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Anyone can experience clouded judgment during an unexpected crisis of significant magnitude — such as the shooting at a Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on 13 July 2024. That is why it is so important to prepare ourselves in advance.

By Milad Haghani

ABC NEWS Australia
Religion and Ethics
15 July 2024

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, highlights a serious if frequently neglected issue: the rapid spread of misinformation and confusion in moments of crisis. So, not only did attendees mistake the sound of gunfire for fireworks, but both eyewitness accounts and social media posts contributed to the chaos after the fact by sowing confusion and spreading conspiracies.

This says a lot about human nature during crises and how susceptible we are to cognitive biases, poor judgment, and spreading and accepting misinformation.

The causes of under-reaction

The audience's reaction on the ground is a stark example of the dissonance between expected and actual responses to an acute emergency. Even though the shooting occurred in and during a period of heightened domestic political tension, the incident was met with a surprising degree of disbelief. Eyewitness accounts reveal that many initially thought the unmistakable sound of gunfire was a sound of celebration and fanfare, even though minutes into a speech is an odd time for fireworks to be set off.

The psychological phenomenon at play here can be attributed, to a significant degree, to the concept of normalcy bias. Normalcy bias refers to the tendency of individuals to believe that things will always function the way they usually do, leading to the underestimation of both the possibility of a disaster and its potential consequences. In moments of crisis, this bias can lead to significant delays in recognizing and responding to the threat, as people default to familiar explanations — such as mistaking gunfire for fireworks.

Additionally, cognitive dissonance plays a role, where the stark reality of a potential assassination attempt clashes with the expectations of attendees of a political rally, causing initial disbelief and misinterpretation. Even in a society accustomed to high rates of gun violence and sound shooting, the immediate human reaction is often to seek a less alarming explanation, exemplifying a fundamental aspect of crisis psychology.

Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump, is swarmed by Secret Service agents after gunshots rang out at a rally at Butler, Pennsylvania, on 13 July 2024. (Photo by Jeff Swensen / Getty Images)

The threat to the audience members was as real as it gets. According to reports, one attendee of the rally lost his life, and two others were critically injured after being caught in the crossfire. However, footage from the event shows that some attendees did not even duck their heads. Some spectators standing directly behind Trump are seen standing and looking around. We often discuss human panic during moments of crisis with contempt and negative connotations, leading to a cultural shift whereby an arguably counterproductive sense of calm replaces this natural, survival-critical response. No one wants to be the person who bolts at the sound of a loud bang and be labeled as the one who needlessly panicked.

One cognitive bias that may also be at play and lead to this type of reaction is the bystander effect. In emergencies, individuals are less likely to take action when others are present, often leading to inaction. Additionally, social proof—the tendency to look to others for cues on how to behave—can cause individuals to remain calm if those around them are not reacting with urgency.

The spread of misinformation

And then we have the immediate flood of misinformation on social media. In our time, anyone with a social media account and no background or professional experience in journalism can assume the role of a “citizen journalist.” Breaking news is no longer the exclusive domain of traditional media outlets. High-quality, verified, and vetted reporting takes time. Still, people want to know what happened and who did it “as it happened,” even when facts remain unclear. Individuals will be ready to supply if there is a demand for quick, unverified information.

In the initial hours following the assassination attempt, a flood of online misinformation was unleashed. For instance, Corey Comperatore, the member of the audience who was caught in the crossfire and killed, was misidentified as the “assassin who got killed.”. An image of a member of law enforcement was circulated, mistakenly hailing him as the hero of the day for supposedly shooting down the gunman and saving the former president. Additionally, the identities of random, unrelated individuals were being circulated as the likely shooter.

This rapid spread of misinformation can be attributed to several cognitive and psychological factors. One prominent factor is confirmation bias, where individuals are likelier to believe and share information that aligns with their pre-existing beliefs or expectations. Imagine, for example, that you are a devoted Trump supporter, angered by what has unfolded, and you see a tweet with a picture of an individual attached claiming the shooter has been identified as a member of an Antifa group. If this information conforms to and confirms your expectations, you will likely accept it as a fact, regardless of whether the source is reliable. This bias leads to quickly disseminating unverified details that seem plausible to specific audiences.

Additionally, the bandwagon effect plays a role, too, as the perceived popularity of specific information can lead others to accept and share it without critical evaluation. The sheer number of likes and retweets under that post can make you believe the information must be accurate.

