Sunday midmorning I was transfixed by CNN’s veritable loop of the minute or so when Trump was shot at and bloodily nicked in the right ear. He ducked and disappeared under secret service peeps until the coast was declared clear. But there was no rushing him off the stage to safety, oh no, first he had to “get his shoes” — I knew then that he was fine — and next he took a BIG MOMENT to stand tall in the embrace of secretservice and to raise his right fist sabay sigaw ng FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! to an ecstatic MAGA crowd. WHAT.A.SHOW.
Was it staged, as many are saying on social media, or was it the real McCoy, a failed assassination attempt? Easy to speculate and imagine behind-the-scenes conspiracy scripts of all kinds, from all sides, but first let’s hear it from the FBI. And maybe the CIA?
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The Mass Psychology of Trumpism
In the minds of his most ardent supporters, the ex-president is both more and less than a person
By Dan P. McAdams
ALEX MAGNO: “VICIOUS”
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2024/07/16/2370448/vicious
In the immediate aftermath of this horror that saw Trump sightly wounded, the assassin and a spectator killed and two other critically wounded, both parties are engrossed blaming each other for the outbreak of political violence. The shooter has been identified as a 20-year-old nursing aide wielding an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. He is a registered Republican.
…There are calls for inquiries into the failings of the Secret Service platoon assigned to physically protect Trump. All the video evidence suggests numerous lapses, the most important of which is the failure to stop a man with a rifle perched on a rooftop with clear line-of-sight to the stage where Trump stood.
…Trump bears an inordinate share of responsibility for poisoning American political discourse. In Trump’s version of political contestation, respect plays no role. He built a constituency on the basis of exaggerated grievance. He habitually caricatures his political rivals and, recently, seemed to be threatening partisan violence should he lose next November’s elections.
Recall that Trump did call out his most fanatical followers to assault the US Capitol in order to overturn the results of the last elections. In the process, he unleashed a lynching mob on his own vice president who refused to play along with what was in fact a coup attempt. Trump faces charges relating to the Jan. 6 riots.
Completely unversed in the nuances of the policy questions of the day, Trump has mounted an electoral campaign driven by vilification and fueled by lies. This is a campaign abetted by the obscurantism of Christian nationalists and the menacing marches of armed right-wing militia groups. His campaign commissioned an extremely conservative think-tank to produce what is called Plan 2025, a truly disturbing program for replacing democracy with fascism.
In the face of adverse public reaction to Plan 2025, Trump tried to distance himself from it. But the manifesto was put together by dozens of individuals closely associated with Trump. It essentially puts into programatic form the policy implications of all the things Trump has uttered during his public rallies…
TONY LOPEZ: “The shooting of Donald Trump”
https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2024/07/16/2370442/shooting-donald-trump-pesky-phl-inflation-problem
It’s an image that will forever be etched in the memory of millions of Americans, one that could possibly catapult Trump into the presidency again and change the course of the history of the greatest nation on earth – for good, or perhaps, for the incredible tragedy of many around the world. Bullets, not ballots, would define America’s destiny. Sad.
Trump survived the assassination attempt. Or an act of domestic terrorism. A spectator was killed in his rally. Two others were critically wounded. His shooter, a lone wolf gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a student said to be strong in math and science in high school and at the time of his deadly act working as nursing home employee.
Crooks was killed by Secret Service snipers. Perched on a rooftop about 350 meters away from Trump’s rally site, using an Ar-15 rifle, the suspect had fired up to eight shots, a number missing the former president by a hairline, except for the bullet that pierced his right ear….
PAUL KRUGMAN: “Don’t Lose Sight of Project 2025. That’s the Real Trump.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/opinion/trump-project-2025.html
LITO MONICO LORENZANA. “What if Trump wins?”
‘Aftermath: Project 2025’
On the day President Trump seizes control of a divided government, he signs hundreds of executive orders (EO) implementing P25. One calls for the replacement of 50,000 civil servants by hardline MAGA loyalists. Trump, promising retribution, orders his newly manned justice department to arrest the Jan. 6, 2020 Commission members who conducted and caused the incarceration of his cohorts in the Capitol attack. Current and former Department of Justice employees perceived to be his political opponents will be apprehended for treason and election interference conspiracy. He declares all these as official acts — counting on the protection of the Supreme Court based on their recent doctrine of total immunity for official acts of the presidency.
By EO, he ends birthright citizenship. This is one of the cornerstones of the diverse cultural infusion by immigrants, enriching America’s cultural heritage. US citizenship is acquired in two situations: by virtue of a person’s birth within US territory or because at least one of the parents was a US citizen at the time of the person’s birth. Under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, this principle, jus soli, is enshrined.
By EO, he ends birthright citizenship. This is one of the cornerstones of the diverse cultural infusion by immigrants, enriching America’s cultural heritage. US citizenship is acquired in two situations: by virtue of a person’s birth within US territory or because at least one of the parents was a US citizen at the time of the person’s birth. Under the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution, this principle, jus soli, is enshrined….
https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/07/17/opinion/columns/what-if-trump-wins/1957744
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