphthong

    @Ken: If you buy into the idea that God is directing the path of the bullets, God has apparently decided that he wants Trump in an ongoing state of fear and humiliation, and alive to experience that.

  14. 14.

    dmsilev

    @cmorenc: It’s that or spend the afternoon spreading racist lies and/or whining about Taylor Swift. Golf probably is his optimal strategy right now.

  19. 19.

    cmorenc

    Be interesting to find out whether the latest would-be Trump assassin, like the first, is a RW nut job who thinks Trump is betraying true MAGA hard-right principles.  Or else, simply a nutjob looking to redress inchoate grievances against the world and seeking fame as he gets martyred in suicide-by-cop fashion.

  20. 20.

    bjacques

    Well, that guy was no Squeaky Fromme. Then again, few people are. I think this is known as a double bogey.

    God is clearly keeping Trump alive for a special purpose, which is to be beaten stupid in November. After that, the disappointed incels and groypers can do whatever they like with him.

  23. 23.

    J.

    @Delk: I didn’t know that “staged” was trending, but it was my first thought.

    And even though the suspect was caught, how Trumpian would it be for him to hire someone incompetent?

  25. 25.

    Baud

    @J.:

    And even though the suspect was caught, how Trumpian would it be for him to hire someone incompetent?

    Very. And that would be awesome if he spills.

  27. 27.

    cmorenc

    If the would-be-assassin had succeeded today, to whom would the GOP pass the nomination?  Would they give it to Vance (in somewhat analogous fashion to how when Biden dropped out, => Harris, his VP)?  Or would they attempt a major do-over and turn to someone like Haley as the Presidential nominee (rather than e.g. give it to Vance and nominate someone like Haley as his new running mate)?

  29. 29.

    lollipopguild

    @Ken: Speaking of Loomer I could not figure out what took them so long to see the damage she was doing to him in public.

  32. 32.

    cmorenc

    @lollipopguild:

    @Ken: Speaking of Loomer I could not figure out what took them so long to see the damage she was doing to him in public.

    It would be irresponsible to not speculate that it was because of what she was doing to him in private.

  33. 33.

    lowtechcyclist

    An AK-47? Didn’t that guy know everyone else has moved on to AR-15s? How passé of him, how behind the times!

  34. 34.

    different-church-lady

    @cmorenc:

    If the would-be-assassin had succeeded today, to whom would the GOP pass the nomination?

    It would stay with Trump’s corpse.

  36. 36.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Butch: I am both utterly shocked and not the tiniest bit surprised. In all truth, I’m glad I still have some capacity to be even a little bit shocked at his behaviour, even though I’m way too used to it after a decade.

  38. 38.

    rk

    False flag, crisis actor, manufactured BS. Also, I don’t care do you? Plus, thoughts and prayers to the second amendment goddess.

  40. 40.

    Jinchi

    @Delk: “Staged” is trending.

    I wouldn’t put it past his people trying to regain the “hero” narrative they had back in July.

    Personally, I can’t muster much sympathy for a Republican politician being targeted. And I certainly don’t consider him a hero for having survived. He’s got an entire security team keeping him safe.

    Our kids have had to live through the last 12 years under perpetual fear of school shootings and the rightwing response has been to enshrine the right of every domestic abuser to own a personal arsenal.

    Maybe they’ll think about doing something now that they’re the ones taking fire.

  45. 45.

    KatKapCC

    He’s probably hoping to get shot* again. Twisted stupid asshole.

     

    (*I still have some doubts about the first one…)

  47. 47.

    Betty

    @cmorenc: You know how Trump complains about Biden being overthrown by a coup? I think he is afraid that could happen to him. J. D.  wouldn’t do anything like that now, would he? It would be irresponsible not to speculate though.

  50. 50.

    KatKapCC

    @raven: Are there any weapons at all that are illegal in this gun-happy country? I suppose average citizens can’t go rolling cannons down the street, but otherwise…

  51. 51.

    jonas

    @Jinchi: Maybe they’ll think about doing something now that they’re the ones taking fire.

    We’ll see, but the default response is that the only thing wrong was that *they* weren’t armed heavily enough in response. Taken to its logical conclusion, every American should have a Secret Service detail every time they leave the house, but obviously a better one than Trump has, given that this is apparently now the second time they’ve let a heavily-armed nutjob within range of him.

