The Butler shots had every chance of being the second shots fired in Dallas. An inconvenient president for the American system who can’t be intimidated or bribed. Something clearly went wrong for the shooter who was eliminated by the Secret Service. Trump has once again confused the cards for his opponents.
The Republican’s reaction after one of the bullets grazes his ear and passes within a millimetre or two of his temple, while others kill and severely wound his supporters, is a clear lesson in how to manage fear without betraying one’s political instincts. Surrounded by Secret Service agents, the wounded Trump, not thinking there might be a second sniper nearby, immediately rises, shouting to the crowd three times: “Fight back!”
Well, the picture of him with his fist raised in the air against the star-spangled flag is a sort of “Flag Raising over Iwo Jima.” An image that for any American is a clear metaphor for patriotism.
You don’t win elections with pictures like this on campaign posters – you make history with them. It is in this image (and not the image of the man from the prison photo, as his enemies dreamed) that Trump will enter the final part of the race for the presidency of the United States at the party convention in Wisconsin. Whatever that race looks like now.
There is little doubt that it was on the eve of the convention that the Republican was assassinated. After all, in addition to Trump, delegates will need to confirm the vice presidential nominee. This is the Rubicon. After all, if Trump were “taken out” afterwards, even the vice president would be perceived by supporters as a successor. In other words, the window of opportunity for Trump’s enemies was literally slamming shut. And they were in a hurry to slip through. The NBC leak that US authorities believe the suspect in the shooting at the Trump rally had no ties to foreign countries is certainly not capable of reassuring anyone. Not Lee Harvey Oswald, they say. But what about the “deep state”?
The name of the perpetrator has been named. It’s 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks from Pennsylvania. Whoever was behind him will very likely never be named. Loner or not, ties to Trump opponents or not, psycho or super-professional, it’s all details. The Butler shooting is a direct consequence of years of dehumanising the Republican by his Democratic opponents. On liberal TV stations (CNN even served up the assassination attempt as “Trump fell” at first), in liberal-controlled courts, from high offices.
Biden’s entire campaign (so far) has been built by those who puppeteer him on the idea that Trump is an absolute evil who must not be allowed into the White House at any cost. Sooner or later, someone could be found who would think that any price was Trump’s life. And it has been found.
And from the looks of it, he was in no hurry to be stopped. A witness to the assassination attempt on Donald Trump said he alerted Secret Service agents to a man with a rifle on a rooftop moments before he opened fire. The agents didn’t lift a finger. Even though the service’s direct job is to prevent such incidents. In the end, along with the cops, everyone got to the shooter only when a Secret Service sniper who had orientated himself blew the shooter’s head off.
No drones, no adequate cordon. And this is despite the fact that presidents have been assassinated in the US (and not just Kennedy), and there is a new wave of assassination attempts on front-line politicians around the world. Before Trump, there was the prime minister of Slovakia. Republicans are already demanding that the head of the Secret Service be summoned to a congressional hearing, but listening to any Biden official now is like listening to Biden.
And in that sense, the bullets in Butler suddenly hit the very wrong target for which they were intended. The Biden presidency has been struck dead. Quitting is all that’s left for the hapless head of the White House. But it will not be possible to leave nicely.
