As I write, the information in the public domain regarding the perpetrator is still sparse. The shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed shortly after firing his lethal shots. The public is therefore left to speculate about his motives.
However, what we do not need to speculate about is the climate created and cultivated by Donald Trump’s political enemies. America is polarized, toxic, and politically close to a breaking point in part because the country’s liberal political, cultural, and media elite never accepted Trump’s legitimacy as the country’s president. //
For years they have proclaimed Trump to be a danger to democracy and demonized his voters as witting or unwitting fascists. The May 16 edition of the once-revered New Republic depicted Trump as Hitler on its front cover.
“We chose the cover image, based on a well-known 1932 Hitler campaign poster,” wrote editor Michael Tomasky, “for a precise reason: that anyone transported back to 1932 Germany could very, very easily have explained away Herr Hitler’s excesses and been persuaded that his critics were going overboard. … But he and his people vowed all along that they would use the tools of democracy to destroy it.” Trump, argued Tomasky, was “damn close enough” to being an American Hitler, “and we’d better fight.”
The argument that Trump posed a Hitler-level threat to American democracy can be traced back to the first outbreak of Trump Derangement Syndrome among left-leaning journalists in 2016. What made the argument so malignant was that it justified using all means possible to disrupt Trump’s presidency and to prevent his re-election. //
The Democratic Party is in a mess today because they failed to do what a losing party in a major democracy is supposed to after it loses an election: conduct a thorough autopsy and get to the bottom of all the factors that lead to its defeat. That is supposed to be the main point of the years in opposition—to figure out what went wrong and come back equipped with insight, resources, and policy proposals to attract the voters.
Instead, after 2016, the Democrats invested their money, time, energy, and media ties into an effort to trash Trump’s presidency and thwart his bid for a second term. It seemed to work. They won the 2020 election.
But after 2020 the Democrats did not settle down to govern and bring a divided nation together. Under the stewardship of an elderly and superficially moderate president, they continued to wage rhetorical and legal jihad against former president Trump.
yaan Hirsi Ali
@Ayaan
The argument that Trump posed a Hitler-level threat to American democracy can be traced back to the first outbreak of Trump Derangement Syndrome among left-leaning journalists in 2016. What made the argument so malignant was that it justified using all means possible to disrupt Trump’s presidency and to prevent his re-election. We should not be surprised, then, at what happened yesterday. It was the inevitable result of years of vitriolic,
Sara Rose 🇺🇸🌹 @saras76
·
Montage of democrats calling for violence and unrest.
Never forget.
8:31 AM · Jul 14, 2024
Now zoom out and think about the genocidal language of the last couple of years, that has been introduced, spun up, amplified, in our formerly more civil discourse. Pro-vaxxers wanted anti-vaxxers dead. Anti-vaxxers have made snide remarks about the deaths of the vaccinated. Pro-Palestinian protesters have cried, “Death to America” and “Death to Jews.” Pro-Israeli voices have called for the eradication — even “liquidation” — of Gaza and Gazans.
And on, and on.
My friend was telling me about the Pride parade in San Francisco this year —....
I wondered — as Candace Owens had done, I hope not as ignorantly — Why? Why devote this kind of energy - which is not needed, to support LGBTQ legal rights — to offending or degrading or corrupting public space, and affecting children?
Then I remembered something a mentor of mine had explained to me. He is involved with the Chabad movement, and many of the Rabbis expect the Messiah to appear (or appear again) soon.
My mentor is eager to see a world in which both Jews and non-Jews know about and follow the seven Noahide commandments. In the views of many Chabad religionists, it is only when humans align with God by living moral lives, that we prepare for and even “bring down” to earth, Mashiach, the Messiah. (In his view it does not matter if we call it a Christian or a Jewish Messiah; it is the same time of, act of, redemption, and the same establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven).
In this worldview, we had all better start getting ready, because Mashiach is due to arrive in the next few years.