  52. 52.

    Anoniminous

    He tweets he hates Taylor Swift in the morning.

    Gunman with AK-47 found lying in wait at his golf course in the afternoon.

    h’mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

  55. 55.

    Mai Naem mobile

    The FBI agent at the presser looks like a Josh Shapiro doppelganger. If Josh ever becomes POTUS this guy could totally be his decoy.

  56. 56.

    KatKapCC

    @Baud: Like 90% of his supporters? It’s a cult. If he told them to slit their own throats, a lot of them would do it. They literally think he’s the messiah.

  58. 58.

    trollhattan

    @Anoniminous:
    Battle Hymn of the Republic may contain an answer.

    Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Tay;
    She is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
    She hath loosed the fateful lightning of Her terrible Swift Sword:
    Her truth is marching on.

  59. 59.

    J.

    @Baud: It would be, but he — I assume the shooter is a he — will probably keep his mouth shut or will lie until after the election or doesn’t get paid.

  60. 60.

    Baud

    @KatKapCC:

    Those people will do things out of passion, like Jan 6. They’re not the type of people to plan methodically for their own self sacrifice.

  61. 61.

    Mai Naem mobile

    I hope there’s a bunch of undecideds who decide to vote for Kamala from stuff like this because they don’t want the day to day chaos of a TFG presdiency.

  65. 65.

    Tehanu

    Never mind that his personal comfort zone is a place where he might think twice about going

    Objection, no evidence whatsoever that Dump can think, let alone think twice.

  66. 66.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Chris: The people who do this stuff usually aren’t very ideologically coherent. Mostly they want to be famous and important, or they are just pro-chaos types.

  67. 67.

    JPL

    trump needs to golf at military sites, like President Obama did.   No more outdoor rallies, etc..    So sad.

    trump should take some time and think about why so many people hate him.

  69. 69.

    Anoniminous

    @jonas:

    If you are willing to find a Class 3 dealer, do the paper work, and pay the fee you can own fully automatic weapons up to and including machine guns.  The prices are steep.  A working brand new, fully automatic, M-16 will set you back ~$35k +/-.

    Or you can fly to places like Somalia and pick-up a AK-47 for a little over $500.  Granted, somewhat of a challenge to get it to your basement.

  70. 70.

    piratedan

    well, there are plenty of guns out there and no telling who could have ownership and access to them.

    Do I want Trump assassinated… NO

    In jail, yes.

    it’a a big shopping list of pissed off peeps that are out there.

    Naturally, there are multiple minorities, disenfranchised folks that could be goaded into taking a shot, but there’s also what we saw and speculate from Butler, some kid just feeling homicidal and not really caring who came across his path, as long as they were famous.

    I don’t want to read tea leaves until LEO says who this person was…

  71. 71.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Anoniminous: “It has been made unserviceable by having the breech plugged and welded shut. This avoids it requiring registration and regulation by the ATF as a Class III explosive device.”

    So it’s not saying you couldn’t have a working cannon, just that if you did it would be (gasp) regulated! What kind of commie pinko nonsense is that?

  72. 72.

    Matt McIrvin

    @jonas: We forget how many plots to kill Barack Obama there were. Most of them just never got that close to him. One guy did take a shot at the White House while he was in it.

  73. 73.

    Suzanne

    @Jinchi:

    Personally, I can’t muster much sympathy for a Republican politician being targeted. And I certainly don’t consider him a hero for having survived. He’s got an entire security team keeping him safe. 

    Same. I obviously don’t want political violence because it’s a form of terrorism and bad for society as a whole, but I don’t give a shit about TFG as a person.

    Like I said about Travis Kelce potentially, hypothetically smearing Elon Musk’s brain on the sidewalk…. I didn’t say it should happen, just that I wouldn’t be upset if it did.

  75. 75.

    hrprogressive

    Probably a RWNJ mad that Convicted Felon Donald Trump isn’t harsh enough on abortion with his waffling on the FL amendment he said he was against, before he was for.

  76. 76.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Anoniminous:

    I was listening to a military historian and gun collector talking about this.  It’s not just the gun itself.  Machine guns need spare parts and those parts are expensive or just plain unavailable.  Ammo is if anything more expensive than the gun.  Of course, he was also concerned about the need to have a place way the Hell out in the middle of nowhere to safely play with it, which too many of his fellow gun collectors don’t care about.

