Shooting at the Pennsylvania Republican Presidential Election Rally

[Joey D]

This is what I don't understand. Trump is not a threat to democracy, he's just a threat to the Democrat's campaign. He hasn't done anything to destroy it, but a lot of dumb Americans who do not understand it have. Putting ALL the blame on Trump isn't entirely justified because he's not responsible for the actions of others. It's a bit extreme to suggest that he's an evil person who wants his country to suffer... he wants it to succeed and stand tall in an age of unrest. It's OK if you don't like Trump, but don't make out that he's some kind of monster who's hellbent on making your life crap.

January 6th happened, so you're going to sit there and type out that Trump isn't a threat to democracy? The man tried to stage a coup and incited a group that attempted to lynch the VP. Even if you don't think Trump was behind January 6th for whatever reason, the man has literally cast doubt on the entire election process by making wild claims how it was stolen from him despite the complete lack of evidence.

It's also amusing that so many non-Americans come into these threads and go off about how Americans don't understand anything, and they proceed to be completely wrong. There are plenty of non-Americans here who do know about the US and its system of government, but so far, your posts don't make me think you're one of them.

And let's see, the last time Trump was in power, he dissolved the agency that looked out for potential global pandemics, which ultimately led to the spread of COVID-19. He then proceeded to push a bunch of unscientific garbage and fueled an entire group to believe that COVID was a scam or wasn't nearly as bad. He then threw away the playbook that the Obama administration created, which outlined how to deal with it and ended up having over a million Americans die while completely ruining the economy. So his track record of not making everyone's life crap is pretty crap itself.

Also, never mind how he pulled us out of the climate agreement, fueled climate change, and nearly pulled us out of NATO, which would've allowed Russia to take over Eastern Europe.

Trump probably doesn't want the country to suffer, but I don't think he cares if it does as long as it benefits him in some way and allows him to grift money out of idiots.

Cases that have so far failed to put him in jail.

You don't understand our justice system. There's a trial, a verdict, sentencing, and appeals. It's a long process that can take years.

Also, didn't the Democrats say that there was Russian interference during the 2016 election campaign? I know Trump wasn't happy with such a crazy assertion, so why should you be surprised that he'd turn things back on them?

Except there was Russian interference during the 2016 election. A Republican-led Senate committee even confirmed it:

Senate panel backs assessment that Russia interfered in 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday affirms the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a far-ranging influence campaign approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and aimed at helping Donald Trump win the Whit

apnews.com

Russia is even interfering in this year's elections too, especially on social media (perhaps even on GTP).

 

[Tornado]

Russia is even interfering in this year's elections too

Vladimir Putin literally goes on Tucker Carlson's show in an election year and basically outright calls him a useful idiot.

GTP Members:
"What did he mean by this?"

 

[Exorcet]

I'm not convinced this will push undecided voters (who are these people?)

I know some of them. The hesitation is that Trump is mean and trying to subvert the US government, but Biden didn't condemn gay marriage, so they're obviously on the same level. Also Trump surviving could only be an act of god, because I guess god's hobby is swatting bullets around instead of setting people up for peace in the first place.

For the most part though you're probably right. I don't imagine this will sway huge numbers of people. Trump remains wholly unfit for election.

 

[Blitz24]

Vladimir Putin literally goes on Tucker Carlson's show in an election year and basically outright calls him a useful idiot.

GTP Members:
"What did he mean by this?"

Carlson and Musk are going to be extremely useful idiots for Putin.

 

[Duke]

Try a pass at this sentence from the perspective of someone who isn't an undereducated straight white Christian guy.

FTFY.

 

[Keef]

I'm not convinced this will push undecided voters (who are these people?) to vote for him.

Honestly a lot of people, millions of people. The apathetic people who don't really care much about anything but might feel guilty if they don't vote. That had been a huge swath of Americans up until Trump came along - honestly, before him it hardly mattered who was in charge.

Yup that's what I was talking about. I just don't get how you're a police officer, and you don't engage a shooter who's clearly there to either cause a mass causality event, kill the former president, or both. Even if you hate Trump with all your being, if you're a law enforcement agent, you do what you need to do to keep people safe. The cop's actions could've easily had the rally turn into another Las Vegas shooting. But every time I see a story about a cop being a coward and acting like, "it's not my job," I go back to Uvalde, where children were being murdered, and the cops did nothing.

