Now What?
Let's segue from yesterday's earth-moving event to the consequences ahead, with a tribute to the victim who was killed saving his daughter's life.
I dislike almost everything about Pennsylvania’s Democratic Governor, Josh Shapiro.
He is a ruthlessly ambitious left-wing politician who lied to voters in 2022 about his support for school choice legislation to rescue kids from failing schools that predominate in places like inner-city Philadelphia.
But he was right yesterday about Corey Comperatore, the “girl dad” who attended his first (and, sadly, last) Trump rally yesterday. As the demented shooter unleashed shots from an unprotected rooftop less than 150 yards away from where Donald Trump was speaking, Comparatore bent over to protect his family and sacrificed his life. Shapiro, as reported by Philly’s NBC affiliate:
Governor Josh Shapiro said Corey Comperatore, the man who was killed during an assassination attempt on the life of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, died a hero during a press event on Sunday.
According to the governor, Comperatore was a former fire chief, the father of two daughters, and a vocal supporter of Trump.
"We lost a fellow Pennsylvanian last night: Corey Comperatore," said Shapiro. "Corey was a girl dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. And most especially, Corey loved his family."
Shapiro said he spoke to Comparatore's family and that "Corey died a hero."
"Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally," he said. "Corey was the very best of us. May his memory be a blessing."
Good for Gov. Shapiro. Especially since Comperatore likely didn’t vote for him.
Godspeed and rest in peace, Corey. You are an example for us all, and may your life and sacrifice bless many. I hope I would have the wisdom and courage to do the same. He reminds me of others I know in the Keystone State, where I lived until recently for 20 years, a real salt-of-the-earth kind of a guy. He is the type of man we need more of in American society, no matter what you think of his political views, which are being both praised by Trump supporters and trashed by the left on social media.
Now, awkwardly, on to the consequences of Saturday’s fateful Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. First, a personal observation.
I’ve been to Butler, a pleasant suburb about an hour north of Steel City with scores of thriving light manufacturing companies. It was close to where my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in late May 2015 because we had work to do. It is the hometown of Rick Santorum, former two-time presidential candidate and two-term US Senator who rose to become the Senate GOP’s third-ranking Republican. On May 27, 2015, my wife, youngest son, and I were at a nearby manufacturing facility in nearby Cabot, PA, to work the press table. It’s where I met Salena Zito for the first time, then with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, for whom she still occasionally writes, among many others, including the Washington Examiner and the New York Post.
She was sitting just a few feet away from Trump when several (as many as eight) bullets went whizzing by, one of them clipping Trump’s ear. She’s safe, but you should read her account from The Free Press.
What does all this mean, politically and culturally?
First, American history is replete with examples of political violence, and I cite a few during my tours of the US Capitol. Much, but not all, is related to the most contentious period in our history, those years preceding the Civil War. A Senator was bludgeoned on the Senate floor in 1856. Puerto Rican rebels opened fire on the House chamber during a roll call vote in 1954. A news reporter shot and killed a congressman-turned-lobbyist on a stairwell near the House chamber in 1889. Bombs have gone off three times, most recently in 1983. Two Capitol Police officers were murdered by an insane gunman in 1997. Then, the demonstration went bad on January 6, 2021. Those are just the low lights.
The attempted assassination of Trump occurred the day before Bastille Day, July 14, 1789, when enraged French citizens (subjects?) stormed and opened the gates of their infamous prison, sparking the French Revolution. King Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie Antoinette, lost their heads via the guillotine as a result. It’s probably best remembered for Antoinette’s infamous statement, upon hearing about the lack of bread on Parisian streets, “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche,” or “Let them each brioche,” a food most associated at the time with gentry (not dissimilar to cake). It demonstrated remarkable insensitivity to the plight of the suffering French.
But any student of history knows that violence, including political violence, is a bug, if not a feature of governments and nations everywhere. A few come to mind, including the slaughter of Czar Nicholas II and the entire Romanov family following the Russian Revolution in 1918. The assassinations of President Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy, not to mention the recent attempts on the lives of Presidents Ford, Reagan, and now former President Trump. Former President George H. W. Bush also experienced an assassination attempt courtesy of Iraq’s evil dictator, Saddam Hussein.
Some say Hussein and Iraq were behind the Murrah Building explosion in Oklahoma City in 1995 that killed hundreds, including children. Journalist Jayna Davis’s case is persuasive and was buried by the Clinton Administration. I hope Donald Trump opens those files if he wins in November, which now looks almost certain, barring another assassination attempt. It can’t be ruled out.
