By Mike Weland
I am a proud never-Trumper who’s spent the past decade shouting warning that our 45th president was and is a menace, a clear and present danger to our nation and her constitution, But I have been given pause, hearing the pleas of Donald Trump and his new pet sidekick JD Vance in the wake of two alleged recent assassination attempts.
“I think it’s time to say to the Democrats, to the media, to everybody that has been attacking this man and trying to censor this man for going on 10 years: cut it out or you’re gonna get somebody killed,” JD Vance said. “The big difference between conservatives and liberals is that no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump in the last couple of months.”
And so I find myself yet again questioning whether my assessment of Trump is fair, based not on emotional qualms but on facts, on evidence. About three seconds of deep, meaningful contemplation of his words brings the answer, yep, my assessment is fair and honest …
And then Trump chimes in.
“The Rhetoric, Lies, as exemplified by the false statements made by Comrade Kamala Harris during the rigged and highly partisan ABC Debate, and all of the ridiculous lawsuits specifically designed to inflict damage on Joe’s, then Kamala’s, Political Opponent, ME, has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust,” writes the stable genius. “Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse!”
For a half-second flat the Trump legacy flashes through my mind; collusion, impeachments, perfect phone calls, Sharpies, atrocious rudeness and poor behavior, people and institutions mocked and belittled, the rise of the MAGA cult, the mishandling of a pandemic, the Tweet storms, the lying, the whining, the unfounded braggadocio, the insurrection, the hateful rhetoric.
The endless tide of lies, denigration, hyperbole and misinformation, also called propaganda in similar regimes.
Nope, sorry, Comrade Donny. I don’t buy it, your miracle ear and disrupted round of golf notwithstanding, your new pet sycophant’s mindless mewlings about as convincing as your angry insistence that Project 2025 isn’t yours, that everything that fails to go your way is rigged or that a block of constituents of darker complexion in the municipality of Springfield, State of Ohio, in this country in accordance with U.S. law, are dining on the city’s pets. They wouldn’t be among the million you promise to depart on day one, would they?
Such silliness is almost as absurd as falling for false notions you tout that illegal immigrants are poisoning the blood of the American people, that the U.S. is a failing nation and that you (and only you) have the knowledge to effect its repair … of believing for even a second that you are anything other than a master manipulator and well-practiced confidence man who has failed miserably at all things human.
I am truly grateful that the steely-eyed assassins who targeted Trump proved just as inept as the man they allegedly set out to kill. I am grateful that by whatever agency — an exceptionally skilled plastic surgeon, remarkable powers of rejuvenation or the healing power of hands laid on by those bathed in the blood of the Lamb and given by faith the size of the BBQ pork plate at the Mustard Seed the powers of making the blind to walk, the deaf to see and the ability to impose their clearly superior assumptions on the faithless infidels who don’t know or accept into their hearts the only true God … thank you Jesus, P. Diddy and some wholly goats … amen!
As one “that has been attacking this man and trying to censor this man for going on 10 years,” I am afraid I cannot acquiesce nor accede to such a silly and specious demand as to stop bringing attention to the serious damage Trump has and is inflicting on this nation he hopes to again lead and the continued harm he intends if given the opportunity. There are too many who believe this charlatan’s every word standing back and standing by to allow complacency.
I remain convinced by the preponderance of evidence that Donald John Trump, his sychophants and his cult of MAGA remain the greatest threat currently facing our constitution and system of governance, and that two assassination attempts so farcical as to seem funny but for the seriousness of the allegations, do not absolve the damage he has already done or diminish the peril Trump promises.