When I woke up yesterday morning, I wasn't optimistic about our country. When I woke up this morning, I was even less optimistic.
Yesterday a presidential candidate almost got assassinated. The bullet grazed his ear. It was a couple of inches from a new JFK. Someone in the crowd was killed and two were seriously injured. Someone tried to kill Donald Trump. I can't believe I'm typing this right now. I live in a country where an attempted assassination of a political leader just took place. We were supposed to be better than this. We're not.
I will not equivocate on my feelings about Donald Trump. The attempt on his life did not tip my scale in his favor in any way. He remains a danger, a danger who I will be voting against. But I will not condone this. I do not wish death on anyone, and Donald Trump is no exception. I hate violence, especially political violence, and especially in my own country.
I don't care what side you're on; what happened yesterday is something we should all condemn. Thankfully, most people seem to realize that. Some, unfortunately, don't. My fellow Democrats who keep making "missed it by that much" jokes can go to hell. If the attempt had succeeded, normalcy would crumble. America would be defined by two eras: before the assassination, and after. This is not to say that everything has been normal since the attempt, but at least if you open Reddit you'll see that people are still posting memes.
I worry about what this means for the future. Now that someone has tried to kill Donald Trump, some gun-nut crackpot is going to feel empowered to do the same to Joe Biden. Some gun-nut crackpot on the other side may be tempted to finish the job on Trump. I'm horrified at the possibility even as I type it. I worry that this is not the last attempt on a candidate's life we will see during this election season. Already Trump's allies are falsely claiming that Biden gave the order. The more people claim that, the more someone can justify committing violence against Biden. I see polls saying that the percentage of Americans who think violence against a political opponent is sometimes necessary has gone up. I cannot express in words how wrong that is.
On the other hand, in the aftermath of this event, I have seen unusual unity across the political aisle. Leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, have rightly condemned the shooting, commended the Secret Service for getting Trump to safety, and offered condolences to the family of the attendee who was killed. Multiple high-profile lawmakers have said that this event proves we need to tone down the demonizing rhetoric. I agree. I think that this toning-down must extend to both sides. Biden must stop the "end of democracy" rhetoric, and Trump must acknowledge that the results of the election will be fair and promise to accept them. De-escalation is the best course of action. I don't have much confidence that this is what will happen (it seems reasonable to predict that the next debate will see Trump respond to multiple questions with "I got shot"), but I can't predict the future! This is an enormous event, and perhaps a change will come! We'll have to see.
Donald Trump was shot with a weapon he has frequently championed the right to own, an AR-15. I consider myself a fairly moderate guy, but when it comes to matters of gun control, I'm about as lefty as they come. I think that the Second Amendment is an outdated relic from a time when it took several minutes to fire one shot, and I think that there is no reason for a civilian to own an assault weapon beyond having a repressed desire to kill and/or to compensate for something. The attempt on Trump's life pretty clearly demonstrates that a world in which mentally ill people have easy access to military-grade weapons is a terrible one. However, if this is what persuades the right to finally crack down on gun control, I'll be severely disappointed. I attended high school in a time where The Onion had to post the iconic "No Way to Prevent This" article multiple times. I want gun control and I want it bad, but I will be livid if we get it because a bullet grazed Trump's ear, and not because of the children who were shot in their schools.
I know this isn't very coherent. I'm just trying to gather my thoughts. Yesterday was a dark day in American history, one that is going to set the tone for the rest of the election season. I'm scared of what it spells for the future and what it says about our country. I haven't been given many reasons to be hopeful for America. What happens next is going to influence every atom of the political atmosphere going forward. Why wouldn't I need to sort through some messy thoughts?
No comments:
Post a Comment