Last night, Jenn and I were \u201ceye-witnesses\u201d to the attempted attack on the White House Correspondents Dinner.\u00a0\u00a0I definitely owe you an explanation for that.\u00a0\u00a0Jenn and I both worked hard all day on Saturday, and after an early dinner, just wanted to \u201cchill out\u201d in front of the TV.\u00a0\u00a0In the past, the Correspondent\u2019s Dinner has been entertaining:\u00a0\u00a0from the Obama \u201cmic-drop\u201d to the comedian\u2019s barbed jokes about every holder of the White House. This year they had a mentalist as host, what we used to call a \u201cmind-reader\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0What\u2019s on Melania\u2019s mind?\u00a0\u00a0So we started on CSPAN, then moved to \u201cbase\u201d, MSNOW, to see what would happen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As I casually dozed on the sectional (with a dog on both sides, of course), I noticed the \u201cscramble\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0We 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).\u00a0\u00a0We weren\u2019t \u201cin the room where it happened\u201d, but we definitely had a bird\u2019s eye view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Vice President was whisked away.\u00a0\u00a0The guys in full combat gear with long guns popped out.\u00a0\u00a0Then the \u201cscrum\u201d 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.\u00a0\u00a0No \u201cfight, fight, fight\u201d moment here.\u00a0\u00a0Just get him out the side door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What happened?\u00a0\u00a0A man sprinted through the outer security perimeter.\u00a0\u00a0As of now, law enforcement says he was armed with a shotgun, a pistol, and several knives.\u00a0\u00a0There were shots fired:\u00a0\u00a0as I write this essay about twelve hours later, it doesn\u2019t seem settled who shot at who.\u00a0\u00a0One uniformed Secret Service agent was hit in his armored vest (taken to the hospital then released).\u00a0\u00a0The assailant was tackled and brought down without serious injury.\u00a0\u00a0He never reached the ballroom doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It turns out he was a thirty-one year old man from Torrance, California.\u00a0\u00a0He has an impeccable educational background:\u00a0\u00a0engineering degree from Cal Tech, and a masters in computer science from Cal State.\u00a0\u00a0Cole Tomas Allen was working as an online teacher, and even received his company\u2019s \u201cteacher of the month\u201d award.\u00a0\u00a0He was staying at the hotel where the dinner was held, giving him better access to the ballroom. Past that, we don\u2019t know what, why, or how.\u00a0\u00a0Specifically, we don\u2019t 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.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n This may be the best \u201creported\u201d attack in history.\u00a0\u00a0After all, even from under the dining tables, these are the top journalists in the Nation.\u00a0\u00a0While they may have ducked, they soon had their cell phones out, videoing the action.\u00a0\u00a0Odd details:\u00a0\u00a0Vance was out faster than Trump, many folks didn\u2019t 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.\u00a0\u00a0It was all on CSPAN<\/em> and MSNOW<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And please give Trump and his team some credit.\u00a0\u00a0When the President got back to the White House, he held the most coherent press conference (and, the first conference in \u201cformal wear\u201d) I\u2019ve heard him do.\u00a0\u00a0He gave the information he had from law enforcement, he didn\u2019t drift off too far (other than talking about the damn Ball Room again), and he came across as a man under control.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s not been his look for a while.\u00a0\u00a0The litany of issues that plague Trump:\u00a0\u00a0Iran, Epstein, ICE, personal and family corruption, out of control spending; all fell away.\u00a0\u00a0Trump looked \u2013 Presidential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And that\u2019s the point, for me.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m against Donald Trump and what his Presidency stands for on every level.\u00a0\u00a0That\u2019s something I couldn\u2019t say about any other President in my lifetime (thirteen of them), except maybe Richard Nixon at the end.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But, if the President was Mr. Allen\u2019s target; assassination is not the answer.\u00a0\u00a0Violence against the President (or the former President at Butler) simply makes him look sympathetic.\u00a0\u00a0Americans are naturally drawn to \u201cprotect\u201d against crazed attacks.\u00a0\u00a0And even if the attacker were to succeed; martyrdom is a powerful political force.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n I want to defeat President Trump.\u00a0\u00a0We can start by defeating Republicans at the ballot box in November.\u00a0\u00a0To do that, we need to defend against every infringement of our right to vote.\u00a0\u00a0And once we\u2019ve done that, Democrats can take control of the House and Senate, and begin to act as guardrails against the authoritarian in the White House.\u00a0\u00a0And in 2028, we can do what Hungary finally did:\u00a0\u00a0reject authoritarianism, and stand for democracy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But violence, assassination, random acts of terrorism; all of those strengthen the authoritarian\u2019s hand; not Democrats, and not those who believe in democracy.\u00a0\u00a0It might look to some (Mr. Allen, Mr. Crooks, Mr. Routh) like the short-cut to end MAGA.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s really the only way that MAGA can survive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What Happened<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Credit is Due<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What Violence Brings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n