Donald Trump and his allies would have you believe that “they” are responsible for the attempts on the former president’s life. That’s correct... if “they” refers to men with easy access to weapons of war.
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Following the first attempt on Donald Trump’s life, his supporters conspiratorially blamed “them” for the failed assassination without ever explaining who “they” were. This did not stop even after it was reported that the perpetrator was a registered Republican.
On Sunday, after Secret Service agents apparently and thankfully stopped somebody else from taking a shot at the Republican presidential nominee, it seems likely that plenty of people will once again point the finger at a nebulous “them.”
“This is what they want.”
“They want Donald Trump to die.”
“They will not stop.”
And, you know what, anybody saying this is right… they are just wrong about who “they” are.
In this case, “they” does not refer to anybody with a specific political ideology, as the first wannabe assassin proved.
And, as much as Trump’s supporters would want this to be the case, “they” also does not refer to George Soros, the media, the Deep State, or any of the other usual suspects.
No, “they” refers to (mostly) men/boys with a violence fetish, mental health problems, and nearly limitless access to weapons of war who want to go out in a blaze of glory and etch their names into the history books.
And, right now, there are hundreds of “them” out there plotting to kill Trump, Kamala Harris, their teachers, the girl who rejected them, worshippers in churches, worshippers in temples, worshippers in mosques, Haitian migrants, the New York Yankees, CEOs, peaceful protesters, folks wanting to see a movie, or elementary school kids.
“They” want to kill you, and “they” want to kill me. Probably not specifically, but “they” do want to kill us if we happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Luckily for all of us, most of “them” don’t live out their violent fantasies. Maybe they are afraid of dying or they are right at the threshold of doing so but nothing pushes them over the edge. Maybe they need to be a little bit drunk or high to do it. Whatever stops them, however, it probably isn’t a lack of access to weapons.
And that means that if, in the spur of the moment, “they” overcome whatever it is that is holding “them” back, “they” can take action immediately and shoot up that school, synagogue, grocery store, movie theater… or try to kill a former president.
That’s the difference from other countries.
It’s not as though there aren’t people elsewhere who fantasize about killing others. The US does not have a monopoly on violent nutjobs.
And it’s not as though there aren’t mass killings elsewhere, or assassination attempts; it’s just so much easier here.
In his Navigating the Insanity columns, Klaus Marre provides the kind of hard-hitting, thought-provoking, and often funny analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
