Month: July 2024

Prepping for a molasses-slow crawl up the Queen Elizabeth Way to Toronto in hopes of seeing 78-year-old Neil Young bash out “Powderfinger” and caterwaul “Like a Hurricane,” I reread two essential texts of Canadiana: Jimmy McDonough’s Young biography Shakey (2002), the best rock’n’roll bio I have ever read (admittedly, the field is fallow), and the philosopher George Grant’s Lament for a Nation (1965), the meditation of a “Red Tory” on the absorption of Canada into the economic and military sphere and “homogenized culture of the American Empire.”

Grant’s 92-page masterpiece was occasioned by the defeat of the progressive conservative prime minister (1957-1963) John Diefenbaker, a small-town Saskatchewan attorney who had defied Kennedy administration Cold Warriors by rejecting the placement of nuclear-tipped missiles in Canada. His advocacy of a “kind of neutralism, a simple refusal to accept any demand from the present imperialism” brought “the full weight of the North American establishment” down upon poor Diefenbaker.

Sophisticated Canadian liberals played the role of Uncle Sam’s lapdog in these debates while the hayseed Diefenbaker, with his rural and provincial base of support, stood manfully against the colossus. “The election of 1963 was the first time in our history,” marveled Grant, that “a government was brought down for standing up to the Americans.”

The low-brow analogue of this expression of old-style Canadian conservatism might be the Guess Who’s anthem of Great White North anti-Americanism, “American Woman”—“I don’t need your war machines/I don’t need your ghetto scenes”—cowritten by Neil Young’s old buddy from the Winnipeg bar scene, Randy Bachman. Of course George Grant understood that a healthy nationalism—or, much better, a healthy patriotism—is grounded in love and loyalty, not resentment or simple-minded anti-ism.

Growing up 40 miles from the border, I have long had off-kilter, something’s-not-quite-right Canuck sounds tickling my ear, thanks largely to local-content rules requiring Canadian radio to serve up Leonard Cohen and the Poppy Family and Martha and the Muffins alongside the American buffet. George Grant would approve of the intent, if not the tunes.

Son of a mismatch between a philandering novelist/sportswriter and a Manitoba harridan, Canadian expatriate Neil Young didn’t need local-content regulations to invade the radio. The high-school dropout lit out for California at the age of 20, falling in with druggy scamps who probably couldn’t have read one of his dad’s hockey novels for boys, let alone works by his old man’s Canadian litterateur friends (Robertson Davies, Farley Mowat). Yet over a remarkably productive half-century, Neil Young has churned out beautifully ragged ballads and sonic booms whose evocative (if sometimes clumsy) lyrics bespeak a strange and dreamy peace-and-love flannel-shirted rural orneriness.

He was in fine form in Toronto, a high-rise city that has effaced its past and doesn’t seem bothered by it in the least. Buttressed by an octogenarian rhythm section, the aptly surnamed Young pounded out an ear-crunching “Hey, hey, my, my, rock and roll will never die,” and one might almost believe that the singer will outlive the genre.

Young’s Covid-deranged hissy fit about podcaster Joe Rogan’s willingness to interview medical outlaws was uncharacteristic, so let’s write that off as a favor to his friend and fellow expat Joni Mitchell. We all deserve a few mulligans, don’t we? Young has generally shied from political polemics, though his godawfully preachy early 1970’s numbers “Southern Man” and “Alabama” rival John Lennon’s “Imagine” in triggering one’s kill-the-radio impulse. (Neil, being Neil, sometimes wore a Confederate uniform in his days with the 1960’s band Buffalo Springfield.)

In any event, the Southern patriots Lynyrd Skynyrd offered an enduring retort: “I heard Mr. Young sing about her/I heard ol’ Neil put her down/I hope Neil Young will remember/A Southern man don’t need him around, anyhow.” (Neil later regretted his self-righteous bilge.)

Politically, Young is nothing if not Whitmanesque, containing multitudes. Elliot Roberts, his late manager, explained: “Neil is more American than anyone, even though he’s Canadian….Neil’s an isolationist. I mean, if it were up to him, we’d have no foreign aid, we’d talk to no one, we’d really deal with no one else—‘If they can’t cut it, f— ‘em.’ Neil is extreme….One minute he’s a leftist Democrat, and the next minute he’s a conservative.”

