Some thoughts on the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump. First, regarding the Secret Service. It is all well and good that the agents at the scene reacted as trained and instantly covered and shielded the former president with their bodies, willingly accepting the possibility of being mortally wounded in the interest of protecting Donald Trump. However, that type of response indicates an abject failure of the protective mission. It seems that only a providential head turn to the right saved Donald Trump’s life.

I have an acquaintance who was a Secret Service agent and a member of several presidential protective details. He claims that when his former agency does its job, no one is aware of their efforts. The Secret Service is meant to act proactively. Any time an attempt is actually made upon a protectee, the agency has failed. Their job is to make it impossible for any opportunity to harm, or attempt to harm an individual under the agency’s protection to occur. No matter the rapid response of the agents on the scene, they should never have to make those efforts.

It has been unconfirmedly reported by former Secret Service agent Dan Bongino and others that the Trump campaign had requested a stronger agency presence on multiple occasions but had been repeatedly turned down. If that is the case, then heads should roll. RFK, Jr. has been denied agency coverage of any kind despite his family’s tragic history. Democrat legislators have even gone so far as to suggest Trump lose all federal protection as a result of the bogus felony conviction in a New York court.

Media coverage and reaction to the shooting are also worth mentioning, considering their inflammatory rhetoric, calling Trump an existential threat to democracy and a Hitler wannabe.  We may never know if that commentary played a part in the shooter’s motivation.

Initially, most media outlets were averse to calling the event an assassination attempt, in some instances claiming Trump was helped off stage by Secret Service agents after falling upon hearing loud noises on the stage. They were reluctant to call the blood on Trump’s face a result of a bullet hitting his ear.

The worst reaction, however, belonged to CNN correspondent Jamie Gangel. The wife of best-selling and Trump-hating author Daniel Silva, Gangel said she was bothered by Trump's defiant fist-pumping and yelling ‘fight’ to the rally crowd. She thought it set the wrong tone.  I guess she would have liked Trump to turn the other ear.

Bill Hansmann is a dentist and dental educator with over fifty years in the profession. He continues to teach and write political blogs and semi-mediocre novels while living with his wife and cats in Georgia.

Image: Department of Homeland Security