  79. 79.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Suzanne: I affirmatively do not want Trump killed. The nation needs to see him roundly defeated at the ballot box for his program of hate and jailed for his crimes, for our own health.

  80. 80.

    Suzanne

    @JPL: Or he could stop running for president, return to private life, and golf wherever he wants. He could have all the “executive time” he wants.

  82. 82.

    lowtechcyclist

    @KatKapCC:

    He’s probably hoping to get shot* again. Twisted stupid asshole.

     

    (*I still have some doubts about the first one…)

    Oh, I have no doubts. There was a real shooter, and those were real bullets, but none of them hit him.  Maybe his ear got cut by a flying shard of glass, but it healed too quickly and completely for a bullet wound to be believable.

  83. 83.

    Frankensteinbeck

    I am not putting a bet on anything in terms of the shooter’s motivation.  I’m not even putting money on it being a shooter, rather than some random Florida idiot with a gun who the Secret Service (as they should) felt was too near a former president.  This is the only time I can think of when ‘false flag’ is actually on the list.  Trump and his people are completely god damn stupid enough to think they could fake an assassination attempt to make him look brave.

  87. 87.

    KatKapCC

    @Frankensteinbeck: Considering it’s Florida, hiding in the bushes on a golf course with an AK seems fairly tame. But we don’t know everything yet. Maybe he was wearing a leather cowboy outfit while sitting astride an alligator and snorting lines of crushed up Ozempic off its head.

  88. 88.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @KatKapCC: But they acted like it grazed his tiny little brain or something.

    The world’s greatest sharpshooter couldn’t hit that point blank under high magnification.

  89. 89.

    Elizabelle

    Last paragraphs of a well reported article by Seema Mehta in the Los Angeles Times:

    Sean Hannity said on Fox News that he had been invited to golf with Trump and developer Steven Witkoff, a major Trump donor, on Sunday but the Fox host declined, saying he was working. Trump was on the fifth hole and about to putt when the incident occurred, according to Hannity.

    Hannity said he spoke with Trump’s son Eric after the incident.

    “One thing Eric Trump said to me is — actually and he was kind of choked up when he said it to me — ‘My father is running out of lives here. How many more rifles are going to be within assassination distance of my father?’ And he said it with great passion and love,” Hannity said.

     

  91. 91.

    Elizabelle

    LA Times article:  backpacks with ceramic tile and a Go Pro.  Hmmm.

    A witness saw a man running out of the shrubbery and jumping into a Black Nissan, Bradshaw said. This person took a picture of the vehicle and the license plate, which law enforcement was able to use to quickly track the Nissan down in Martin County, north of the Palm Beach County.

    The man was taken into custody on the northbound I-95 freeway, Martin County Sheriff William D. Snyder said in an earlier briefing. The northbound freeway was shut down and the vehicle the suspect was driving was cleared by a bomb-sniffing dog before officers took him into custody.

    Describing the suspect as displaying no emotion and having a “flat affect,” Snyder said, “He was not armed when we took him out of the car.”

    The witness was flown up to the area and confirmed that the man taken into the custody was the man he had seen running out of the shrubbery, Bradshaw said. Meanwhile, law enforcement at the golf course recovered an AK-47 style rifle with a scope, two backpacks with ceramic tile inside, and a Go-Pro.

  98. 98.

    VeniceRiley

    As J Divans just admitted today, they’re creating stories. They do not care if they’re untrue or whom they harm.

    That goes for this latest rabbit hole too.

  100. 100.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Elizabelle:

    Hannity said he spoke with Trump’s son Eric after the incident.

    “One thing Eric Trump said to me is — actually and he was kind of choked up when he said it to me — ‘My father is running out of lives here. How many more rifles are going to be within assassination distance of my father?’ And he said it with great passion and love,” Hannity said.

    Dear Eric: I realize that you are dumb as shit, but have you considered the fact that there are hundreds of millions of firearms in this country?  As long as that remains the case, the answer is: plenty!  DUH.

    Goddamn, boy, how dumb can you get?

  101. 101.

