Will the Assassination Attempt on Trump Change Politics; Is the Black Caucus Supporting Biden; Black Owned Home and Eminent Domain; Media Fail
➡️ 18 days until the Virginia Black Business Expo on Aug. 2
➡️ 31 days until the DNC in Chicago on Aug. 19
➡️ 49 days until the Bobby Scott Labor Day Cookout on Sept. 2
🚩 67 days until early voting in Virginia: Sept. 20
🚩 113 days until Election Day Nov. 5
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Will Trump Assassination Attempt Change Politics?
Calls to “Dial Down the Temperature”
“I’m not supposed to be here. I’m supposed to be dead,” former President Donald Trump told the New York Post on a July 14 flight from New Jersey to Milwaukee. The day before on July 13, a twenty year old named Thomas Crooks used a semi-assault weapon to kill the contentious former President. Crooks killed one man, Corey Comperatore, 50, who was shot dead in the bleachers behind Trump. Two others remain hospitalized.
After the shocking assassination attempt and mass shooting at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania campaign stop, one of the questions outstanding is: Will American politics change as a result? During the eight year term in office of America’s first Black President, Barack Obama, the U.S. saw a rise in divisive politics, threats on the President, the creation of “the Tea Party,” followed by an uptick in negative political discourse, political violence and threats on elected officials.
The 2011 assassination attempt on U.S. Congresswoman Gabbie Giffords in Arizona; the 2012 mass murder by a white supremacist at a Sikh in Wisconsin; the 2015 murders of nine Black people by a white supremacist at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in SC; the 2016 murders of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida; the 2017 shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise in Alexandria, Virginia; the violent 2017 Unite the Right white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia; the 2019 mass murder by a white supremacist of 23 people in El Paso, Texas; the 2020 kidnapping plot on Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the 2021 attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol; and the 2022 attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband at their San Francisco home, are examples.
RELATED: Guns are all over GOP ads and social media, prompting some criticism (WaPo, May 2022)
The divisiveness over the last 16 years has been driven far and wide by social media platforms with no regulation that make their money from divisiveness, negative exchanges and conflict.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence — for any violence. Ever. Period. No exception. We can’t allow this violence to be normalized,” President Biden said.
In Virginia, House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott and Minority Leader Todd Gilbert released a bipartisan joint statement hours after news of the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, PA. Both of Virginia’s leaders in the House of Delegates said they were “shocked and alarmed” to by the shooting and said there was “no place for violence in politics.”
RELATED: Whistle-Blower Says Facebook ‘Chooses Profits Over Safety’ (NYT, Oct. 3, 2021)
The distressing act of gun violence directed at Trump completely halted stories in the media running 16 days straight on the crisis within the Democratic party on whether President Joe Biden would remain their 2024 nominee for President (see story below).
In local politics in places like Virginia bipartisanship has come easier than on the national level.
“In America, we settle political differences through free and fair elections. There is no place for violence in politics. Every American has the right to gather peacefully and participate in our political system,” Scott and Gilbert wrote.
Virginia Senate Finance and Appropriations Chair Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, posted on X that she was “disgusted” by the events at the rally, and offered prayers for Trump and his family after the shooting.
“Political violence has absolutely no place in our democratic systems,” the most senior member of the Virginia Senate said.
RELATED: Pennsylvania can’t stop young adults from openly carrying guns during emergencies, U.S. court rules (PBS/WHYY)
The U.S. has more guns in circulation than any other Western democracy. Guns are celebrated in American culture in movies and entertainment. They have also been celebrated in Republicans campaign ads and on Christmas cards. Some of the most deadly assault weapons are brandished by elected officials in ads as the Republican Party has stood with the NRA against almost all attempts to reduce the number of guns in the U.S., ban assault weapons or increase safety for firearms.
How long will the “unity” focus last? Will Trump’s supporters follow suit? Will the GOP convention this week carry a theme that will turn the temperature down? Only time knows the answer.
A Media Failing in Business is Relentless on Biden
Before Saturday, July 13, 2024, the media was focused on whether members of the Democratic Party would continue to support their presumptive nominee, President Joseph Biden — less than 115 days to Election Day and less than 35 days to the DNC Convention in Chicago. A relentless 16 days of coverage in the New York Times from June 27, to July 13, 2024
The New York Times and CNN have led the negative coverage on Biden’s fate as CNN struggles with their business model. During the crisis around Biden’s candidacy, CNN’s top executive, Mark Thompson, announced in a July 10 staff memo that a “key milestone in the transformation of CNN,” was a bout to take place and that 100 employees would be laid off.
The New York Times has maintained a strong subscriber base as ad revenue has declined but the media industry in general is in turmoil as legacy platforms lose attention and money to social media platforms.
“Much of the news media industry is in turmoil, with publishers like The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and Business Insider laying off journalists or offering buyouts in recent months. Headwinds include a decline in readers who reach news sites through social media platforms, less user interest in news and a tough market for advertising,” The Times noted in Feb. 2024.
Arlington NAACP Meeting: A Black Owned Property and Eminent Domain
The Battle for 1802 Columbia Pike. An effort to take down a home owned by a Black family in Arlington has been in the news fore weeks after the five member, and currently all-white, Arlington County Board moved in the direction of taking down the home using eminent domain. A petition drive has been started against that action.
Arlington NAACP virtual meeting tonight on 1802 Columbia Pike and eminent domain. SIGN UP FOR ZOOM HERE. The 3-bedroom, 2 bathroom brick house built in 1929 is 1,750 square feet is owned by a Black family and member of the family, Sandra Fortson, will appear on zoom tonight.
Congressional Black Caucus on Biden
As the question of the candidacy of President Biden was openly challenged by over 15 Democrats in Congress over the last 16 days, the question of where the Congressional Black Caucus stood remained vital. Virginia’s two Black members of Congress: Reps. Bobby Scott and Jennifer McClellan are riding with Biden. The chart below demonstrates where their colleagues in the U.S. House stand.
The 60 member CBC was the first important block of members of Congress to strongly and publicly back President Biden. During the week of July 8 the Black Caucus held a virtual meeting with President Biden. On July 16 the Caucus held an in-person member meeting at DNC headquarters and on July 17 the CBC held their weekly meeting on Capitol Hill.
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