Doesn’t that describe most people who haven’t been ventriloquized by Fox or MSNBC? (Greendale, his raucous 2003 album depicting a ranching family vs. the world, captures Young’s family-values-meet-Earth-First!-environmentalist orientation. It breathes Edward Abbey.)

Neil Young’s 2005 album Prairie Wind, written and recorded as he awaited brain surgery and pondered mortality, conjured the pastoral Canadian memories of his youth.

“It’s a dream, it’s only a dream,” he lamented, “and it’s fading, fading away.” 

Patriots of Neil’s two countries know the feeling.

The post I Heard Ol’ Neil appeared first on The American Conservative.

As witnesses watched, an armed man crawled across the rooftop of a metal building. After multiple shots were heard, the man lay, apparently dead. (@Beard_Vet / X screen shot)

New video posted to X shows the would-be Trump assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks bear crawling on the roof as bystanders point him out to law enforcement.

An officer was right next to the building as bystanders alerted him to the potential threat.

WATCH:

Wild video shows the shooter crawling into position while folks point him out to law enforcement at Trump rally. pic.twitter.com/pYRvkSWZSb

— Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) July 15, 2024

A video of Crooks shooting from the rooftop before a Secret Service sniper fatally shot him was posted on Saturday.

WATCH:

Video appears to show people in the crowd calling out to the sh**ter by name.

Secret Service was alerted that there was a suspicious person with a gun on the roof.

They didn’t do anything.

Unbelievable failure by Secret Service. pic.twitter.com/tharQ5hlc2

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) July 14, 2024

At least two witnesses have come forward and told the media they warned police officers about the gunman crawling on the rooftop.

One Trump rallygoer told CBS News, “I was just standing there like everyone else, just waiting for Trump. And as Trump started, I noticed two officers looking for something or somebody.”

The witness added, “So I was looking around myself and seen a guy on top of one of the buildings go in between one building to the next and went and told the officer he was up there.”

WATCH:

A witness to the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, says he saw the gunman on a roof and flagged the suspect to police right before shots rang out. https://t.co/nSwmWOaGFa pic.twitter.com/exD1ONtdih

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 14, 2024

Another witness who spoke to BBC News said the gunman was ‘bear crawling’ up the roof of the unsecured building. The witness said he was pointing at the gunman for two to three minutes and trying to alert police to the potential threat.

Police officers were running around clueless. Secret Service was looking in the direction of the shooter with their binoculars, according to the witness

WATCH:

EYE WITNESS describes to BBC News reporter seeing man with rifle on roof of building firing shots at President Trump rally in Pennsylvania before being shot by Secret Service pic.twitter.com/8Dfk19FsgH

— Georgina (@gs_mick) July 13, 2024

A new report by NBC News revealed the Secret Service identified the rooftop next to Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania event as a security vulnerability days before the rally.

The agents failed to secure the building so a man with a rifle was able to climb up to the roof, position his scope, and fire several shots at President Trump.

A bullet grazed Trump’s right ear. Two rally attendees were wounded. One Trump supporter was fatally shot.

Former President Donald Trump after being shot at a Pennsylvania rally in July, 2024.

The post WATCH: Video Shows Would-Be Trump Assassin Bear Crawling on Roof as Bystanders Urge Police to Do Something appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

A pair of recent military strikes on civilian targets in the Ukraine war demonstrate the expanding risk of escalation. Unfortunately, the United States and its European allies are directly contributing to that risk through their provision and likely operation of advanced weapons systems in Ukraine—all while simultaneously refusing to countenance a realistic solution to the conflict.

The first attack took place several weeks ago when an American provided ATACMS utilizing cluster munitions struck a packed beach in Crimea. The result was over 100 injuries and multiple deaths among the beachgoers. Those killed included three children. 

Coming from the Russian side, a children’s hospital in Kiev was likewise hit this past week with a missile. It is believed that at least two people were killed and 17 wounded in the attack, drawing significant rebuke in the Western press.