    WaterGirl

    @JPL: i even wrote to Ozark’s sister-in-law today and it came back as undeliverable.  I found phone number for her online, but it was out of service.  Then I found a cell phone online and left a message on that, without being sure it was the right number.

    And I wrote to Ozark a third time.  Nothing yet.  Starting to get worried.

  103. 103.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @VeniceRiley: As J Divans just admitted today, they’re creating stories. They do not care if they’re untrue or whom they harm.

    The new part is where they admitted it…/RalphWiggumVoice

  106. 106.

    Geoduck

    Maybe someone covered both of these, but… this site lists upcoming Shiatgibbon/Vance rallies. He’s supposedly going this week to Michigan, New York and North Carolina.

    And evidently Loomer wasn’t with him on the golf course, she blasted out a Tweet or whatever about rushing to his side.

  109. 109.

    lowtechcyclist

    @KatKapCC:

    Are there any weapons at all that are illegal in this gun-happy country?

    There’s one that I’m pretty sure is illegal.  Hint: “One, two, FIVE!”

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    @Elizabelle

    Eric’s much too frequent (and rote) evocation of “my father” is nothing if not reminiscent of Norman Bates’ going on and on about “my mother.”
    //

  114. 114.

    KatKapCC

    @Chris: Like trying to shoot fish in a barrel, except the fish is a single neon tetra and the barrel is the size of Wembley Stadium.

  116. 116.

    Elizabelle

    @lowtechcyclist:  I feel great passion and love for the schoolchildren and random people under threat from guns.

    They are running out of lives, too.

    The Butler PA shooting was on Saturday, July 13.  Somehow feels more recent, no?

  119. 119.

    Starfish

    @Nukular Biskits: It has been longer than that. People were looking for him last week, and some people said that it has been a few months since his last comment, but I am not sure how they searched to find that.

  123. 123.

    Starfish

    @Elizabelle: Several schools across the country have either closed for a day or had all the kids skip because of threats to their schools over the past couple of weeks.

  124. 124.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Other MJS: Serious answer: I’m sure people are trying, but Harris probably listens to her security detail and doesn’t take unnecessary chances. And they’re not the agents selected to be most loyal to Donald Trump.

    I foresee more questions being asked about the Secret Service and what the hell they’re doing there, though.

  126. 126.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Starfish:

    I guess I could go back through the site and check but I’m pretty sure it hasn’t been months.

    Well, as in more than 2.

    Edit:  I f’ing hate google. Anyway, It looks like the last time he posted was in July (?)

  130. 130.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Timill: the GOP would pick someone more competent to run

    Have we received confirmation that such a person both exists and would be willing to run as a Republican?

  131. 131.

    Jay

    @KatKapCC:

    The hardest grades of ceramic tiles, the kind used for high traffic flooring and traction outdoor areas are semi effective bullet proofing against handgun calibers . They cause the bullet to shatter on impact. Enough layers of them will stop high powered rifle rounds, but not armor piercing rounds.

    While the round will cause the tile to shatter, if there is a shock barrier between the tiles, the impact will not cause the layers of tiles to shatter, and of course, if the shattered tiles are contained in a backpack, the shards of the tiles will still provide an effective “sandbag”.

  133. 133.

    Elizabelle

    @Starfish:  Yes.  That is terrible.

    On another note, I wonder if the shooter could argue he suffers from Trump induced PTSD?

    I think a lot of us are unnerved in these last weeks as we wait for Kamala to trounce him in the election.

    Trump has been a terrible affliction, and the sooner he is embroiled in his many upcoming trials, and incarceration, the better.  He needs to be out of the limelight.  We need to breathe.

  134. 134.

    Elizabelle

    @Jay:  I know.  I wondered if it might be some makeshift type of bulletproof vest. A backpack for front and back.

    And the Go Pro!  Please let him be a rightwing influencer.

  139. 139.

    Starfish

    @Elizabelle: I think that the choice that several clever people made about making it so Trump is never really accountable for any of his crimes is not winning him love and support.

    With it being a slow news day, I am wondering if anyone saw the news story about the leaked John Roberts memos where he decided that they were going to take up all the extra special Trump immunity nonsense.

  140. 140.

    karen marie

    @Anoniminous: Speaking of which … whatever happened with last week’s highway sniper?  Wasn’t that Tennessee?  It’s completely dropped off the radar, as the kids say

    Update:  Oh, sorry, it’s Kentucky.

