Saturday, August 3, 2024

All The World's A Stage

 


According to the principle of Occam’s Razor, the simplest explanation for an occurrence is most likely to be the correct one. Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily. This makes sense to me. Most conspiracy theories are too far fetched to be believed by rational thinkers. Just as the shortest physical distance between two points is usually a straight line, the less convoluted a theory is the less probable it will be that holes can be poked in it. The simplest, least serpentine explanation of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump is that some nutjob didn’t like him (there are no shortage of reasons to dislike the man) and decided on his own to take him out. Thomas Crooks was killed after firing a series of shots that failed to kill Donald Trump, but did end the life of an innocent bystander who put himself in the path of a bullet to heroically protect his family.

With this simple explanation accounting for everything that took place that day, why did many people (including me) immediately reach a different conclusion? Why did #Staged trend on Twitter (I can’t make myself call the thing X)? Probably because of an alternative theory that has no fancy name that I am aware of. The theory goes like this. If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. Man did that assassination attempt, particularly Trump’s dramatic gesture and tough guy chant moments after a bullet whizzed by his head, look and swim and quack like a staged event.




Within minutes after Donald Trump was ushered to safety, I wrote on Facebook that the whole thing struck me as a poorly produced movie scene rather than chaotic reality. I referenced Tyler Perry because making fun of his work is something that I do sometimes, but I’m trying to cut down on that. Then I learned that a man named Corey Comperatore was killed by a bullet meant to prevent 45 from having a chance to become 47. The life of the gunman was also ended by sharpshooters who opened fire after Crooks took several shots in the direction of the ex-president. Two other people were reportedly shot by Crooks, but they survived and have since been released from the hospital. Calling the event staged when lives had been lost, including a rally attendee unfortunate to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, a man who lost his life by being a shield to protect his family, seemed to be in very poor taste. Surely a result of an orchestrated event would not be the unintended death of a civilian. Comperatore’s death along with injuries suffered by others confirmed that it was best to go with Occam. So I took down my Facebook post and put aside my suspicions.




In the time that has since passed there have been no new developments or revelations. It has been remarkably quiet. Trump rode the high of narrowly avoiding death into the Republican convention. Those who adore him turned the camera captured sight of him throwing a fist in the air, blood streaming down his face, the American flag fitting neatly in the frame, into merchandise imagery. One more reason to be enthralled by the guy. He’s a bad ass who came away from the ordeal with nothing more than a band-aid on his ear. A bandage that seemed way too big, but why quibble? Bad assery was still on display, and what could be a more essential characteristic for a President of the United States than that? No way was Biden going to steal his thunder with comparatively mundane achievements like low unemployment or record high stock market numbers.



Yet somehow Joe Biden did subsequently steal the spotlight – by dropping out of the race and shortly thereafter being officially replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris. Within ten days or so, hardly anyone was talking about Trump being shot at anymore. His campaign was forced to pivot to a different derogatory accusation than “Sleepy.” As of the time I’m writing this they are still searching, because accusing Kamala Harris of suddenly becoming Black after previously being exclusively Indian is not going to cut it. A disastrous interview with the NABJ won’t be helpful to the Trump campaign either. Meanwhile, the Democrats still have momentum from selection of a running mate for Kamala and their own convention to look forward to. By all appearances, narrowly avoiding death turned out not to be the deal closer. Instead, Americans may go the old-fashioned route of looking at the candidates’ policies and qualifications to determine who our next president will be.

With less emotion and greater imagination, I decided to re-evaluate the shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, PA. Why did it initially feel staged, and if in fact it was, what would the specifics of the scam be? How could everything be accounted for? Why would they think they could get away with it? As a writer of fiction, I am accustomed to coming up with a dramatic scenario and then figuring out how to lead up to it in a way that is plausible. For a conspiracy theory to be effective, one need not be able to prove it. It only has to be possible, to be sensible, to hold up under scrutiny. The main hurdle to overcome was the death of Corey Comperatore. Nobody would stage something meant to improve a political candidate’s poll numbers at the expense of someone dying. His death needed to be an accident. The following is what I (in discussion of the matter with my wife) came up with. I have no proof. Occam’s Razor states that it is nonsense because it has too many moving parts. Certain fantastical events are staged not by duplicitous man, but by God. This is why the word “miracle” was created and added to the dictionary. Logic can’t explain everything. But that doesn’t mean we can’t come up with alternative theories.

