Trump shot at Pennsylvania rally

[SlowToke]

Yeah, cooling down the rhetoric lasted all of maybe 48 hours. They are back to it in full force focusing on JD Vance's texts comparing Trump to Hitler and tying Trump to the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 and being "a threat to democracy." They just can't do it. Vitriol, lies, and rhetoric is all they have since Biden's performance has been so bad. Campaigning on his performance just isn't an option so attacking his opponent and inciting fear and panic through lies and deceit is all they have.

[FredS]

Yeah, cooling down the rhetoric lasted all of maybe 48 hours. They are back to it in full force focusing on JD Vance's texts comparing Trump to Hitler and tying Trump to the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 and being "a threat to democracy." They just can't do it. Vitriol, lies, and rhetoric is all they have since Biden's performance has been so bad. Campaigning on his performance just isn't an option so attacking his opponent and inciting fear and panic through lies and deceit is all they have.

My brother and his wife are 'Colorado Liberal' and many of their friends are 'California Liberal'. I'm watching them all on social media calling for both sides to tone it down. Seems like pretty much everyone is finally tired of hating the other side. If the R's can dial it back while the D's carry on, people will take notice. If Trump can come off as the uniter here, he'll carry the day. I think he can, because he understands what's a stake. He has to find a way to stop ALL of the national level R's from making personal attacks - to keep them pointing at the differences in policy. They do that, simply be "nice", and he wins by a mile. The top level D's and their media lackys are so far down the road with fear and hatred that I don't think they can come back to simple and normal disagreement in time to do Biden, or whoever is their nominee, any good.

[SlowToke]

Yeah, cooling down the rhetoric lasted all of maybe 48 hours. They are back to it in full force focusing on JD Vance's texts comparing Trump to Hitler and tying Trump to the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 and being "a threat to democracy." They just can't do it. Vitriol, lies, and rhetoric is all they have since Biden's performance has been so bad. Campaigning on his performance just isn't an option so attacking his opponent and inciting fear and panic through lies and deceit is all they have.

My brother and his wife are 'Colorado Liberal' and many of their friends are 'California Liberal'. I'm watching them all on social media calling for both sides to tone it down. Seems like pretty much everyone is finally tired of hating the other side. If the R's can dial it back while the D's carry on, people will take notice. If Trump can come off as the uniter here, he'll carry the day. I think he can, because he understands what's a stake. He has to find a way to stop ALL of the national level R's from making personal attacks - to keep them pointing at the differences in policy. They do that, simply be "nice", and he wins by a mile. The top level D's and their media lackys are so far down the road with fear and hatred that I don't think they can come back to simple and normal disagreement in time to do Biden, or whoever is their nominee, any good.

That's a great point. Honestly, I think so many are sick and tired of it, whichever side that appears to dial it back the most will likely win.

[Del]

That's a great point. Honestly, I think so many are sick and tired of it, whichever side that appears to dial it back the most will likely win.

I'm not sure what Republicans have left to dial down. Perhaps Trump's silly nicknames, like "Crooked Joe"?

It really doesn't matter. The Democrat media will continue to recycle the old comments. They aren't going to stop saying that Trump called the Nazis "very fine people." Every Republican could shut up in total silence, and the drumbeat would go on.

Just as with Hamas, there won't be peace until the Left decide that they want peace. Moderate Democrats need to grow a spine and push the violent Democrats outside their circle. Moderate editors need to say, "We're not publishing that incendiary editorial."

Same as Republicans had nothing to say in defense of Alex Jones. And neo-Nazis were never admitted into the company of polite Conservatives. When the Left do not want violence to be part of their identity, they need to purge the violent voices from their midst.

Perhaps the voters can persuade leading Democrats to adopt a more civil strategy.

[Del]

It will be momentous to hear what Mr. Trump has to say this week at the Republican Convention. Now that he has the November election pretty much in his hands and higher courts have shot down all of the lawfare cases against him, he sees now that his job is to unite the nation again. Can he do it? How does he even start?

Well, the vision did not disappoint. Trump's convention theme and closing speech were all about unifying as a country, and it was inspiring to watch.

Very different from 2016, which was all about David v. the Leftist Goliath -- even though it looked like Rocky Balboa v. Apollo Creed. Unlike the movie, Rocky won the first fight.

2020 was like Rocky II, with the Left throwing everything they had at us. Ginned up race riots, COVID lockdowns, a constant barrage of media propaganda, voting corruption. Unlike the movie, Joe Biden Creed won.

2024 isn't going to be a movie. It's not even about the election anymore. Americans need to decide if we want to join together as Americans, discerning our path together democratically.... or devolve into bitter factions, political violence, with the strongest imposing their tyranny upon the rest.

Trump is actively and purposefully chosen Unity as his Vital One. He is well on his way... The Republican Party is rallying together like I have never seen before -- not in mere power-party lockstep, but in a shared vision of hope.

Trump means to use his policy goals as to serve this end. All Americans want world peace, national prosperity, border security, safe neighborhoods and great schools. We all want to hear less about DEI and gender identity.

Democrats are in chaos, of course. Their power-lockstep has falling apart. We can actually hope that Democrat leadership and their media just might choose to re-join the vision of a unified America, such as they had as recently as Bill Clinton. Democrats can quit with their extremists -- Antifa, BLM, pro-Hamas camps, obscene Pride parades -- and build a party of liberal-minded normal people. They can lose DEI and L-gibbity and Teachers Unions as core concerns. They can do this, if they want to. They'll have four years or more to work on it.

