Post assassination attempt we have to watch out for the words of war we use, by Hal Brown, MSW

Above: How AI draws Trump as a scorpion

Watch Out For Words of War We Use

Biden had to apolgize for his "bulls-eye" comment and I had to be careful about the words I used for a Chauncey DeVega Salon column quote.

The words Trump and Biden are now both using are going to be under the microscope lest they are suggestive of violence. For example (from an MSN article)

In an unedited interview that ran in its entirety, a defiant President Joe Biden told NBC News anchor Lester Holt that it was a mistake when he recently said that he wanted to put former President Donald Trump back in "a bullseye," yet did not cave on his criticism of Trump's mean and often violent rhetoric.

Last week, before a comeback performance at a Detroit rally, Biden said to donors, "We're done talking about the debate; it's time to put Trump in a bullseye." Republicans are now accusing the president of stoking violence against his rival following gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks' attempt to kill Trump, who was shot in the ear at a rally on Saturday. 

"How do you talk about the threat to democracy, which is real, when a president says things like he says?" Biden asked Holt, then referring to Trump's reaction while in the White House to the deadly alt-right Unite the Right incident in Charlottesville in 2017. "Do you just not say anything because it may incite somebody?"

Salon columnist Chauncey DeVega asked me for a quote for an article he was writing. You can read the column and my quote here:

"Trump is able to turn bullets into gold": Experts on MAGA's "mythology of Trump the superman."

DeVega used my reference to "bullets"in it in his title because it couldn't be construed as a call for violence. I pat myself on the back for being so clever.

I orginally considered ending my quote using submarine warfare analogy with writing about how a Commander Biden out to set his sub on the bottom of the ocean for about a week before surfacing to periscope depth, manning the torpedos, and going full speed ahead. Of course this was a reference to the book and movie "Run Silent, Run Deep." I thought that not everyone would get it, but I thought it would work anyway. After all I thought Biden would make a good Clark Gable. He played the commander in the movie. From Wiki, the title refers to "silent running", a submarine stealth tactic. The story describes World War II submarine warfare in the Pacific Ocean, and deals with themes of vengeance, endurance, courage, loyalty, and honor, and how these can be tested during wartime. You can see why I thought to use it as an example.

Then I realized that referencing warfare would be going against the call to avoid anything in our rhetoric which could be construed as a allusion to violence. 

Political campaigns have always been called fights and the term "a hard fought battle" is part of the lexicon when people write or talk about political campaigns. Now we have to be careful of how people may take our words to be suggestive of violence.

Being cognizant of how the words used to criticize one's own political opponent and by others to make a case against a politician may lead to some people construing this as a call to violence is important. I can't find the word or words to describe how far beyond irony it is that between Trump and Biden, and between far-right Republicans and Democrats, it is that Republicans are the ones who reveled in using infammatory language. 

Comparing what Trump and his followers have said with what Biden   said is what Joe Scarborough called phony moral relativism when criticising the Lestor Holt interview with Biden.

"We could talk about Nancy Pelosi, we could talk about the assassinations of Joint Chiefs, the hangings of Mike Pence. We could go on and on and on. We could talk about it on both sides. Again, a good question to ask about what he said in a private fundraiser — a good question to ask, I would have asked the same question. But to ask that question absent of any context seems to me to be — you talk about a phony moral relativism."

 I'd just say it was like comparing apples and aardvarks.

Biden has a dilemma because he must highlight Project 2025 and Trump's dictatorial ambitions as a threat to democracy despite Trump and his campaign trying to say doing so may incite violence.

I'm reminded of all the TV commercials for medications with dire, sometimes life threatening, side effects and adverse reactions. While scenes of happy people in bucolic setting play on the screen with a musical backround a melodious voice reads the required label warning  which sometimes end with "and may cause death."

Somehow Biden and his surrogates have to warn about the threat Trump is to democracy by choosing their words very carefully. In fact they may caution against using the words "threat" and "democracy." Instead Biden and other trying to sound the alert about this existential threat might just use specific examples of what Trump, and now Vance, want to do without using any words that would have the Republicans screaming foul.

