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When I learned about the attack Donald TrumpI think I yawned. It wasn’t disrespectful. It was a sense of déjà vu. How could I pretend I was surprised when I wasn’t?
There are historical and environmental reasons for my “spleen”.
Historically, we can fairly recognize that those who always like to kill, or Try to killpresidents.
Four were eliminated successfully – Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy. A few miraculously survived, such as Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 or Ronald Reagan in 1981.
In fact, where else in the world would a musical — yes, you read that correctly: a Broadway musical featuring the assassination of a president — be produced?
This musical is great because it was written by a brilliant man: Stephen Sondheim, one of my heroes. The title is simply “The Assassins” and brings together nine criminals in beautifully written songs.
One, “Unworthy of Love,” is a beautiful duet between John Hinckley Jr., who tried to kill Reagan, and Lynette Fromm, who tried to kill Gerald Ford. Both men dedicate their arias to idols they are obsessed with and who, in their private minds, are inspirations for their crimes: in Hinckley’s case, Jodie Foster, and Charles Mansontake Fromm. Nonetheless, Hinckley has great taste.
But the final song, “Another National Anthem,” encapsulates the spirit of the work: The killers gather proudly to claim payment for their service to their country. But there is no prize; only infamy. Crime has not redeemed their miserable lives.
I have learned more by listening to Sondheim’s musicals than by reading historical references on the subject. The composer perfectly captures why the animals move.
Political reasons? Rarely.
Crazy? Often.
But most of all, the quest for attention and celebrity can compensate for a repressive sense of anonymity. The artist of today, Thomas Matthew Crooks, should not be so different from the artists who came before him.
If there is anything new about this attack, it is that it did not happen earlier — either against Trump or Biden.
This is also an indirect reason for my yawning: No one is innocent here. I read somewhere that a while ago, the University of Chicago shared a study on Americans’ tolerance for violence against political opponents.
The numbers are almost equal: 26 million people (10% of the population) support violence against Trump; 18 million people (7%) approve of using violence to support Trump.
As in a Western movie, it’s just a matter of waiting to see who draws the gun first, although the left has been fantasizing about this for years.
I’ve lost count of how many movies, plays, and works of art have staged the carnage with unholy refinement since Trump came onto the scene.
After the attack, classicist Victor Davis Hanson even compiled a list of celebrities who shared with the world the most effective ways to send Donald to hell.
I quote Hansen: Robert De Niro wanted to beat him; Kathy Griffin and Marilyn Manson, decapitated him; Snoop Dogg, aimed at him; Anthony Bourdain, poisoned him; Pearl Jam, eat it; Madonna, blew it up; Rosie O’Donnell threw him off a cliff; ETC.
As Hansen correctly concludes, killing Trump makes perfect sense when Trump is portrayed as the new Hitler. Basically, it’s like the common naive question kids ask: “If you could go back in time and find six-year-old Adolf, would you kill him?”
Fact: Trump is a dangerous man. New Fact: Recent Supreme Court decisions Granting presidential immunity In its “official actions” it is even more dangerous.
But reducing any opponent to the image of Hitler (“reductio ad hitlerum,” as Leo Strauss put it) increases the chances that people will take the issue seriously. And, as they say, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Now?
Right: This attack is good for Trump. But we must not forget that the reason this man could return to the White House is because of the deep moral corruption of both the Republican and Democratic parties.
The first surrendered to a creature that brought disgrace to the history of the Party; the second was after putting together a Joe Biden’s mental healthnow wait for a miracle.
Good luck to all. I prefer to listen to my Sondheim. “It takes a lot of people to make a gun,” he wrote for the theme of “A Gun Song.” Indeed, Stephen. And all it takes is pulling the trigger.
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