Do I want Trump to lose the election, go through all his trials, and end up in prison? Yes. Do I want him murdered on stage? No. Any American should want the same thing because we're not some hellhole like Russia where we kill political rivals.

===

Reading more about the shooter, he seems to fit the standard mould of someone who kills indiscriminately. Former classmates said he was a loaner who was bullied. He was a hunter (I can't imagine he was a good one) and liked to wear hunting gear to school. Also, in looking at his picture, he has some classic signs of fetal alcohol syndrome, but also that of Jacobsen Syndrome. Whatever the case, I don't believe he was of sound mind, which makes me question his parents. His dad has some responsibility in this for sure, especially since he purchased the firearm.

Yeah looks like the kid had some sort of issues but that's doesn't necessarily mean he had cognitive problems. The bullying though...that can drive a kid indoors and down internet rabbit holes.

This is what I don't understand. Trump is not a threat to democracy, he's just a threat to the Democrat's campaign. He hasn't done anything to destroy it, but a lot of dumb Americans who do not understand it have. Putting ALL the blame on Trump isn't entirely justified because he's not responsible for the actions of others. It's a bit extreme to suggest that he's an evil person who wants his country to suffer... he wants it to succeed and stand tall in an age of unrest. It's OK if you don't like Trump, but don't make out that he's some kind of monster who's hellbent on making your life crap.

January 6th happened, so you're going to sit there and type out that Trump isn't a threat to democracy? The man tried to stage a coup and incited a group that attempted to lynch the VP. Even if you don't think Trump was behind January 6th for whatever reason, the man has literally cast doubt on the entire election process by making wild claims how it was stolen from him despite the complete lack of evidence.

It's also amusing that so many non-Americans come into these threads and go off about how Americans don't understand anything, and they proceed to be completely wrong. There are plenty of non-Americans here who do know about the US and its system of government, but so far, your posts don't make me think you're one of them.

And let's see, the last time Trump was in power, he dissolved the agency that looked out for potential global pandemics, which ultimately led to the spread of COVID-19. He then proceeded to push a bunch of unscientific garbage and fueled an entire group to believe that COVID was a scam or wasn't nearly as bad. He then threw away the playbook that the Obama administration created, which outlined how to deal with it and ended up having over a million Americans die while completely ruining the economy. So his track record of not making everyone's life crap is pretty crap itself.

Also, never mind how he pulled us out of the climate agreement, fueled climate change, and nearly pulled us out of NATO, which would've allowed Russia to take over Eastern Europe.

Trump probably doesn't want the country to suffer, but I don't think he cares if it does as long as it benefits him in some way and allows him to grift money out of idiots.

You don't understand our justice system. There's a trial, a verdict, sentencing, and appeals. It's a long process that can take years.

Except there was Russian interference during the 2016 election. A Republican-led Senate committee even confirmed it:

Senate panel backs assessment that Russia interfered in 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan Senate report released Tuesday affirms the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election in a far-ranging influence campaign approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and aimed at helping Donald Trump win the Whit

apnews.com

Russia is even interfering in this year's elections too, especially on social media (perhaps even on GTP).

January 6th happened, I watched it live for hours, and it was so appalling that frankly I don't even care that Trump almost got clocked because I know exactly what he did. Subconsciously been waiting for this to happen for years now. I would've considered that justice and gone on with my life. Instead, I'm forced to go above and beyond my emotional instincts - unlike so many people at that rally, or many conservative politicians who are supposed to be seen as leaders - and be glad the guy is still alive and determined to end this type of violence.

 

[Danoff]

Cases that have so far failed to put him in jail.

Well he is a convicted felon, so what's the point you're making? He was found liable for sexual abuse in civil court, and criminally convicted of many felonies by a jury. Sentencing is pending.

Are you just saying that the election interference case and the classified documents case haven't caught him yet? This is not the flex you think it is. You know he's guilty on both counts. Hoping for him to get away with what you know he did is just outright corruption. You're defending a rapist and felon against crimes you know he committed.

 

[Fezzik]

Well he is a convicted felon, so what's the point you're making? He was found liable for sexual abuse in civil court, and criminally convicted of many felonies by a jury. Sentencing is pending.

Are you just saying that the election interference case and the classified documents case haven't caught him yet? This is not the flex you think it is. You know he's guilty on both counts. Hoping for him to get away with what you know he did is just outright corruption. You're defending a rapist and felon against crimes you know he committed.

