NO JOY IN MAGAVILLE — The Weekly Opine

The violence Trump promotes is finding its way home. (Photo credit Gigi)

Chickens homing in

It’s a well-known fact Trump strums the chords of violence. Violence is a tactic for Trump. However, and not at all to promote it, but violence can be a two-way street. While there are legitimate worries among moderates, progressives and liberals, that some MAGAs will resort to violence at the drop of a hat (or at the imploring of Trump), The Weekly Opine posits that pro-democracy forces, like colonists during the revolution against England, are capable of, and willing to step onto the violence path if absolutely necessary. Thankfully, cooler heads – usually on the left – would employ violence only as a last recourse, e.g., to save our democracy.

Last weekend, we were vividly reminded that hate and violence can flow in both directions. Sunday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social, his lackluster social media forum, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” Trump’s all caps tirade was apparently a response to Swift’s thoughtfully written, measured endorsement of Kamala Harris following the presidential debate. Swift indicated the reason she chose to go public with her endorsement was induced by the Trump campaign using AI-generated content to imply Swift supports Trump.

Sunday’s mentally unstable tweet from Trump, a bitter 78-year-old bigot, followed his comments on Fox Lies last week that her endorsement of Harris would cause Swift to “probably pay a price for it in the marketplace.” My question is, which marketplace is Trump referencing? Taylor Swift has 284 million followers on Instagram and is the undisputed most famous music artist in the world. It is doubtful Swift’s business empire will suffer in the music biz marketplace, just because she endorsed Kamala Harris. That is, if that’s the marketplace Trump was referencing. Or was Trump talking about a different marketplace?

In Trump’s MAGA World, there is a marketplace consisting of threats of violence, and acts of violence. Trump’s violence marketplace turned the lives of Atlanta election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss into living hell, with both women still fearing for their lives. It’s the same marketplace that incited the violent, deadly insurrection on January 6, 2021. The same marketplace that, in 2017, showed up in Charlottesville, Virginia, resulting in the violent murder of Heather Heyer, a peaceful, anti-white supremacist protester.

Golf courses are usually a relaxing environment. Going forward, Trump could be on edge while golfing. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Almost assuredly, loose-cannon MAGAs will interpret Trump’s words as a signal it’s OK to go after Taylor Swift with threats. WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, another young woman held near and dear by MAGAs, “liked” Swift’s social media post endorsing Harris. And the hate flowed against Clark instantaneously. (Poor MAGAs, they just lost cool, highly successful Swift and cool, highly successful Clark. And MAGAs are stuck with sicko Laura Loomer and dumb Marjorie Taylor Greene.)

Another golf course, another Sunday

Last Sunday morning, Trump momentarily satisfied his deranged itch to stir his stew of cowardice, hate and violence, directing it at Taylor Swift. Just hours later, a hate-fueled man waited for Trump to appear in his line of sight, intending to shoot the former president. Would-be assassin Ryan Routh was unable to fire his SKS-style rifle before a Secret Service agent spotted him.

Trump was doing what he often does on Sundays – playing golf. Instead of attending church Trump golfs on Sundays, which is inconsistent with boasts that he’s a Christian (some of his fake Christian, loopy evangelical supporters even ‘testify’ Trump is their Savior). Fortunately, for Trump, the assassin was shot at by the Secret Service, fled the scene, and was captured a short time later.

In the span of less than 12 hours we learned again that hate, and the violence it sometimes forges, can go both directions. Trump hated on Taylor Swift. Then a would-be assassin prepared to rain violence on the former president. Initial reporting said Routh is a registered Republican, subsequent reporting said not so. Regardless, Routh voted for Trump in 2016 but became sour a few years later. In June 2020 Routh posted on social media, “You were my choice in 2016 but we are greatly disappointed. You are getting worse and devolving. I will be glad when you are gone.”

Shaye Moss and Ruby Freeman could teach Trump how to deal with an ever-present threat of physical violence. (Photos credit AP News, Getty)

MAGAs should not take solace just because another attempt on Trump’s life failed. Chances are, with Trump continuing to aggressively promote violence while putting people’s lives at risk – like the Haitians legally living in Springfield, Ohio – at some point another person will have a Popeye the Sailor moment, decide they’ve had all they can stand of Trump, and take matters into their own hands.

Maybe the threat will originate from one of the 284 million Taylor Swift Swifties, from a fan as passionate about protecting Swift from Trump as Trump is about deporting millions of immigrants. Maybe it will be someone who owns one of the hundreds of millions of guns in gun-infested America who, after reading Project 2025, understands Trump’s goal is to take away their right to vote or healthcare or outright end our democracy. Or maybe the threat will come from a humiliated MAGA, a Jan. 6th insurrectionist who spent time in prison, life now in ruins, finally waking up to the realization that convicted felon Trump is a lying, narcissist fraud.

No one should root for or promote violence, but by the nature of his disgusting behavior that favors nastiness over geniality, and misery over contentment, Trump presents himself as a bullseye target for hate and violence.

Whether he knows it or not, the violence Trump promotes will shadow him for the rest of his life. In that regard, Trump, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss have something in common.