I remember a chilly November day in 1963 when a frantic teacher burst into my third grade classroom to announce that President Kennedy had been shot and killed. The only real things we eight-year-olds knew at that time were that Kennedy was the president of the United States, and this was bad. We also knew enough to sit in stunned silence while our teacher wept.
I came from a staunch Republican family, so I also knew that Kennedy was not the best choice for President. After all, I had heard it every day at the dinner table. But still, the news about the shooting, the coverage of events on our black and white TV, and the funeral procession by train all made me a little sick.
Even at eight, I knew the world had changed. Kennedy was, after all, the leader of the free world, and his death superseded any political punditry.
Fast forward to today. A presidential candidate who aligns himself with dictators, wants to be one himself, justifies the actions of Nazis, blames immigrants for all crime, took from the poor and gave to the rich with his selfish tax plan, and has a nasty name for anyone who dares to criticize him, was shot.
And I feel nothing.
I watched the coverage last night while news reporters scrambled to get reactions from those who had quickly evacuated the stands after the shooting. One woman made the comment that she didn’t know how we had gotten to this point.
Really? You were about to spend two hours listening to a man spew hatred, vitriol, and lies to a frenzied crowd, and you wonder how we got here?
Look in a mirror.
After the shooting, President Biden said, "There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.” After being shot, Trump pumped his fist and yelled, “Fight” repeatedly into the already frantic crowd.
Representative Steve Scalise said, "For weeks Democrat leaders have been fueling ludicrous hysteria that Donald Trump winning re-election would be the end of democracy in America.” In other words, this is the Democrats’ fault.
Senator J.D. Vance said, "Today is not just some isolated incident. The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump's attempted assassination.” Again, this is the Democrats’ fault.
Senator Mike Collins said, without evidence, that “Joe Biden sent the orders.”
Russian spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, "After numerous attempts to remove candidate Trump from the political arena - using first legal tools, the courts, prosecutors, attempts to politically discredit and compromise the candidate - it was obvious to all outside observers that his life was in danger.”
Doesn’t sound like the Right or the Russians are taking President Biden seriously, does it?
We can feel compassion for the victims at the rally, but we can’t forget that it was Trump’s party that brought back the AR-15 after it was outlawed in the 90s, thus setting the stage for the Pennsylvania violence. In our rush to empathize with the former president, we must remember that he is dangerous as a candidate and even more so as a victim. And while we evaluate our own political prejudices for signs of excessiveness, we shouldn’t feel guilty if we tell the truth about the cult-like atmosphere created by Trump. Most importantly, we need to remember that this election is about preserving the democracy we have enjoyed for over 250 years - shooting or no.
This country came together after the Kennedy shooting, after the Reagan shooting, and after 9/11. But it won’t come together until the man that sent us to opposite sides of the ring is a distant memory.
Let’s make that happen in November at the polls.
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