As of now there is no documents case - he got away with that one

(until the inevitable appeal)

 

[Danoff]

As of now there is no documents case - he got away with that one

(until the inevitable appeal)

I don't think he has gotten away with it yet.

America not locking him up for his crimes is not evidence of anything but America's inability to hold someone at the top legally accountable. It's evidence of corruption and a broken judicial system. @ScottPuss20 notably never argues that Trump is innocent. He merely argues the result. That's because his guilt is easy to assess in all cases.

@ScottPuss20 is pretending that Trump walking free (for the moment) despite being a convicted felon is something good about Trump. But since we know, and he knows, that Trump did actually commit all of those crimes (and the one he was civilly liable for), it just amounts to @ScottPuss20 openly appealing to corruption as some kind of positive.

It's corruption, and it's to be condemned. Trump walking free is just further embarrassment.

 

[Yard_Sale]

Because brute physical strength trumps anything else that someone might bring to a situation? There's no reason to ever have someone who is still physically extremely capable by the standards of normal people, but might bring additional skills or resources to a security operation?

I know you're not dumb enough to have this shockingly stereotypical jock attitude. You know damn well that there are people in your service who do valuable work that is not purely physical. There are MEN in your service who are there because of the non-physical skills and experience that they have. The front line of firefighting requires physicality, but that just means that there's a lower level that people have to get over to not be a liability. After that there are any number of ways that they can contribute meaningfully, and once you've got a certain number of massive dudes the people who have alternative ways to excel start to look pretty useful.

15 linebackers are considerably less useful than 10 linebackers, a sharpshooter, a strategist, a transport and logistics specialist, a comms and tech specialist, and someone to run and get the rest of them sandwiches and coffee. There's always valuable things to do that are not "Gronk smash bad thing with rock".

Back up, consider the misogyny that was trained into you, and then consider if you actually believe that a woman could never, ever provide valuable service in the military.

Of course I know that.

Which is why I specified a person of her stature being on that specific DETAIL….which I also included myself in that same line of reasoning where I explicitly stated I would have no business in that detail either, due to my stature

 

[Danoff]

Which is why I specified a person of her stature being on that specific DETAIL….which I also included myself in that same line of reasoning where I explicitly stated I would have no business in that detail either, due to my stature

Presumably the detail involves more than standing in front of the ex president.

What exactly is the argument here? That if she were taller she'd have stood in front of the bullet that hit Trump's ear? No. Obviously not. So the argument is PURELY armchair secret service agent about a scenario that DIDN'T occur.

Why are we doing this again? Because we're stuck in gender roles and can't handle a woman with a gun? What year is this? Just let the SS handle it.

Being meat shields is not the only job of the SS, and not even in the top 10. It's a last resort that is unlikely to ever really pan out.

The idea that the president (ex in this case) cannot duck down after a gunshot is just... so thoughtless.

 

[saidaouita]

So close.....wow.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Presumably the detail involves more than standing in front of the ex president.

What exactly is the argument here? That if she were taller she'd have stood in front of the bullet that hit Trump's ear? No. Obviously not. So the argument is PURELY armchair secret service agent about a scenario that DIDN'T occur.

Why are we doing this again? Because we're stuck in gender roles and can't handle a woman with a gun? What year is this? Just let the SS handle it.

Being meat shields is not the only job of the SS, and not even in the top 10. It's a last resort that is unlikely to ever really pan out.

The idea that the president (ex in this case) cannot duck down after a gunshot is just... so thoughtless.

+1 This isn't the Russian army we're talking about, I assume SS members are selected for more than just their ability to absorb bullets.

 

[Scaff]

+1 This isn't the Russian army we're talking about, I assume SS members are selected for more than just their ability to absorb bullets.

Yep, the biggest issue with the huddle and getting him to a car wasn't the height of any team member (keeping him moving, speed, and threat awareness are more key), it was letting him stop to get his damn shoe that fell off and stick his own head up when getting in the car to raise his fist to the crowd.

 

[Joey D]

+1 This isn't the Russian army we're talking about, I assume SS members are selected for more than just their ability to absorb bullets.

There is. A family friend's son tried for it and said the selection process was intense. He said that if you are selected, the training is similar to boot camp which is 18 weeks long and you need to be qualified in shooting, pass numerous physical fitness tests, essentially be an EMT, and be able to use law enforcement skills equivalent of like a detective. Basically, you need to be all emergency services in one while being on par with a soldier.