What can Biden's campaign do? Can they use the fact that JD Vance once said Trump would be America's Hitler in their ads? If anything is inflammatory comparing Trump to Hitler this certainly is. How can Biden say that in many ways Trump has said things could be like Hitler without saying Hitler's name?

Here's a TV discussion about this.

Consider this from 2023: 

Trump compares political opponents to 'vermin' who he will 'root out,' alarming historians

Former President Donald Trump vowed this weekend to "root out" his political opponents, who he said "live like vermin" as he warned supporters that America's greatest threats come "from within" -- extreme rhetoric that echoes the words of fascist dictators like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, experts and Trump's critics said.

A Trump campaign spokesman dismissed the backlash to his speech, at a Veterans Day rally in New Hampshire, but some historians said the parallels were alarming.

"To call your opponent 'vermin,' to dehumanize them, is to not only open the door but to walk through the door toward the most ghastly kinds of crimes," writer and historian Jon Meacham said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

There's not much that could be more inflammatory than suggesting Trump is like Hitler. Now making this comparison will be (to use a German word) verboten.

Consider some of the words and phrases in political parlance besides "bullseye" that we have think of as warlike or as calling for violence: aim, target, set their sights on, fire at, blast, and even the commonly used word "attack." 

Whether Trump and his surrogates can resist employing hysterical hyperbole that the Democrats can point to as promotion of violence remains to be seen. Already some speakers at the convention are demonizing Democrats and coming close to this.

I don't have to write much about the times Trump has promoted direct violence. This one example is from 2016:

It isn't original to use the scorpion and the frog fable to apply to  Trump and how he can't resist expressing his violent thoughts. 

A scorpion wants to cross a river but cannot swim, so it asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid that the scorpion might sting it, but the scorpion promises not to, pointing out that it would drown if it killed the frog in the middle of the river. The frog considers this argument sensible and agrees to transport the scorpion. Midway across the river, the scorpion stings the frog anyway, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung despite knowing the consequence, to which the scorpion replies: "I am sorry, but I couldn't resist the urge. It's my character." (Wikipedia)

Of course in the fable both the scorpion and the frog end up drowning. We can only hope that Trump stings himself and that Biden, the frog, who is after all adept at swimming, makes it to shore and recovers from the injection of Trump venom.

Update, HUFFPOST article:

RNC Speeches Catalogue Horrors Of Democratic Rule: Rape, Murder And Chaos

Attempts at “unity” rhetoric seemed to be no match for the appeal of fearmongering attacks on some of the GOP’s favorite targets.

How one must ask can they effectively fear monger by avoiding every word that might incite someone to violence?

You can read this and previous blogs on two websites and on Substack. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

Read on the WordPress Stressline.org (you can subscrbe to this on the upper left)

or….

Read on the Google Blogger platform HalBrown.org This version has a Disquis comment section which makes it easy to post links and images.

or… Hal’s Substack where you can sing up to get an email when I post a new blog.

It's possible J.D. Vance will be president within four years, by Hal Brown, MSW

 

AI gnerated images

 

Today's bonus blog:

If elected VP JD Vance will be a heartbeat, or absense of a heartbeat, away from succeeding a president with a thick neck, who eats poorly, gets little exercise, and is obese. These are all factors portending life threatening illness. 

Consider President Vance. 

I'm sure he has.

Biden is older than Trump but doesn't have the health risks Trump does. Not only that the idea of President Harris doesn't strike fear into the hearts of every democracy loving American.

You can read this and previous blogs on two websites and on Substack. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

Read on the WordPress Stressline.org (you can subscrbe to this on the upper left)

or….

Read on the Google Blogger platform HalBrown.org This version has a Disquis comment section which makes it easy to post links and images.

or… Hal’s Substack where you can sing up to get an email when I post a new blog.

When Republicans tell Democrats to stop calling Trump a threat to democracy you know they're afraid, therefore they should keep doing this, by Hal Brown, MSW

 

When I saw the article 

After Assassination Attempt, Republicans Say It’s Out Of Bounds To Call Donald Trump A Threat To Democracy

in HUFFPOST you can see my reaction above. 

I recommend that Biden and his campaign team push the campaign pause button until a few days after the Republican convention to let Trump's "I was but for the grace of God almost a martyr" blitz run it's course. This will seem like the classy thing to do. After all, it is Democrats that want to portray themselves as having empathy, which of course they do.