“The dark forces know that their time is almost up,” he explained. “And so they want to get people to break every commandment — to do every evil deed — because only by doing so, does that delay the arrival of the Mashiach.”
Susan Crabtree @susancrabtree
·
This is the problem that my Secret Sources have cited: Secret Services resources were diverted to Jill Biden's event and away from Trump's because they followed agency protocol applying to Trump as a former president, according to two sources within the Secret Service community.… Show more
Last edited 5:54 PM · Jul 14, 2024
Susan Crabtree @susancrabtree
·
Replying to @susancrabtree
🚨New info from a source in the Secret Service community — Trump’s usual protective Secret Service detail was worked so hard (working 7 days a week with no days off) that many of agents assigned Saturday were temporary replacements from different field offices.
This is not the… Show more
2:11 PM · Jul 14, 2024
Susan Crabtree
@susancrabtree
·
Follow
Replying to @susancrabtree
🚨 (cont.) "I’m told the only permanent agent from trump’s detail during the rally was SAIC (Special Agent In Charge) Kern, two sources within the Secret Service community told me. All others were temps," Crabtree reported. Pittsburgh "USSS Field Office had a Jill Biden visit and designated a lot of resources to her, the source said. Also - the advance work only occurred one-day beforehand bc of a lack of resources."
Where were the resources? The Pittsburgh USSS Field Office had a Jill Biden visit and designated a lot of resources to her. “That is f—-ing unbelievable to me,” the source remarked.
2:33 PM · Jul 14, 2024
Another Secret Service source says approval for the Counter Sniper Team was only granted the day before the rally - and that is not enough time for a two-man team to do their survey. That’s nowhere near enough time - a site like that should have had at least three Secret Service counter-sniper teams at the very least.”. //
Anthony Guglielmi @SecretSvcSpox
·
Theres an untrue assertion that a member of the former President’s team requested additional security resources & that those were rebuffed. This is absolutely false. In fact, we added protective resources & technology & capabilities as part of the increased campaign travel tempo
7:38 AM · Jul 14, 2024
Dan Bongino @dbongino
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Replying to @SecretSvcSpox
Resign today.
7:49 AM · Jul 14, 2024
Byron York @ByronYork
·
It's a huge day in politics and MSNBC has pulled 'Morning Joe' off the air. They're apparently worried the MJ crew might say something 'inappropriate' about the Trump assassination attempt. From CNN: https://cnn.com/2024/07/14/media/msnbc-morning-joe-pulled-trump-assassination/index.html
7:36 AM · Jul 15, 2024
"The Superseding Indictment is DISMISSED because Special Counsel Smith’s appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution," her order states. "Special Counsel Smith’s use of a permanent indefinite appropriation also violates the Appropriations Clause [...] but the Court need not address proper remedy for that funding violation given the dismissal on Appointments Clause grounds. The effect of this Order is confined to this proceeding." //
"The bottom line is this," she wrote. "The Appointments Clause is a critical constitutional restriction stemming from the separation of powers, and it gives to Congress a considered role in determining the propriety of vesting appointment power for inferior officers. The Special Counsel’s position effectively usurps that important legislative authority, transferring it to a Head of Department, in the process threatening the structural liberty inherent in the separation of powers. If the political branches wish to grant the Attorney General power to appoint Special Counsel Smith to investigateand prosecute this action with the full powers of a United States Attorney, there is a valid means by which to do so. He can be appointed and confirmed through the default method prescribed in the Appointments Clause, as Congress has directed for United States Attorneys throughout American history, see 28 U.S.C. § 541, or Congress can authorize his appointment through enactment of positive statutory law consistent with the Appointments Clause."
According to NBC News, the replacement campaign has lost steam not because Democrats think the president can seize a moment of unity, but because they think the race is now over.
Mehlhorn went on to characterize the attack as “a classic Putin play,” and claimed that this theory is “more plausible” than the notion that a deranged individual actually tried to murder Trump.