Qualifications: Special agent

Qualifications for Special Agents To be considered for the position of special agent, applicants must meet the following requirements:

www.secretservice.gov

 

[MIE1992]

Try a pass at this sentence from the perspective of someone who isn't a straight white guy.

Hell, I'm a cishet white male, and I'd never vote for that grifter.

 

[Yard_Sale]

Presumably the detail involves more than standing in front of the ex president.

What exactly is the argument here? That if she were taller she'd have stood in front of the bullet that hit Trump's ear? No. Obviously not. So the argument is PURELY armchair secret service agent about a scenario that DIDN'T occur.

Why are we doing this again? Because we're stuck in gender roles and can't handle a woman with a gun? What year is this? Just let the SS handle it.

Being meat shields is not the only job of the SS, and not even in the top 10. It's a last resort that is unlikely to ever really pan out.

The idea that the president (ex in this case) cannot duck down after a gunshot is just... so thoughtless.

Not familiar with their terminology, but within an assignment, there are several details. Just like every position on a football offense has a specific job to execute a play. Presumably, their specific detail within said assignment, is to protect the president in such an event.

Being that Trump is what?… 6’2-3”, there should be no one under that height in said specific detail. Which is why I also said that “most” women have no business being in that position.

Of course we’re talking about a situation that never actually occurred, thank god. But that’s the job of these paramilitary entities; is to plan for, and be able to effectively mitigate a variety hypothetical “what if’s”


To your whole “I can’t handle a women with a gun” comment… I’ve been working next to Cops for almost 21 years now. And there’s a reason why the only Beat female Cops you see in large municipalities are very young, and are usually either rookies, or they only have a few years on - and they have to do their field time.

Just like the fire department, 95% of Females are out of the field and find themselves administrative rolls within 5 years. The remaining 5% that choose to still crawl around on the ground while having 75 pounds on them, yeah…I trust them with my life

 

[Danoff]

Not familiar with their terminology, but within an assignment, there are several details. Just like every position on a football offense has a specific job to execute a play. Presumably, their specific detail within said assignment, is to protect the president in such an event.

I know what a detail is. And it doesn't get more obvious than SS needing to protect the president.

Being that Trump is what?… 6’2-3”, there should be no one under that height in said specific detail. Which is why I also said that “most” women have no business being in that position.

No.

Sorry, wrong. Absolutely not. First of all, if the ex president took his lifts out, he'd be a little more normal height. I suppose you think the width needs to match? You think a whole hiring spree has to go on within the SS when a president puts lifts in his shoes?

The (ex) president needs to duck in that situation. The SS agent is not going to stand in front of the target all day long. So if someone takes a shot, the ex president needs to get his head down. And then suddenly the SS doesn't have to limit recruits to being from the NBA.

Of course we’re talking about a situation that never actually occurred, thank god. But that’s the job of these paramilitary entities; is to plan for, and be able to effectively mitigate a variety hypothetical “what if’s”

So why are we talking about it again? You just spotted a female and got worried over something that might maybe someday be relevant?

To your whole “I can’t handle a women with a gun” comment… I’ve been working next to Cops for almost 21 years now. And there’s a reason why the only Beat female Cops you see in large municipalities are very young, and are usually either rookies, or they only have a few years on - and they have to do their field time.

Just like the fire department, 95% of Females are out of the field and find themselves administrative rolls within 5 years. The remaining 5% that choose to still crawl around on the ground while having 75 pounds on them, yeah…I trust them with my life

Confirmation bias is such a beast.

Whoever it is that you're impressed with for crawling with weight on them I can guarantee you was not vetted as hard as ANY SS agent. You trust them because you know them, and you instinctually do not trust when you do not know. Let these people do their jobs, they're more qualified to make these judgments than you and me.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

This is what I don't understand. Trump is not a threat to democracy, he's just a threat to the Democrat's campaign. He hasn't done anything to destroy it, but a lot of dumb Americans who do not understand it have. Putting ALL the blame on Trump isn't entirely justified because he's not responsible for the actions of others. It's a bit extreme to suggest that he's an evil person who wants his country to suffer... he wants it to succeed and stand tall in an age of unrest. It's OK if you don't like Trump, but don't make out that he's some kind of monster who's hellbent on making your life crap.