    Governor Beshear has “implored citizens not to turn Couch into a folk hero for evading capture.”

    Jesus Christ.

  141. 141.

    eclare

    @WaterGirl:

    Oh no…I know his first name IRL was Tom.  Do we know from the Gofundme what his last name was and approx where he lived?  Maybe we could Google based on that.

  142. 142.

    lamh47

    At this point, I guess we can just expect these stunts every time the campaign is imploding…smh. Chile even the other side should be tired of the damn drama…smh

  143. 143.

    Elizabelle

    @Starfish:   You will never believe it.  (You will.)  The FTF NY Vichy Times headlined their article on that as:

    How Roberts Shaped Trump’s Supreme Court Winning Streak

    Cuz Trump.  He is a winner!

  145. 145.

    Quinerly

    @Baud:

    Today is the first day I have looked closely at comments in threads for a few weeks. I actually have met Ozark in person. Before he moved to the country, he hung out in my old neighborhood in St. Louis and we traveled in some of the same circles.  I think one of his sons is still in the area and may still lease an apt from a friend of mine. Ozark and I have a close mutual friend, also.

    With that said, I will check around.

  149. 149.

    Jinchi

    If you believe the social media posts they’ve found, the gunman was a 2016 Trump voter who became disillusioned and who wanted to recruit fighters to defend Ukraine in 2022.

    In another post he admitted to voting for Trump in 2016. He wrote: “While you were my choice in 2016, I and the world hoped that President Trump would be different and better than the candidate, but we all were greatly disappointed and it seems you are getting worse and devolving: are you ret—–; I will be glad when you are gone.”

  152. 152.

    me

    The guy was interviewed in the NYT about a crazy plan to recruit Afghans to fight in Ukraine.

    With Legion growth stalling, Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens had expressed interest.
    “We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he said in an interview from Washington.

    It is not clear whether he has succeeded, but one former Afghan soldier said he had been contacted and was interested in fighting if it meant leaving Iran, where he was living illegally.

    https://archive.is/k5fkz

  154. 154.

    WaterGirl

    @eclare: I did all that.  I have the email Ozark always used when he sent me email.  No answer.  I tried the email that his SIL used with GoFundMe for the receipt of funds.  That came back as undeliverable.  I have her full name, including her middle name, so that’s how I was able to find the phone numbers with google.  I know exactly where they lived.  I have not yet tried paper mail to the address for his SIL.  Hoping maybe I will get a return call based on the voicemail I left at the cell number I found on google.

    I have the names of the kids, etc from his BIL’s obituary.

    edit: Sounds like Quinerly might have some connections.  Fingers crossed.

  159. 159.

    Elizabelle

    @me:  The subhead on that NY Times article.  My my my.  They are active in all our communities, too.

    People who would not be allowed anywhere near the battlefield in a U.S.-led war are active on the Ukrainian front, with ready access to American weapons.

  166. 166.

    Starfish

    @Baud: This man was a Trump supporter, and then he was looking for a not-Trump to settle on after he was disappointed by Trump.

  173. 173.

    karen marie

    @Baud:  You have to read the series of bloots or whatever they’re called on bluesky.  “Centrist” here is defined the way the fucking NYTimes defines it – whatever position is taken by a “polite” Republican.  He thought Ramaswamy and Haley should be the President/VP candidates.

  178. 178.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Baud: So was the attempt by the sound of things. It’s only because Trump is a colossal moron that this asshole was able to get this close.

    I usually like that Trump won’t take professional advice, but I don’t want to see him die over it.

  179. 179.

    Starfish

    @me: I think people are taking these posts too seriously. This man sounds like one of those armchair political observers who becomes an armchair epidemiologist and an armchair international relations expert.

    Also, with all of these being screen shots, I am sure some people are going to start mixing in fake ones in there.

    Someone was sharing one where he said something about Israel to paint him as anti-Israel, and I have no clue if that was real or not.

    I think the word Judea was used if someone is a) still on Twitter and b) wants to search.

  185. 185.

    Shalimar

    @Frankensteinbeck: If the guy with the gun near the golf course didn’t actually fire it (and all the shots were fired by Secret Service according to the story I just read), then he isn’t a shooter.