Trump’s campaign realizes that their lead will probably be short-lived because they have read the tea leaves. Too many prominent figures are calling for Joe Biden to bow out. So, he probably will, to be replaced by the far more dynamic Kamala Harris, and Trump’s advantage would evaporate. As a pre-emptive strike, shortly before the boost they hope to get from the GOP convention and selection of Best-Selling author JD Vance as running mate, Trump’s team hatches a devious plan. The main thing needed to pull it off is a patsy. Someone with shooting experience who would be willing to help the GOP campaign because he is either Republican or neutral. Someone who would gladly take a duffel bag full of cash in exchange for getting up on the roof of a garage and firing shots in the direction of Donald Trump. Convince the kid that nobody will be harmed because the gun will contain blanks or some non-lethal projectile. 'Don’t even hit him' would be the directive, just come close to make it look good. Tell Crooks that he will be allowed to escape and never become a suspect. In case anyone sees and can ID him, it is best to put Crooks into hiding. Change his identity. Live the rest of his life somewhere else under a new name and plenty of money in his new bank account. Even if spotted by people prior to shooting, which is what happened, nobody will interfere until he has done his part. Crooks agrees because he believes no one, including himself, will be killed. He agrees for the age old reason of greed $$$ along with securing victory for the Republican.



Crooks is being lied to by plan organizers. His gun will contain live ammunition because bullets need to be retrieved from the scene to make it look real. The bullets fired at him in return will also be real. He will not be allowed to escape. That would be reckless. Eventually he would talk too much, maybe under the influence of alcohol while trying to charm a pretty girl. Leaving him alive is too big of a risk to take. Crooks must be the sacrificial lamb, only he does not realize he has volunteered for that role. Nobody other than him is supposed to die in this plan. If Corey Comperatore stays in his seat, the only blood shed will be from a bag that Trump presses to the side of his head while covered by Secret Service agents. Movie magic. Then he majestically arises, refusing to let the agents keep him safely out of potential harm’s way until he…you know the rest, that the crowd goes wild in response to his display of patriotic machismso instead of him ducking for cover in case more bullets are on the way. Trump probably would have shouted “Yippee Ki-Yay, MF” if Bruce Willis didn’t already claim that line for Die Hard. But "fight fight fight" is a suitable battle cry.

    


The reaction of rally attendees seen behind Trump was so muted (imho) given the circumstances prior to their hero rising like a phoenix from the ashes, that I considered if they were in on the plan. Not everyone at the rally, just those you could see on TV. If they did not know what was going to happen, then the result could have been a stampede that killed someone. Even when bullets miss, it does not necessarily mean that nobody dies. Those with great seats being in on the plan, believing like Crooks that the bullets would be blanks, enabled them to remain calm. But not too calm. It would also mean that Corey Comperatore did not think his heroic gesture would cause him harm.

This is probably too far of a stretch though. The fewer people involved in a plot, the better the odds of success. Involvement of more people creates more opportunity for someone to crack and spill the beans. Best to keep the number of perpetrators in the know as few as possible. The real reaction of those in the frame therefore is not calm, but people who are stunned by what's happening.



The plan worked, if a plan is what it was, because no funny business has been exposed. Not yet anyway. An investigation is not going to be launched as result of this blog post. Medical records have not been released to prove or disprove that Trump was hit by a bullet, or shrapnel, or glass from the teleprompter. We are left to accept the official story that Trump’s blood was legitimately shed. Remarkably little has emerged about the shooter in the aftermath. He did not leave behind damning social media posts that showed he was a ticking time bomb. Thomas Crooks was simply a young man who had access to an AR-15 and decided to kill Donald Trump when he came to town to force Republicans to run a better candidate. That’s a crazy thing to do, so we’re left to accept that even though nobody in his life had reason to suspect it, Crooks was insane. Or insanely hateful of Donald Trump, a man that it is pretty easy for many to loathe. Corey Comperatore tragically died in heroic fashion. And Donald Trump – he continues his streak as the luckiest man of all time. Can’t take him out in criminal court, can’t take him out with a wannabe assassin’s bullet, so all that’s left is for Kamala Harris to repeat on Election Day 2024 what Joe Biden accomplished on Election Day 2020.

As for my conspiracy theory presented here for your examination, I’m not sure if it has any holes in it. But it is still probably less convincing than the principle of Occam’s Razor. Most likely there was a legitimate attempt on Donald Trump’s life. Factors such as security incompetence, and the wildness of a man being shot at and receiving only a scratch on his ear for the effort, and Crooks being immediately killed so unavailable for comment, and a presidential candidate being gifted with the photo-op of the century to assist his campaign, stirred suspicion of staging. 




Unless/until an investigator much closer to the evidence than I am unearths evidence of a fake assassination attempt, the official story must be accepted as gospel. Sherlock Holmes was not available to look into the matter, him being fictional and all, so I did my best detective work in his place. If it turns out that the theory presented here is correct and Occam has been defeated, then yes, I do want a cookie as reward.


For now, we must accept that Donald Trump is so brave and determined that not even a bullet nicking his ear as it flew past could faze him. But you would think that someone supposedly so courageous wouldn’t be afraid of a little debate, unless the debate is moderated by his friends and takes place in front of his fans. If a bullet can’t stop him then what danger can be posed by Q&A in an impartial setting where journalists are allowed to fact check the most blatant of perceived lies?  If the shooting in Pennsylvania was not staged then surely Donald Trump can’t be intimidated by a mere debate stage. So one would think. But the world is a strange place indeed.



So gotta keep on (cyber) trucking.
   
       


Traumatized or Monetized? You decide.


THE GRIFT MUST GO ON
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