Death threats are part and parcel of life in the White House, the Supreme Court, and nearly every member of Congress. Ask Justice Brett Kavanaugh. I know; I’ve seen and read a few of those threats, having worked for a few public officials.
European history is full of stories of murdered or decapitated kings, including Charles I. Challengers to Thrones are especially notable, including Mary, Queen of Scots. Would you like to talk about Central and South America? Maybe Africa? It’s the human condition, warts and all. So, any attempt to single out America is profoundly ignorant and stupid, even if we are held to a higher standard.
Political rhetoric, especially in the US, has taken a darker turn in recent years, despite some pretty awful episodes during Abraham Lincoln’s 1860 campaign and the Adams-Jefferson vitriol of 1800. It didn’t start with Donald Trump’s infamous coarseness and cringeworthy rhetorical excesses but has been matched and exceeded by the left, especially the media.
What’s been happening among Democrats recently is not rocket science, especially Joe Biden’s embarrassing debate performance on June 27th.In response, Democrats have ratcheted the rhetoric to maintain and motivate their loony and delusional base. They’re panicking.
Did it come at the price of motivating a 20-year-old shooter from Pittsburgh? That has yet to be determined, but there’s no doubt the rhetorical excesses are repugnant and inciteful. Just ask House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
And spare me the “both sides” bullshit, pardon my French. We don’t know to the extent “extreme rhetoric” motivated the shooter, but attempting to divert blame from recent wild accesses from cretins on MSNBC, CNN, and elsewhere is despicable. There have always been rhetorical accesses from across the political spectrum, but only one side is calling the other candidate “Hitler,” a would-be '“dictator,” and a “threat to democracy.” Okay, Trump accused Biden of the latter during the debate, but no one is taking a literal shot at Biden. Speaking of Biden:
Let me remind my Democratic friends of one of their political prophets, Saul Alinsky. You’ve probably heard of Alinsky’s “Rules for Radicals.” There are 12 of them. Number 4 is to “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules.” Democrats used that rule to blame then-Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) for the shooting of Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords because Palin used a gun sight diagram to “target” politically vulnerable Democratic members of Congress. It was unfair, mainly since a mentally ill gunman shot Giffords without known political motivation, but wow, was Palin pilloried by Democrats.
Your rules, Democrats, now you get to live by them. It’s funny watching conservatives use Alinsky’s principles, but they’re just enforcing what’s been forced on them.
Some general observations.
First, what a unique time to try to assassinate Trump, just as Democrats are trying to figure out what to do with Joe Biden and before Trump selects a running mate. Just an observation. It’s a bizarre coincidence.
Second, Trump’s minor injury - he went golfing on Saturday - was a miracle. He turned his head towards an immigration chart as a bullet from an AR-15 (possibly a .223 Remington caliber, yet to be determined). Had he not turned his head, the trajectory of the bullet would have likely entered his right temple and seared through his brain’s right lobe, millimeters away from debilitation or death.
Third, the US Secret Service has many questions to answer. There were only three roofs near the field where Trump spoke and only one with a clear line of sight from the side or front. And it was unguarded or “unmanned” by the feds or local law enforcement. Worse, the shooter seemed to know that and climbed to the roof with his rifle.
Fourth, his actions were noted by people nearby, who reported them to the police. What they did in response remains to be determined, but it seems nothing happened.
Fifth, the shooter took at least five shots before Secret Service snipers finally shot and killed him, but not before he sent a fatal shot into Comperatore and nearly killed Donald Trump. What took so long?
Wow, does the Secret Service have questions to answer.
We don’t know much, but we all have questions. And we all deserve answers. The first step to regaining trust in our institutions is truth, including transparency. Given what’s transpired at the FBI in recent years, I’m not hopeful.
We’re waiting. Meanwhile, ensuring you’re armed and trained wouldn't hurt. The left means business, and they value life less than you. Especially your’s.
Oh, and there’s a political convention starting today! Everyone is tearing up their speeches and writing new ones. I hope Corey Camperatore gets lots of mentions. I hope the daughter whose life he saved speaks. And wait until Trump’s acceptance speech. . . Wow.
This election is now Trump’s to lose.
Wait until you see the fundraising numbers for Trump’s and Biden’s campaigns in the days ahead, as we wait for Trump’s choice of a running mate.
My money’s on my Governor, Glenn Youngkin.