  189. 189.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Kay:

    On a somewhat related note, I wonder if these “do your own research!” types ever bring that same mindset to everyday mundane stuff, like car repair or plumbing? Or do they trust the experts to fix their cars and their faucets? Assuming they can’t do those things on their own of course

  190. 190.

    NeenerNeener

    @Betty: I expect it to happen to him but only if he wins in November. The 25th Amendment is better than a gun because  Vance can personally deliver the coup de grace.

  192. 192.

    Ruckus

    @cmorenc:

    I haven’t read to the bottom yet, but for shitforbrains it’s no longer priorities, it’s whatever loiters in that useless, shrinking and decompensating brain. And it is decompensating. He’s 78 yrs old in a body that has never had proper internal maintenance guidance. Many people do not make it as far as he has with his concept of  eating, activities and self induced pressure, all the while thinking he’s going to be king and live forever. I do believe that it is all catching up to him, and rapidly.

  193. 193.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @WaterGirl:

    Had no idea Ozark was missing. Hoping for the best and he’s just taking a break. Haven’t seen Brachiator in months either. The last comment via Google search I could find was June 7th

  195. 195.

    Mousebumples

    @Baud: and wasnt he concerned about some health issues for his wife? Hopefully, he’s only off the grid to take care of her (eg traveling for a referral)

  197. 197.

    Shalimar

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): My resident conspiracy theorist/libertarian/antivaxxer waited 11k miles between oil changes on his car and still hasn’t replaced the broken garbage disposal in the kitchen sink after 8 months.  If the rest are like him, no, they don’t trust experts in normal life.  They just let everything go to shit.

  199. 199.

    Rusty

    @different-church-lady: I left LGM after Campos diagnosed Biden with Parkinson’s and also was a complete jack ass to Cheryl Rofer.  I went back a few times later, but the level of asshole was off the chart.  Not having spent time there for the last couple of months now has been healthy.

  200. 200.

    Gravenstone

    @Suzanne: I’m going to suggest this toothpaste is never going back in the tube. He’s done enough to piss off folks on his own side that he’ll forever have to be looking over his shoulder for that particular bogey man. Granted he has lifetime Secret Service protection, but a casual detail is significantly different than event prep and protection while in or running for office.

  201. 201.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Baud:

    Oh, you’re right. So many people drop in and out it’s hard to keep track.

    Maybe Watergirl needs to set up a “proof of life” feature here where if you don’t comment at least once a week, you’ll be signed up for a year’s subscription to National Review.

  204. 204.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Baud:

    Yeah, it’s normal for people to take breaks after awhile. Life happens, interests change. It’s still concerning though when a regular poster disappears without warning. You can’t help but wonder if they’re ok

  206. 206.

    Eric S.

    @KatKapCC: The few times I golfed in FL the locals warned me not to search for lost balls in the trees. Spiders, snakes, gators. Maybe it was them messing with me a bit but I took it as sound advise. And I’m not a very good golfer. I lost a lot of golf balls even for me.

  208. 208.

    Bobby Thomson

    This time it wasn’t on film and no one got killed, so much easier to cover up the choreography

  209. 209.

    Bobby Thomson

    This time it wasn’t on film and no one got killed, so much easier to cover up the choreography

  210. 210.

    The Audacity of Krope

    @Timill: Ron DeSantis proved himself pretty incompetent this year. I’ll give you Nikki Haley.

    Even if they try, she won’t get them anywhere. In my life, so far, Republicans only get worse.

  214. 214.

    satby

    @Baud: well, if it’s any comfort, there’s no obituary for him. He didn’t answer when I emailed him Monday either.

    I’m wondering if he went to Louisiana to help his younger son and got caught without power.

  216. 216.

    Nukular Biskits

    @Baud:

    In all seriousness, as an infrequent commenter here but a longtime lurker, I have often wondered about folks who disappeared.  It’s fortunate that many folks have someone who cared for them to drop a line to let the community know but I suspect that’s probably the exception rather than the rule.

  219. 219.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Maybe Watergirl needs to set up a “proof of life” feature here where if you don’t comment at least once a week, you’ll be signed up for a year’s subscription to National Review.

    Noooooo! It isn’t that unusual for me to disappear for a week.

  222. 222.

    Bill Arnold

    @Elizabelle:

    ‘My father is running out of lives here. How many more rifles are going to be within assassination distance of my father?’

