Gazing at the Rorschach test of Saturday’s apparent assassination attempt, some understandably imagine conspiracies or ridicule members of our ruling regime. A few might even admit to the hidden, marrow-deep temptation of wishing the black splotch had turned red. Instead, on the Lord’s Day, 21 days into Eastertide, let’s spare a moment and give thanks that no one was badly hurt, especially the agent who took a bullet, while praying that all our people, in and out of office, will turn away from acts of gratuitous violence.
November 22, 1963 was the silver screen for my generation’s projection. It could’ve been the Cubans, mob, Russians, CIA, vice president, or military industrial complex, wanting to cash in on Vietnam. Yet no evidence emerged dislodging the official verdict that the 35th president was destroyed by a homegrown communist in the throes of his grandiosity. Wanting Kennedy, if he was going to die, to have died more meaningfully doesn’t mean he did. A majority now believing there was a conspiracy doesn’t mean there was.
Trump’s would-be assassin in Pennsylvania, Thomas Matthew Crooks, evidently acted alone in July 2024. Thinking it was staged probably means we don’t like Trump, not that we have evidence. On Saturday night, people again speculated that it was a setup. If so, one wonders how Trump and his people would’ve made the deal with the alleged shooter, Cole Tomas Allen, 31, and how they planned to keep it secret. Texts or emails? Burner phones? Off-shore Venmo accounts? Again, I’ll await evidence. MAGA lies but can’t make me lie. The truth is bad enough. There’s no end to the damage that a maladjusted, angry dude with a gun can do in the United States.
We’ll be having fun for years with the video from the Washington Hilton. It turns out that it’s become a bipartisan hobby to show us something while saying it’s something else. A meme said it was hilarious how Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his agents ran for the exits without his spouse, Cheryl Hines. Agents focus laser-like on protectees. Hines apparently didn’t have her own detail. Yet when the agents or Kennedy noticed that she wasn’t with them, they turned and enclosed her in the bubble.
Others ridiculed the cowardice of Stephen Miller while showing him with his hands wrapped tightly around his pregnant spouse, helping agents guide her to safety. He probably couldn’t have done better. Excusing Kennedy and Miller from accusations of ungallantry doesn’t take away from their policy malpractice. It makes it starker. Good for you, taking care of your own. Now go take care of the American people for a change.
The polls are right about one thing. For a majority of Americans, managing our rage over the actions of this cruel, incompetent administration is a daily struggle. Not everyone may experience unmitigated horror when someone they loathe is in danger. Yet I can’t preach Christ’s peace to my enemy while indulging a temptation to condone any violence on behalf of what I love. Christ notwithstanding, a circular firing squad of retributive violence would make our nation ungovernable.
With shots echoing yet again at the Washington Hilton, we have the same old challenge. We have to get the guns under control, do a better job reaching those angry dudes (are you listening, church of the Risen Christ?), and confine our battles to the ballot box — identifying all those who engage in acts of cruelty for cruelty’s sake, punishing them ruthlessly at the polls, and sending them home to learn some manners.
(Photo: Getty Images) All-Faith Democratic Union