These twin attacks demonstrate the ways in which the U.S. decision to supply long-range precision munitions in Ukraine is not merely prolonging the war, but also forcing Putin’s hand in regard to expanding the scope of the conflict. Russia maintains escalation dominance in the area—or at least should—but the actions of the United States continue to push the boundaries. The stakes therefore keep getting higher, with no apparent off-ramp for either side. 

This was evidenced in both of the recent strikes on civilians. In Crimea, it was speculated that the Ukrainian-fired ATACMS missile was intercepted by Russian air defense, causing the projectile to disperse over the beach rather than at its intended military target. 

Of course, many on the Russian side instead perceived an intentional and symbolic strike on ethnic Russians celebrating an Orthodox holiday in formerly held Ukrainian territory. The attack even raised tensions enough to elicit a direct phone call between U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov. That in itself was evidence of the situation’s gravity given the fact that diplomatic relations between the two countries are practically nil.

Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN Vasily Nebenzya subsequently laid the blame for the attack squarely at the feet of the United States, stating,

Ukraine launched 5 U.S. supplied ATACMS missiles armed with cluster munitions. All flight missions were introduced by U.S. experts based on the U.S. satellite intelligence. An American global hawk UAV was patrolling the airspace over the Crimea peninsula.

“The involvement of the United States, the direct involvement, as a result of which Russian civilians are killed, cannot be without consequences,” added the Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.

Meanwhile, the attack on the hospital in Kiev came as a part of a massive wave of Russian missile strikes on major military and infrastructure targets across the entire country. Ukraine claims that the missile that struck the hospital was a Russian KH-101cruise missile. The hospital was hit amid a salvo of KH-101s launched at the Artyom factory, which is located less than one kilometer away from the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital. Moscow claims that Artyom is a major munitions and military components producer—although that claim is disputed by Western sources—and six Russian missiles did indeed reach their destination and strike the factory.

As with the attack on the beach in Crimea, Russia of course has its own side of the story. Kiev is one of the most heavily defended Ukrainian regions in terms of aerial defense capabilities. Missile systems in the area include Patriot anti-ballistic missile systems, as well as Western provided (and likely operated) NASAMS (National or Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems); the latter fires AIM-120 AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles), which resemble the projectile seen in the footage of the hospital strike. 

Moscow therefore posits that the terrible strike on the hospital was the result of Ukrainian aerial defense attempting to shoot down Russian missiles on their way to the Artyom factory. Of course, the Ukrainians—with the backing of the entire international press—perceive only a sadistic and intentional attack, perhaps even in response to the Crimean beach incident.

Both narratives seem plausible. Yet the very exchange demonstrates the dynamic that is currently prolonging the war—and how the United States and the collective West are directly implicated in enabling that dynamic. 

Things like strikes on civilian targets in Crimea elicit a strong emotional response from the Russian public, increase resolve, and assert greater subsequent pressure to expand the conflict. In turn, the Russian response—in which developments such as that at the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital are inevitable, whether they be collateral and unfortunate or spiteful and vengeance-seeking—then further increases the likelihood of retaliatory strikes by Ukraine on Russian targets, and so on and so on. 

Of course, that spiral does aid in the Ukrainian sales pitch for the continued flow of U.S. weaponry in both greater volume and of more deadly kind. In order to stay in the fight, Kiev must be provided offensive military capabilities; however, it also requires a means of replenishing its rapidly diminishing stock of manpower. Ukraine’s long-term hope is therefore almost exclusively in Russia either directly attacking Western elements in the country, or asymmetrically responding to provocatory actions—perhaps in a particularly heinous manner that could then be amplified by the international press—and thus inducing the greater involvement of foreign forces. Support for the latter remains very low in both Europe and the United States (especially the United States), so changing public opinion requires emotionally appealing to Western audiences. 

As mentioned, the press is more than happy to fulfill that function. For instance, headlines and individual commentators continue to mix reporting on the hospital strike with general coverage of the massive missile attack that took place across the entire country. That allows them to link the total number killed everywhere—about 40—with dead children. Any dead civilian is a tragedy, but there is clearly an active attempt to portray the strike as resulting in dozens of murdered children. Putting the image of 40 dead kids in the public’s mind is of course much more striking than the real number killed in the hospital strike, which appears to be zero (the two deaths were both adults). The media is right to report on the event, but there is also clearly an attempt to push a political agenda through the manner of that reporting.

