Unorthodox Angles/Andrew Gramling

AndrewGramlingColumn

 “The World’s a Stage”

Approximately three weeks after the Donald Trump assassination attempt, most people probably have had adequate time to reach some kind of conclusion about what they think happened that day. For some, there are still many unanswered questions.

When things don’t appear to add up, I get my calculator out and go to work. Doing critical thinking on any political subject these days can land a person with the title “conspiracy theorist.” If using my eyes, ears, and brain to analyze a situation makes me that, then so be it!

First, I’ll mention that there are reports that the gunman was flagged by the FBI before the shooting occurred for using a range-finder while being equipped with a backpack. Suspicious activity at a campaign rally deserves serious attention, and the suspect should be investigated immediately and apprehended if necessary. Under such circumstances, allowing Trump onstage to speak at all was a critical mistake.

Second, after watching videos of civilians trying to draw attention to the gunman as he climbed up on the roof and receiving no response at all, with one of them even claiming that the Secret Service was looking right at him as he was pointing out the shooter, I begin to move from criticism to suspicion. Aside from the fact that the location should’ve been secure to begin with, being so close to where the rally was held, a person climbing onto the roof should also invoke an immediate response.

Next, things literally begin popping off. Trump just happens to be looking in the right direction for a shot to graze his ear while it happens. How many shots fired does it take to get a reaction from somebody? In this case, two or three. Trump appears to touch his ear as though he’s thinking, “Hmm. What just touched my ear?” and then drops to the ground relatively slowly, or at least ten times slower than I probably would have. I think the sound of gunshots firing should’ve been enough of an answer about what hit his ear. No need to think about it any longer.

After the Secret Service finishes dog piling Trump, FINALLY realizing they have a job to do, Trump stands up again. I thought it was interesting that Trump’s ear appeared to be bleeding profusely while he was on the ground, yet when he stands up again, his blood appears to have already coagulated to the point where there don’t appear to be any new trickles of blood sliding down the side of his face. I’ve been cut on my ear before, I’m sure less than what a bullet would do, and it didn’t stop bleeding for several minutes. Interesting.

People say the sniper had bad aim for missing Trump, but the fact that he could hit Trump’s ear and make it bleed without taking off any flesh tells me that he actually had great accuracy and didn’t even know it.

Without appearing to be in much of a rush, the Secret Service allowed Trump to remain in place for a few seconds and chant with his fist, “Fight!” a few times, and conveniently begin moving again as soon as he finishes.

Another thing I found strange was the fact that everyone has a camera on themselves these days, sometimes recording footage when they should be taking action, yet nobody at the rally was able to record either of the people who were shot. I don’t know who did and who didn’t die that day. All I know is that I didn’t see anybody die. The mainstream media told us that someone was killed, so I guess that should be good enough for me. When have they ever all parroted the same exact response to something? Even the six corporations that control 90 percent of the media would all have to agree if they wanted to share the exact same narrative.

The next question that comes to my mind is, why in the world would someone stage something like this? It would be a rather extravagant way of drawing attention to oneself. But it doesn’t even take knowledge of the vast and still growing political rift between Democrats and Republicans to understand what the message would be. He said it himself. “Fight!” Who? Each other, of course. Nothing keeps a population more sedated than a distracted population.

My last question for today is, even IF Trump wanted to pull something like this off, does he have the acting skill to be able to do it? Ignoring the fact that Trump has appeared in: The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Job, Suddenly Susan, Sex and the City, The Drew Carey Show, Two Weeks Notice, Spin City, The WWE, The Nanny, The Associate, The Little Rascals, Zoolander, Eddie, and possibly more, it’s still a good question.

I’m nonpartisan. It makes no difference to me who is in office because we either have COVID, lockdowns, and experimental vaccines, or we have a war in Ukraine, war in the Middle East, and high inflation. Nobody is winning, except the winners, AKA, the people making record profits during these times. I may be in the minority, but I’m certain that I’m not the only one who suspects that the American people, and the people of the world, have been getting played for decades and perhaps even longer. To highlight the potential corruption I speak of, and conveniently speaking of Ukraine, our government sends billions of dollars to fund their war with no audit, yet they keep track of every penny we owe on taxes. We can trust the other side to spend the money wisely, right? No kickbacks, or anything? It’s just like we can trust our friends to always pay us back when we loan them money.

I have a saying — “People have the government they deserve.” When speaking about boundaries in our personal or professional relationships, there is another saying that goes — “People treat you the way you allow them to treat you.” I think there is a relevant connection here that doesn’t need to be explained any further.

When summarizing what I see as political theater, William Shakespeare said it best. “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” Though he may not have been directly referring to politics when he concretized this saying, I agree with Shakespeare, the world is like a stage, and there are many bad actors out there. Vigilance is key to survival when everything isn’t known.

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