Donald Trump gestures toward the crowd at the campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on 13 July 2024. (Photo by Jeff Swensen / Getty Images)

The candidate’s clouded judgment

Perhaps the most incredible display of poor judgment in this particular moment of crisis, however, was displayed by Trump himself. Having narrowly escaped death, Trump seemed conscious enough to recognize the potential electoral advantage an assassination attempt could afford him. He insisted on retaining his shoes while being whisked offstage by the Secret Service, maybe to avoid looking weak or uncomposed. He sought to make the most of the moment by pumping his fist to the crowd — actions that counter the Secret Service protocols when ensuring the safety of those in their charge.

It’s not just the crowd or the masses of social media users. This incident shows how anyone can experience clouded judgment during an unexpected crisis of significant magnitude. That is why it is so important to prepare ourselves in advance.

Milad Haghani is a Senior Lecturer at the University of New South Wales, specializing in disaster risk and public safety.

What is the Side of the Story that is Not Yet Decisive? Edited by Abraham A. van Kempen.

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EDITORIAL | THE BUCK STOPS WHERE?

Don’t ask! This week’s Friday News Analysis might illuminate the question with narratives sidelined by other media.

Dr. Milad Haghani, Professor of Disaster Risk and Public Safety, suggests in ‘THE TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, SHOWS HOW MISINFORMATION AND COGNITIVE BIASES RUN WILD IN MOMENTS OF CRISIS’ that human herd instinct drives human action. Has anyone ever accused you of being a mindless sheep following other mindless sheep?

In TRUMP AND TYRANNICIDE, CAN POLITICAL VIOLENCE EVER BE JUSTIFIED?’ Dr. G. David Blunt, the esteemed professor of International Politics who writes and lectures about global inequality, political violence, and global health, critiques Mr. Trump’s vision of American democracy without condemning the clowns and stooges in Brussels and Washington, DC. They, not Mr. Trump, have provoked a proxy war between East and West, playing Russian Roulette with our lives. Though all democracies are corruptible – some leaders are corrupt – most democracies have checks and balances – even in Israel.

Has the failed assassination made Mr. Trump a better person, a more effective leader, and, potentially, a true world statesman? Trump Jr., in ‘SURVIVING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, CHANGED MY FATHER – DONALD TRUMP JR.’ claims, “Yes.” But what about Mr. Trump’s previous eight years of trials and tribulations beating the odds against impossible foes? He cannot be the same person the world met in 2016. Considering the inevitable outcome on 5 November 2024, let’s wait for what the jury will say in 2028.

And there’s more on the menu. Israeli journalist Alon Pinkas reminds us that in American politics, assassinations are as American as apple pie. Columnist Bradley Blankenship portends that it won’t matter whether the Democrats or the Republicans will take the White House; all Americans – and the world – will be the losers. But, no worries, there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Political Commentator Robert Bridge brings to mind how the power of the media can twist any news story – or personality – to its liking. Does Robert Bridge mean: “It’s the media’s fault for misconstruing the facts, not the people's blind-leading-the blind following of the press?”

Finally, watch the video. It’s meant to open windows. Warning! It’s controversial.

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TRUMP AND TYRANNICIDE: CAN POLITICAL VIOLENCE EVER BE JUSTIFIED?

Donald Trump must be held to account — but with ballots, not bullets.

(Photo by Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)

By David Blunt

ABC NEWS Australia
Religion and Ethics
16 July 2024

It is remarkable that Donald Trump, former US President, and presumptive Republican nominee, is alive today. He survived an assassination attempt at relatively close range, which killed one bystander and seriously injured two more. Trump himself was lightly wounded. The photograph of Trump bloodied and bellowing defiance as he is dragged from the stage by Secret Service agents has become the defining picture of this election — and perhaps the state of American democracy. It is a portrait of a demagogue who conjured violence and malice for nearly a decade in American politics only, like the sorcerer’s apprentice, to have these same forces turn against him. It is a portrait of a fracturing republic.

In the aftermath of the assassination attempt, there has been universal condemnation of the attack. President Joe Biden declared in no uncertain terms that there was no place for violence in American politics and that the attack was “sick.”

The condemnations seem platitudinous and empty, however — a slightly more refined form of the “thoughts and prayers” ritually offered in the wake of mass shootings. It also seems to run counter to reality. Political violence is part of American culture. It birthed the republic in the Revolutionary War. The founding fathers all recognized that, under certain conditions, political violence was both just and necessary.