But wait, it gets even more bizarre. Mehlhorn then expresses outrage that major media outlets and influencers are not peddling this narrative. “I skimmed a few headlines just now. NOT ONE NEWSPAPER OR OPINION LEADER IN AMERICA IS WILLING TO OPENLY CONSIDER THE POSSIBILITY THAT TRUMP ANND PUTIN STAGED THIS ON PURPOSE,” he wrote: //
The other possibility – which feels horrific and alien and absurd in America, but is quite common globally – is that this “shooting” was encouraged and maybe even staged so Trump could get the photos and benefit from the backlash. //
I don’t believe for a second that folks like Mehlhorn actually believe that Saturday’s shooting was somehow staged. The entire theory makes no sense.
One person actually died in the attack. Two others were wounded. Moreover, the shooter missed his mark, only grazing Trump’s ear. Anyone who believes that some 20-year-old could pull that off on purpose has been watching far too many movies.
At this point, it makes no sense to pretend the assassination attempt was a false flag – and folks on the left know it. They are entertaining this fantasy for two reasons: They don’t want to admit there are people in their camp that could carry out such an act and they know the failed attempt to murder Trump will only help his campaign. These people are motivated purely by politics.
Aftermath: There's Little Point in Replacing Joe Biden on the Dem Presidential Ticket Now – RedState
The effort to replace President Biden as the Democratic Party's 2024 nominee has lost all momentum and is essentially "over" following the assassination attempt against former President Trump, allies of the president say, according to a new report. //
As I wrote shortly after the event, this is the image that changed everything. This couldn't be more powerful if it had been deliberate, planned, and posed: Trump, bloodied but defiant, fist raised, calling out to the crowd. The American flag behind him, seemingly upside-down, which is a sign of a nation in distress. The Secret Service agents formed a wall of bodies around the former president to take a bullet for him if necessary. This, folks, is Pulitzer Prize-level photography. And this image, an image of defiance in the face of an attempted assassination, couldn't present a more stark contrast when set alongside tired, pale, befuddled old Joe Biden. //
They should concentrate on team-building, on finding candidates that have appeal beyond the urban cohorts, the coastal elites, and the radical left "progressives."
Maybe they could even take their party back to something Harry Truman would recognize. //
Steprock
9 hours ago
Look at your president, now look at mine.
Your president is a befuddled old man.
Mine is a heroic champion.
If it looks posed, that's because lesser people wish they had the power and nerve of my president. //
tanner
10 hours ago
I thought it was incredibly heroic of Trump to signal to the crowd that he was ok, like a father to a child. Then I realized he was being a father, husband first, letting his family know he was ok. //
Jennifer Van Laar tanner
9 hours ago
Same. I was watching the coverage with RedState writer Brittany Sheehan and we had tears in our eyes, thinking that. How selfless, and in a moment like that it was an instinctive reaction and not scripted. It showed who he is. //
Steve351C
10 hours ago
I don't mean any disrespect to our WW II veterans, but that picture at the top has a "Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima" feel. It's definitely an iconic image that I would like to have on a T-shirt. No words, just the picture.
Steve Guest @SteveGuest
·
Joe Biden on 7.8.2024: "We’re done talking about the debate, it’s time to put Trump in a bullseye."
6:43 PM · Jul 13, 2024 //
Jeremy Kauffman 🦔 @jeremykauffman
·
FLASHBACK: when Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot in 2011, it was a widespread and mainstream story that Sarah Palin was to blame because she put crosshairs on a map
8:39 PM · Jul 13, 2024 //
Yet, here's USA Today's take when it applies to the language of Joe Biden. They even used the classic "Republicans pounced."
