Today is a nightmare come true

After Bobby Kennedy was shot at the conclusion of a political rally, before he lapsed out of consciousness forever with Rosary beads in his hand, he asked, "Is everybody OK?" Today, after being shot during a political rally, Donald Trump asked for his shoes, pumped his fist, and said, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Now I'm not going to make fun of Donald Trump, the way he and Don Jr. both made fun of Paul Pelosi after being attacked in the Pelosi home. I'm not going to imply that Trump was shot by enraged and spurned gay lover, though I have just as much evidence of that as the Trumps have about Mr. Pelosi and his assailant.  

I'm not going to call it a false flag or a set up. I'm not going to question how an assailant could get to a former POTUS and candidate who has Secret Service protection, the way the MAGA World questioned how the man with the hammer got past security measures to enter the Pelosi home. 

I'm not going to mock the pink bald spot that was evident as the Secret Service pushed Donald Trump into the van and into safety. Though I am sure if it was reversed, Trump and his supporters would be mocking Joe Biden's vulnerability. 

I'm not going to dismiss today's events with a facile response about "sending thoughts and prayers," while blaming mental health issues and not guns for what happened.

I'm an American. I remember the President's and Bobby's assassinations. I remember Dr. King and George Wallace. I remember two attempts on Gerald Ford and one on Ronald Reagan. Those memories are as much a part of me as the vaccination scar on my left arm. They haunt me. Today is a nightmare come true.

I'm a Chicagoan. I live in a city awash in guns, despite strict laws, because they come floating through our porous borders from Indiana and Kentucky. Sorry, Mr. Trump, but if I'm going to "Fight! Fight! Fight!" it's to keep you out of office and get real Federal laws passed that successfully restrict handguns and automatic weapons.

I'm a Christian. Though I won't be a hypocrite and deny that I despise Donald Trump, I will say that my first thought when I heard the news was, "Please love him, God." No one wins when a gun goes off. Deplorable MAGA cruelty coarsens and diminishes us all.

I pray for soul of the MAGA supporter who died today.

I pray for the full recovery of both Donald Trump and the as-yet unnamed supporters who were also injured.

I also pray for, and will work for, his defeat in November.

Guns are never the answer. Violent rhetoric is never the answer. How I wish Trump's words had been "Is everybody OK?" instead of "Fight! Fight! Fight!"