In reality since so much attention will be foucsed on the convention that it will be hard to compete with their noise machine even with a few well-placed powerful ads about Trump being a threat to democracy. In addtion, holding back the ad buys will save Democrats some money. 

What the Republicans are now revealing is that it may not be issues like abortion that they are most afraid Biden and other Democrats running for office will focus on. It is that they are afraid of the truth sinking in with voters that Trump really does want to be a dictator and, notably, that this is a very bad thing.

Until now it appeared that portraying Trump as someone intent on becoming a dictator on day one, and for those who think he's immortal, forever after, wasn't hitting home with undecided sane voters. We knew that his most ardent supporters from the cultists at rallies who you know by looking at them would be thrilled to have him rule with power unfettered by the pesky Constitution...

... to those in The Heritage Foundation who wrote Project 2025 from their opulent Massachusetts Avenue office in Washington (below) wants Trump to be a dictator. 

What we didn't know was that the GOP mucky-mucks were actually worried about the Democrats warning the country about this. Now we know they are. By eschewing positive ads about all the good things Biden had done they must with forceful and let's hope formidable focus describe the damage, make the the destruction, to democracy his presidency would mean. The Democrats will be hitting Trump where it hurts him the most. Go figure! Many of us, myself included, thought this wouldn't matter.

The Democrats shouldn't pay attention to those who are like the editorial board of The Washington Post who just published Opinion Turn down the heat, let in the light. One, the Republicans aren't go to "turn down the heat" and more importantly the Democrats need to turn up the heat.

The Opinion piece concludes with:

Perhaps the assassin’s failure was providential, as so many have suggested. Mr. Trump’s murder could have plunged the United States into political darkness. Now all Americans have been given a chance to turn toward the light.

Biden is trying to do just that not only because it is politically wise at this time but also because he has two sides, the combative Dark Brandon and the one that exudes sincere empathy. But the editors at the Post who wrote the above don't understand the forces of rage and evil normalized by Trump and his minions. If they believe Americans writ large can turn to the light they have to be delusional. 

Biden needs to unleash his Dark Brandon:

It is possible that the Trump camp has internal polling which shows that it will matter if Biden goes full-on Dark Brandon. 

Forget the fact that it is Trump and his allies who have said, hell, shouted, that it was the Democrats who were turning the country into a dictatorship calling them a mishmash of names from what they thought would be fright inducing terms from facists to communists. We know what Trump wants the country to be. 

I predict that before too long a signifcant number of iffy Trump supporters will be hit with the truth about what he wants for the country. They won't buy the comparison between this Trump "some Iwo Jima sh*t" photo posted on X by Chris LaCivita,  a senior advisor to Trump's campaign....

and the real one...

It shouldn't need to be pointed out that the Marines risked thier lives, and 6,200 of their compatriots died, so they could plant this flag on the top of Mount Suribachi. Trump didn't knowingly risk his life when he walked to the podium at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally. Butler County does have some hills but none of them are occupied by enemy soldiers.

You can read this and previous blogs on two websites and on Substack. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

Read on the WordPress Stressline.org (you can subscrbe to this on the upper left)

or….

Read on the Google Blogger platform HalBrown.org This version has a Disquis comment section which makes it easy to post links and images.

or… Hal’s Substack where you can sing up to get an email when I post a new blog.

The country was literally inches away from having a historic "where were you when JFK was shot?" moment, by Hal Brown, MSW

 BLOODIED TRUMP STANDS TALL, PUMPS FIST: Fox News

Above is from the Fox News website

I took this the evening of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at Five Spice, the best restaurant in Lake Oswego, Oregon where my partner and I went for dinner with friends. It is a liberal city, but the bartenders apparently like to watch Fox News. Last night the chyron on Fox News tells us how the story will be played on Trump friendly media: BLOODIED TRUMP STANDS TALL, PUMPS FIST.

Those old enough to remember when John F. Kennedy was shot occasionally when talking about the event ask each other to describe where they were when it happened. I was an undergraduate in the grill of the student union when someone came in and announced that Kennedy had been shot. Kennedy, like Trump, was beloved by half the country.

