Well, I guess Joe Biden's dementia and the question of who will be the Democrat candidate for president are both off the front pages for the next few days.
I'm pretty sure, though, that this isn't the way that Biden wanted the subject to be closed. Not only is the assassination attempt against Trump political poison for him, but the way that Trump handled it makes Biden look even smaller and weaker.
None of us can get into the heads of others, so I won't speculate about what Biden or his advisors are thinking right now, nor do any of us really know what impact that thankfully failed assassination attempt will have on the presidential race, but I can confidently say that everybody involved is unnerved by the events yesterday.
I certainly was, just as I was unnerved by the reactions of some of the unhinged people out there--most of whom, I can assure you, are fringe characters. However heated political rhetoric gets, nobody at the heights of politics likes to think about nutters taking potshots at politicians. During the era of absolute monarchs, that was one line that was almost never crossed: monarchs didn't have each other killed.
Same today. They are politicians, after all. They worry about their own skins.
Anti-Trump rhetoric has been ridiculous, and I have to agree with people pointing figures at the more extreme members of the commentariat for letting their anti-Trump freak flag fly. A group of people who yell "stochastic terrorism" when somebody uses a male pronoun for a male person can't turn around and claim that calling Trump and his supporters "Hitler" and "fascists" wouldn't inspire an unhinged person to violence.
The world doesn't work that way. Telling people they will be rounded up and put in concentration camps might, you know, radicalize them.
Not that we know what motivated the shooter yet, but claims from some people that Trump inspired this violence or that Republicans are "pouncing" on this are...unhinged or perhaps just desperate.
It will take days or weeks to get a decent idea of what happened and why, but this event will reset the race for president in unpredictable ways. Until yesterday, we were talking about Biden and speculating about Trump's VP. Now we are talking about Trump, Trump, Trump, and probably soon a lot about how the Secret Service let this happen.
The individual agents around Trump may have risked their lives to protect the former president, but whoever arranged the security failed spectacularly.
Expect Mayorkas to have some serious questions to answer. Expect lower-level heads to roll.
.@ABC jv host @MarthaRaddatz rationalizes the assassination attempt on President Trump life on his previous rhetoric https://t.co/VEQNcW3LJk
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) July 14, 2024
Until things settle down a bit, it makes sense not to jump to conclusions. Things always look different a few days later than in the first few minutes. But we can already conclude that the folks in the mainstream media blaming Trump are exactly who you and I know who they are: disgusting partisans with dark souls.
For the moment, let's take a break and have a smile. I almost didn't do this edition of Sunday Smiles, but on reflection, it seems like a smile or two would be healthy, given the gravity of the moment. We can take a break for a minute or two, right?
Best of the Babylon Bee
Panic As Google AI Achieves Sentience, Announces Support For Trump https://t.co/2VrRvrOhMu pic.twitter.com/mgcbkc4mwL
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 14, 2024
Trump Indicted For Inciting Assassination Attempt https://t.co/sBlGGV8QvE pic.twitter.com/bRttmRnQhN
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 14, 2024
Trump Safe, Leaving Only One Dead Candidate https://t.co/jraYMmSPUX pic.twitter.com/terl88iJ1t
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 14, 2024
CNN: 'Clumsy Trump Hits Head On Bullet' https://t.co/7KSqs5OIIi pic.twitter.com/3HS18Kll7n
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Party That Called Trump 'Hitler' For 8 Years Shocked As Someone Tries To Assassinate Him https://t.co/9zTv1SsnMc pic.twitter.com/Wr5BNapizb
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Cybertruck To Come With Deployable Scoop For Removing Climate Change Protesters From Roadway https://t.co/UAxf55XVgG pic.twitter.com/vGrqxbKadu
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