This is not unique to the Western press. In the information age—although really in all ages—the media consumer is an essential part of the war effort, even if it is in providing tacit consent. Those who want—need, even—greater foreign involvement in the war are very aware of this fact.

Getting dragged into a war with Russia is obviously not in the American national interest. Yet that is the logical conclusion of Washington’s current Ukraine policy. It is apparent to all honest observers that Kiev is rapidly losing territory and hemorrhaging men, with no hope of reversing the tide unless foreign forces become directly involved in the conflict. While the more sober elements of Western leadership acknowledge the folly of such a prospect, they also appear incapable of changing the current trajectory. 

The likelihood of escalation therefore seems very likely as more and deadlier weaponry continues to be provided to Ukraine. So too while actions such as the Crimea beach strike and children’s hospital tragedy continue to proliferate. The recent announcement that F-16s are currently in transit to Ukraine will certainly increase that risk. Such provocatory developments will in turn continue to elicit larger and deadlier Russian attacks on Ukraine—as well as expand the scope of what Moscow classifies as legitimate targets for its offensive operations, including the logistical and operational support capabilities that are provided by foreign forces. 

It is only a matter of time until this then precipitates a direct confrontation between Russia and a member of NATO, perhaps even the United States. While that it is not guaranteed to trigger Article 5, it will certainly risk spiraling toward that end. Unfortunately, that is an end to which our ideology-driven ruling caste seems entirely committed. And, as always, the loyal press is more than happy to oblige the sentiment.

The post The American State–Media Complex Is Escalating the Ukraine War appeared first on The American Conservative.

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent from the Supreme Court’s majority decision in Trump v. United States to grant the president immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts he commits while in office, wrote: 

The long-term consequences of today’s decision are stark…. The president of the United States is the most powerful person in the country, perhaps the world. When he uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he will now be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team Six to assassinate a political rival? Immune.

Picking up on Sotomayor’s fears, left-wing media and pundits fantasized about President Joe Biden having Donald Trump and the conservative Supreme Court justices killed as an official act following the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision. “If I was Biden I’d hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America’s security,” a radio host wrote on X. Is that OK now, as he reasoned?

The biggest problem with willy-nilly assassinations is the Fifth Amendment, which provides for due process before an American is deprived by the government of life, liberty, or property. Capital cases require a grand jury. So while Biden may claim immunity if ordering Trump’s murder, he can’t get around the unconstitutional nature and thus impeachability of his action, immunity or not. Right?

Where things start to get fuzzy is with the assassination thing and Seal Team Six. The Seals conduct targeted killings all the time, nailing a terrorist here, an insurgent there across the Middle East. Officially these are labeled as “catch or kill” missions, but there seems to be very little catching. The bin Laden raid is one high-visibility example where the kill option was explicit and primary. Of course when the Seals are busy elsewhere, drone assassinations are always a presidential option, as in the case of the Iranian General Qasem Soleimani. None of these people are Americans with any Constitutional rights, and none were killed on American soil, so it all falls loosely under some category of acts of war (or whatever). Which brings us to Anwar al Awlaki.

Al Awlaki and his 16-year-old son were American citizens assassinated via targeted drone attack in Yemen by the United States in autumn 2011. Al Awlaki was once friendly with the American military; in the aftermath of 9/11, he lunched at the Pentagon. A few years later, the same U.S. government linked al Awlaki to al Qaeda, deciding he was a propagandist who might be agitating online for Westerners to join the cause.

In 2012, defending the al Awlaki killing, Attorney General Eric Holder said the “U.S. can lawfully target American citizens” and “that a careful and thorough executive branch review of the facts in a case amounts to ‘due process’ and that the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment protection against depriving a citizen of his or her life without due process of law does not mandate a ‘judicial process.’” It was unknown at the time, but Holder was citing a then-secret white paper prepared by the Office of the Legal Counsel, which gave the legal justification for the American government to kill one of its own citizens extrajudicially in apparent violation of the Fifth Amendment.