Many Americans still agree. Just last month, Richard Pape from the University of Chicago found that some 10 percent of Americans support using force to stop Trump from regaining the White House, while 6.9 percent would support using force to install him. That is some 44 million Americans. Superficial attempts to wave political violence away are insufficient to deal with this problem. There needs to be a serious discussion about when political violence is justifiable.

Is Trump a tyrant?

Blanket condemnations of political violence are frequently unconvincing. This would condemn us to doing nothing in the face of evil. The honest discussion is about when such things are permissible. I want to address one particular act of political violence: tyrannicide.

We can distinguish tyrannicide from assassination by saying the former is justifiable political killing and the latter is not. You might say there is no such thing. When I ask my students about whether deliberate killing is justifiable, often most of them do not think it is. The intuition that deliberately taking another person’s life is deeply ingrained, and rightly so, but it does need to be critically examined.

Consider a test case. Reinhard Heydrich was a high-ranking officer in the SS, a chief lieutenant of Adolf Hitler, and one of the prime movers of the Holocaust. On 27 May 1942, Czech and Slovak partisans assassinated him with an improvised bomb. It is difficult to argue that the killing of a man deeply implicated in the coercive imposition of a racist totalitarian regime and industrialized murder of innocent persons is wrong.

President Donald Trump at the “Stop The Steal” rally on 6 January 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images)

There has been significant discourse around the threat Trump poses to American democracy. As president, he showed little knowledge or interest in the guardrails against his power; he relentlessly demonized his opponents and instigated a violent mob to prevent the peaceful transition of power. Little seems to have changed in the 2024 presidential election's lead-up. He threatens to jail his political opponents, and he has indicated his desire to reshape America into a more authoritarian and theocratic state with his ties to the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025.

Here, then, is the crux of the problem: Trump seems bent on hollowing out Republican institutions and accumulating arbitrary power in the office of the president to wield as he pleases. He looks a lot like Julius Caesar. But does this legitimize a modern Brutus?

The answer is no, but we need to know why.

“An enemy of all humanity”

The bar for tyrannicide must be high and clear. This is for two reasons. The first is simply the unconditional value of human life: if murder is not wrong, then what is? People like Heydrich forfeit their immunity from violence by committing terrible acts that shock the conscience of humanity. In the past, they would be described as hostis humani generis, an enemy of all humanity. This term was used to describe pirates and those who violated the basic terms of human social cooperation. They were outlaws — quite literally, beyond the protection of the law. People like Heydrich and his master were legitimate targets for tyrannicide because they committed crimes against humanity and, in doing so, made themselves a threat to all persons. To kill a Heydrich or a Hitler is akin to killing in self-defense or the defense of others. It is justifiable.

There might be some pushback. This bar requires crimes against humanity to be committed before an act of tyrannicide — but what if they could be prevented by removing criminals before they act? The problem with this stance is that it creates an almost impossible judgment burden. Think of John Wilkes Booth. After shooting Abraham Lincoln, he shouted sic semper tyrannis, “thus ever for tyrants,” the call used by the assassins of Julius Caesar. Yet, history judges that Lincoln, far from being a tyrant, was one of America’s most significant leaders, and his murder was one of its most profound tragedies. There is no such ambiguity regarding the likes of Heydrich or Hitler.

The further reason for having a high bar for tyrannicide is the consequences. One of the reasons Jeremy Bentham was critical of the right to resist oppression was that it left too much to the judgment of individuals and could lead to anarchy if anyone who felt oppressed could turn a knife on the judge who condemns them or the politician who advocates a policy with which they disagree. Those who would use this sort of violence run a terrible risk of breaking democratic systems.

Democracy is almost alchemical in its operation. It can transmute violent dissent into peaceful disagreement. The enemy becomes the rival. How? Because of the “losers’ consent.” The defeated side in a democracy does not resort to violence as they recognize that they may win the next contest. The legitimacy of the system survives electoral defeat. Political violence and assassinations erode this fundamental norm; they signify a withdrawal of consent.

Under these conditions, violence can produce the very outcome it seeks to prevent: a total collapse and a spiral into authoritarianism. Again, think of those who killed Julius Caesar. They acted to preserve the Roman Republic, but instead, they sparked a brutal civil war that eventually produced the Roman Empire.

Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump, with Republican pice presidential candidate, US Senator J.D. Vance, on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on 15 July 2024 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

Political violence of this sort can only be justifiable under the worst conditions. We may find Donald Trump disgusting, but he has not committed crimes against humanity. He is not hostis humani generis. This does not mean, however, that Trump is beyond reproach. His outriders — including his vice-presidential running mate, J.D. Vance — have claimed that democratic rhetoric about the risk Trump poses to American democracy is responsible for the assassination. They attempt the paradoxical state of a living martyr who cannot be criticized.

