The problem is though, he is, in fact a former president as well as presidential candidate. And it’s because of that I’m glad it didn’t go the other way, if only because of the possible consequences for us as a nation. Things feel pretty dark enough already, we don’t need that kind of darkness added on. And that’s why I was so upset when my wife texted me to tell me it happened. Not because of the man, but because of something bigger than himself ( even if he, along with his supporters, are so in love with himself he can’t see that ). If or when Trump dies from natural causes, I won’t shed a tear either, for the record. But I’m glad the kid missed.
during the Texas snowstorm, no one could get to us despite our gate being exactly 1.3 miles from the fire dept. For 9 days, it was literally my post-covid ass struggling to keep multiple families' houses warm and from flooding, while our ranch hand spent all his time trying to keep the animals alive (we both barely succeeded with a lot of redneck fixes and spicy memories). Never, at any point, was a gun even remotely needed. Yes, I understand the need for self-protection in certain situations and that the police have no duty to protect you. However, that whole "no one is coming to save you" thing is thrown around so much that I don't think people understands what it really means.
Well, I can tell you that the guy I know thinks it means “the global banking elite BlackRock Rothschild government cabal is actively planning to kill you.”
Spoiler As the board's resident ornery cyclist, I'm allowed to find this a little funny, right? Like in the way he found the 1,000+ preventable cyclist deaths each year funny. Like in the "haha, you deserved to die" type of humor he was such a fan of in life. Right?
Pretty much my sentiment. I don't really care about Trump, but the prospect of a (any) candidate being assassinated is horrific. Luckily this one was done by Reee Harvey Oswald and not the CIA like Kennedy.
Holy fucking shit….. so turns out the “YouTuber” shirt the shooter was wearing was a “Demolitia” one, which is what the fans of the Demolition Ranch are referred to, YouTuber Matt Carriker. He’s extremely local, in country terms “a neighbor.” The 15k I ran this weekend, the directions on how to get there said to turn left past his warehouse (I’m not naming some of the places because this is weirdly close to home, but if you’re interested, it’s the internet, and widely available). The feed store we go to is right next to his veterinary practice, which he originally started while doing demo ranch as a side thing for laughs. The store he buys his firearms from, is owned and run by a buddy of mine from high school. Never met him myself, but know of him and he’s extremely known around here. Matt was one of the original “GunTubers” and has since become affiliated with a number of other, more extreme personalities in the space. From everything I’ve heard he’s a very nice guy, but can be a bit… well I guess we all have an edge at times. Further, while not specifically his channel, that online orbit around him gets increasingly violent the further away, though directly related, to him you go. Him, DonutOperator (who has since moved here, and I’ve heard is cool as well), The AK Guy (Brandon Herrera, that’s… elements of creepy), Nicholas Irving aka “The Reaper” (he lives here, just look it up and see how dude could be influenced)… and from there outward it gets blatantly ugly.
Assissinations are not good for any nation, especially unstable ones. And I also agree with you on that no government-trained agent would miss wide on a target that is THAT wide. The guy is as fat as Taft was, for Christ’s sake. Here’s your sleeper: Spoiler
One thing that's starting to emerge is how little the facts matter. The shooter was a 20 year old registered Republican, using an AR his dad purchased. There's quite a lot of infantilization going on, as no one seems to recall that 20 years old is an adult, capable of joining the military, voting. etc. The notion that this person acted alone seems to be far-fetched because the truth of the situation (Republican white dude just like every other shooter) doesn't allow for any spin to benefit anyone else's talking points. So, we'll see the Millennial gaslighting playbook used here: sure, he acted alone, but under the influence of...or liberals coerced him to...etc. The subtext is "he's too dumb for his actions to stand on their own" and that is some bullshit that has to stop. Similarly, the "he's just some whacko nut job"...well, maybe, but the armchair diagnosis from some cunt pundit also needs to stop. It's damaging to actual mental health practitioners to have some asshat throw around a word they recall from psych 102 and apply it to some situation they cannot possibly have a handle on. Chances are this person spelled out their rationale for this kind of act, or left some indicator of why they felt this was justified. I'm sure that'll be released/leaked at some point, or we let the investigators do their job, and compile that info. There are plenty of political actors in this country who are not well, but let's also not pretend that to shoot someone like Trump you'd have to be clinically insane or divorced from reality. The guy who drive a car into a pizza restaurant might have had some mental challenges, but the notion that pedophiles deserve to be shot isn't exactly an extreme opinion. If you assume rapists/pedophiles deserve to get shot, then....well...at least in Trumps case there's evidence and testimony of him raping and assaulting children, not to mention the Epstein files, and it's pretty clear Trump won't face consequences for that. I'm not suggesting that's what this is about, I'm saying skip the "he's just crazy, his views should be written off" talk until someone who is qualified to diagnose "crazy" chimes in. The more we learn about the shooter and his motives, the better. At this stage, every version of "Biden ordered the hit" or "This is the left's fault for talking about threats to democracy" all require much more work and effort to disprove, so the folks stepping out with these assertions need to be held accountable for this bullshit from moment one. The US Congressman who pinned this on Biden needs to face consequences for this kind of horseshit, or back up his claim with stuff that the FBI, Secret Service, etc. hasn't yet released (and face consequences for that). The sad reality of 'letting investigators do their job' not jiving with the outrage machine's demand for spin and immediate answers needs to be reconciled. As far as how this influences the election...remains to be seen, and I think the shooter's motives will go a long way in determining the impact. If the shooter's bonafides are solid alt-right and his motives are derived from some perversion of that (Trump's a pedo or Trump's a threat to freedom, or Trump's a pawn, or Project 2025 or...Q-anon, etc.) I don't think it moves anyone much. The violent rhetoric being amped up finally hit a point of well....shots fired, shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. If the shooter's motives turned out to be derived from liberal/Democrat talking points, then it would bring credibility to a lot of the persecution fetish shit the far right has going on, and that would probably sway the electorate in their favor. Also....Trump is a pretty big pussy. I can't imagine him not being shook from this for a few weeks, kayfabe notwithstanding.