The white paper was finally released in 2014 and showed a convoluted process had been created to sort of legalize the American citizen killings and thus render the president immune for having ordered them. The document’s central argument is that “an informed, high level official of the U.S. government has determined that the targeted individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States.” Capture must be for all practical purposes off the table, and the kill must conform to the laws of war.

The justification flows perversely from there: The president is obligated to protect the nation, al Qaeda vel sim. pose threats to the nation, and being in al Qaeda is more relevant than the target’s citizenship or where he is at the time (“citizenship does not immunize the target”). If the U.S. decides the host nation is “unwilling or unable to suppress the threat posed by the individual targeted,” sovereignty issues are no object. But what about that due process promised Americans in the Fifth Amendment?

The Fifth Amendment right to due process (and, perhaps, the Fourth Amendment right against unwarranted seizure—that is, seizure of a life) is shrugged off. The white paper claims that the U.S. interest in “forestalling the threat of violence and death to other Americans that arises” outweighs a citizen’s constitutional right. This is described as part of a Fifth Amendment “balancing process.”

This process, according to the white paper, stems from a 1976 Supreme Court case, Mathews v. Eldridge, where the Court held that individuals have a statutorily granted property right in Social Security benefits, that the termination of those benefits implicates due process, but that the termination of those benefits does not require a pre-termination hearing. The Fifth Amendment balance test to apply to murders has three components (notes added):

(1) The importance of the private interest affected. [In a kill case, the private interest is the life of an American citizen.]

(2) The risk of erroneous deprivation through the procedures used, and the probable value of any additional or substitute procedural safeguards. [In a kill case, since the American will be dead, it is impossible to ever “correct” the mistake. The Court held that “If the risk of error is minimal, then the need for additional procedures declines. If the risk is high then additional procedures would be merited.” So, with the potential of a recoverable error, less process is needed. The more serious a mistake might be if committed, the more (perhaps non-judicial) process needed.]

(3) The importance of the state interest involved and the burdens which any additional or substitute procedural safeguards would impose on the state. [According to the kill white paper, the idea that killing the American saves potentially thousands of other Americans lies is the state’s interest. The burden of the U.S. government to follow any procedural safeguards, such as a trial in absentia where the target could have his side presented by a lawyer, is not addressed in the kill white paper]

In short, the balancing test says that in some situations, the president can kill an American citizen extrajudicially. No need for Supreme Court–granted immunity; like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, he has always (at least since 2010) had the power.

“Where national security operations are at stake, due process takes into account the realities of combat,” then-Attorney General Eric Holder said. “Some have argued that the president is required to get permission from a federal court before taking action against a United States citizen who is a senior operational leader of al Qaeda or associated forces. This is simply not accurate… our government has the clear authority to defend the United States with lethal force [and] our legal authority is not limited to the battlefields of Afghanistan.”

So can the president really kill an American in America? There are no known test cases, but some very disturbing testimony by then–FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Mueller, appearing before a House subcommittee in 2012 on whether the same criteria used to kill Americans abroad also would apply in the United States, and whether the President retained the “historical” right to order such an assassination on American soil, said that he simply did not know. “I have to go back. Uh, I’m not certain whether that was addressed or not,” he said. “I’m going to defer that to others in the Department of Justice.”

Note that Mueller had the option of saying, flat-out, “No, no, of course not, the FBI can’t order an American killed in the U.S.” Or, maybe, “No, even the President can’t order a hit on an American here in the U.S. where the full judicial system, Constitution, and other protections apply.”

Mueller did not say those things. Instead, under oath before Congress, the senior G-man of the United States, bound by oath to uphold the Constitution, was so worried about perjury that he was unable to say whether or not the U.S. government can indeed kill one of its own citizens inside the United States without trial.

Immunity 2024 may have its dangers, but it is only a small part of the problem given the vast expansion of presidential capital power in the aftermath of 9/11. Best watch your back.

The post Can the President Now Kill Americans? appeared first on The American Conservative.

The Secret Service identified the rooftop next to Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania event as a security vulnerability days before the rally according to a new report by NBC News.

