D858. The "Assassination Attempt" Helped Trump Win. Therefore...

First, here's another of today's headlines--not a top one. "CIA Reveals Further Contacts with Lee Harvey Oswald." That's old hat among American assassinations and conspiracy theories. Remember that other assassin, Sirhan Sirhan? (No? By now, the software thinks that name is a typo!)

These assassins are mysteriously opaque figures with indecipherable motivations. Were they puppets, or stand-ins? Unlike John Wilkes Booth, who was indeed a real-life conspirator.

There's far greater interest in "the Epstein Files." Even though Epstein died 6 years ago--and Joe Biden's DOJ had had his full term to unearth and reveal all this. How about AOC accusing Trump of "rape" allegedly committed 29 years ago--on social media (where she has no immunity when she commits defamation defamation). But today's "news" also brought an article not quite so buried in historic mud.

This one implies that the first 2024 attempt to kill Trump (the one where the bullet hit him in the ear) may have helped or even caused him to win the election. (How about the second, aborted assassination attempt, also during the 2024 campaign?) This idea could ring a bell with simplistic people such as I. When asked "Why did this happen?" my rule-of-thumb is to say "What were its results? Who benefitted? Maybe the results were the intended results!"

So, if shooting at Trump helped him win the election--maybe that was the purpose of shooting at him. This implies a "conspiracy theory," which could seek to explain events much more recent than those involving Epstein or Kennedy. (Evidence of this? Maybe, as with JFK, we'll still have our ears pricked up 60 years from now.)

Reagan, Teddy Roosevelt and Gerald Ford survived assassination attempts. These tend to evoke sympathy for and identification with the intended victim. Even if no gun is involved, even if there are only words--attacks against a person can add to rather than dent his approval. For instance, Democratic pundits condemn their party's focus on beating up on Trump, rather than on advancing positive policy propositions. They say this focus aiming at Trump has contributed to the drop in Democrats' approval ratings since the 2024 elections.

What's striking is that Republicans did the converse of this in those most recent elections: they ran against Biden's record--the incredible and treasonable open border policy, the inflation--and against Biden's senility. So, if Trump in 2020 and then Biden could be targeted and knocked down as personal bullseyes--then, why not Trump, now and in 2026? Why do the attacks seem, instead, to be strengthening his support?

One reason is that Trump actually learned some things since 2020. Fireworks of empty promises going in all directions have done him no harm. They generate dreams. A couple of awesome accomplishments loom huge. He shut the border in a week. He's making the Europeans pay--willingly!--for their own defense.

To those who are worried and discouraged, Trump therefore represents their only hope. From here to 2028, which is still very far away. He's not going away!