That is probably the first time besides COVID that he has ever experienced discomfort— in any way— in his entire life. I do find it funny how an entire party of voters reprogrammed their own brains in order to view a person who has never made their own bed as some sort of a “tough guy”.
Cannon has dismissed the documents case, by single-handedly attempting to claim Special Counsels just aren't allowed anymore.
"Remember when I said 'Trump Rally Security Plan" is a document he'd definitely keep in his bathroom....and the judge would have reviewed the list of documents that the special counsel wanted kept secret, even the titles/descriptors....? Now that the FBI and Secret Service are going to be ahem....duly held accountable for the various failures to prevent this sort of political violence.... This bitch.
Only one of the 4 presidential assassins was out of their twenties. Lee Harvey Oswald was barely 24. Since Trump is the ultimate incorrigible troll there is just no way I see him keeping this measured and respectful. Just not in his nature.
I keep going back to when Michael Jackson died and the resounding sentiment around me (in what is MAGA country now) was "one less pedophile." I'm still surprised as anyone that this actually happened. But also, like I can see it.
Agreed. Except waiting to verify things gives everyone else a huge head start on ad revenue, and that’s just unacceptable.
Weirdly, I think Trump is most constrained by the truth of this situation himself. He has to worry that he's lost control of the messaging to his base if they are the ones shooting at him. And regardless of spin, this kid was a registered Republican: Trump was shot at by one of his own base. If he labels this kid a whack job and then it comes out that the shooter's motive was Trump's alleged pedophilia....ruh roh, Shraggy. There's a lot more 'whack jobs' that believe along the same lines, and some of them might turn out to be a better shot. Imagine the scenario where the motive for this shooting is the emergence of evidence that Trump was a pedophile, engaged in pedophilia with Epstein, and spent years and millions covering it up. The same base Trump riled to the point of violence via Pizzagate now is confronted that Trump himself is guilty of this (evidence going back to before he was political, so...not just a Dem ploy, in 2012 Trump was a nobody to them), and that someone believed it enough to take this kind of a shot. I keep going back to this as a likely motive because it has all the necessary ingredients: timely evidence, wildly compelling and somewhat socially acceptable reason for violence (pedophilia), lack of other options for justice (Trump got away with it), opportunity to act (rally), and the likelihood of Trump's victory meaning a pedophile would actually be in the White House....it makes all the other shit far more terrifying (Project 2025's handmaid's tale feels wildly different if you acknowledge it puts younger and younger women at risk of sexual predation and desperation). There's a very real scenario where the shooter believed he'd be seen as heroic for eliminating a pedophile from the highest position in our society. The safest bet is Trump labels the kid a Dem plant or antifa or whatever. "This poor kid believed the lies the left spread about me, and it led him to ruin." This is risky based on the kid's bona fides, and what leaks about the shooter's social media. Like, it's hard to label a registered Republican, sporting 2A swag a Dem plant, and Trump runs the risk of something more salacious emerging. The conspiracy theorist in me gets more attuned the less they actually find. The kid had some sort of an online presence, but the less clarity that emerges, the more it appears he just covered his tracks well. Ie, he deletes all his shit before he goes to that rally, and he scrubs his devices, etc. The idea that this all emerges as some sort of wash feels impossible: the investigation will turn up some indicators and counter indicators, but a tipping point will be found and established. If it turns out the shooter's motive was he believed Trump is a pedophile...holy fuck. That would shatter Trump's base, if for no other reason than the act of taking the shot gives these allegations more credibility to Trump's base than any legal proceeding or political witch hunt ever could. If Trump labelled him a Dem plant and THEN that emerges as the motive....you'd have pretty large swaths of his base now feeling like they'd been conned into supporting a pedophile for years, and some of them had lives ruined due to their fervent support....
CNN article about his background. I would be very curious to see his youtube history/subscriptions, like I posted about with the DemoRanch connection. Beyond that, I'm willing to write this off as basically the same deal as the LV shooter. Some breadcrumbs, but nothing substantial. In the end you can't explain an inherently illogical act with logic and reasoning.