Simanaitis Says
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ON STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF FIFTH AVENUE AND SHOOTING SOMEBODY
I WAS GOING TO TITLE THIS “TRUMP NAMES LUIGI MANGIONE TO JUSTICE DEPARTMENT POST,” but decided that Andy Borowitz would do a better job with the satire.
I read Robert A. Pape’s insightful “What the Glorification of Luigi Mangione Reveals About America” in The New York Times, December 12, 2024, and it got me thinking.
A Phrase’s Origin. In early 2016 NPR quoted presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign stop at Dordt College: He boasted “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK? It’s, like, incredible.”
Indeed, he weaved the location one over from Sixth.
“The businessman,” NPR continued, “whose Trump Tower stands on a major Manhattan thoroughfare, cracked the joke Saturday to a receptive audience at the Christian college.”
Trump, the Standup Comic. Several points cited here are telling. With regard to Trump Tower, see “Art Deco, The Met, The Polish Brigade, Trump and Truth.” That Trump’s comment was received by “a receptive audience at a Christian college” is chilling in retrospect. And NPR’s writing that he “cracked the joke” brought up another of his standup comic routines: “locker room talk” about grabbing women’s genitals.
Professor Pape’s Views. Robert Pape writes, “I’m a professor at the University of Chicago. I’ve been studying political violence for 30 years, and I’ve been watching the news about the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare C.E.O., Brian Thompson.”
Pape says, “Year after year, political violence is becoming more common, and we’re seeing that support for political violence is growing across a range of issues.”
He cites examples: “In 2022 we saw the attack against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that missed her but almost killed her husband. In 2023 there was an assailant who had weapons in his vehicle, and he was surveilling President Barack Obama’s home in Washington, D.C. This year we saw two assassination attempts against Donald Trump.”
Something New. Pape observes, “We’re used to thinking of violent actors as being on the margins of society. If we looked at the perpetrators that the F.B.I. was prosecuting for political violent attacks from, say, 2000 to 2015, these folks would be members of militia groups; a third of them would be unemployed. That certainly doesn’t fit the background of the alleged C.E.O. killer, who is coming from a privileged, elite high school background.”
What’s more, Pape notes, there has been “an outpouring of support that is essentially treating this individual as a kind of hero or a Robin Hood.”
A Crucial Time. Pape stresses, “It is terribly important right now that national political leaders at all levels condemn political violence and the murder of the health care C.E.O. and condemn the outpouring of support for the murder. We have found in our national surveys that 75 to 80 percent of Americans abhor political violence. They want their political leaders to make bipartisan statements condemning political violence. We have an example with Gov. Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania discussing the arrest of the alleged shooter.”
An Archived Clip of Gov. Shapiro: “Some attention in this case,” the Governor said, “especially online, has been deeply disturbing, as some have looked to celebrate instead of condemning this killer. I understand people have real frustration with our health care system, but I have no tolerance, nor should anyone, for one man using an illegal ghost gun to murder someone because he thinks his opinion matters most.”
Pape says, “This is exactly the kind of language that we need from our national political leaders, and it’s something that we also need in the national media.”
And, for occasional relief, I also believe there’s room for satire. Which is what got us into this today. ds
© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024
Simanaitis Says 
We’ve four years of satire grist ahead, what with a high-grade moron having only, as columnist George Will pointed out in 2016, “the ability to read body language of any street punk from Queens,” and as Exxon Mobil CEO, Bratman’s former Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, who called Bratman a “moron,” and four-star Marine General Jim Mattis, who concurred, both observing, “the reading ability and understanding of fifth- or sixth grader.”
One linguist cites Bratman’s verbal ability at the third-grade level.
The Glorification of Luigi Mangione underscores our nation’s K-12 trailing that of at least 16 other modern industrial democracies, such product well groomed for the deep insights and thoughtfulness provided by social media, unburdened by critical thinking, nor exposure to vetted journalism.