Had the bullet which whizzed by Trump's head, possibly one across his check and another clipping his ear been inches, or centimeters, to the right the results obviously could have been lethal. 

Trump for his part walked the walk of the fearless warrior he believes he is and portrays himself as being to his fans. Within seconds of being shot he raised his fist and shouted "fight, fight, fight."

I begrudgingly give him credit for realizing within moments that he was living a made for TV historic moment and that what he did could assure he could now effortlessly coast into the White House. Immediately he realzed that the eyes of the nation were on him and instead of making sure that he wasn't exposing himself to more bullets - no doubt to the horror of the Secret Service - he stood tall and gave the world what was (no pun intended) the money shot. 

I can see one of the photos of him doing this ending up on posters and t-shirts with the word "fight" under it.

I doubt that Trump ever believed in God and that surviving this will change that though as the brilliant self-promoter he is wrote the following on Truth Social this morning:

"Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers yesterday, as it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening," Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

"We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our Faith and Defiant in the face of Wickedness. Our love goes out to the other victims and their families. We pray for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.

"In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand United, and show our True Character as Americans, remaining Strong and Determined, and not allowing Evil to Win. I truly love our Country, and love you all, and look forward to speaking to our Great Nation this week from Wisconsin." 

Bad news for Democrats is that early reporting indicated that the shooter, while a registered, Republican made a $15 donation to Progressive Turnout Project, a Chicago-based political action committee that supports Democrat candidates for public office and claims to advocate for "key Democratic constituencies: young people, minorities and low-income people."

There are many photos of Trump from the shooting while show his to be more human:

I doubt any photos like these will be used by the Trump campaign. I expect they will use one like the three on the top of this page.

This is what pollster Frank Luntz posted on X:

In the end, voters will settle down and return to their candidate of choice. The people who move towards Trump out of sympathy will probably move back.

But what happened in PA will definitely impact the final vote, guaranteeing that every Trump voter will actually vote. Biden, or any other candidate the Democrats put up, will not have the same participation certainty.

That participation gap is worth at least 1% and as much as 2%. And because it happened in Pennsylvania, the impact will be highest in Pennsylvania.

This doesn’t guarantee that Trump flips Pennsylvania. But the long and winding road for Joe Biden just became even longer and windier.

Just as what happened to George Floyd had a lasting impact on tens of millions of Americans, the shooting of Donald Trump will be significantly consequential in a way the shooter never intended.

 

What Luntz doesn't address is how much money this will probably bring in to his campaign.

Grifters are already using one of the images to make money. This one is for sale for $29.99. 

Here's more:

Now it is almost too obvious for me to write what I think many Democrats are thinking. This is that we might as well just stop campaigning and let Trump declare himself the winner.

You can read this and previous blogs on two websites and on Substack. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

Read on the WordPress Stressline.org (you can subscrbe to this on the upper left)

or….

Read on the Google Blogger platform HalBrown.org This version has a Disquis comment section which makes it easy to post links and images.

or… Hal’s Substack where you can sing up to get an email when I post a new blog.

Trumps "Truth" posts add up to the only psychological test you need to diagnose Donald Trump as a dangerous maniac. All the leaders of our allies need to do to be terrifed that he'll be the next president is to read them, by Hal Brown, MSW

In 2017 Dr. John Gartner, the founder of Duty to Warn, wrote 

All I Ever Wanted to Know about Donald Trump I Learned From His Tweets: A Psychological Exploration of the President 

Currently his tweets on what was then called Twitter have been replaced by what he wants to call "truths" (thankfully not in the dictionary like "tweet" is) on Truth Social. Therefore, if one was to write an updated book the title would have to be changed. 

In 2019 The New York Times (subscription) published 

How Trump Reshaped the Presidency in Over 11,000 Tweets

This article was co-authored by Trump's on again off again pal Maggie Haberman and five other Times writers. It begins:

When Mr. Trump entered office, Twitter was a political tool that had helped get him elected and a digital howitzer that he relished firing. In the years since, he has fully integrated Twitter into the very fabric of his administration, reshaping the nature of the presidency and presidential power.

