American politics has been careening towards the abyss of political violence. The attempted assassination on candidate Donald Trump underscores this.
In the immediate aftermath of this horror that saw Trump sightly wounded, the assassin and a spectator killed and two other critically wounded, both parties are engrossed blaming each other for the outbreak of political violence. The shooter has been identified as a 20-year-old nursing aide wielding an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle. He is a registered Republican.
Investigators are still plowing through all available information to establish a motive for this assassination attempt. From all the early indications, it seems the young shooter likely acted alone and was probably emotionally imbalanced.
There are calls for inquiries into the failings of the Secret Service platoon assigned to physically protect Trump. All the video evidence suggests numerous lapses, the most important of which is the failure to stop a man with a rifle perched on a rooftop with clear line-of-sight to the stage where Trump stood.
Establishing the dead assassin’s motive and correcting all the operational weaknesses of the Secret Service are important. But they are not as important as examining the context of political hate and the epidemic of lax firearms regulations afflicting American politics. They make political violence nearly inevitable.
Trump bears an inordinate share of responsibility for poisoning American political discourse. In Trump’s version of political contestation, respect plays no role. He built a constituency on the basis of exaggerated grievance. He habitually caricatures his political rivals and, recently, seemed to be threatening partisan violence should he lose next November’s elections.
Recall that Trump did call out his most fanatical followers to assault the US Capitol in order to overturn the results of the last elections. In the process, he unleashed a lynching mob on his own vice president who refused to play along with what was in fact a coup attempt. Trump faces charges relating to the Jan. 6 riots.
Completely unversed in the nuances of the policy questions of the day, Trump has mounted an electoral campaign driven by vilification and fueled by lies. This is a campaign abetted by the obscurantism of Christian nationalists and the menacing marches of armed right-wing militia groups. His campaign commissioned an extremely conservative think-tank to produce what is called Plan 2025, a truly disturbing program for replacing democracy with fascism.
In the face of adverse public reaction to Plan 2025, Trump tried to distance himself from it. But the manifesto was put together by dozens of individuals closely associated with Trump. It essentially puts into programatic form the policy implications of all the things Trump has uttered during his public rallies.
We will not repeat here all the stupendous conspiracy theories that invariably proliferate after a shocking event such as last Saturday’s assassination attempt. Most of these conspiracy theories emanate from partisan echo chambers and circulate rapidly through the magic of social media. It is not productive repeating them or even refuting them.
Hours after the shooting, President Joe Biden addressed his nation. He called for unity and for cooling the heated rhetoric.
Partisan hate has indeed poisoned the political well. This expands the possibility for political violence to happen. It crowds out a serious national discourse on the policy options open for the electorate.
For his part, Donald Trump went out to play golf the morning after he was shot at. He had no inspiring things to tell an anxious public – although he did promise to rework his speech for the Republican National Convention that is underway from today.
The shot that grazed Trump’s ear and was only a millimeter away from a truly tragic outcome ought to have put the question of gun regulations at the front and center of public debate. But the Republican Party is not likely to budge from its Wild, Wild West attitude towards casual gun ownership.
With more guns in private hands than the size of its population, the US has been experiencing a nearly daily incidence of random mass shootings. These mass shootings take an appalling toll on children in schools. The Republican Party’s preferred response to this problem is to arm school teachers. This is totally insane.
More imminent than the threat of organized right-wing militia going on a rampage should they disagree with electoral outcomes, there is the persistent danger of lone wolves pulling off armed attacks inspired by some warped understanding of the world. The young person who shot at Trump last Saturday fit the profile of solitary and alienated characters pulling off random mass shootings.
American society is increasingly inhabited by solitary, disoriented and disillusioned individuals. Each of them has easy access to guns, including powerful assault rifles capable of inflicting mass casualties. The peril this poses will not be abated by improving the protection skills of the Secret Service.
Even if Trump echoes Biden’s call for cooling the partisan rhetoric, American politics is still careening towards the abyss of political violence. It is too late to reverse course.
Yesterday, I listened intently to an American political scientist expound on his theory that his country’s institutions, checks-and-balances and all, are intended to divide rather than unite. The present campaigns that feature vicious personal attacks merely heighten what is institutionally designed.
More than its American equivalent, Filipino political institutions incline our politics to personal attacks rather than policy discussion.