Setting aside the fact that we still have no notion of what motivated the would-be assassin, this evolution in the Trump cult of personality must be resisted for the sake of democracy. The sad fact is that no one has done more to erode the norms of democracy than the man who was almost killed on that stage in rural Pennsylvania. This cannot be ignored. He must be held to account — but with ballots, not bullets.

Gwilym David Blunt is a Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Sydney and a Fellow of The Ethics Centre. He writes about global inequality, political violence, and global health. His most recent book is Global Poverty, Injustice, and Resistance.

SURVIVING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT CHANGED MY FATHER – DONALD TRUMP JR.

The Republican frontrunner will “do his best to moderate” his message after his brush with death, his son has said.

Donald Trump looks on as his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump gesture behind him at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, July 15, 2024 © AFP / Brendan Smialowski.

HomeWorld News

17 Jul, 2024 13:47

Former US President Donald Trump was “changed permanently” by the attempt on his life over the weekend and will be a more moderate figure as we advance, his son, Donald Jr., has told Axios.

Trump narrowly avoided death at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday when an assassin’s bullet clipped his ear as it whizzed past his head. Firing from a rooftop around 500 feet (150 meters) from the stage, the gunman killed one spectator at the rally and wounded two others before he was shot dead by Secret Service snipers.

Speaking to Axios on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Wisconsin on Tuesday, Trump Jr. said that he was fishing with his family when his fiancee told him his father had been shot.

               “Kim calls me [and said], ‘Your father was shot,’” Trump Jr. recalled, adding that “It was 90 minutes before I even knew he was alive.”

Trump returned to his feet almost immediately after the shooting, pumping his fist in the air and telling his supporters to “fight!” before Secret Service agents ushered him away.

However, Trump’s defiance has led to a more conciliatory political approach. Speaking to the New York Post on Sunday, the Republican presidential candidate said that he had written “an extremely tough speech... all about the corrupt, horrible administration” for delivery at the RNC on Thursday but “threw it away” and began working on a speech to “unite our country” following the assassination attempt.

               “You know, I think it lasts,” Trump Jr. said of his father’s apparent mellowing. “There are events that change you for a couple of minutes, and there are events that change you permanently.”

               “Now again, it’s Trump, so [he’s] still going to be reactionary,” Trump Jr. added. “[Trump will] always be a fighter, that’s never gonna change, but he’s gonna do, I think, his best to moderate that where it needs to be.”

               “He’s going to be tough when he has to be,” he continued. “We’ve seen that; he’s never going to change. But I think there will be something. I think these are momentous occasions that change people permanently.”

Trump Jr. told Axios he worked with his father on the original speech, which he described as “hot.”

               “And by the way, I think it probably should have been at that time,” he said. “But again, a lot changes once you’ve got shot in the face.”

Trump made his first public appearance after the shooting at the RNC on Monday, looking visibly emotional as he entered the event to thunderous applause. He was officially confirmed on Monday as his party’s nominee to challenge President Joe Biden in this November’s election and is set to address the convention on Thursday.

ANALYSIS | THE TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IS AS AMERICAN AS IT GETS

How the assassination attempt on Donald Trump impacts November's election remains to be seen. What is beyond doubt is that Saturday's shooting was an expression of America's sad state of political affairs and a manifestation of the divide threatening the country.

Clockwise from top left: U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump. Only two survived assassination attempts. Credit: Fred Prouser, Reuters/Bettmann Archive, Getty Images/Matt Rourke, AP/Gene J. Puskar, AP

By Alon Pinkas
HAARETZ Israel
14 July2024

There is nothing more hypocritical and disingenuous than American self-righteousness and the pathetic "our prayers are with..." after an act of gun violence. "This is not who we are," they pontificate to themselves. Yet history tells us this is precisely who you are.

This is un-American, they say, rolling their eyes. "The attack on Donald Trump is antithetical to America," The New York Times declared in an editorial on Saturday night.

Really? Guns and political violence are antithetical to America? There's nothing more American than guns and violence. Ask history. Ask Hollywood. Who are you kidding here? Political violence has no place in the United States. They sanctimoniously try to convince themselves. Oh yes, it does – ever since Richard Lawrence attempted to assassinate President Andrew Jackson in 1835.