Republicans pounced on Biden's remarks after the shooting, even though there is no evidence tying those comments to the attack on Trump or the shooter's motivation. //
The bullseye comment is not just "one (bad night) comment' -- the problem is how Biden and the left have continually targeted Trump as the devil, Hitler, not worthy of respect or being treated like a normal opponent, dehumanizing him, calling him an existential "threat to democracy." //
anon-055q
6 hours ago
"It's time to put Trump in a bullseye." - Joe Biden
"Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest?"
Corey Comperatore, 50, who served as the fire chief for Buffalo Township, was shot and killed by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, at the rally, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday. //
He was the best dad a girl could ever ask for. My sister and I never needed for anything. You call, he would answer, and he would do whatever it is you needed, and if he didn't know he would figure out how. He could talk and make friends with anyone, which he was doing all day yesterday and loved every minute of it. //
Allyson also wrote about her dad's faith: "He was a man of God, loved Jesus, and also looked after our church and members as family." //
The media will not tell you that he died a real-life super hero. They are not going to tell you how quickly he threw mom and I to the ground. They are not going to tell you that he shielded my body from the bullet that came at us.
He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us. And I want nothing more than to cry on him and tell him thank you. I want nothing more than to wake up and for this to not be reality for me and my family.
GBenton
5 hours ago edited
Why do we assume they screwed up? Far as I'm concerned, an error like that should be considered planned until proven otherwise. No one is that stupid, no operation is that sloppy. The roof was left unguarded and the shooter knew that would be the case or he wouldn't have been there.
Occam's Razor, this was intentional.
Online leftists are saying the screw up was the shooter missed.
Believe them.
Not giving these monsters the benefit of the doubt with "incompetence" when the week before Biden said it was time to put a a bullseye on Trump.
When they tell you who they are, believe them. //
JWAmerican Snowblind
5 hours ago
Leaving an elevated platform within easy rifle range is willful malice, not stupidity. Like he said, when they tell you who they are, believe them. //
The Original John Doe Snowblind
4 hours ago
"Never assume malice where simple stupidity will suffice."
NO! When dealing with evil always assume to worst most twisted thing you can think of. Then reality will reveal it was even more twisted.
Most conservatives, are too loving, caring and moral to comprehend pure evil that has zero ounces of love, care or morality at any time. Not even simply stupidity explains how a gunman got inside the secret service perimeter which should have extended well BEYOND the building the shooter was on top of. //
GBenton BeeInMyBonnet
5 hours ago
I have no idea but that's what it looks like. The top of the USS denied requested increases in protection. Biden said put a bullseye on him. The counter sniper was looking in the exact direction of the shooter and didn't have to move to fire. So it's possible the roof was left open, the counter sniper was looking somewhere else and ignored the obvious elevated position, and the police decided an eye witness pointing to a man on the roof wasn't worth exploring all by coincidence, but I think that sounds unbelievable.
How would that shooter have known the roof would be unguarded? Why would USS leadership be more incompetent than a toddler and not post anyone on that rooftop or at least scan it constantly with the counter sniper team?
I don't know. Is it possible a large collection of people were all that incompetent OR it was a plan to take Trump out and take out the shooter so he couldn't talk.
Which is more believable? //
GBenton BeeInMyBonnet
4 hours ago
My guess is the plan came from the top and those at the ground level were deceived or mislead somehow. I too don't believe everyone on the ground was involved. But if the security plan had a hole and the regime had a patsy, then maybe that's how this happened.
I don't believe everyone there was corrupt. I also don't believe the ones who drew up the security plan were all incompetent and stupid.
This window of opportunity was filled with a disposable shooter and to quote Biden, the idea that was an accident is hard to believe. Too many people had to be absolute morons for that to be true.
smagar
2 hours ago
I am seeing, in today's coverage on TV and online, this theme emerging that "both sides do it, so both sides need to tone down their language."
Did any crazy Republican shoot up the Democrat Congressional baseball team?
Did any crazy Republican tackle a Democrat Senator and break his ribs?
Did any Republican Senate leader threaten SCOTUS justices, as Chuck Schumer did?
