It can’t actually be said that either the Butler assassination attempt or Joe’s bugout upended the 2024 campaign. That had already largely occurred by the second week of July.
Every last effort against Donald Trump by the progressive establishment and their Deep State and bureaucratic allies had collapsed by that point. The lawfare campaign miscarried completely, generating sympathy for Trump and anger against his tormentors. The Supreme Court’s decision in Trump V. United States put an end to that chapter and cleared the way for Donald Trump’s next move. Judge Aileen Cannon’s dismissal of Jack Smith’s demented records case is simply icing on the cake. (Even though Jack, fulfilling Santayana’s second great quote, refused to accept it.)
Biden’s debate performance – if that’s the word I’m groping for — brought the situation into focus in a manner not often seen in politics. What most of us have known for some time – that SloJoe can’t be relied on to safely use a crosswalk, much less run a country – landed before the public with reverberations echoing across the country.
The fate of the Basement President was already clear. The historical wrong of 2020 was going to be righted by the most definitive means – the voters. Then came the Butler shooting.
What the shooting did was put the seal on the most stunning political comeback in the historical record. With that attack, and in particular his undaunted response, Trump stepped from history into legend. The image of Trump with his fist held high while the flag flaps above him is a vision for the ages. This event will be recounted as long as there is a United States, and nothing can diminish it. Trump is no longer an outcast. He is a mythic figure. He is the Little Tailor beating all comers, no matter how overwhelming or terrible. He is Aeneas, Yojimbo, the Man with No Name, returned from exile scarred and battered but even more implacable on reaching his goal.
This performance by Trump is absolutely astonishing. No other visible political figure could have pulled off anything to match it. Targeted by virtually the entire American establishment, Trump has outlasted them all. Others subjected to much less severe ordeals have collapsed and been swept off the public stage. (Who has heard from Scott Walker lately?) But Trump stands, if anything, more popular and acclaimed than ever before. It is an achievement out of ancient myth. Trump will have earned his place in the historical record for this effort alone.
The ascension of Kamala as combination messiah and girlygirl BFF has pushed the needle of this dynamic not one iota.
A single obstacle stands between Trump and victory. That’s electoral cheating.
By now, there is little question that massive cheating occurred in 2020. To deny it is an admission that you’re either a Democrat or a writer for NRO. Even Brad Raffensperger, the World’s Most Flexible Republican, admitted at last that there was something funny going on, by gosh and by golly – long after it was too late to do anything about it.