"What do we want to do, America?" asked The Washington Post editorial.

Snipers standing on a roof at Donald Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday, in a picture obtained from social media. Credit: Glen Van Tryfle/TMX/Reuters

Good question. Probably nothing, based on precedent.

Democrats will accuse Republicans of inciting violence and trying to overthrow an election in 2020. Republicans will accuse Democrats of incendiary remarks about former President Trump being a fascist and a danger to American democracy. The NRA will defend guns and blame a 20-year-old incel for being a reckless idiot. Political pundits will speculate ad nauseam about how this upends the presidential election, even though they have no clue whether it will or not and why. And everyone will look up, praise the Almighty, ask Jesus for guidance and forgiveness, and pray about nothing because, ultimately, the Second Amendment overrides the Ten Commandments in America.

Here's the thing: Delude yourselves all you want. Knock yourselves out, explaining that this aberration can be restrained. But this is precisely who and what you are.

When the Second Amendment to the Constitution – the so-called right to bear arms – is sacrosanct, when it is invoked far more in the political discourse than the First Amendment, when its meaning and historical context ("a well-regulated militia") are conveniently distorted – Butler, Pennsylvania, happens.

In a country of some 340 million people, there are over 400 million guns (many of which are semiautomatic AR-15s). This is almost half the number of firearms held privately on the entire planet. The shooting at Trump's rally in Butler is one of hundreds of murderous incidents that occur in the United States every year.

Read more … 

• Trump's fiercest critics in the Jewish world universally condemn assassination attempts.
• Here's what we know about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the suspected Trump rally shooter
• Why NATO - the oldest, most extended military alliance – is 'Trump-proofing'

Yet after the phony "thoughts and prayers," you install vending machines that dispense live ammunition and refuse to control guns seriously. As the new slogan goes, Americans are more concerned with trying to control women than firearms.

A supporter of former President Donald Trump waving a flag near his Mar-a-Lago residence after hearing about the assassination attempt in Pennsylvania on Saturday. Credit: Chandan Khanna/AFP

But there's an even broader context to Saturday's assassination attempt. What were you thinking: that this couldn't or wouldn't happen? A critical disclaimer: Although we know the identity of the person – Thomas Matthew Crooks – the FBI believes tried to assassinate Trump, we do not know his motives or what he thought he could achieve. We do not know whether it was a calculated political assassination attempt or a half-wit thinking he could affect the election. Or if he was just a disgruntled idiot vying for attention whose sixth-grade teacher would say in shock that "Thomas kept to himself and never hurt a fly." Or, if his best friend recalls that he was deep into conspiracy theories on the dark web, from whichever side.

So, what were you seriously thinking? That this wouldn't happen? If anything, it is more likely to portend further violence – a process Trump unleashed on January 6, 2021 – than prove an isolated incident that will shock everyone into rethinking and mellowing their rhetoric.

It is a lethal combination: A rampant and unhinged gun culture that glorifies violence—a toxic, vitriolic, hateful political discourse. A country divided into two diametrically distinct Americas. Quasi-religious, end-of-times conspiracy theories about Trump's inevitable victory in 2020 and again in 2024. A candidate who already instigated an insurrection in 2021 and who spews lies, innuendo, and threats of violence. And his detractors and haters, who see him as a clear and present danger to American democracy and liberties.

Political violence has been a recurring theme and characteristic of American history. Four sitting presidents have been assassinated: Abraham Lincoln in 1865, James Garfield in 1881, William McKinley in 1901, and John F. Kennedy in 1963. Three others have been wounded: Ronald Reagan while president in 1981, Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, and Trump in 2024 as former president running again.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at the campaign event in Butler, Pa., before the assassination attempt on Saturday. Credit: Gene J. Puskar/AP

Other than presidents, U.S. history is replete with assassinations and assassination attempts: Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Sen. Huey Long, and Gov. George Wallace, to name but a few. Dozens of members of Congress, state representatives, and federal judges were also victims of less well-known political assassinations or attempted assassinations.

How the assassination attempt on Trump will impact the election remains to be seen, and any conclusion or assessment is premature and silly at this point. Beyond speculation and conjecture is the tragic fact that this was an expression of America's sad state of political affairs and a manifestation of the divide that threatens the country.

The United States is the greatest superpower in world history and humanity's most remarkable success story. But what happened in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday is equally as American as it gets.

BRADLEY BLANKENSHIP | DONALD TRUMP IS GOING TO WIN – AMERICA ISN’T

The assassination attempt against the 45th president and his selection of JD Vance as his running mate ensured him victory in November.