Did any Republican Congressional leader urge his/her supporters to find Democrat legislators in public and harass them, as Maxine Waters did.
Did any Republican lead political operative volunteer to do "wetwork" (rhetorically, of course) against Joe Biden, as James Carville offered to do against Donald Trump?
Did any Republican-run cities allow Antifa and anti-Israel protesters to run wild?
If Republican leaders, by their silence, acquiesce as the left builds a public perception that both sides do it, then the public will conclude that both sides really do do it, so both sides are equally guilty.
Based on what I know so far, I reject that. IMO we should, too.
With unwavering love for her husband and her country, Melania Trump set a shining example of strength, resolve, and love with these powerful words:
I am thinking of you, now, my fellow Americans.
We have always been a unique union. America, the fabric of our gentle nation is tattered, but our courage and common sense must ascend and bring us back together as one.
When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life were on the brink of devastating change. I am grateful to the brave secret service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband.
To the families of the innocent victims who are now suffering from this heinous act, I humbly offer my sincerest sympathy. Your need to summon your strength for such a terrible reason saddens me.
...
We are all humans, and fundamentally, instinctively, we want to help one another. American politics are only one vehicle that can uplift our communities. Love, compassion, kindness and empathy are necessities.
And let us remember that when the time comes to look beyond the left and the right, beyond the red and the blue, we all come from families with the passion to fight for a better life together, while we are here, in this earthly realm.
Dawn is here again. Let us reunite. Now.
This morning, ascend above the hate, the vitriol, and the simple-minded ideas that ignite violence. We all want to world where respect is paramount, family is first, and love transcends. We can realize this world again. Each of us must demand to get it back. We must insist that respect fills the cornerstone of our relationships, again.
I am thinking of you, my fellow Americans.
The winds of change have arrived. For those of you who cry in support, I thank you. I commend those of you who have reached out beyond the political divide – thank you for remembering that every single politician is a man or woman with a loving family.
jester6
a few seconds ago
To me, the most disguising feature of people on the left is that they do not understand human nature, especially when it comes to violence and reciprocity.
They think violence is just an antiseptic theoretical concept. They treat it like an idea or theory you would toss around in a classroom or dope-infused bull session in a dorm room. They seem to believe violence is something you can experiment with and then turn off with just a few words.
They also never consider the fact that humans are hardwired to be reciprocal. If someone gives us a gift, we are more likely to give a gift in return. If someone wrongs us, we are more likely to wrong them back.
If you read the history of any major conflict, you will find that almost everyone starts with one or both sides, making fundamental mistakes when assessing their opponents.
I am certain if we ever stumble into a civil war, the left's poor understanding of human nature will be a major cause.
Sean Davis @seanmdav
·
BREAKING: A source familiar with Trump’s security detail tells @FDRLST that the former and future president’s detail has been asking for beefed up protection and resources for weeks, but has been rebuffed time and again by Biden’s DHS.
DHS, which oversees Secret Service… Show more
8:10 PM · Jul 13, 2024
The first chapter of Kevin Costner’s new Western epic has a lot more to offer than its critical and financial woes suggest.
On Saturday, legal scholar and writer Jonathan Turley laid out the details of a House Judiciary report detailing the efforts of several shadowy organizations to censor right-leaning content on various social media platforms, and those efforts are an affront to anyone who understands the concept of free speech.
Few Americans have ever heard of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, let alone understand how it shapes what they read and hear in news and commentary. That may soon change.
An alarming new report of the House Judiciary Committee details this organization’s work to censor conservative and opposing viewpoints in the media by targeting figures such as Joe Rogan and entire social media platforms such as X (formerly Twitter).
It is part of a massive censorship system that a federal court recently described as “Orwellian.” The sophistication of this system makes authoritarian regimes like China’s and Iran’s look like mere amateurs in censorship and blacklisting. //
One of the most insidious efforts has been to strangle the financial life out of conservative or libertarian sites by targeting their donors and advertisers. This is where the left has excelled beyond anything that has come before in speech crackdowns.
