​There are so many different ways I was trying to decide how to begin this.  In the end, I thought that the best was not by quoting the lying, misleading tweets from Trump and Don Jr., blaming the shootings on “radical leftists,” but just with some basic reality.
 
The first shooting in Pennsylvania was by someone who was a registered Republican.  Also, there was evidence he was also tracking Joe Biden, and had scheduling information about the Democratic National Convention.
 
On Sunday, the man involved voted for Trump in 2016.  While he had a Biden-Harris bumper sticker on his truck, that might have been from 2020 since he wrote online about supporting Republicans Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy to run as a ticket this year.  Also, it can’t be called a “shooting” because he didn't fire a shot.  That’s not to say the event wasn't serious (it was), and certainly could have been become tragic, just that it wasn’t a shooting.  Further, the guy was 500 yards away and out of line-of-sight.  
 
So, not “radical leftists.”  Not even leftists.  And not even two shootings.  But definitely serious and dangerous.
 
And I’m very glad that Trump is safe.  Just as I’d be glad that any politician, whatever their party, would be safe in a shooter situation.
 
Not surprisingly, Trump posted a long rant that devolved into ALL CAPS and became maniacal and convoluted.  Yes, of course, he said it was all the fault of Kamala Harris and those lefties.  And he ranted his false claims directed at Haitians in Springfield, who are all here legally invited by the town and have helped revitalize it, and all of whom have been put at risk by Trump’s unjustified, false attacks.  But also among his delusional screeds, he said that if elected he would take the “MENTALLY INSANE” out of towns and cities, and then would send them back to the countries where they came from.
 
A few things worth noting:  First, not that he was equating them, but just for perspective, the two assailants who seem to have been deeply disturbed were both from the United States.  So, deporting them to the country they came from would just be dropping them off at home.  Second, getting rid of the “MENTALLY INSANE” seems another case of Trump echoing the words of Hitler.  And third, the very first bill that Trump signed when in office was to give the mentally ill the right to own guns.  So, y'know, maybe that wasn't a great idea.  But that's on MAGOP in Congress, too.

Also worth noting as a bonus:  Trump's rant about the the threatened attack against him comes from someone who has long-created an atmosphere for political violence.  That does not justify it in the slightest, it just sets for the record the environment he has established for all politicians, and the public, to live in.  He is currently promoting violence against Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, and when asked if would at least condemn the bomb threats that have forced the closing of schools and hospitals, and forced local colleges to do at-home classes, he refused to do so and changed the subject.  Not to mention he promoted the violence to overthrow the government on January 6, topping that off with a tweet to come because "Will be wild."  And told the Proud Boys domestic terrorists to "Stand back and stand by." 

it is highly understandable to be angry at assassination attempts and stalking.  Whenever it occurs.  And most-especially understandable when it happens to you.  You should be angry at it.  Everyone should.  It's just that you can't be upset about violence only when it is directed at you, and not when you create a foundation for it happening to others.  That only perpetuates the violence.

But ultimately, what Trump misses most of all in his rant is that no Democratic official and no Democrats in general want to see Trump dead.  That would be awful at its most basic level -- and carrying it further would also make him a martyr.  What Democrats want is to see Trump tried in court for all his crimes, get a fair defense, be convicted repeatedly, hugely penalized each time, perhaps jailed, and lose the election so badly it discredits the MAGOP party.
 
And then came Don Jr. 

Now, to be clear, I know that when there is a threat to one's father, anyone would and should be angry and upset and should lash out at the cause of it.  What one shouldn't do is pander to his family's political base by making up stories as a political tool to demonize those who are innocent and not remotely involved.  And being Don Jr, being Don Jr., he did his best to rile up the base under the shadow of daddy watching, while being clueless about all he was actually saying.  And so, in his tweet he wrote --
 
“You know what’s getting really old? Having to have conversations with my 5 young children about radical leftist trying to kill their grandfather. No person should ever have to do this in America or anywhere else and yet I had to have that conversation five times again yesterday.”
 
Happily, there is good news to tell his kids! No shots were fired by the potential assailant on Sunday. And as noted, it turns out he's not a radical leftist at all! He even voted for their grandad in 2016. And supported Republicans this year in the primaries. And the shooter in Pennsylvania was a registered Republican.
 