Republican presidential candidate, former US President Donald Trump (L), and Republican Vice Presidential candidate, US Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), appear on the first day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 15, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. © Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Bradley Blankenship, an American journalist, columnist and political commentator

@BradBlank_

HomeWorld News

16 Jul, 2024 20:39

On Saturday, former US President Donald Trump was the victim of an assassination attempt. The Republican nominee had his ear grazed and was quickly rushed by the Secret Service, though many are still criticizing the event’s apparent lack of safety.

Immediately, the candidate and others capitalized on the spectacle with T-shirts and other paraphernalia, suggesting that, as always, Trump would walk away victorious.

It is no exaggeration to say that this spectacle has cemented another Trump term. Many experts and Republican officials believe that Donald Trump has narcissistic personality disorder. Part of the narcissist playbook includes playing the victim. When the narcissist usurps victimhood, it’s a wash for the opposition. In this case, Trump has a legitimate claim to that title and will ride it into the sunset. The shooter, in this case, essentially handed the former president the greatest gift he ever could have.

It should also be noted that victimhood is one of the main animating factors of the MAGA movement. Trump and the current Republican Party are leaning into this energy, mainly white victimhood, to establish a politics that seeks to level the playing field for a previously unseen faction of rural white people who have lost out on opportunities as a result of globalization.

On Monday, Trump’s decision to pick Ohio Senator JD Vance as his running mate reflected this strategy. As a newly minted Cincinnati resident like Vance, I find the feeling of the city palpable. Southern Ohio is a battleground of burgeoning political and social attitudes. Many parts of the country are leaning into the utter destruction of community and egalitarian values, while others, particularly the younger generation, are embracing them. At the same time, when racial strife and mass shootings are increasing, people are yearning for innocence and a connection to a higher purpose.

With the selection of Vance, the Trump campaign has clarified its position on this matter. The New Right and its desire for an idealized past, as well as a protectionist foreign policy, will define the Republican Party for the foreseeable future. The Democratic Party, as it is inclined to do, is stuck in a politics that does not fit the current zeitgeist, evidenced by the candidacy of incumbent President Joe Biden, an 81-year-old. Biden’s lack of energy, charisma, and general inspiration indicates the failure of current Democratic politics, as does the party’s failing effort to suppress the emergence of its progressive flank.

At the outset of this current presidential race, I often commented that the Republican Party's disunity would set it up for failure. These mistakes have been corrected. The GOP has long been superior regarding resources, organization, and ideological unity. It has now produced a nascent politics that will yet again obliterate the decorum that had long defined American politics. Growing calls from within the Democratic Party to replace Biden, while entirely warranted, are a sure sign that the race is already over.

In the grand scheme, there cannot be a winner this November. Whether an aging narcissist or an even more fossilized milquetoast liberal wins, America loses. Joe Biden’s political programs have failed to inspire the country to the degree needed to ward off the malignant influence of Donald Trump. Trump’s pride, symbolic of the pride of a significant swath of the country, will catch up to him and usher in untold suffering for the nation. It is such a certainty as to have long been understood in Christian and Islamic lore as one of the seven deadly sins, leading to an eternity in hell.

As Charles Bukowski wrote in “Lost” from his 1974 Burning in Water, Drowning in Flame, “Those who escape hell, however, never talk about it, and nothing much bothers them after that.” He wrote that going through hell and back is “the greatest satisfaction known to man.” This idea is also reflected in the archetype of the Tree of Life, where the tree's roots descend to hell and reach heaven. The path to the gates of salvation, as stated clearly in the Bible through Jesus’ death and resurrection, is met through hell.

Donald Trump is going to win. There is little doubt about this. His pride, which we may consider America’s collective pride, will send the nation to hell. Yet, at the end of this tortuous experience is the opportunity to find a better and higher state through our collective psyche's symbolic death and rebirth. How exactly this will play out is anyone’s guess.

ROBERT BRIDGE | THERE’S ANOTHER CULPRIT IN THE TRUMP MURDER ATTEMPT

With corporate media constantly demonizing the Orange Man, something like the Butler shooting was bound to happen.

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump is helped off the stage at a campaign event in Butler, Pa., on Saturday, July 13, 2024. © AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

By Robert Bridge

15 July 2024
HomeWorld News

Robert Bridge is an American writer and journalist. He is the author of 'Midnight in the American Empire,' How Corporations and Their Political Servants are Destroying the American Dream.