The agents failed to secure the building so a man with a rifle was able to climb up to the roof, position his scope, and fire several shots at President Trump.

A bullet grazed Trump’s right ear. Two rally attendees were wounded. One Trump supporter was fatally shot.

President Trump told former White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson that a last millisecond head tilt saved his life after a gunman opened fire on him from an elevated position at his Pennsylvania rally.

Trump told Dr. Ronny Jackson that he turned his head to the right to look at a chart on illegal immigration statistics when a bullet grazed his ear.

Watch slow-motion footage of the head tilt the moment a bullet grazes Trump’s ear:

REPORT: Donald Trump says a last millisecond head tilt likely saved his life as slowed-down footage shows the bullet grazing his ear.

If Trump hadn’t moved his head, the bullet would likely have hit the rear of his head, ending his life.

Trump says he turned his head to look at… pic.twitter.com/uXIEjHIcRA

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 14, 2024

According to a witness who spoke to BBC News, the gunman was ‘bear crawling’ up the roof of the unsecured building. The witness said he was pointing at the gunman for two to three minutes and trying to alert police to the potential threat.

Police officers were running around clueless. Secret Service was looking in the direction of the shooter with their binoculars, according to the witness

WATCH:

EYE WITNESS describes to BBC News reporter seeing man with rifle on roof of building firing shots at President Trump rally in Pennsylvania before being shot by Secret Service pic.twitter.com/8Dfk19FsgH

— Georgina (@gs_mick) July 13, 2024

A local police officer reportedly confronted the gunman, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks on the roof but retreated after Crooks pointed his rifle at him.

According to sources who spoke to NBC News, the Secret Service identified the rooftop as a security vulnerability days before the Butler rally.

NBC News reported:

The rooftop where a gunman shot at former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally was identified by the Secret Service as a potential vulnerability in the days before the event, two sources familiar with the agency’s operations told NBC News.

The building, owned by a glass research company, is adjacent to the Butler Farm Show, an outdoor venue in Butler, Pennsylvania. The Secret Service was aware of the risks associated with it, the sources said.

“Someone should have been on the roof or securing the building so no one could get on the roof,” said one of the sources, a former senior Secret Service agent who was familiar with the planning.

Understanding how the gunman got onto the roof — despite those concerns — is a central question for investigators scrutinizing how a lone attacker managed to shoot at Trump during Saturday’s campaign event.

The post NEW: Secret Service Identified Rooftop Next to Trump Pennsylvania Event as Security Vulnerability Days Before Rally – But Still Didn’t Secure It appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

The prime minister of Slovakia, Robert Fico, who was severely wounded in an assassination attempt in May, took to Facebook Sunday to draw a comparison between the attempt on Trump’s life and the attempt on his own.

Fico was reportedly shot due to his opposition to military aid to Ukraine, and has blamed the assassination attempt on rhetoric of Slovakia’s opposition parties.

Notably, Fico stated that the assassination attempt on Trump was “scripted like through a copybook,” asserting that it was copying the attempt on his own life. Fico also stated that “they [political opponents of Trump] are trying to shut Trump up, and when they don’t succeed, they piss the public off so much that some loser picks up a gun.” 

“Now we shall witness speeches about the need for reconciliation, appeasement and forgiveness,” he wrote, implying that the calls for reconciliation in the aftermath of the attempt on Trump’s life will be a way to deflect from the culpability of the opponents of Trump.

Fico’s statement also asserts that if Trump’s assailant knew Slovakian and read various anti-Fico papers, he could have been motivated by the rhetoric of various anti-Fico newspapers to “‘make things right’ with the disobedient former president of the USA.” 

As of writing, the assassin’s motives are still under investigation. 

The post Fico: Assassination Attempt On Trump ‘Scripted Like Through A Copybook’ appeared first on The American Conservative.

As reported by The Gateway Pundit, in Butler, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh, a gunman opened fire on former President Donald Trump during a political rally.

Around the globe, political-inspired killings – both accomplished and attempted – are on the rise, according to security analysts.