This is dangerous. This is using the weight of government to suppress free speech. This isn't about policies made in a vacuum by these social media companies. This is about government actors, as Mr. Turley notes, including the president down to unnamed members of his administration and, we feel certain, members of Congress in effect using these organizations to lean on the social media companies. They are targeting the platform's income streams - advertising - and they are succeeding at it. //
Dutch Letter
3 hours ago
“To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness, without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical (imaginary) idea.” - James Madison
We are no longer a virtuous people and we no longer elect virtuous representatives. We vote for who is the lesser of two evils in every contest, and we do not protest but on assigned days when voting is allowed. We have become complicit actors in our own doom.
Of course, we commiserate, and complain to each other, yet closer to the abyss we creep.
The CEO of Germany's leading defense industry corporation escaped assassination by Russian operatives earlier this year thanks to the timely cooperation and information sharing between the United States and Germany. Armin Papperger, the head of the massive Rheinmetall conglomerate, was targeted for death by Russia because of his company's central role in arming and supplying Ukraine.
According to reports, US intelligence uncovered the plot and enabled German counterintelligence and security forces to put Papperger under close protection. The missing part of this story is the German GSG9 hauling the Russian assets off to prison. The assassination operatives and planners are still at large.
This episode is not a one-off. It is part of a campaign of hybrid warfare that is being actively waged against the West by Russia as part of its campaign to eradicate Ukraine.
Hybrid warfare involves blending kinetic and non-kinetic actions to exploit an enemy's weaknesses without crossing the line between peace and war. //
In the current case, Russia wants to keep NATO off balance and damage critical assets, but it doesn't want to tickle that fine line between painful annoyance and an Article 5 consultation.
There are two main characteristics of hybrid warfare. First, the level of violence must fall below the threshold the adversary would consider an attack requiring military response. Second, the source of the attack must remain ambiguous and difficult to definitively attribute to a foreign actor. These two factors make it difficult for a state to develop a coherent response to various lines of attack.
For the past months, the Russian OPTEMPO of hybrid operations in Germany has accelerated: //
Natasha Bertrand @NatashaBertrand
·
A senior NATO official said today that Russia's sabotage campaign across Europe is a "more concerted, more aggressive effort, than what we’ve seen certainly since the Cold War...we’re seeing sabotage, assassination plots, arson — real things that have cost human lives.”
1:46 PM · Jul 9, 2024. //
Per-Erik Schulze @PerErikSchulze
·
Nothing to see here. Just perfectly normal russian bottom trawling back and forth repeatedly just on top of the main fiber optic internet cable between Svalbard and the Norwegian mainland. From NRK.
4:29 PM · May 26, 2024. //
All of these are examples of hostile action from Russia becoming gradually normalised because nobody is willing or able to deal with it. In this way, Russia pushes the boundaries of what is acceptable, or at least accepted, by doing something that should be outrageous, and then doing it more when there is no response from the West. //
Russia is engaged in a very aggressive hybrid war against Europe that includes propaganda, economic attacks, cyberwarfare, and kinetic operations on the ground. That war's objectives are to increase internal divisions in European countries, damage their economies, and weaken their resolve to resist Russian demands.
In the case of Estonia, Russia is amplifying a border dispute so that it can become a plausible potential casus belli. As I've pointed out before, Estonia is a particularly tempting target for Putin because it is about 24 percent ethnic Russian. If Putin can successfully encroach on Estonia without consequences, NATO will become very unstable. See How Putin Dismembers NATO Without Firing A Shot: A Scenario From the Cold War for more details.
Europe is treating these attacks as individual data points and not as a coherent Russian destabilization campaign. As long as that goes on, Russia is winning this hybrid war, and it has no reason to stop.