Of course, what no people should have to live with, too, are the 30,000 shooting deaths every year.  And the deaths from 647 mass shootings last year – almost two each day!  And no people should have to live with being the victims of extreme-right radicals who targeted groups Trump attacked. And be all the school children killed in mass shootings.  All of that gets really old, too.  Year after year after year.  (“Thoughts and prayers” and all that…)  What do parents and family members tell one another in all those occasions?
 
Also, just for curiosity's sake, as long as Don Jr. decided to bring his children into this, I wonder if he told them that the first shooter was a registered Republican, and the second assailant voted for their granddad.  Or if Junior told them that the first shooting focused on the sitting-President Joe Biden, too? And told them that the first bill their grandfather ever signed let the mentally ill have guns? And also, as long as Don Jr. feels he has to tell his kids bad things about their grandfather, does he only bring up the shooting and stalking, or include that grandpa has 34 felony convictions, is liable of rape and found guilty of fraud – as well as all the other indictments?  Explaining all of those crimes and indictments over and over must get really old, too.  But at least it's good to know that Don Jr. is angry about gun shootings.  Even though that would appear to be a first for him.  But baby steps and all that.
 
Oh, one other thing.  Since Don Jr. now seems bothered by crazy people stalking others and shooting at them, despite earlier putting out a tweet joking about Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband being brutally attacked at home, perhaps he should consider changing the banner across the top of his own Facebook page that promotes his book, which probably doesn't help calm his outrage at political violence.
​

​​There were, of course, a wide range of other statements and tweets by MAGOP public figures yesterday, but two in particular stand out. 
 
One was from Britt Hume of Fox, who asked if Trump is held responsible for Jan. 6 and Democrats cry out that he’s a threat to democracy, shouldn’t they be held responsible for the two assassination attempts against him?
 
Putting aside that the first attempt was by a registered Republican, and the second wasn’t actually an attempt, and was by a guy who voted for Trump, what you most wonder is if someone with that high a profile as Britt Hume, entrusted with supposedly delivering “news” to a national audience, understands the social responsibility he holds, or if he even cares what he hyperbolic gibberish types.  Because the reality is that Trump not only is a threat to democracy because he tried overthrow government on Jan. 6 -- and says he wants to be a dictator and says he wants to terminate the Constitution, but more to the point no Democratic official has ever called for violence against him. Only that he be indicted for his crimes where he is given a fair trial and that he be defeated at polls.

So, the answer to his question is, "No."
 
The other tweet, from a far-right conservative, transcends the concept of not caring about social responsibility.  And decency.  In fact, very conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg replied to it by saying that the tweet was “appalling and indefensible.”  And when you’re a conservative and lose Jonah Goldberg, you've plummeted below heinous.
 
The tweet came from Elon Musk, owner of TwiXter and the richest man in the world – who, it should be added, has government contracts.  He responded to a mournful question by someone by writing (and I have to embed it, because you likely wouldn't believe it was real otherwise) -- 
​

As the expression goes, I can't even. 

It's my hope that the government is looking at whether to continue those contracts with him.  Unfortunately, they probably have to, because SpaceX and Starlink are too valuable, but perhaps the way his participation is involved can be addressed.  That aside, Musk deleted the tweet -- most likely, not because he thought it was wrong (I'm not aware of Musk, like Trump, ever acknowledging anything he's done is wrong), but more probably because he realized he shouldn't have said that out loud.  Never mind how cruel and de-humanizing that he merely just thought it.  But it doesn't matter, it is what he thought, and the damage was done.

Needless-to-say, there were Musk and Trump supporters who leaped in to help promote the venal, empty cruelty he posted.  (So venal that Musk himself deleted it.)  Trying to claim that what Musk wrote wasn’t wrong, and the attempts are all one-sided.
 
But, of course, Musk is deeply wrong.  And of course it's not one-sided. There are always threats at both candidates. Thankfully, the FBI and law enforcement is able to get involved and shut down the mere verbal threats and has almost always been able to stop the serious ones. Even if we don't hear about them, they exist.  That’s why candidates for both sides have Secret Service protection.
 
Also, for the richest man in world to even just hint it's wrong that there are supposedly no attempts on Kamal Harris (and that’s exactly what he was doing – as he recognized and deleted the tweet) is profoundly dangerous.  And beyond contemptible.