    With an inexpensive elk rifle, that would be roughly 800 meters. (That’s a long shot, for sure.)
    With a few-K $ sniper rifle (many makes and models available legally in the USA), more like 1000-2000 meters.
    (Assassination drones are not yet a regular thing except for governments.)

  223. 223.

    Jay

    @Bill Arnold:

    There was a recent assassination attempt on a jailed former President using an FPV drone in South America. They tried to blow up the wing of the jail he was held in. They blew the wing up, but didn’t kill him.

    WildHornets in Ukraine, a volenteer group in Ukraine have developed a FPV drone that can fly at 385 mph, has a range of 25 miles, can climb to 40,000 feet and carry a load of 30lbs.

  225. 225.

    CaseyL

    Those tweets from Routh – assuming it’s the same Ryan Routh as the alleged would-be shooter, are… interesting.

    Perfectly lucid in spelling and tone, somewhat less than sane in content.

    Unless he really was someone who traveled the world recruiting mercenaries for this or that conflict, I’m not sure where he thought he would get 50,000 Afghan soldiers, how he proposed to send them to Taiwan, or what war he said they would help win.

    But the best has to be his tweets all but begging Nikki Haley to join forces with Vivek Ramaswamy as the GOP Presidential/VP candidates…

    …no, I take it back: the best is a tweet he sent Trump in 2020, as a “greatly disappointed” supporter, wherein he asked Trump “..are you retarded?”

  227. 227.

    Bill Arnold

    @Jay:
    :-)
    Yeah, I left off the “, but will be” [a regular thing].
    I am not looking forward to a future with FPV assassination drones, let alone autonomous or semi-autonomous ones.
    Want to scare some high level person? Anonymously release an open source facial recognition AI model that can accurately pick their face out of a crowd, that can be run quickly on very modest hardware.
    Dual use! Paparazzi will love it!

  229. 229.

    Jay

    @Bill Arnold:

    Probably not. SAPI plates cost the US Government $300 each and ESAPI plates $600 each.

    America Rustica, a faux slate floor tile, which is the hardest floor tile I have ever worked with, (both for hardness, and difficulty in cutting), sell for $2.88 per tile. You can’t even chip them with a 12oz framing hammer.

  232. 232.

    Geminid

    @Bill Arnold: Some non-state actors are using military drones now. Iran has developed a drone-killing drone that it has provided to Hezbollah and the Houthis. Hezbollah has used them to shoot down Israeli drones, and the Houthis have shot down several American “Reaper” drones with theirs.

    There were reports this spring that the Kurdish nationalist PKK shot down two Turkish drones over northern Iraq. The Turkish military is operating against PKK forces there, and analysts believe the PKK used the Iranian drone-killer. Turkiye won’t confirm this and neither will Iran, but Iran’s support for the PKK is an open secret. If the PKK shoots down a Turkish helicopter with this weapon, Turkiye will retaliate against Iran.

  233. 233.

    David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch

    These people are usually deranged: Hinckley, Oswald, Squeaky, Arthur Bremer, Zangara, etc.

  237. 237.

    kalakal

    Can’t have been done by a true Floridian, they’d have thrown a ‘gator at him

     

    @Butch:

    He’s already issued a money beg over the incident.

    Isn’t it too soon to talk about  fund raise off this incident?

  238. 238.

    trnc

    @lowtechcyclist: ​
     

    “One thing Eric Trump said to me is — actually and he was kind of choked up when he said it to me — ‘My father is running out of lives here.

    Hi, Eric. Just fyi – he never loved you. Good luck.

  239. 239.

    Kirk

    @Nukular Biskits: I’m an off-and-on commenter for a bit of time here so there are one or two people who might wonder. So what I’ve done is given guidance to spouse, child, and a trustworthy third party that includes a list of “please drop a message to these and tell them what happened. Your choice whether you stay for answers.”

  241. 241.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Nukular Biskits: Given my general flakiness and sometimes just being busy, there’s a real possibility that I’ll just lose interest in commenting here at some point for an extended period, and I start to wonder if people would become concerned about my well-being.

  247. 247.

    Msb

    @JPL: if he did, he’d lose the income from food and lodging for his staff and the Secret Service team. For hi, the grift always comes first.

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