Let's discuss.

I think there is a good possibility that Trump will pardon all January 6 insurrectionists and other people in his orbit who have been convicted of crimes should he take office again. I disagree with your premise that he "hasn't done anything to destroy (democracy)" but this alone will be a substantial step to authoritarianism if he does it. At that point, his mobs of supporters will have tacit approval to enforce MAGA in an extrajudicial way and he will let them do it because they love him. This is serious danger #1, IMO.

Serious danger #2 is placing MAGA loyalists on the Supreme Court, which he did not necessarily do in the first term. His picks in the first term were pretty traditional conservative judges and they haven't shown Trump the deference I think he wants. If he puts people like Aileen Cannon on the bench we are going to have seriously distorted interpretation of law in the USA, beyond even the grasping at straws ******** that Thomas & Alito have been doing.

Lastly, as others have pointed out I think you are being awfully narrow in your perspective on the idea of Trump not wanting to make people's lives crap. This is a serious question, are you not counting Queer people or Migrants? I'll give you that he doesn't have the same inherent fundamental hatred for Queers as actual Conservatives do (because he's actually a life long liberal from NYC simply conning conservatives into supporting him) but that doesn't mean the people he's appointed to make decisions share that disinterest. The real issue with a Trump presidency is that he (increasingly!) gives the power to the most Machiavellian people who will, in bad faith, fellate Trump (because Trump, on a cellular level, cannot possibly refuse it because his dad ****ed him up so bad) as much as needed to position themselves in power:

Would Trump, on his own, pursue an agenda that limits (in some way) free expression for Queers? I don't think he could be bothered, personally. Would somebody in his administration be allowed to pursue it doggedly in exchange for performative loyalty to Trump? Absolutely.

The only thing Trump truly cares about is himself - he is dangerous because he will go to any extreme to protect & aggrandize himself, including surrounding himself with loyalists who, as I noted, he will give free reign in exchange for that loyalty.

tl;dr - I'm not worried about Trump wants to do nearly as much as what he's willing to let other people do in exchange for fealty to him.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Yeah, if the secret service agents had been a few inches taller Crooks would never have had a clean shot.

oh... wait...

 

[Danoff]

Let's discuss.

I think there is a good possibility that Trump will pardon all January 6 insurrectionists and other people in his orbit who have been convicted of crimes should he take office again. I disagree with your premise that he "hasn't done anything to destroy (democracy)" but this alone will be a substantial step to authoritarianism if he does it. At that point, his mobs of supporters will have tacit approval to enforce MAGA in an extrajudicial way and he will let them do it because they love him. This is serious danger #1, IMO.

Serious danger #2 is placing MAGA loyalists on the Supreme Court, which he did not necessarily do in the first term. His picks in the first term were pretty traditional conservative judges and they haven't shown Trump the deference I think he wants. If he puts people like Aileen Cannon on the bench we are going to have seriously distorted interpretation of law in the USA, beyond even the grasping at straws ******** that Thomas & Alito have been doing.

Lastly, as others have pointed out I think you are being awfully narrow in your perspective on the idea of Trump not wanting to make people's lives crap. This is a serious question, are you not counting Queer people or Migrants? I'll give you that he doesn't have the same inherent fundamental hatred for Queers as actual Conservatives do (because he's actually a life long liberal from NYC simply conning conservatives into supporting him) but that doesn't mean the people he's appointed to make decisions share that disinterest. The real issue with a Trump presidency is that he (increasingly!) gives the power to the most Machiavellian people who will, in bad faith, fellate Trump (because Trump, on a cellular level, cannot possibly refuse it because his dad ****ed him up so bad) as much as needed to position themselves in power:

Would Trump, on his own, pursue an agenda that limits (in some way) free expression for Queers? I don't think he could be bothered, personally. Would somebody in his administration be allowed to pursue it doggedly in exchange for performative loyalty to Trump? Absolutely.

The only thing Trump truly cares about is himself - he is dangerous because he will go to any extreme to protect & aggrandize himself, including surrounding himself with loyalists who, as I noted, he will give free reign in exchange for that loyalty.

tl;dr - I'm not worried about Trump wants to do nearly as much as what he's willing to let other people do in exchange for fealty to him.

Also the whole "I don't do elections" thing is, I dunno... concerning.