In the end, Trump has long been an agent of chaos, creating dysfunction wherever he lands -- from buying a full-page ad calling for the death penalty of five Black men who were later exonerated, to insisting Barack Obama was born in Kenya, demanding to see his college grades, telling his rally crowds to beat up protestors there and that he'd pay their jail fees, calling out to Russia "if you're listening" to find emails of his opponent, describing Mexicans as "rapists and murderers," suggesting that y'know maybe there's always "the Second Amendment" if you don't like Hillary Clinton being elected, telling police that they should be more rough when arresting people, saying a judge born in Indiana couldn't be fair because he was of Mexican heritage, shrugging off the kidnapping attempt of a female Democratic governor, praising a Republican politician body-slamming a reporter, trying to to blackmail the president of Ukraine, saying the media is the "Enemy of the people" putting them at risk, calling Third World countries "sh*tholes", demeaning Black women reporters as "nasty" and "stupid," insisting COVID will just go away "like a miracle" in two weeks," suggesting drinking deadly bleach to cure COVID, saying you can grab women by the "p*ssies," riling up his base to the extent that many said they were inspired to commit acts of violence including shootings, getting himself impeached twice, being found liable twice for the equivalence of rape, insisting he trusts Russia more than all U.S. intelligence services, attacking the legal system, attacking the children of judges, getting himself indicted six times, inciting an Insurrection to overthrow the governments, saying he wants to be a dictator, saying he wants to terminate the U.S. Constitution, and so much more in between, always blaming others, never his responsibility, always saying that almost anyone who criticizes him is "nasty" and his enemy.  And when you create chaos, that's the world that surrounds you.  Sometimes the chaos embraces you in support, sometimes it swirls out of your control and takes on a disturbed life of its own.  It may not always been your responsibility, but it's always the world you travel in, that we all must travel in when crossing paths with it.

In fact, for the record, the Secret Service recommended to Trump he not play golf, because (especially at the same course people know he always plays) if press cameramen are able to get access to him, so could someone with a gun -- but Trump said, no, no, he wanted to play golf.  Though with no golf, there is no threat.  Just a crazy guy sitting in the bushes for a great many hours who finally gets spotted and arrested.  That's not Trump's fault, just the world of chaos he creates.

And so now, it only follows as night the day that Trump is blaming Democrats for the two attempts.  And his running mate "JD Vance" (who once called Trump "America's Hitler" before seeing a path to power) says it's Democrats who should tone down the rhetoric. Trump's son blames "radical leftists."  Never mind that in both events, it was Republicans with the rifles.  No, of course they blame Democrats, blame radical leftists.  Against all evidence and reality.  It's what they do.  Always.  After all, these are the very people right now blaming Haitian immigrants for stealing dogs and cats and eating them, inflaming bomb threats against schools and hospitals, unwilling to condemn even that, despite "JD Vance" himself admitting on camera that he "created the story" to get media attention.

Here's a good starting point.  If you don't want to be called a threat to democracy, don't incite an Insurrection to overthrow the government, and don't say you want to be a dictator and eliminate the U.S. Constitution.
 
One final thing stands out in all this.  And that’s what is missing from MAGOPS in their response to the news of the two attempts against Trump.
 
No offering of “Thoughts and prayers.”
 
No “It’s too soon to talk about how best to protest a candidate.”
 
And no, “Now is not the time to make this a political issue.”

Because when it comes to themselves, MAGOPs show that they do understand the sick cruelty of guns and shooting and the potential of death.

What they still don't understand is how much of that violent environment they created and let flourish.  There are far too many examples to list, but enabling as your party leader a man willing to make up hate-filled lies at his ongoing whim about innocent people in order to de-humanize them, one of the foundations of fascism, is at least a good place to start.

Even that doesn't even begin to justify violence in return.  It just makes it more understandable when it occurs.

When posting an episode back in July of Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me! with guest contestant J. Kenji Lopez-Alt here, I was taken with the information I tracked down about him and his interview.  He’s a chef and New York Times food columnist, whose first book, The Food Lab:  Better Home Cooking Through Science made the New York Times bestseller list and won the 2016 James Beard Award for best General Cooking cookbook.  It turned out that he also had a YouTube channel, and I thought his videos were charming, very interesting, and wonderfully explained – and often were about making basic dishes that many, if not most people make all the time, rather than always fancy dishes a home cook might want to try. 
 
