Supposedly, Democrats are (generally) people of science and reason. Conspiracy theories and cultism are largely the domain of the MAGA wing of the Republican Party. That is, until a man tried to assassinate ex-president Donald Trump. I am shocked by how many of my fellow liberals and progressives have turned into conspiracy theorists. They think that the attempted assassination of Trump was a false flag; a staged event. In their minds, the whole event was political theater orchestrated by the Hollywood actor Donald Trump.
Imagine, for a moment, how many people would have to be involved in the attempted assassination for it to be a staged event. Right up there with fake moon landings and a flat earth. Do you realize how absurd such thinking is?
Please stop. There’s enough crazy in the world without adding to it.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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Supposedly, Democrats are people of science and reason.
I would never suppose that.
Yes, people of science and reason tend to support the Democrats. But the reverse is surely false.
I have come across a few democrats who have wondered whether it might have been a false flag operation. But none of them were seriously committed to that view.
I have seen more than a few Democrats on social media claiming the assassination was staged.
Me too Bruce but that preposterous idea is not just out of ignorance. It’s wishful thinking in the face of despair. I personally wish I could conjure more optimism but the adoring Trump cult has me questioning my own perceptions. I’m so skeptical of Trump, I doubt him if he says good morning, yet, I examine his mendacious rants for any scrap of credibility. Cultism is apparently contagious.
I will admit that it crossed my mind for a second. Then I reined myself in, reminded myself that it’s important to seek credible information about the event, and not jump to conclusions. Facts as we have them now show that a 20-year-old guy is responsible and acted alone. Period.
One only needs to look back at people like Hinckley and Chapman to see this was no conspiracy or political act. There are always weak and powerless men who see acts like this as their way to gain power and notoriety. Look at the profiles of so many mass shooters as well. Our society, particularly the right wing, makes this so much easier by placing weapons of war in their hands.
I share your frustration. I assume Bruce knows (but others might not) my town had a school shooting in 2021 (Ethan Crumbley). What struck me is how much Crumbley and Crooks had in common. Social ciphers with zero friends and bullied for their looks or dress. I think people are putting way too much energy into making it anything more than just another mass shooting by a marginalized loser. This happens with great regularity, possibly every few days in the United States. I actually don’t think Crooks would have cared who he took out, but Trump made it easier because his outdoor rallies are a bit more difficult to secure and he does a lot of them.
I notice the bullying continues, by putting up a picture of this kid and implying that he was too stupid to pull off what he did (based partly on his awkward looks and partly on his youth) vs. the vast intelligence of the secret service. While there should be an investigation, I don’t think there is anything beyond what it looks like. It wasn’t staged, Trump really did get hit, etc.
I thought I’d add to my comment that I saw on the news, that the analysis of Crook’s phone showed that he had looked up Ethan Crumbley.
I don’t think it was staged. The Los Angeles Times had an article a day or two ago laying out what they think happened, which might graciously be called a miscommunication issue between the Secret Service and local law enforcement about who was going to monitor that roof. Less graciously, the Secret Service did not “measure twice cut once” in being certain of the arrangements. Even less graciously, since this was the Secret Service’s job to make sure everything was covered, they just plain [expletive]-ed up. Heads will undoubtedly roll.
I will confess that the false flag idea did cross my mind. Perhaps this is my cynicism with US politics, but a large part of me would not be surprised if it did prove true. However, you are right that it would be extremely difficult to coordinate, and if such a plot were discovered, it would surely end Trump, so it would not make sense for him to take such a risk.
On the one hand we have the extreme accusation that this was a false flag shooting by the Trump organization.
On the other hand, we have the accusations that the whole operation was a Secret Service plot to kill Trump. (e.g. https://peakprosperity.com/beyond-incompetence-the-shooters-the-water-tower/)
People are claiming there were two shooters and that police inside the building fired some of the shots. (e.g. https://peakprosperity.com/audio-analysis-is-100-clear-trump-crowd-were-shot-at-by-two-separate-people/).
Stay tuned. This is going to get very controversial.
I’ll admit that the “false flag” thought crossed my mind. After all, almost everything about Trump is theater—bad theater, but theater nonetheless.
I also have to admit that when the shooter’s identity was revealed, I thought “loser.” But then I realized that at his age, I was more like him than I would have admitted.
Ironically, he may have shot at Trump for exactly the same reason he could’ve become a MAGA Republican or an Evangelical Christian (as I was): He was a white male who was a social outcast who probably saw no future for himself.
The reason why Thomas Matthew Crooks didn’t kill Trump is—again, ironically—that while Trump’s allies have helped to make it too easy for folks like Crooks to get their hands on military-style weapons , they’ve done nothing to encourage people like him to learn how to actually use them—or about tactics involved with using them. As one retired sniper pointed out, Crooks was in the most obvious place—a rooftop. That meant he wasn’t hard to find after he fired his gun. Also, he probably had no idea of how to aim.
Instead of debating whether providence or the Secret Service “saved” Donald Trump, we should mourn the firefighter who lost his life—and whose widow won’t accept a condolence call from President Biden.
@velovixen
While the shooter made several mistakes (really he should have been picked up before he was able to fire a shot) his aim was pretty good. From 150 yards the difference in aim for the one inch needed to lobotomize Trump is miniscule. In addition Trump moved his head just before being struck, so his aim was dead on for at least one shot. (Another mistake he made is that experts recommend to aim at the body. )
It reminds me of one of the problems with “kids”/adolescents: Sometimes their behavior isn’t rational. Secret service (and limited to the reduced detail of an ex-President) is mostly assuming rational actors.