Eye Witness
Last night, Jenn and I were “eye-witnesses” to the attempted attack on the White House Correspondents Dinner. I definitely owe you an explanation for that. Jenn and I both worked hard all day on Saturday, and after an early dinner, just wanted to “chill out” in front of the TV. In the past, the Correspondent’s Dinner has been entertaining: from the Obama “mic-drop” to the comedian’s barbed jokes about every holder of the White House. This year they had a mentalist as host, what we used to call a “mind-reader”. What’s on Melania’s mind? So we started on CSPAN, then moved to “base”, MSNOW, to see what would happen.
As I casually dozed on the sectional (with a dog on both sides, of course), I noticed the “scramble”. We watched well-dressed people dining in style, then well-dressed Secret Service agents storming down the center aisle to surround the President (and his wife, and Vice President Vance). We weren’t “in the room where it happened”, but we definitely had a bird’s eye view.
What Happened
The Vice President was whisked away. The guys in full combat gear with long guns popped out. Then the “scrum” of agents with the President did exactly what they should have done back in Butler. They kept the President low and they controlled his person. No “fight, fight, fight” moment here. Just get him out the side door.
What happened? A man sprinted through the outer security perimeter. As of now, law enforcement says he was armed with a shotgun, a pistol, and several knives. There were shots fired: as I write this essay about twelve hours later, it doesn’t seem settled who shot at who. One uniformed Secret Service agent was hit in his armored vest (taken to the hospital then released). The assailant was tackled and brought down without serious injury. He never reached the ballroom doors.
It turns out he was a thirty-one year old man from Torrance, California. He has an impeccable educational background: engineering degree from Cal Tech, and a masters in computer science from Cal State. Cole Tomas Allen was working as an online teacher, and even received his company’s “teacher of the month” award. He was staying at the hotel where the dinner was held, giving him better access to the ballroom. Past that, we don’t know what, why, or how. Specifically, we don’t know whether he was targeting Trump, Vance, the multiple Cabinet officials, FBI Director Kash Patel, or any number of television, newspaper, or online media figures.
Credit is Due
This may be the best “reported” attack in history. After all, even from under the dining tables, these are the top journalists in the Nation. While they may have ducked, they soon had their cell phones out, videoing the action. Odd details: Vance was out faster than Trump, many folks didn’t hear shots, Trump was sheltered at the hotel for at least an hour, the Washington Hilton ballroom has lousy cell phone service, Patel’s security detail was stuck with him in the room, and several guests decided to take bottles of wine from the table once the dinner was cancelled and they were allowed to leave. It was all on CSPAN and MSNOW.
And please give Trump and his team some credit. When the President got back to the White House, he held the most coherent press conference (and, the first conference in “formal wear”) I’ve heard him do. He gave the information he had from law enforcement, he didn’t drift off too far (other than talking about the damn Ball Room again), and he came across as a man under control. That’s not been his look for a while. The litany of issues that plague Trump: Iran, Epstein, ICE, personal and family corruption, out of control spending; all fell away. Trump looked – Presidential.
What Violence Brings
And that’s the point, for me. I’m against Donald Trump and what his Presidency stands for on every level. That’s something I couldn’t say about any other President in my lifetime (thirteen of them), except maybe Richard Nixon at the end. But, if the President was Mr. Allen’s target; assassination is not the answer. Violence against the President (or the former President at Butler) simply makes him look sympathetic. Americans are naturally drawn to “protect” against crazed attacks. And even if the attacker were to succeed; martyrdom is a powerful political force.
I want to defeat President Trump. We can start by defeating Republicans at the ballot box in November. To do that, we need to defend against every infringement of our right to vote. And once we’ve done that, Democrats can take control of the House and Senate, and begin to act as guardrails against the authoritarian in the White House. And in 2028, we can do what Hungary finally did: reject authoritarianism, and stand for democracy.
But violence, assassination, random acts of terrorism; all of those strengthen the authoritarian’s hand; not Democrats, and not those who believe in democracy. It might look to some (Mr. Allen, Mr. Crooks, Mr. Routh) like the short-cut to end MAGA.
But it’s really the only way that MAGA can survive.
