35 Comments

Teflon Don took a bullet to the ear and shrugged it off!

The man is unstoppable!

He will be waving that bloody ear all the way till November.

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God I hope so.

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He does everything except actually pass populist legislation and fulfill his campaign promises (which he didn't in his first term)! He is a God!

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Ah, a man who hasn't bought into the game. Well done.

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Trust the Plan.

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I'm sure the "journalists", DNC brass, and White House staffers were huddling since the news first broke to figure out exactly how best to go on offense about this.

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Sure hope they don't run the:

"the assassin was Russian/Iranian" narrative

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That photo is incredible.

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NPR has been all over the political angle. fox isn't on broadcast on this. abc/nbc/cbs are offering decent coverage.

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II used to see Trump on my way to work back in the nineteen eighties, he is legit 6'3. I also saw Bill Clinton on his way to addressing the UN and he was surrounded by a phalanx of very tall secret servicemen.

Very stupid to have a woman guarding him although the picture is amazing.

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Yeah, hilarious and dumb. "Let's get a really short bodyguard. That'll do wonders for their self-esteem!"

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OTOH yesterday I learned that Dr. Ruth was an IDF sniper who was wounded in action in '48.

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Could be. I think she actually was in Israel (aka British Mandatory Palestine) at that time and was probably trained in *something* but I have a hard time believing she was ever actually an effective sniper. Could be though?

Regardless, the job of SS surrounding the president is at least in part to physically SHIELD the president from a bullet, something that requires having a physical body capable of doing so.

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Well, of course they have to hire some women but the fact that she's assigned to the body suggests to me she brings something of value. Perhaps Trump is more comfortable with women. Perhaps she is good at communicating with him or keeping him on an even keel. Anyway, her stature aside she seems to have done exactly what was asked of her in the moment.

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Could be. After all body-doubling is for black swan events. I'm sure there are other considerations as well.

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I just found the juxtaposition of these things interesting.

Her bio says this but she was probably a consummate bs artist. Still, an interesting 20th century life and I couldn't believe she was still alive as I recall her schtick when we became aware of her in the 80s was "old lady talks about sex".

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Yeah, I'd assumed she'd died a while ago too. The past century was an interesting one.

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She wasn't guarding him; she was giving him a hug.

Everyone knows a guy needs a hug after getting shot.

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Jul 14Liked by Steve Sailer

Agree with you on the lady secret service. So strange.

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Jul 14Liked by Steve Sailer

Tweet by Danielle Fong (9:42pm EDT). "reviewing the site and the evidence... how in the ever loving fvck did/could the secret service not see this dude crawling up there? my collage below... they [Secret Service snipers on another rooftop] are pointing [a tripod-mounted rifle with a telescopic sight] right at him [the shooter]."

https://x.com/DanielleFong/status/1812301497985913311

Fong at 9:47pm: "here's a clip from when the snipers had eyes *directly* on the guy! this is as the [shooter's] shots are being taken. "

https://x.com/DanielleFong/status/1812302936699199776

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Jul 14·edited Jul 14Liked by Steve Sailer

The "PredictIt betting-market" implied-odds of Trump winning the presidency:

.

[as of July 13th, 2024, 6pm EDT -- just before the assassination attempt]

- 52% Trump

- 23% Biden

- 16% Harris

- 9% Other

.

In the 6pm and 7pm hours, there was a surge of heavy trading on PredictIt. Strong but less-heavy trading continued in the 8pm and 9pm hours. The 6pm hour and 7pm hour trade-volumes are some of the heaviest ever logged on PredictIt, though apparently less than the post-debate surge.

.

This is what the market thinks as of this writing, four hours after the shooting:

[July 13th, 2024, 10pm EDT]

- 58% Trump [+6%]

- 21.5% Biden [-1.5%]

- 12% Harris [-4%]

- 8.5% Other [-0.5%]

.

The betting market thinks: "Trump shot, gets a boost; Trump shot, Kamala hardest hit."

Kamala Harris also dropped in the "Who will win the D-team nomination" betting-market on PredictIt, and that during the exact same trading-timeframe. Before the shooting, Kamala was at 35% (in implied-odds to win the Democratic Party nomination); as of this writing, she is down to 27%.

I don't know why the market thinks Trump being shot hurts Harris, but given that it's big money moving back and forth, the feeling is real.

https://www.predictit.org/markets/detail/7456/Who-will-win-the-2024-US-presidential-election

https://www.predictit.org/markets/detail/7057/Who-will-win-the-2024-Democratic-presidential-nomination

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Jul 14·edited Jul 14Liked by Steve Sailer

CBS News reports that multiple powerful Democrats say that all private talk of replacing Biden with Kamala has been dropped. This just hours after more "heated meetings." They have dropped the "Drop Biden" demand.

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The more likely Trump is to win, the less likely anyone is going to want to replace Biden.

The best case for replacing Biden is if the election will be close and the replacement might make the difference. But if Trumps going to win no matter what why deal with the drama of replacement.

I would also say that this event increases the chance of violence against any candidate involved.

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Talk about burying the lede!

The Secret Service back-and-forth on hot mic makes it clear that Donald's presidential wig was the actual target.

https://youtube.com/shorts/xA2zybNLURw?feature=shared

Donald is just a man, but the hair is immortal.

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I suspect they were checking his hair for head injuries. It's obvious that's his own hair.

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Jul 14Liked by Steve Sailer

somewhat offtopic, those of us slightly conversant with english history will recall 'the war of jenkin's ear'.

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How long? The reporters were already whining about the hostile crowd before Trump even left the scene.

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Jul 14Liked by Steve Sailer

Quite a few lady secret service agents running about in ponytail. I’m sure their shorter but stout bodies could absorb a bullet but if that’s part of the job, one would think you’d want one at least tall enough to cover the candidate. Frankly, the tall guy putting his hand suspended over Trumps head on the way to the car looked equally useless to me. Aside from getting the candidate to the ground or behind cover (Trump did both things instantly for himself) it all seems like mostly theatre.

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I'm inclined to give the SS the benefit of the doubt. They've got a difficult job with Trump and the well-attended rallies. How many people can one agent keep track of at any given time?

If anything the local cops/state patrol should have been monitoring outside the perimeter. Maybe governor Shapiro ordered the state police not to provide any protection to Trump and that provided a gap in coverage.

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Took Jack Ruby nearly 2 days to make sure Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t have much to say. The Secret Service agent silenced Trumps would be assassin in less than two seconds.

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Jeff Bezos endorses Trump:

"Our former President showed tremendous grace and courage under literal fire tonight. So thankful for his safety and so sad for the victims and their families."

Now that is a surprise.

https://x.com/JeffBezos/status/1812315786507088370

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He lost half his fortune to his bitch leftist ex-wife and now he's lifting weights and banging some hottie. Trump conversion inevitable.

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