CSotD: Pictures of the Pain

David Rowe offers the most appropriate response to last night’s assassination attempt.

As is often the case, Australians got first crack at the story because of the time difference, and some did better than others, which is always the case and why I have something to write about each day.

Rowe nails it, because “Sigh” is about the only sane, responsible way to react, and he lists some, not all, of the assassination attempts against American Presidents. He includes Bobby Kennedy, who was only, like Trump, a candidate, but doesn’t list Andrew Jackson or Theodore Roosevelt, who escaped death.

But he makes the point, and emphasizes it with the yellow tape of the Second Amendment and shell casings of thoughts, prayers and hate: We are all just prisoners here, of our own device.

That’s not a reason to stop trying, or to stop caring. But my usual run through social media this morning showed the depth and grip of the prison we have devised, and I’m confident that, by the time you’re reading this, the hip-shot nonsense, paranoid delusions and insane responses will only have multiplied.

And I suppose I’ll get to comment on more political cartoons on the topic, drawn with more time for consideration.

But perhaps today’s snap judgments will say more about why Uncle Sam can only sigh in Rowe’s piece.

I note that Rowe draws an assault rifle with a silencer on Uncle Sam’s lap. As of 5:38 a.m., I haven’t seen a report on what the would-be assassin carried, but the sound on the video of the shooting suggests rapidly fired bullets and argues against careful aim or a silencer.

One of the many, many cranks on social media referred to it as a “sniper assault rifle” which is similar to a “wolf tiger” in that it sounds very scary but doesn’t exist.

Other know-it-alls are saying that the event was staged, while an actual gen-you-wine congressman announced that Biden had ordered the hit, proving that pecans aren’t the only nuts that Georgia produces.

It’s important to bear in mind what I wrote the other day, that moronic theories of Elvis being still alive sprang up well before there was social media, to which I will add that a dozen years before that, there were people who believed that JFK was alive, in a vegetative state, living on a Greek island and being cared for by Jackie and by Aristotle Onassis, who pretended to have married her in order to provide a cover story.

These people have always walked amongst us, and though now the Internet lets them contact each other and ramp up their odd beliefs, its main impact may be to make them harder to ignore. Scrolling through my social media sites this morning was like touring Bedlam.

Self-Juxtaposition of the Day

Another Aussie cartoonist, Pat Hudson, managed to post three cartoons in response to the shooting, the first blaming American culture, which is a fair accusation if done a bit grimly, but then he mocks President Biden for having spoken against the violence, which ignores the attempts Biden has made at controlling our gun culture. After all, this isn’t a parliamentary system in which the executive enjoys a legislative majority.

Finally, he brags over how much more gentle and non-violent Australians are, which may come as a surprise to his nation’s aboriginal people.

Meanwhile, Glen LeLievre somehow finds humor in someone being wounded in an attempted murder.

One of the Internet geniuses was sure the shooting was a hoax because if a bullet hit Trump’s ear, it would go through his head and kill him.

I knew a guy back home who had the very tip of his nose shot off as he was landing on the beach at Guadalcanal, and it didn’t go through his head and kill him. Neither did the four or five bullets that hit him in some other places that day, but he married his nurse which is a whole other story.

Other crimestoppers declared the shooting a set-up because photographers got such good shots of Trump being helped to his feet.

That might be a more convincing theory if news photographers never covered Trump at other times, or if Bob Jackson hadn’t happened to snap the shutter of his camera just as Jack Ruby fired his gun, which was cosmic payback for the fact that Jackson was changing film at the moment Oswald fired at Kennedy.

They find more proof of the hoax in Trump’s waving to the crowd as the Secret Service bundled him away, which is also proof that most football injuries are hoaxes, since players frequently give the crowd a thumbs-up as they’re carted off the field.

Juxtaposition of Blasphemy

Gary Varvel — Creators

Jesse Duquette

The best part of this pairing is that both cartoons are in appallingly bad taste, and that doesn’t really depend on whether you are a believer, a denier or a Deist.

Varvel may have forgotten that Jesus cited Deuteronomy to Satan in Matthew, reminding him “You shall not put your Lord to the test.”

If the Son of God found it blasphemous to count on God protecting him, how much more blasphemous is it to declare some earthly politician the beloved of the Lord?

Duquette’s piece is only shown here as a contrast to Varvel’s blasphemy. And note that there is no defense in saying it’s okay because he’s not a believer.

Wishing for someone’s death is still poor taste; The insult to believers is simply a garnish.

I’m not crazy about Garth German’s confrontational take, though I agree with his distaste for those who justify violence against their opponents but are taken aback when violence is unleashed against someone on their side.

John Cole had addressed a similar concern a few days ago, when North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a candidate for governor, said that “some folks need killin’,” suggesting, though not specifying, both criminals and opponents of conservative policies.

Robinson has since refused to answer questions about his comment, but we need to talk about this, and if German’s cartoon is unlikely to open a conciliatory dialogue, we’ll see what cartoons appear over the next few days.

Bearing in mind that Bull Run wasn’t much of a battle, but led to much bloodier clashes.