MY ELECTION DILEMMA September 20, 2024

The second assassination attempt on Donald Trump leaves me with a dilemma. 

Do I tamp down my anti-Trump remarks because they might lead some unbalanced person to violence? 

I well remember the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. I was a sophomore at Alfred University. Also the 1968 murders of Martin Luther King in Memphis and Bobby Kennedy in Los Angeles. I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Attempts later were made against the lives of presidents Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. Horrible!

Our political choices must be made through ballots, not bullets. Thus, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris both stated clearly that political violence is not the American way.

Donald Trump’s take? Inflame the situation. 

Last Monday, Trump told Fox News: “He [the Florida shooter] believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it. Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country—both from the inside and out.”

In Monday’s New York Times, Michael Gold and Maggie Astor reported: “Over the past year, the former president has likened his political opponents to ‘vermin’ that he pledged to ‘root out’ and described the left as an ‘enemy from within’ that posed a more pernicious threat to America’s well-being than foreign enemies. He has suggested that some of his opponents should be subject to military tribunals for treason; urged his supporters to ‘go after’ the New York attorney general, whose office filed a lawsuit against him for fraud; and said that Democrats are destroying the country.”

Yet, according to Gold and Astor, Trump told Fox News, “I can use it [inflammatory language], too—far better than they can—but I don’t.”

Pinocchio lives.

How about Trump supporter Elon Musk? He wrote online, “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” He quickly withdrew the remark, said it was a joke. My comedy career may be limited to three open mics at San Francisco’s old Purple Onion (research for my novel, The Boy Walker), but I know better than that.

I also can’t help to continue citing Trump’s reflection of the doublespeak in George Orwell’s classic novel 1984. I based my own novel, 2084, on Orwell. It depicts a Christian America in 2044 seeking to ban stand-up comedy. Comedy, particularly satire, poses grave danger to autocracies. Stay tuned for Saturday Night Live.

Where do I go from here? I acknowledge that Biden and Harris have called Trump a real threat to democracy. Based on all that Trump has said and written, I agree. Could this risk arousing the emotions of some readers? Mine are uncomfortable but not unhinged.

Writing credibly about the 2024 election long has resembled the challenge of walking a high wire. You have to maintain a sense of balance over the real issues, acknowledge truths and emotions. At the same time, wearing a blindfold poses dangers. You must respond to hatred of immigrants, minorities in general, and Americans who support the Constitution, believing that everyone is entitled to individual freedoms.

I’ll remain civil. But as the Baseball Hall of Fame umpire Bill Klem is reputed to have said, “I call ’em as I see ’em.”

Please pass this on. 

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