After Turkey invaded northern Syria this past month, he crafted his response not only in White House meetings but also in a series of contradictory tweets. This summer, he announced increased tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese goods, using a tweet to deepen tensions between the two countries. And in March, Mr. Trump cast aside more than 50 years of American policy, tweeting his recognition of Israel’s sovereignty in the Golan Heights. He openly delighted in the reaction he provoked.

“Boom. I press it,” Mr. Trump recalled months later at a White House conference attended by conservative social media personalities, “and, within two seconds, ‘We have breaking news.’”

Flash forward to when Trump lost the election. Trump's tweets, and then his truths, gave us a deeper insight into how his mind functioned. It hasn't been pretty.

He used these to send personal vicious messages to individuals but also to the country since he knew the more inflamatory ones would be shared in the media. This is from the Times article:

“Boom. I press it,” Mr. Trump recalled months later at a White House conference attended by conservative social media personalities, “and, within two seconds, ‘We have breaking news.’”

Whether or not the leaders of our allies or our enemies (some of whom may very well have secret channels to communicate with him) are following what Trump says at his rallies, it's reasonable to assume that they are people with subscriptions to Truth Social. A message to us is also a message to them.

I don't know if Trump cares that leaders and residents in other countries would be reading these too and would be wondering what would happen if this unhinged revenge fueled lunatic became president again. Perhaps, given that he's a malignant narcissist, he wants them to be terrified of him. He wants to be feared. It makes him feel powerful. This is the nature of the beast.

Our allies may see Trump as a clown, but they also see him as a dangerous clown:

Above: AI Generated image

Can you imagine what leaders of NATO thought when they heard that told a rally crowd that he “didn’t even know” much about NATO before he became president — but claimed he figured it out fast. (More from the rally speech on bottom of page). Trump was bragging about what a fast learner he was when he said this when if fact he was revealing what an ignorant dolt he was.

Obviously Trump thinks that video clips of his swinging a golf club are impressive or he wouldn't post them (someone shares the Truth Social posts on X):

Between what comes through Trump's brain and out of his mouth and what pops into his mind and onto Truth Social via his stubby fingers leaders of the world's democracies are no doubt dreading the possiblity he'll become president again.

From the rally speech:

Today he’s (Biden) with the people from NATO and these people show up. I know very well every one of them. They’re very smart. They’re at the top of their game, and then they’re saying, “What the hell is with this guy? We know we can’t figure out –”

You know I saved NADDO [sic] because when I went down — hey, Barack Hussein Obama, has anyone ever heard of him?

He would go, he would go and, you know, go to wherever the holding had a meeting and he’d make a nice speech and Bush would go and make a nice speech and he would leave, in all fairness. Bush, Bush!

But he makes a nice speech and they’re all going to make speeches, and then they wouldn’t even stay there a day.

I went and didn’t make a nice speech. I said, what the hell are you doing? Nobody’s paying, nobody was paying.

And I didn’t want to be obnoxious because I felt it was the first time I’d ever done this. And what? I didn’t even know what the hell NATO was too much before, but it didn’t take me long to figure it out. Like about two minutes.

And the first thing I figured out was they weren’t paying. We were paying. We were paying almost fully for, you know, and and I said, that’s unfair, but I didn’t want to make a big mess.

And I was president in — for about 15 minutes. And I didn’t want you to know go after NATO as my first —

But, but six months later, I went back to the second meeting and I said, you know what? You’re not paying your bills. You got to pay your bills. So somebody stood up from from one of the countries, 28 countries, and only seven were paying what they should be paying. 28 countries, think of that. And these countries now we added a couple but 28 countries. And they said, sir, could I ask you? I said, “you have to pay your bills.”

They said, “Sir, may I ask you a question. If we don’t pay your bills, will you protect us from Russia?”

I said, “You mean you’re delinquent?”

They said, “Yes, we’re delinquent. Let’s say we’re delinquent, will you protect us?”

I said, “No, I will not protect you from Russia.”

The money came in by the billions!

You can read this and previous blogs on two websites and on Substack. One may look better than the other because of how the platforms present the page.

Read on the WordPress Stressline.org (you can subscrbe to this on the upper left)

or….

Read on the Google Blogger platform HalBrown.org This version has a Disquis comment section which makes it easy to post links and images.

or… Hal’s Substack where you can sing up to get an email when I post a new blog.