By David K. Shipler
The
bullet just grazed Donald Trump, but it struck the heart of America.
At a moment of critical care for a
suffering democracy, the assassination attempt last night in Pennsylvania
further weakens the stamina of an ailing culture of pluralistic politics. It adds
toxins to the chemistry of the country. It has already provoked blame rather
than introspection. Instead of strengthening Americans’ bonds of common
citizenship, as the assassination of President John F. Kennedy did sixty years
ago, this near miss will only deepen the divisions. It will be taken to justify
the rage, hatred, and passion for revenge that Trump himself has fostered.
Moreover, it is hard to see how
that apostle of autocracy fails to get elected in November. This bolsters the
image of macho victimhood he has promoted, an ironic way of channeling the
alienation and sense of helplessness felt by millions of white working-class
voters who adore him. He was a cult figure before and now, in near martyrdom,
he perfects the performance. Before allowing Secret Service agents to move him
to safety, he needs to play his part, so he tells them, “Wait,” is helped to
his feet, his bloody ear now visible as he raises his fist and apparently
shouts, “Fight!” And fight they will, in
one way or another.
This Sunday morning, there have
undoubtedly been preachers crediting God, as Trump did in a post, for making
the bullets narrowly miss. Some of his followers believe he has been divinely
assigned to lead the nation, and this will be taken to prove their case. And
there have surely been preachers admonishing their congregations to seek
reconciliation, to gaze inward, to love the other, to examine themselves for
the wrongs that they and the broader society must right.
The sermons on taking
responsibility and seeking healing and listening to the other side will not
make the front pages, sadly. They will not generate a lot of followers on
social media or even find their way into most politicians’ stump speeches on
the campaign trail. Senator J. D. Vance, a possible vice-presidential
candidate, instantly blamed President Biden’s harsh rhetoric against Trump for
a shooting whose motives were still unknown. Vance didn’t mention Trump’s years
of violent rhetoric, of course, or his vitriol loosening the restraints of
civil order, culminating in the January 6, 2021 invasion of the Capitol by his violent
supporters.
That’s the nature of American
political leadership today. Some of the worst people rise to some of the
highest levels.
What Trump and his Republican
acolytes—including those on the Supreme Court—fail to realize is that whatever
they unleash in governmental power or private aggression can be used by the
left as well as the right. In other words, the authors themselves can someday be
the targets. In her dissent from the Court’s recent grant of broad presidential
immunity against criminal prosecution, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote that a
president could now “order the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political
rival” and avoid prosecution. Her hypothesis, signed by the three liberal
justices, drew no distinction between a Republican or a Democratic president.
At this writing, the public knows
little about the alleged shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by the
Secret Service. He was white and apparently not an immigrant, so Trumpists
won’t be able to blame all people of color and all immigrants, as many (Trump
included) are wont to do for the ills of the country. He was not a member of
Seal Team 6, evidently, so Biden’s off the hook for using his newfound powers
from the Supreme Court. Crooks was reportedly a registered Republican who gave
a small contribution a Democratic cause, so take your choice about his reasons
for wanting to take Trump out.
Unless his online posts, friends,
and family offer insights, a vacuum of information on his disturbed thinking
will allow room for fantastic conspiracy theories. Those will further
deteriorate the health of the society, and a society’s health depends on how
self-corrective it is, especially in a moment of crisis.
It doesn’t look good for the United
States. In this heated atmosphere, political violence begets more political
violence. It would not be amazing for some of Trump’s militant supporters to
take up arms against any target they deem worthy of their attention. Trump has
called for unity but not peace. He might be incapable of preaching nonviolence
to those who love him and value his raised fist. We’ll see.
What does appear reliably
predictable is that a weak-looking, impaired Joe Biden cannot win over Trump.
If Biden remains the candidate, Trump will be inaugurated next January. And at
that moment, the world’s three most powerful countries will be led by
criminals. Granted, only one will have been convicted. But Xi Jinping of China
for his persecution of the Uighurs and Vladimir Putin of Russia for his war of
atrocities in Ukraine certainly deserve prosecution. If you think of Trump’s
crimes as minor, just wait.
The bullet that Trump heard
whizzing past his ear? We all heard it as it found its mark.