Second Eyewitness at Trump’s Rally Comes Forward and Tells CBS He Warned Officers of Shooter Crawling on Roof (VIDEO)

READ: https://t.co/WhNBKolK9h pic.twitter.com/AdDaszOI8z

— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) July 14, 2024

The Washington Times reports,

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot on May 15 following a government meeting in the central Slovakian town of Handlova.

He was rushed to a local hospital and underwent emergency surgery. Police arrested the assailant, Juraj Cintula, 71, who reportedly opposed Mr. Fico’s international policies, which included pushing for friendly relations with Russia while criticizing NATO and the U.S.

British lawmaker David Amess was stabbed to death on Oct. 15, 2021, while he was meeting with voters from his constituency in the House of Commons.

Authorities said the assailant, Ali Harbi Ali, was a British Islamic State sympathizer. He was convicted of murder and terrorist-related activities and sentenced to life in prison.

Haitian President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by gunmen who invaded his Port-au-Prince home on July 7, 2021. The attack injured his wife, but she was later indicted with several government officials as a co-conspirator.

Haitian President Jovenel Moise was shot dead by unidentified attackers in his private residence overnight in an ‘inhuman and barbaric act’ and his wife was injured, Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph said https://t.co/4lHW8DKQm2 pic.twitter.com/PCxZ2Jhz5c

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 7, 2021

The United Kingdom, Haiti, Japan, Slovakia, and now the US. Political assassinations are on the rise around the world. An extremely concerning development, that unfortunately shows no real signs of slowing down. @CFR_org @hoffman_bruce @WarOnTheRocks https://t.co/NjhVe53zgt

— Jacob Ware (@Jacob_A_Ware) July 14, 2024

Political assassination incidents are increasing worldwide, with recent cases occurring in the United Kingdom, Haiti, Japan, Slovakia, and now the United States.

Jacob Ware, a research fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, expressed deep concern about this alarming trend on Sunday via X. “This is an extremely concerning development that, unfortunately, shows no real signs of slowing down,” Ware commented.

Fernando Villavicencio, a journalist and presidential candidate from Ecuador, was shot to death on Aug. 9, 2023, shortly after a campaign event in Quito, the nation’s capital city. The anti-corruption activist was killed about two weeks before the general election during a time of heavy gang activity, according to media reports.

Sanjeev Sanyal, a noted Indian economist, said he wouldn’t be surprised if there was a connection between the assassination of Prime Minister Abe and the attacks on the Slovakian prime minister and Mr. Trump because each are considered populist political figures.

Mr. Abe and Mr. Trump had a close relationship while both men were leading their respective countries. They met at least 20 times, played several rounds of golf together and called each other dozens of times.

“The United States came within a quarter of an inch from civil war. Let that sink in,” Mr. Sanyal said Sunday on X. “Whoever is playing this dangerous game needs to be hunted down. Never forget that civilization is a Ponzi Scheme. It is nasty when it unwinds. Never assume it will not happen in your lifetime.”

Political assassinations are not confined to one extreme on the political spectrum. Both far-left and far-right actors have turned to violence. Analysts warn that such actions are particularly effective at tearing apart a country’s social framework.

The post Analysts Report Increase in Political Assassinations Worldwide appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.

Failed presidential candidate and ultra-neocon Nikki Haley has accepted a last-minute invitation to speak at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday.

Haley’s addition to the lineup was announced on Sunday, one day after the failed assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

The Associated Press reports:

Haley, who was also elected twice as South Carolina governor, was added to the schedule after she was initially not among the list of speakers, according to Haley spokesperson Chaney Denton. The schedule change was confirmed by a Republican official who is familiar with the convention plans but was not authorized to speak publicly.

Denton had said last week that the former South Carolina governor was not invited to the convention, but Haley had instructed her delegates to vote for Trump and issued a public call for party unity.

During the primary, Haley accused Trump of causing chaos and disregarding the importance of U.S. alliances abroad. She did not endorse him when she dropped out in early March, instead waiting more than two months before she said she planned to vote for him.

In May, Trump said Haley would “be on our team in some form” after the hawkish former ambassador to the United Nations finally said she would vote for him — but made it very clear that she wanted a role in the administration.