Even though I may not make most of these basic dishes, and even though they are often basic – the explanations are so enjoyable and even if there’s only a small tip you didn’t know before, I find them worthwhile watching.
 
So here’s one he did on making light and fluffy mashed potatoes.

​On Saturday, a friend mentioned a TV commentary he'd heard that Trump’s fake story in the debate -- where supposedly immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were stealing pet dogs and cats and eating them -- was likely the turning point in the election, because it was so outlandish, even by Trump standards.
 
I didn’t agree.  Saying idiotic, outlandish things is what Trump does.  It's his go-to move. He says that there were airports in the Revolutionary War.  That windmills cause cancer.  That airplanes with solar-powered batteries will crash at night when it's dark.  That over 100% of all the new jobs created during the Biden Administration are taken by migrants.  That it’s better to be electrocuted under water than eaten by a shark.  That John McCain wasn’t a war hero because he got captured.  That you can grab women by the p*ssy.  That drinking bleach might cure COVID.  And on and on and on.  And on and on.  And on and on and on and on.  And MAGOPs are okay with it all.  And he’s still neck-and-neck with VP Kamala Harris for being elected President of the United States. 
 
(And this doesn’t even take into consideration that he said he wants to be a dictator, said he wants to terminate the U.S. Constitution, has been convicted of 34 felonies, found liable of rape, found guilty of fraud, and shows signs of early dementia, which is degenerative.)
 
Now, yes, to be fair, saying that immigrants in Springfield are stealing pet dogs and pet cats and eating them is pretty high up on the list of insanely stupid things Trump has said.  And in some ways, it sounds more pathetically goofy than many of his greatest hits, and therefore made him look nuttier than usual.  Further, the fake story has been refuted by the city manager of Springfield.  And refuted by the Republican governor of Ohio.  Refuted because there are zero cases of immigrants stealing pet dogs and cats and eating them.  And unlike many of his other lunatic statements which tend to be seen only by those who follow the news, this was said at a live debate with 67 million people watching.  And so, it’s probable that Trump saying it at a debate with 20% of the country watching, and close to half of those who will vote, is something that will have a negative impact on how Trump is perceived during the rest of the camp.  But that’s different from it being “the turning point.”
 
However –
 
I do think that it’s the result of the statement that will have a significant impact on the election.
 
It’s the subsequent bomb threats – and Springfield having to close schools and hospitals – incited by Trump that are the far bigger story and what is dominating the news.  An insanely stupid statement is just that, an insanely stupid statement.  It’s noted when spoken, but stands isolated and will be followed by other insanely stupid statements.  But bomb threats and other concerns of violence prompted by Trump’s words – and by “JD Vance’s” tweets and statements – are something very different.  And very problematic for Trump.  That's why they are dominating the news.

In part, that’s for the literal, visceral threats of violence themselves, which are a highly impactful matter that affects people (especially when the threats affect the lives children and those in need of medical care) and are prompted directly by Trump and “Vance.”  But in part, it’s also because this is a story that’s ongoing.  It’s not one more idiotic comment by Trump, one among many thousand and buried.  Trump and “JD Vance” have to keep defending their irresponsible, inflaming words and doubling down.  As they two have been doing since the debate. 
 
So, it’s this that is the significantly bigger problem for Trump and “Vance”, by far.  And we can already see the evidence of that as “JD Vance” made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows.  Just look at the headlines.

Headlines this from, of all places, Trump-friendly ground of Fox --
​

​And this from when "JD Vance" was on CBS --​

​​And when he appeared on CNN, there's this --​

 
But it's worse, because Trump is Trump, and can't admit he is ever wrong about pretty much anything in life, has to double-down and dig deeper holes for himself.  So, when he was asked if he at least condemned the bomb threats, a softball no-brainer for a politician if ever there was sone -- he wouldn’t answer!  (Just like in the debate he wouldn't say he hoped Ukraine beat Russia, and wouldn’t say that he would veto a national abortion ban if he was elected and such a bill came to his desk.  But this is far worse – because not only is it part of an actual, ongoing scandal, and one that he and "JD Vance" created, but also it’s...well, it's refusing to condemn violence!)
 
