Failed Assassination. What’s Next?
Today is July 14.
NEVER DIE ATTITUDE
Each weekend, I publish FUTURE READY, an op-ed highlighting a topic shaping our nation's future. This week, my op-ed offers insight into the failed assassination attempt on Trump, and what should happen next.
Saturday evening started off extremely pleasantly from my beach chair. I sat next to Mary and four of our friends, watching the calm waves roll up on the Carolina shore where we are vacationing.
The conversation was about retirement: at what age should we downsize, how often can we travel, where do we travel to—is it safe to vacation abroad? Will social security be there for us in the years to come? How much of our nest eggs will be stripped away due to Bidenomics? The discussion was getting interesting, and then the iPhone beeped.
My friend Nancy received a text message. It suggested an assassination attempt on Trump had unfolded at a rally in Pennsylvania.
My smartphone's internet wouldn’t work; getting to Twitter was futile. I called my son, Denny, and told him to put on the TV. He confirmed the horror was true. We all raced up to the house.
It was confirmed: a 20-year-old from Pennsylvania had tried to kill Trump. Luckily, a failed shot left the Republican nominee with a mere flesh wound over his right ear. Sadly, three of Trump’s supporters were shot, one of them fatally.
Trump, with his bloodied face, was heard telling the Secret Service he needed to get his shoes. Apparently, they had come off when his security detail covered him on stage. Then, in true Trump fashion, he pumped his fist in the air and told the audience to “FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT.”
I won't delve further into the details of what took place — the TV will provide visuals and a point-by-point timeline. Instead, I want to use this opportunity to voice my opinions about what needs to happen next in the days and weeks to come.
I start by saying it’s a sad time in America, the worst of my lifetime. How have we arrived at a place where a man is shot at from 150 yards away simply because he wants to make his country great again? How has the political environment become so out of control that there are people on Twitter claiming the entire assassination attempt was staged, suggesting Trump was wearing fake blood?
Before I delve deeper into the details, I want to acknowledge that you may disagree with some of my opinions herein. Perhaps the raw emotions from this assassination attempt are still fresh for you. I understand. When I came up from the beach, I felt compelled to do a Facebook LIVE. I was angry, hurt, and ready to confront those whom I blame for the shooter’s hatred. My LIVE was a 4-minute rant where I expressed the points I wanted to make — and in my anger, a few f-bombs escaped in the process.
A few hours passed, and I decided to watch back my video. I didn’t like it. I sounded angry. The more I thought about it, the more I hated my video. I realized I was displaying the same kind of anger that the left shows on a daily basis, even though my anger was, and is, justified. However, this cycle of hostility has to stop. The back-and-forth nastiness needs to find an off-ramp. So, at 2am this morning, I deleted the video.
I've been up since 2am. I found it hard to sleep, mainly because I am so perplexed by many things regarding the shooting, the shooter, and how the shots were able to be fired in the first place. I am concerned that if things are handled poorly from this point on, the country will indeed spin totally out of control — maybe even leading to a civil war. I don’t want that, and neither should you or any American for that matter. Therefore, I offer you the following:
The first key to any dark situation is to learn from it. The second key is to find the bright side.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE LEARNED
What took place in Pennsylvania reminds me of 9/11 in the sense that it doesn’t make any sense. Just as we all questioned how a group of third-world terrorists could enter the US using fake documents, undergo flight training, board commercial flights, take them over, and carry out their attacks, now we look at this assassin's positioning and ask: how and why did he have such easy, direct, and close-range access to the podium? Why wasn't he stopped before the first bullet was fired? Was this an inside job?
What needs to be learned starts with identifying who is to blame. The media, the courts, Joe Biden, his administration, and the large majority of the left have collectively perpetuated a false and sensational narrative that Trump is the devil, and that his reelection would mean the end of democracy and the implosion of our country. This narrative is entirely untrue. Trump's first term was marked by significant successes on many fronts, and democracy remained intact.
However, sensationalism drives attention, and they continue to fuel hatred against Trump. This vitriol has escalated to the point of an assassination attempt. In essence, they have pushed too far. We can only hope that the left learned a lesson from yesterday's events.
Investigations from multiple groups need to be launched, not just by one agency. For example, we need to determine if it’s true that requests for additional security at Trump rallies were denied by DHS. We also need answers on how the shooter managed to go undetected by the Secret Service.
Once we obtain the answers we deserve, we must also draw a political lesson from yesterday's events. I believe there needs to be a cooling-down period where issues take center stage instead of personalities. For instance, rather than engaging in a shouting match with the left over accusations of racism regarding Trump's promises for secure borders, let’s refrain from feeding into the name-calling. Instead, let’s focus on presenting facts such as numbers, videos, and instances of crime, which will force the left to address and explain why the border remains open.
Instead of sharing outrageous video clips from The View, MSNBC, and liberals raging against Trump on TikTok or other platforms, let’s refrain from even looking at them, let alone sharing them. We need to stop adding fuel to the fire. Instead, lets share great information about Trump, his campaign, and his plan for 2024 and beyond. In short, lets take the positive road.
THE BRIGHT SIDE
Despite the tragic outcome for the innocent Trump supporters who were shot and killed, the gunman ultimately failed in his mission. Yesterday could have been much worse. First, had the bullet gone just a few inches to the right, our nominee would have been killed. Additionally, the missed shot at Trump has ironically resulted in him emerging more alive and stronger than ever.
Not only does Trump stand to win the election in a landslide, but he also has the opportunity to unite a fractured country by demonstrating that he is above the political fray. His convention in the week ahead should focus on how he can bring sanity and calm to a nation deeply entrenched in chaos.
I've never been shot at, so perhaps easier said than done, but I'd love to see Trump focus on the issues and brush off the events in Pennsylvania as another failed attempt to stop him from winning. In other words, Trump's brilliance has always been his ability to portray himself as larger than life and capable of achieving what others cannot. Now is the perfect moment to reinforce this message. Show the world that the attempt on his life was just a blip in time, akin to the challenges faced in the past like the kangaroo trials and the 2020 election. In short, dismiss it as insignificant and concentrate on what truly matters: Making America Great Again.
In Ending.
The great investor, Warren Buffett, always says that betting against America is a bad investment. These days, it can be hard to believe he's correct; sometimes my brain leads my heart to believe our best days are long gone. However, Trump, imperfect as he is, gives me hope that better days lie ahead and encourages us to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT. Thus, I am willing to invest in him because his unwavering, never die attitude was fully evident yesterday.
Consider this: Biden struggles to get through a press conference without seeming defeated, yet Trump, after being shot near dead, rises with a victorious fist waving proudly. It's impossible to bet against that kind of spirit, and I admire his drive, determination, and love for our country.
They say the darkest moments come just before the light arrives. Perhaps yesterday was as dark as it gets; maybe today will be better. I don’t have the answer. What I do know is that life can change in an instant. One moment, you're relaxing on a beach, planning the next 30 years; the next, you're wondering if your president will be shot dead. It's unsettling, but it's life, and we should cherish every moment we have to live it. My prayers go out to the victims who were shot, including the man who lost his life. It should never have happened, but it did, and we must learn from it.
God bless America. God bless Donald Trump.
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