“You know, we had a nasty campaign. It was pretty nasty. But she’s a very capable person, and I’m sure she’s going to be on our team in some form. Absolutely,” Trump said.

Haley had said she would vote for Trump while speaking at a Hudson Institute event.

“I will be voting for Trump. Having said that, I stand by what I said in my suspension speech,” Haley said. “Trump would be smart to reach out to the millions of people who voted for me and continue to support me.”

Haley has been deeply unpopular with Trump’s base, partly because of all the attacks on him during her campaign — but also because she represents more of the John McCain-style of policies that his populist supporters have widely rejected.

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Credit: WJTV, Getty Images

A staffer for Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi was fired following her vile remarks, in which she stated she hoped Thomas Crooks, who targeted former President Donald Trump, ‘should have taken shooting lessons so he wouldn’t miss next time.’

Jacqueline Marsaw took to Facebook on Saturday evening to express her thoughts on the incident where Trump was nearly assassinated during a rally in Pennsylvania.

“I don’t condone violence but please get you some shooting lessons so you don’t miss next time ooops that wasn’t me talking,” Marsaw wrote.

In another post, Marsaw wrote, “That’s what your speech got you!!”

By Sunday morning, all of Marsaw’s posts had been deleted. When questioned by the Natchez Democrat, she said, “I got overwhelmed in the moment,” and added, “I am a diehard Democrat.”

Marsaw removed her posts upon instruction from a manager on Thompson’s team. She insisted her post was intended for its comic value and not to be taken seriously.

On the same day, Thompson confirmed to Fox News that he fired Marsaw.

“I was made aware of a post made by a staff member and she is no longer in my employment,” Thompson said.

Rep THOMPSON has fired this staffer —

“I was made aware of a post made by a staff member and she is no longer in my employment.” https://t.co/1f3ndN4D3y

— Aishah Hasnie (@aishahhasnie) July 14, 2024

Her boss, Rep. Thompson shed crocodile tears on X in response to Trump’s brush with death with a canned statement on X thanking law enforcement and offering his “thoughts and prayers.”

“There is no room in American democracy for political violence,” Thompson wrote. “I am grateful for law enforcement’s fast response to this incident.”

“I am glad the former President is safe, and my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved,” he added.

Ironically, Thompson authored a bill to remove Trump’s Secret Service protection after being convicted on bogus criminal charges in federal and state courts.

Democrat Rep. Bennie Thompson introduced a resolution that would terminate Trump’s Secret Service protection. The legislation dubbed the “Denying Infinite Security and Government Resources Allocated toward Convicted and Extremely Dishonorable (DISGRACED) Former Protectees Act would apply to all Secret Service protectees convicted and sentenced under felony charges.

“The DISGRACED Former Protectees Act would terminate Secret Service protection for individuals who otherwise qualify for it upon sentencing following conviction for a Federal or State felony,” the announcement said.

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Jon Stewart speaks on Monday’s “Daily Show.” (The Daily Show / YouTube screen shot)

Comedy Central’s The Daily Show has cancelled plans to film at the Republican National Convention after the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

The far-left satire news show had already sold out multiple nights at the 1,500-person capacity Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee, where they planned to film before a live audience.

The Daily Show announced the cancellation in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

See you Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/zqrK5XxKzE

— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) July 14, 2024

“The Daily Show will not broadcast Monday (tomorrow) but we’ll be back up Tuesday through Thursday from our NYC studio,” the announcement read.

The statement continued, “Our apologies for the inconvenience, but due to logistical issues and the evolving situation in Milwaukee, we need to reschedule our events on the ground in Wisconsin and will look to make those up in the coming weeks.”

Marcus Performing Arts Center CEO Kevin Giglinto released a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saying, “In light of the incredibly shocking and sad events that took place yesterday in Pennsylvania, ‘The Daily Show’ will not broadcast from the Marcus Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee during the Republican National Convention, July 15-18.”

Giglinto added, “While we were looking forward to hosting The Daily Show, we support and stand by their decision. … We apologize for this unexpected change, and we thank you for your understanding.”

Trump has already arrived in Wisconsin, saying he would not let the shooter change his schedule.

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