@Robert_Bridge

Americans from across the political spectrum were treated to yet more evidence that Donald Trump is an invincible force that cannot be easily reckoned with. However, this perception will do little to mitigate the media hostility that poisons the US political scene.

Everyone knew it was just a matter of time. Trump, who was addressing a crowd of supporters in Butler, Pennsylvania, was grazed by an assassin’s bullet during a campaign speech (how the would-be killer managed to get so close to the Republican frontrunner amid an army of Secret Service agents is a question for another day). What must concern Americans now is what triggered this latest political violence.

Several commentators pointed to Joe Biden's reckless remarks on a call with donors earlier this month when the incumbent leader reportedly said:

               “I have one job, and that’s to beat Donald Trump… So, we’re done talking about the debate. It’s time to put Trump in a bullseye.”

JD Vance, the senator from Ohio and a top contender to be Trump’s running mate, said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter):

               “The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs. That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.”

While that is true, the media happily promulgates such dangerous messages and must be held at least partially responsible for the atmosphere of hate that now permeates the US political scene. While we constantly hear reports about unhinged individuals being ‘politically motivated,’ how about we give more attention to those who have been ‘media motivated’?

For starters, consider last month’s issue of the New Republic. This left-leaning political journal featured on its cover a portrait of Trump made to resemble Adolf Hitler along with the inscription, “American fascism, what it would look like.”

We chose the cover image, based on a well-known 1932 Hitler campaign poster, for a precise reason: that anyone transported back to 1932 Germany could very, very easily have explained away Herr Hitler’s excesses and been persuaded that his critics were going overboard. After all,… pic.twitter.com/x79Rkh86O1

— The New Republic (@newrepublic) July 7, 2024

One month later, on the day of the shooting, the journal was whistling a different tune.

“As I write these words, we don’t know what motivated 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks to try to assassinate Trump,” wrote the TNR columnist Michael Tomasky, feigning ignorance and disbelief. “But whatever his motivation turns out to be, his act not isolated (sic)… I’d write that we’re about to enter a very dark period, but we entered it long ago, and there’s no end in sight.”

You don’t say, Michael?

As expected, there was no sign of Trump sporting the Hitler mustache to accompany the article. After reading hundreds of such hypocritical pieces that lack self-awareness, it becomes more evident that the entire political field is rigged in favor of one team, namely the Democrats, over those of the Republicans. While the two factions enjoy roughly 50% support of the electorate, it’s no secret (although a great mystery) that the liberal left enjoys far greater public reach due to its overwhelming control of the national media. Thus, Democrats have much greater trust in the media since it reflects their values.

In a recent Gallup poll, many Americans (39%) don’t trust the media. That number has steadily increased since 2018. However, a more disturbing picture emerges if you dig deeper into the statistics. 58% of Democrats said they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in the media, while just 11% of Republicans agreed. No wonder in the United States, you increasingly hear people speak about the “propaganda” that is now controlling the airwaves and newspapers, not to mention what and how people think.

First they sued him. Then they prosecuted him. Then they tried to take him off the ballot. The only thing more tragic than what just happened is that, if we’re being honest, it wasn’t totally a shock. Biden’s inevitable ritual condemnation of political violence today (when it…

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) July 14, 2024

Consider one major news event: the Black Lives Matter protests (May 2020). At the height of the race-fueled riots following the death of George Floyd at the hands of a White police officer, a veritable army of pro-Democrat channels like PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN were shockingly sympathetic to the acts of violence that spread from sea to shining sea. At the same time, only Fox News and a tiny handful of pro-Republican outlets covered the seedier side of that event.

In a desperate effort to sanctify the rioters, CNN was roundly ridiculed as one of its reporters stood in front of a raging fire with the chyron at the bottom of the screen, ‘FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS.’ It should come as no surprise that millions of Americans never heard that the arson, vandalism, and looting that occurred between May 26 and June 8 caused roughly between $1 billion and $2 billion in wrecked property nationally, the highest recorded damage from civil disorder in US history.

That demonstrates the power of the media to twist any news story – or personality – to its liking. Considering that the media industrial complex has been aiming its big guns at the reputation of the populist politician, Donald J. Trump, it should come as no surprise that a lone maniac nearly killed him.

THE EVANGELICAL POPE | UPHOLDING THE WONDER OF LIFE

July 15, 2024
Living Words from John Paul II
Edited by Abraham A. van Kempen

Published Sunday, July 14, 2024 

A decent homeland means more than clean air, clear water, and healthy soil.

