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The attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is a reminder of just how fragile our political situation is and life itself. While I was looking at the speech on Real American Voices I was convinced that Trump had taken a fatal shot. Miraculously he had only a surface wound on the ear. Trump behaved bravely, cooly and with aplomb. He reassured the crowd, which itself reacted with calm and concern. Trump raised his fist to reassure those in attendance that he was healthy and intact.
Now this scene should not surprise those who regularly attend his rallies. Although nothing of this sort has happened, you do have the occasional fainting spell or medical problem with some attendees. Trump usually, for a brief moment, pauses and reassures his listeners that they are alright and then he continues once all is well. He is nothing like the man demonized by his critics. Nor are the so-called "deplorables" who usually pitch in on these occasions and who were outstanding at Bethel Park.
Surprising? Well, it shouldn't be, these are good, concerned Americans who have worried about the fate of their country. Sometimes they let their passions get the best of them, but normally, they are cool, calm and collected. For Democrats, it is a reminder that it is a danger to overly personalize politics. You can say much about Trump, but you cannot accuse him of cowardice. In Pennsylvania, he was a colossus, unafraid and in the hour of peril more concerned about his supporters than himself. And believe me, I witnessed it, albeit from the television screen. I usually watch most of Trump's rallies and they are nothing like how they are usually reported.
Does that mean I agree with Trump? Certainly not on every position. But Trump is a phenomenon - literally a man the people chose in the Republican party. He unexpectedly won in 2016, and then his stunned critics personalized his presidency. His first term was more moderate than any of his detractors depicted. It was a very traditional Republican administration, with the exception of the Supreme Court, largely the product of Reagan and Bush stalwarts in and outside the Senate.
Indeed, Democrats would have been better off to accomodate the President. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer outmaneuvered their GOP counterparts largely with the help of Trump. They got good deals on Medicare, Social Security and other social programs.
Which leaves us at an unpleasant crossroads. Why were Clinton, Barack Obama and, yes, Donald Trump the targets of such vitriol? It was the politics of electoral advantage getting the best of common sense. I usually extend congratulations to the winner of the presidential sweepstakes, regardless of party. In 2016, I wrote congratulations to Trump and billingsgate was heaped upon me. And this was from faithful readers.
For those who support a more liberal view, concentrate on ideas, not personalities. Perhaps the Trump movement is all they say it is, but it does no good to engage in sophomoric put-downs. Learn to win in a gracious way. We are all better than our politics, let's show it.