Dancing to the Oldies ✡️🌻✡️🌻✡️

1968 Redux: It’s sad to say but the only thing surprising about this weekend’s shooting of one of the presidential candidates is that something like it didn’t happen sooner because when guns, divisiveness, hate, and disturbed disaffected young men are mixed together bad things happen. It’s hard to miss the irony that the target of the shooting this time around was the one who has repeatedly called for retribution against his opponents, who says that he’ll pardon those who attacked the Capitol and the Capitol police, who calls migrants vermin, who’s been known to encourage police to bash heads into squad car doors, who repeatedly demeaned Paul Pelosi after he was viciously attacked, and who called Kyle Rittenhouse who shot and killed two people a “nice young man” when he hosted him at his Florida home.  Moreover, because the times are truly nutzoid, Trump, the target of this weekend’s shooting is likely to rise in the polls because even though he was targeted by a young Republican with one of those fun semi-automatic weapons that his party is all in on, he pumped his fist so all’s good.  Biden and the Democratic down ballot candidates are likely to bear the brunt of heel spur Trump’s faux heroism even though Biden did what presidents are supposed to do this weekend, he used his bully pulpit to try to ratchet down the country’s temperature and unite the country as if that’s even possible. For his part, Trump, who beyond some mono syllabic social postings, hasn’t said much since the shooting, is reported to be having his Republican convention speech retooled, maybe lifting its expected dark tone while eliminating calls for retribution and the like, or then again maybe not because he still relies a lot on Stephen Miller whose speech writing skills are limited to doom and destruction.  And as Republicans and lots of Democrats have pointed out, Biden, while only three years older is old. Although this weekend’s events appear to have, at least for the moment, distracted attention from the age issue and Bernie Sanders, another old guy who’s had it with ageism weighed in on Biden’s behalf in a NY Times op-ed, the issue remains.  

Red v Blue:  To a large extent reactions to the shooting fall along party lines with far too many Republicans quick to blame Democrats for all the times they called Trump out as an evil opponent of democracy despite the fact that the description fits and still fits.  To that end VP wannabe JD Vance tied Democratic “rhetoric” directly to the “attempted assassination.” Tim Scott, who is probably no longer on the VP list but who is still trying to curry favor, weighed in saying it was Democrats “inflammatory rhetoric” putting Republicans “lives at risk.” House nut Margie Q called the Democratic party “flat out evil” claiming that “they tried to murder” Trump.  Mike Collins, another charming Republican Congressman, ramped the hate up further, alleging that it was “Biden who sent the orders to kill Trump, he also called for the Butler County, Pennsylvania District Attorney to “immediately file charges against Joseph R Biden for inciting an assassination.” Notably and not surprisingly, the party that advocates for gun ownership and sends holiday cards of their kids carrying military grade weaponry didn’t mention that the shooter, who did very sadly kill one rally attendee, Corey Comperatore, while seriously wounding two others, used an AR 15 legally purchased by his father who thought his socially backward son was just out playing with the gun. Though most of the most outrageous public comments  came from the right of the aisle, a few Democrats said some stupid things too, with a staffer to Mississippi’s Bennie Thompson getting quickly fired for posting on Facebook “better luck next time” which to be fair may be a thought that a lot of people are harboring within the recesses of their brains but that most, especially staff members of Democratic politicians, know not to publish all over social websites.  Finally, there’s the media which went all in on the shooting, running endless “special” programming all weekend because nothing rachets down hysteria better than hysterical reporting. CNN which should know better proved once again that they don’t or that they are still trying to outfox Fox by giving airtime to Republican commentator Scott Jennings who before the powder was even dry blamed Democrats for the shooting and then doubled down saying that while “Biden got the platitudes right he failed to take responsibility for the overheated condition he now says we are in.” Naturally, the Murdoch owned NY Post has a picture of a fist pumping Trump on it’s cover, that’s Trump who was heard on the open mic right after the shooting telling his Secret Service Agent to “let me get my shoes” as they whisked him off the podium.  Because doesn’t everyone take off their elevator pumps when speaking at rallies?             

May the memories of Dr. Ruth, Richard Simmons, and Shannen Dougherty be a blessing. Corey Comperatore, too.   

#BringThemAllHomeNow