Secret Service tend to Donald Trump after his attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024 © Getty Images / Anna Moneymaker.

Each week we let Saint Pope John Paul II share meaningful signposts to spark socio-economic resolves through justice and righteousness combined with mercy and compassion; in short, love.

               ¹⁷ “Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.
               __ Jeremiah 32:17 (New International Version)

Read full chapter
Jeremiah 32:17 in all English translations

Innsbruck, Austria – 27 June 1992 | A decent homeland means more than clean air, clear water, and healthy soil.

Home, which each of us longs for, grows where people are good to one another and stand up for one another, tolerate one another even in their weaknesses, where there is time for a trusting conversation, where one is prepared to forgive.

Home means responsible design of the community of residence and the place of work, attentive care for Sundays and public holidays, cultivating hospitality, neighborly help, and political culture. Such an experience of home can even become a premonition of our eternal home.

When it runs deep, our understanding of the homeland includes a profound respect for human dignity. It begins with the unwavering value we place on human life. When society falters in this regard, upholding the right to life in the name of God and human dignity becomes crucial.

At the other end of our earthly journey, the dignity of the elderly, the sick, and the dying is entrusted to us all as protection and responsibility. But guest workers and foreigners, the disabled and marginalized people, those who have stumbled, and sinners are also entitled to have their primary, lasting dignity recognized.

When we view the structural unemployment problem through the lens of a 'decent homeland,' it becomes clear that we should expect the solidarity of those better off. This collective responsibility is crucial in creating a society where everyone can thrive.

Excerpted from:

PASTORALBESUCH IN ÖSTERREICH, HL. MESSE FÜR DIE GLÄUBIGEN DER DIÖZESEN, INNSBRUCK UND FELDKIRCH IM «BERGISEL STADION» PREDIGT VON JOHANNES PAUL II, Innsbruck - Montag, 27. Juni 1988

WE ARE TREATING EACH OTHER AS ‘POLITICAL ABSTRACTIONS,’ CHLOE VALDARY HAS A WAY TO FIX THAT

Chloé Valdary founded an alternative model to many corporations' diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programs. Her alternative, called the “Theory of Enchantment,” first emerged from her work educating people about anti-Semitism and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

Watch Video Here – 48 Minutes, 18 Seconds

American Thought Leaders

16 July 2024

Chloé Valdary founded an alternative model to many corporations' diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training programs. Her alternative, called the “Theory of Enchantment,” first emerged from her work educating people about anti-Semitism and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

“They would say to you, ‘You are a white man, and therefore you are privileged. And therefore, you belong to the ’oppressor class.‘ I, as a person of color, belong to the ’oppressed class.' And we are—you and I—locked in a Manichean struggle from now until the end of time. There’s no escape valve,” said Ms. Valdary.

“There are three principles to the theory of enchantment. [The] first principle is to treat people like human beings, not political abstractions. The second principle is to criticize, uplift, and empower, never to tear down or destroy. And the third principle is to root everything you do in love and compassion.”

We discuss supremacy, identity, outrage, race, and religion.

“We are a Protestant nation. Protest is our founding religion. And so, we are confronted with a great challenge: growing up. We are a very young nation, and I think that all of these ‘culture wars’ are an invitation to engage in some self-reflection, collectively, and grow up,” said Ms. Valdary.

BUILDING THE BRIDGE! | A WAY TO GET TO KNOW THE OTHER AND ONE ANOTHER

Making a Difference – The Means, Methods, and Mechanism for Many to Move Mountains

Photo Credit: Abraham A. van Kempen, our home away from home on the Dead Sea

By Abraham A. van Kempen

Senior Editor
Updated 19 January 2024

Those who commit to 'healing our broken humanity' build intercultural bridges to learn to know and understand one another and others. Readers who thumb through the Building the Bridge (BTB) pages are not mindless sheep following other mindless sheep. They THINK. They want to be at the forefront of making a difference. They're in search of the bigger picture to expand their horizons. They don't need BTB or anyone else to confirm their biases.

Making a Difference – The Means, Methods, and Mechanism for Many to Move Mountains

Accurate knowledge promotes understanding, dispels prejudice, and awakens the desire to learn more. Words have an extraordinary power to bring people together, divide them, forge bonds of friendship, or provoke hostility. Modern technology offers unprecedented possibilities for good, fostering harmony and reconciliation. Yet its misuse can do untold harm, leading to misunderstanding, prejudice, and conflict.

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