I recommend that Democrats focus on amnesty and justice for the hard-working, peaceful illegal immigrants -- without all the "Republicans are Racists" rhetoric. This is a moderate position that plays well on the kind hearts of most Americans, including those in Trump's base.

Republicans have moderated their "Save Every Child" position on abortion. If Democrats were to moderate their "Protect No Child" policy, they could increase their base too.

[Del]

Statement from one of the Trump Assassination Attempt survivors.

This old guy shares Trump's "Unified America" vision:

https://x.com/ShannonBream/status/18140 ... on-attempt

[FredS]

Trump is actively and purposefully chosen Unity as his Vital One. He is well on his way... The Republican Party is rallying together like I have never seen before -- not in mere power-party lockstep, but in a shared vision of hope.

Indeed the party is more unified than we've seen the last few cycles. There were a lot of "never trumpers" (I was one) who couldn't separate the man from the presidency. He was a crude man who used the Bible as a prop. At one time I thought he didn't even want the job but was just running to prove he could get it. But there is no doubt he was an effective manager, even if not an inspiration. No wars, improved economy, reasonable health insurance premiums, income tax cuts, reduced regulation led to more jobs and less relience on foreign energy, tariffs that balanced prices on imported goods with gouging by other countries, NATO members finally paying their share, etc. I think his first 4 years changed him and he came away with a deeper love of this place and the people who live here.

I just wish he'd stop with the election denying junk. No doubt there was interference and some dishonesty last time around, but not enough to turn the election. His calls to action have certainly got people scrutinizing the process - our state leans heavily left, but our election officials have made TV commercials and pamphlets explaining recent enhancements to the security of the process - so that's good, but I also think his rhetoric led to the Jan 06 riots. Of course he didn't call for riots but his talk pepped up his audience. Like a good general or football coach, he inspired his men "do something", but I think it was just the wrong time and place. His heroic fist pumps after being shot and his speech last night has inspired the party, pretty much all of them, to turn out and vote. This election is in the bag, and I think the voting margins will be so overwhelming that there will be no need to mind a few thousand votes here or there.

[FredS]

Also, Trumps call to raise our expectations was awesome. He's right, we've been beat down so much, many of us are at the point that we'd just like to able to afford our own home, or take a short vacation. We'd count that as a win. That's how low our collective expectations are right now. "I just wanna get a job that pays enough to get by man." I hear it from some of my own children. Just gettin' by. Treading water. Stagnant.

Trump invites us to hope for better, not settle.

The democrats will, of course, make the same invitation at their convention, but they've shown they don't care about middle America, and will not help us. The will say 'Tighten your belts, keep your expectations low, we're still recovering from covid, we still need to funnel trillions to foreign wars to protect our land, we need to take care of illegals, we need to take care of the homeless, we need to pay teachers more, we need more subsidized college programs, we need to convert to a green economy and that's going to be costly in the short term, we need to subsidize EV's, we need to protect our environment by buying expensive foreign oil, we need to increase revenue (raise taxes, duh),etc". There's no hope on that road.

[Del]

The democrats will, of course, make the same invitation at their convention, but they've shown they don't care about middle America, and will not help us. The will say 'Tighten your belts, keep your expectations low, we're still recovering from covid, we still need to funnel trillions to foreign wars to protect our land, we need to take care of illegals, we need to take care of the homeless, we need to pay teachers more, we need more subsidized college programs, we need to convert to a green economy and that's going to be costly in the short term, we need to subsidize EV's, we need to protect our environment by buying expensive foreign oil, we need to increase revenue (raise taxes, duh),etc". There's no hope on that road.

That is best-case. I expect they will also complain about Trump, MAGA, Project 2025, Jan 6, end of our democracy, racist/Nazi/Russia collusion... all their old habits. I hope not.

There will be lots of attention on their new candidate, or choosing their new candidate, or justifying why they don't have a new candidate. Their present state of chaos is as epically historic as Trump's effort to be 45/47.
============================

Trump's assassination attempt and his call to unity have deflated my schadenfreude over the Democrats' implosion.

I still remember Bill Clinton's first Convention speech. He promised universal healthcare coverage, dramatically threatening to "veto any bill that fails to cover every man, woman and child in America with THIS PEN!" He moderately supported abortion with the policy of "safe, legal, and RARE."

Basically, Clinton had the same vision for America that all Americans have: Strong, Safe, and Prosperous. He laid out a liberal vision of how to arrive there. And he defeated GHW Bush with that vision. If it weren't for Hillary and for his lust for bimbos, Bill Clinton would deserve to be remembered as a much greater President.

I want to see the return of a strong Democrat Party, one that shares America's vision of a united people in search of same societal things. It will take them a few years to rebuild themselves into something hopeful.

[Hugo Drax]

Interesting post, Del, and there's a part of it I want to touch on.

Clinton was the first President for which I could vote. And I'm happy I did. I don't judge a man by his wife nor do I forget that we all like bimbos and have to suppress the urge to act upon our baser instincts. That feller balanced the budget and that's what counts on the political side of the board.

Both parties seem to have forgotten something. I'm not a far right reactionary as painted by the left nor a left-leaning conservative as painted by the right.

I hold most of the views of the Democratic Party circa 1996 and I will guarantee you I'm not alone. Y'all need to come back towards the middle ground.