To paraphrase this site’s splendid and most resourceful host:
“What are newspapers and newsmagazines, Uncle Mike?”
In other news, Trump & political relations are now suing critics of him for defamation. There’s a long tradition in the US of recognizing political satire as an art form rather than a personal attack, but with the currently stacked courts that easily could be out the window. Media outlets that make such comments available are the first target, and one has already settled a lawsuit with a fat payment to the Trump Library. So be careful what you say out there…
Dennis, you are a longtime good friend, and I enjoy our relationship, even with your political direction … it’s your blog, and the other gems are well worth my attention.However, let’s keep within bounds. Mis-stating clear facts is NOT “political satire as an art form.” A jury verdict in May 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, not rape as stated by George Stephanopoulos.Again, it’s your blog, but I’d like to suggest that Alfred Dreyfus got a fairer trial than Trump did in either NY tribunal.
Hello, Bob,
Whose bounds are you keeping within? I made no mention, satirical or otherwise, of whether our soon-to-be president was guilty of rape or “merely” abuse. The jury decided.
The protester doth protest too much, me thinks.
Mike B seemed to equate George Stephanopoulos’ statement of a rape conviction as “political satire,” to which a subsequent defamation court judgement disagreed. I’d suggest a reading of the slanted bench rulings and especially the amazingly broad jury instructions which could allow a jury to decide that giving the accuser a foul look could qualify as “sexual abuse!”
I’m withholding judgement until the appeals play out, and fear that judicial malpractice was rampant to create timed headlines and courtroom drama close to the election, with the virtual assurance of overturned verdicts in the meaningless future.
Politics today are toxic and divisive at a level I’ve never seen before in this country in my 8 decades. I’m especially chagrined to see the judiciary abandoning their objectivity and oaths.
Bob, this site exudes accuracy as few others, all the more impressive given its range, depth, scope. Meanwhile, Democrats generally play by the rules, just as liberals, contrary to Fox “News” and tawk radio, are not “radicals;” do not want to change our institutions, but simply want them to work as intended.
Re: boundaries. Bratman has played out of bounds all his life, long before accruing 34 felony indictments, and a jury of his fellow New Yorkers calmly deliberated, agreeing he was guilty as hell in the E. Jean Carroll sadness. What real man so comports himself, let alone boasting on national media viewed by children about the size of his penis?
Have you forgotten the hundreds of contractors and subcontractors working on his vanity buildings this bubble boy stiffed? The 6,000 swindled students of his online real estate seminar “Trump University?”
The GOP long since transmogrified to the Trumplican party, the new KKK, what other “political direction” could any American esteeming democracy take?
This is more than “political direction,” Bob. This is about life, honesty, decency, fairness; no one above the law, equal justice under the law.
You’ll want to avail your circle this Yuletide with Orange Julius’s Bibles, coins, steaks, mugshots, sneakers, watches and more.
Now boys am I going to have to stop this car?
I thank each of you for your kind comments.
I’m long done, and prefer to share and observe, avoiding judgement. I’m disappointed in all the slurs, characterizations, name calling, mind reading and absolute predictions that have taken over our politics.
I wish you all the very best of good will, health and happiness of the season, and am confident that we all aspire to the best for ALL our fellow Americans.
Cheers, Bob
Hello, Bob,
Though I sense our political views are anathema to each other, I agree with your assessment of the current situation. We both remember when statesmen existed, itself a genderless word at the time.
I believe we both also miss the word “tolerance,” in the good sense .
I dread that the same misguided priorities of UnitedHealthcare will soon be guiding our nation.
The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by ev
Dennis: I think Bob was complaining about my comment, and is on point with regard to the Stephanopoulos issue. My error. However, other comments in the media, and things like the LA Times’ owner taking steps to tame (possibly) the ‘liberal slant’ of its news, suggest a wider issue than just the one with a settlement so far. We’ll see.
Agreed, Mike. So far the score is Fox $787M vs ABC $15 M. The reasons are considerably different too.