 

[Yard_Sale]

I know what a detail is. And it doesn't get more obvious than SS needing to protect the president.

No.

Sorry, wrong. Absolutely not. First of all, if the ex president took his lifts out, he'd be a little more normal height. I suppose you think the width needs to match? You think a whole hiring spree has to go on within the SS when a president puts lifts in his shoes?

The (ex) president needs to duck in that situation. The SS agent is not going to stand in front of the target all day long. So if someone takes a shot, the ex president needs to get his head down. And then suddenly the SS doesn't have to limit recruits to being from the NBA.

So why are we talking about it again? You just spotted a female and got worried over something that might maybe someday be relevant?

Confirmation bias is such a beast.

Whoever it is that you're impressed with for crawling with weight on them I can guarantee you was not vetted as hard as ANY SS agent. You trust them because you know them, and you instinctually do not trust when you do not know. Let these people do their jobs, they're more qualified to make these judgments than you and me.

Whatever you say buddy. It’s literally the SS job to protect the President with their life at any and all costs. It’s what they signed up to do. Just like it’s my job to indiscriminately plug up a gang banger that just got lit up by police after said gang banger just killed 3 innocent bystanders, or cut a drunk driver out of his mangled car he just wrapped around a telephone pole after killing 5 innocent handicapped people in wheelchairs waiting at a bus stop, or pull a tweaker out of a commercial building fire that they started.

It’s not Trumps or the much more feeble Biden’s job to have to duck. Of course they should, but that’s not how this stuff works. While I agree with you that they are much more qualified to make decisions than you or I am…because they actually are in the SS, I would hope that it’s only the best of the best with the proper attributes to protect all of our important elected officials, and not some dainty DEI hire - regardless if they’re male, female or some other kind of oversight box checker on a DEI stat sheet.

But I digress. In the end, it is what it is right?

 

[Tornado]

Big "I could beat a WNBA player 1 on 1" energy.

 

[Imari]

Also Trump surviving could only be an act of god, because I guess god's hobby is swatting bullets around instead of setting people up for peace in the first place.

God was trying to kill him, the gunman on the rooftop was His instrument to execute His will. It's just that Trump's pact with Satan is so strong that not even a divinely inspired assassin can thwart his evil.

Of course I know that.

Which is why I specified a person of her stature being on that specific DETAIL….which I also included myself in that same line of reasoning where I explicitly stated I would have no business in that detail either, due to my stature

Sure, except that detail involves more than just jumping in front of bullets. So the idea that she has no business being there is pretty questionable to start with.

But then you also had to throw in this little zinger at the start.

Just like women have no business being drafted in a military force as mighty as the United State’s...

That one's pretty unequivocal in what you're stating. Women have no business in the military. And that one isn't questionable, it's outright wrong. The military is a colossal organisation, and the vast majority of it is not on the front lines where physical size and strength is at it's most valuable. There are tons of jobs in the military where being swole means very little compared to just being good at what you do.

Hell, in a modern military with modern technology even on the front lines the role of pure physicality is as diminished as it has ever been. The amount of war that is conducted from vehicles, from ships, from aircraft, with drones, with artillery, or just with long range weapons means that someone who is just decently fit can absolutely contribute meaningfully. There are still places for squads at the peak of physical ability to excel and those people are needed too, but they are not the only people contributing.

But thanks for clearing up that yes, you are choosing to stick with the misogyny instead of just judging people on whether they're capable or not.

It’s not Trumps or the much more feeble Biden’s job to have to duck.

Yeah, it is. If not doing it gets the President killed, then they just helped someone kill the President.

When you're the head of a major country, looking out for your own wellbeing is part of your job. Also when you're just an ordinary human, but even more so when your death would have major impacts on the lives of thousands or millions of other people. You don't just get to handwave your actions with "that's someone else's job".

That is how this stuff works. Just because you're the President, doesn't mean you get to just sacrifice other people's lives so that you can keep doing whatever the **** you want. You are supposed to be responsible for serving an entire nation, not some spoiled child who everyone else has to bend over backwards to accommodate.

If the President needs to be standing while he's being shot then there are people who will do their best to make sure that he can. But it damn well better be worth those people putting their lives on the line. "That's what they signed up for" is not it. Nobody signed up to die. They might have signed up willing to put their lives on the line to keep their country safe and secure, but nothing about Trump standing up straight made the country safer or more secure. Anyone who died protecting his right not to duck would have died for nothing.

