July 13, 2024 - “Shots were fired during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania”

A former American president was shot at today. Someone tried to kill him. Shots were fired during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. This is the line where the writer describes where they were at the time. This next line should be where the writer explains how the events have affected him and what he believes it means for the direction that this country, the United States of America, is heading in.

Here, the author might make note of the fact that from here on forward, Juneteenth will consistently be celebrated only a few weeks before July 4th’s Independence Day. He might observe that one political party embraces the ideology of Independence Day far more than the reverent reflections that a celebration of Juneteenth might invite. At this point, here, the author might explain that the thought of a former president of this country facing an assassination attempt feels incredibly unsettling, regardless of whether said former American president has consistently said words to incite violence and has also consistently refrained from condemning violence.

The author, here, would do well to compare the temperament of the former American president who was shot at during the campaign rally to the temperament and record of the current American president. The author might note here that it’s obvious that the temperament of the current American President seems a lot less likely to incite more violence than the temperament of the former American president who was shot at during a campaign rally today. The author should also note, here, or somewhere around here, that there was someone who was in the crowd who did lose his life while attending the campaign rally as a result of the shots that were fired. The author should also mention that the person who tried to assassinate the former American president was twenty years old and is now dead, having been shot by individuals who were responsible for protecting the former American president during the campaign rally.

This would be a good line for the author to reflect on what today’s assassination attempt may or may not mean for the upcoming presidential election in November. Having made such observation (or lack thereof), this would be a good line for the author to explain that the election, given today’s events, feels at once a great deal more important and also a great deal less.