And maybe even worse than that -- oh, yes, it's possible -- “JD Vance” didn’t just double-down…he expanded the disastrous story, saying in one of his interviews, “I don't align myself with the views of the Proud Boys but we have to remember this is a real problem. The media is using things like this to ignore the fact that thanks to Kamala Harris' open borders, there is a rise of HIV cases in Springfield, Ohio.”
 
Honest, really.  He said that.  And no, really, there is no rise of HIV cases in Springfield.  But hey, this is the Trump-"Vance" ticket:  as long as you've made the decision to go with "Immigrants are stealing pet dogs and cats and eating them," I guess they feel they might as well go for the Full Monty.  Shovel meet hole – dig it deeper.

Further, just because you say you don’t align yourself with the views of the Proud Boy, it makes it very difficult to support that when enough of your views overlap.  Moreover, what is perhaps more accurate is saying that the Proud Boys align their views with “JD Vance.”

Pro Tip:  Whenever you say "I don't align myself" with a terrorist group, never follow that with the word "but".
 
However, yes, it gets even worse.  (I'm not lying.)  Because when appearing on CNN, “JD Vance” said out loud that he and Trump have to "create stories" about immigrants eating cats and dogs "so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people."
 
Again, yes, really.  He actually said that.  Host Dana Bash was flabbergasted and followed-up, and “Vance” tried to fluster his way out of the mess by blaming the media.  But his words are all there to hear.  More to the point, after he said that he and Trump "create stories," everything else after that became gibberish white noise.
 
The public reaction, of course, was anger that “Vance” admitted they knowingly created the fake story, which has lead to threats of violence.  However, my response was different – after all, given that "JD Vance" has created his whole persona (born James Donald Bowman, changed to James David Harmel, changed to James David Vance, then J.D. Vance, then JD Vance and born and raised in Cincinnati, not Appalachia), it is not surprising he created this fake story. In fact, it's his Standard Operating Procedure.
 
As for Trump, considering the 30,000+ documented lies during his four years in office alone, the only surprise there would have been if he hadn’t made it all up.
 
All that is why the result of Trump’s ludicrous statement during the debate, the aftermath is overwhelmingly worse than the venal statement itself.  The story debacle is not only not over, but he and “JD Vance” are continuing it – and amazingly, expanding it.
 
And it’s hard to imagine undecided voters think this is a good thing.  Undecided voters tend to be undecided because they don’t like the tumult of politics, don’t like extremes, don't like the noise, and avoid it all as much as possible, waiting until the very end to make a decision and vote.  Wanting everything to be nice and quiet and happily calm in the middle.
 
This is not that.

And it is not going away any time soon.

In this case, "the other night" is last Sunday, so this is the right night, just a week late.  Though, actually, it's really more like a few nights late because the show now doesn't post its episode until Thursday.  However, I wasn't able to get to it until today.

The Main Story here is School Lunches -- and it's a very good, interesting one -- filled, of course, with a lot of good humor.  The point of it all is the policies that many school districts have that make it either difficult for families in need to participate, or onerous for the children.  All with the overriding awareness that studies regularly show clearly that when children are in class with a full stomach, they learn significantly better.
​

​The guests on this week’s Al Franken podcast are Anne Applebaum and Trae Crowder.  As Al writes, “Our friend Anne Applebaum has written a new book called Autocracy Inc. She chronicles the rise of authoritarianism around the world and how those autocracies work together to keep themselves in power. With Donald Trump running for President of the United States, could we be heading for a similar fate? We’ve seen other countries thwart autocracies in recent weeks. Is America ready to do the same? Plus, Donald Trump has one of the most disliked VP candidates in history. We talk to The Liberal Redneck, comedian Trae Crowder, about JD Vance and his ‘Hillbilly’ roots.”
​

​From the archives.  This week's contestant is Brian Hunke from Richmond, Virginia.  The composer style genre is one of those which (for me) could be one of almost half a dozen, and not one I know well.  But I actually got it right – which is largely because the composer is one of the few from that genre who I knew better than most of the others.  As for the hidden song…well, let’s just say I thought it was wonderfully hidden and didn’t get it.  (I did hear a hidden song, it’s just not the one that was hidden.)