 

[Joey D]

It’s literally the SS job to protect the President with their life at any and all costs. It’s what they signed up to do.

It's one of their job duties, but the Secret Service has an extensive list of stuff they do. They're the primary law enforcement when it comes to protecting financial institutions and economic activities in the US. If you ever try to pass off counterfeit money, the Secret Service will investigate. They also deal extensively with cybercrime, financial fraud, identify theft, and intellectual property crimes.

Only around 1% of applicants are accepted and they get like 14,000 people applying per year. They have a bunch of different divisions too. But given the rigorous training and qualifications required just to enter the agency, I don't think it's box checking when you get assigned to protect the former president. If you couldn't cut it, you'd been ousted.

 

[Carbonox]

The problem isn’t that the women are too short, the problem is that they let a gunman get access to a nearby roof.

And the target suicidally standing up on purpose, but for a cultist that's the part that's strangely easy to spin into "Trump being Trump" and leaving it at that.

 

[Danoff]

Whatever you say buddy. It’s literally the SS job to protect the President with their life at any and all costs. It’s what they signed up to do. Just like it’s my job to indiscriminately plug up a gang banger that just got lit up by police after said gang banger just killed 3 innocent bystanders, or cut a drunk driver out of his mangled car he just wrapped around a telephone pole after killing 5 innocent handicapped people in wheelchairs waiting at a bus stop, or pull a tweaker out of a commercial building fire that they started.

For some reason you've focused in on a very tiny subset of the job of the SS which as far as I know has never come into play and would not have come into play in this circumstance. I think I understand why.

It’s not Trumps or the much more feeble Biden’s job to have to duck.

Literally it is though. Because they're supposed to stay alive and run the country (or in Trump's case, make dumb speeches). The idea that it's their job to be a narcissistic moron is one that circles mostly around Trump himself, and not what the job actually entails.

not some dainty DEI hire

If you two were to fight, my money's on her mopping the floor with you. I don't know who you are, or what training you have, but you're not a SS agent and that's enough for me. I don't think dainty, or DEI, is remotely appropriate. You don't seem to be concerned with what actually happened, or what is actually reasonable - only with the narrative you've latched onto.

 

[Eunos_Cosmo]

Whatever you say buddy. It’s literally the SS job to protect the President with their life at any and all costs. It’s what they signed up to do. Just like it’s my job to indiscriminately plug up a gang banger that just got lit up by police after said gang banger just killed 3 innocent bystanders, or cut a drunk driver out of his mangled car he just wrapped around a telephone pole after killing 5 innocent handicapped people in wheelchairs waiting at a bus stop, or pull a tweaker out of a commercial building fire that they started.

It’s not Trumps or the much more feeble Biden’s job to have to duck. Of course they should, but that’s not how this stuff works. While I agree with you that they are much more qualified to make decisions than you or I am…because they actually are in the SS, I would hope that it’s only the best of the best with the proper attributes to protect all of our important elected officials, and not some dainty DEI hire - regardless if they’re male, female or some other kind of oversight box checker on a DEI stat sheet.

But I digress. In the end, it is what it is right?

Who's dainty?

 

[Liquid]

It's one of their job duties, but the Secret Service has an extensive list of stuff they do.

True. The Secret Service has multiple roles but "Presidential bodyguard" is the most famous and publicly obvious one.

It's like saying all the FAA does is air traffic control when in actuality it has many powers and functions and even deals with space travel.

 

[HenrySwanson]

Whatever you say buddy. It’s literally the SS job to protect the President with their life at any and all costs. It’s what they signed up to do. Just like it’s my job to indiscriminately plug up a gang banger that just got lit up by police after said gang banger just killed 3 innocent bystanders, or cut a drunk driver out of his mangled car he just wrapped around a telephone pole after killing 5 innocent handicapped people in wheelchairs waiting at a bus stop, or pull a tweaker out of a commercial building fire that they started.

It’s not Trumps or the much more feeble Biden’s job to have to duck. Of course they should, but that’s not how this stuff works. While I agree with you that they are much more qualified to make decisions than you or I am…because they actually are in the SS, I would hope that it’s only the best of the best with the proper attributes to protect all of our important elected officials, and not some dainty DEI hire - regardless if they’re male, female or some other kind of oversight box checker on a DEI stat sheet.

But I digress. In the end, it is what it is right?