People Who Would Never Cheat In Elections Horrified By ‘Stop Cheating In Elections’ Bill https://t.co/YF2CKyjEUz pic.twitter.com/a0PXRkEAJ8
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Elderly Surgeon Assures Patients He’s Still Lucid Between 10 A.M. And 4 P.M. https://t.co/NvcwG5RmRU pic.twitter.com/39iBFxwWFf
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Excitement Builds For First Olympic Games Held In Muslim Country https://t.co/c8Wgiqmm9s pic.twitter.com/dIvue6SP0H
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Biden Really Starting To Wonder Which 'Putin' He Gave That Tactical Nuke To https://t.co/qo55eOIZHJ pic.twitter.com/KVbltBDMI5
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Chicago Mayor Blames Spike In Violence On 9th Century Chinese Monks Who Invented Gunpowder https://t.co/SSVUuIobyj pic.twitter.com/nHAvrkVdgh
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Oh No! Biden Starting To Turn Blue After Aides Forgot To Include His ‘Remember To Breathe’ Card https://t.co/fjGFxkpxGt pic.twitter.com/yKf3W2NnnA
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Republican Party Implements Emergency Platform Change After Seeing How Close They Are To Winning Landslide Victory https://t.co/LzrcTHY4js pic.twitter.com/ju0myd0Iuy
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
White House Still Searching For A Biden They Can Send Out In Public https://t.co/PHwtjyclnP pic.twitter.com/H0YeDK7hZE
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 13, 2024
Democrats Warn That Democracy Will Cease If One Of The Two Major Political Parties That Have Existed For 170 Years Wins In November https://t.co/VMu9T2wmhu pic.twitter.com/C4pZ9nE3gk
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 12, 2024
Biden's Popularity Skyrockets After He Announces Trump Is His VP https://t.co/J5r0OFUcxY pic.twitter.com/OrvP3NX1lM
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 12, 2024
Desperate Democrats Ask Buffalo Guy If He Can Stage Another Insurrection https://t.co/NmYf5Temaa pic.twitter.com/bXEygy2Y65
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 12, 2024
Study Shows U.S. 4th Graders Now Gay At A 12th-Grade Level https://t.co/mXT089i3ts pic.twitter.com/vqxVBQ3VHS
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 12, 2024
Trump Vows That If Elected He Will Legalize Running Over Bicyclists https://t.co/cOy0x6JHwK pic.twitter.com/XzCKpyLOFP
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) July 12, 2024
Best of the Rest
cows freaking love music & it is the wildest thing to watch 😭 pic.twitter.com/uF6bwahoDK
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) July 14, 2024
Aww so sweetie 🐕💕 pic.twitter.com/IY4HdKNKNl
— dogs so cute that could save the world (@dogssaveworld) July 14, 2024
While in Portland, my wife was talking to a small business owner.
— David P Deavel (@davidpdeavel) July 12, 2024
He: So, where you from?
She: Houston, Texas.
He: I'd like to be in Texas.
She: You know, we just had a hurricane....
He: We have liberals.
Dogs are so precious 💛🥰 pic.twitter.com/WpEJagF3dQ
— dogs so cute that could save the world (@dogssaveworld) July 14, 2024
— Doglover (@puppiesDoglover) July 14, 2024
He needs flour to make biscuits. pic.twitter.com/dtQU0V5ENi
— Why you should have a cat (@ShouldHaveCat) July 13, 2024
People smuggling routes reach new levels of desperation pic.twitter.com/of2yLaiKRY
— Islamicat 💣😾🕌 💥 (@_Islamicat) July 13, 2024
Here's why...pic.twitter.com/Ggju5L4QFS
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) July 11, 2024
The simulation is sending us a message 👀 pic.twitter.com/Wz9FvqYycm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2024
— Posts Of Cats (@PostsOfCats) July 10, 2024
— internet hall of fame (@InternetH0F) July 8, 2024
He's mine..🐈🐾😍 pic.twitter.com/MRUsIeBCw0
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) June 27, 2024
That smile..🐕🐾🐈💆😍 pic.twitter.com/LYGNeKE4E6
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) July 7, 2024
— Why you should have a cat (@ShouldHaveCat) July 14, 2024
And Finally...
Every Democrat right now pic.twitter.com/WvbhBIlYtX
— Hannah Cox (@HannahDCox) July 14, 2024
CollegeHumor did a video for “what if the speech from the film Independence Day happened today” in 2016…and it has aged really well. pic.twitter.com/OO4kce3vyS
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) July 4, 2024
LOL! 😂 pic.twitter.com/UcDl8fYYbd
— LifeNews.com (@LifeNewsHQ) July 11, 2024
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