ANOTHER CITIZEN SHOT — The Weekly Opine

Trump’s reckless calls for violence became a two-way street on Saturday. (Photos credit Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Al Jazeera)

Shocked? Why?

Missed…

The cryptic, one-word text popped up on my phone while I was at a restaurant early Saturday evening. Curiosity aroused, I checked my phone’s News app and learned Trump had been shot.

It shouldn’t come as a shock. According to gun violence statistics, 327 people are shot in America every day. That’s nearly 120,000 annually. On Saturday, Trump became a statistic.

Another reason not to be surprised? There are 393 million guns in the hands of many of America’s 333 million citizens. Despite Trump’s rhetoric, America will never be made great again so long as the number of weapons totals more than the population. Guns sire gun violence. It’s not complicated.

Violence begets violence

Years ago, an armed Chicago gang member wrecked a stolen luxury car while being pursued by police. The punk fled the vehicle and was shot and killed by police, in a yard between two houses, while sprinting away from the cops. Some in the neighborhood claimed police brutality. My reaction was, when you operate within a violence-fueled gang lifestyle, violence eventually comes for you. It could be a rival gang, or cops, or a rogue inmate in prison. It’s just a matter of time.

Considering how often Trump encourages violence, goading his supporters into taking things into their own hands (which they did on Jan. 6) it should come as no surprise that someone turned the tables and sent violence in Trump’s direction. And given Trump’s support for the National Rifle Association and his opposition to common sense gun laws, well, this was bound to happen. Given Trump’s pathology and narcissism, it was inevitable.

Reaction from some Democrats made me gag. Former President Barack Obama issued a statement generally decrying political violence, asked for a general commitment to civility and respect, and wished Trump a speedy recovery. Seriously, Barack? Trump is the poster child for inciting political violence and treating opponents with a lack of civility and respect. Trump made Obama’s life hell with insinuations Obama is Muslim. And Trump’s “birther movement” made wildly false claims about Obama’s citizenship. Trump paved the way for sicko MAGAs to rudely caricature Michelle Obama. Yet, Obama plays nice with Trump.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer struck the proper tone saying the shooting “was a disgusting act of violence.” She went on to say, “Behind all these incidents is rhetoric [with] calls to hate, harm, or jail political opponents. Violent conspiracies from the seediest corners of the internet become incorporated into stump speeches.” Obama played footsie whereas Whitmer laid what happened to Trump at his own doorstep, where it belonged.

Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman do not have the benefit of security protection. (Photo credit Getty Images)

Protection not guaranteed

Meanwhile, I wonder how Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss feel about what transpired Saturday. After all, Trump turned his violent mob loose on the honorable election workers. Freeman and Moss do not have the benefit of Secret Service, or any other, security protection. They’ve been left to fend for themselves, fearful of going out to the movies or the grocery store. Freeman was forced to sell her house as they try to stay one step ahead of MAGAs who’ve threatened to kill them.

Trump, using violence as a predicate, has ruined many lives. It’s not enough that Trump raped E. Jean Carroll. He turned his MAGA scum on her. Now, Carroll must be extra careful where she goes and what routes she takes. Carroll also does not have Secret Service, or any other, security protection. Neither does Stormy Daniels, who is in virtual hiding to avoid violent-spewing MAGAs, egged on by Trump.

Trump’s incendiary rants continue to place the lives of jurors at risk. Like the regular folks who bravely fulfilled their civic duty while finding Trump guilty of 34 felonies. These people do not have Secret Service, or any other, security protection.

Trump puts the lives of New York Attorney General Letitia James, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis at risk. They do not have the advantage of Secret Service protection.

Trump’s railings at judges are barely disguised calls for violence. Judge Tanya Chutkan, Judge Juan Merchan, Judge Arther Engoron, and Judge Lewis Kaplan, along with their families, none of whom have Secret Service protection, are in the crosshairs of Trump’s lunatic cultists.

I give Trump no quarter when the violence he espouses finds its way home. Certainly, I acknowledge that trying to assassinate Trump was wrong. But I have exactly zero feelings of sympathy or concern for him, because Trump gleefully promotes violence.

Saturday night there were probably some people who channeled Melania Trump when she wore her infamous “I don’t really care do u?” coat. (Photo credit BBC)

For example, you’ll recall on January 6, 2020, Trump was informed about, but did not object to crazy MAGAs being armed with guns at his rally before they went to the U.S. Capitol to overturn the election. This is the world Trump luxuriates in: violence, insurrection, criminal activity, lies. Consequently, it was just a matter of time before violence rained down upon him.

There are victims on both sides now

Saturday night, it was odd listening to some cable news hosts feign surprise by all of this, pretending to be unaware that politically motivated violence occurs in the United States. Just in my lifetime, Medgar Evers, John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy and Ronald Reagan were victimized by gunshots, along with other less famous names. And there will likely be more, given American’s proclivity to reach for their firearms to settle differences.

What is puzzling is the Secret Service allowed Trump to stand fist-pumping rather than rushing him off-stage. It’s also incomprehensible the Secret Service did not secure a building rooftop just 150 yards from the stage. Allegedly, the assailant was a registered Republican, although it’s unclear if he was a MAGA. If Trump wins the presidency, I won’t be surprised if some hoodwinked, down-on-their-luck MAGAs turn against him. Because Project 2025 will not only harm progressives and liberals. Project 2025 will punish middle- and lower-class Americans regardless of political affiliation.

Now, let’s use one of Trump’s favorite tactics when he lies. Maybe Saturday was fake news, a hoax. Or maybe the shooter’s family will claim he was hunting, aiming at a duck, when a powerful gust of wind pushed his rifle toward Trump. Of course, that would be a bald-faced lie along the lines of Trump, and scatterbrained Republicans, telling us the Jan. 6 insurrection was nothing more than peaceful tourists admiring historical paintings in the Capitol rotunda.

In 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump tipped his hand by accommodating Nazi-style protesters chanting “Jews will not replace us!” After a looney MAGA drove his car into a crowd of peaceful counter protestors, killing Heather Heyer, Trump incredulously claimed there were “very fine people on both sides.”

Trump’s continuous instigation of violence and death threats, against political opponents, has caused fear to build in one direction. That changed Saturday at a farm in Pennsylvania when violence caught up with Trump.