The week America was undoubtedly at its worst

The late Gore Vidal explained that one of his ambitions as a historian and novelist was to determine “when the great cretinism began in the United States…when people got really dumb.” While there is plenty of room to debate the origin, it is beyond dispute that we’re living in peak cretinism. 

The attempted assassination of Donald Trump has exposed America at its worst – not only dumb, but hysterical, cowardly, and sickly sentimental. It has placed in the spotlight a dysfunctional political culture incapable of performing the heavy lifting necessary to maintain a vigorous democracy at precisely the moment when democracy is under assault. 

As if everyone on the planet were mere props in his solipsistic dream, Trump seized the moment of the failed assassination attempt, ordering the Secret Service agents to “wait.” He then struck his heroic pose. Media reaction was instantly one of awe, with commentators ranging from Fox News’ Sean Hannity to CNN’s Van Jones, praising the image as “iconic.” It is rare to hear anyone point out the obvious: irresponsible It was irresponsible for Trump, who did not know if a second shooter was taking aim, to endanger his audience and those sworn to protect him for the purpose of creating the ultimate photo-op. 

Neil Postman wrote in “Amusing Ourselves to Death” that “entertainment is the supra-ideology of all discourse on television.” Trump gave the world a Hollywood-like moment of entertainment, transforming a disturbing escalation of political violence into a cinematic climax. Mainstream media commentators joined the queue with their popcorn.

Despite Trump surviving, with even his wounded ear intact, the assassination attempt was fatal for Corey Comperatore, a retired fire chief who was struck by a bullet when using his body to shield his wife and daughter. The heroism and tragic death of Comperatore has proven inconvenient for the Republican Party. While clamoring to celebrate Trump’s fist-pumping pose, leaders of the GOP, have added a new story to the “God Bless the USA” Lee Greenwood Bible – The Miracle of Butler. 

Donald Trump said that “God alone” spared his life. Senator Marco Rubio bowed his head and tweeted that “God protected President Trump.” On the first night of the Republican National Convention, Senator Tim Scott referred to the events in Butler, Pennsylvania as a “miracle.” What kind of miracle includes Corey Comperatore violently dying in front of his wife and child? Perhaps, God is not good at multitasking. Clearly, the Republican Party is equally poor at demonstrating sensitivity to the deceased and bereaved.

Trump did not call Helen Comperatore to offer his condolences until July 17, four days after her husband’s death, and after criticism of his callousness went far and wide on social media. 

Given that the Republican Party had already morphed into a cult of worship surrounding Trump, the shedding of blood – a favorite Biblical trope – will only solidify his standing as a messiah. The mainstream media has questioned none of the idolatry surrounding Trump since the assassination attempt. 

If the Hollywood ethos and religious nonsense were not enough to turn American culture into a madhouse, the abundance of borderline-insane conspiracy theories will do the job. Immediately, countless political observers on the left took to their social media feeds to announce that the assassination attempt was “staged.” Photoshopped pictures of the Secret Service agents smiling as Trump posed went viral. The news that the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, appeared in a Black Rock commercial also excited millions who appear to believe that the entire event happened according to some diabolical plan to make Trump appear immortal. Could even the greatest marksman in the world intentionally graze the ear of a man standing over one hundred yards away from the barrel of the gun?

Questions like these are never asked by those who believe that the “Deep State” can engineer complicated events, down to the most meticulous detail, but still cannot create an efficient health care or public transportation system. 

Mike Rothschild, an expert on conspiracy theories, wrote about the prevalence of left-wing conspiracy theories following the assassination attempt. He described Trump as an “accelerant” of leftist conspiracy thinking, just as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, were accelerants for conspiracy theories on the right. Processing information through conspiracy theories, Rothschild explains, risks filling “the gaps in our understanding with garbage rather than simply [sitting] in a lack of understanding.”

The right-wing was no better than the left, but the key difference is that its conspiracy lunatics included members of Congress.

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., asserted that Biden “sent the orders” to have Trump killed. While it is not a conspiracy theory, other members of Congress, including Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and, most significantly, Senator JD Vance, who is now Trump’s running mate, blamed Biden and the Democrats for the assassination attempt. They claim that the “incendiary language” of accurately calling Donald Trump a “threat to democracy” pushed the would-be assassin to act. 

They also revealed an inability or refusal to deal with metaphor by arguing that Biden’s innocuous statement to donors – “It’s time to put Trump in the bullseye” – was partially responsible. Lester Holt, NBC news anchor, brought up the “bullseye” comment to Biden when interviewing him on Monday night, suggesting that it “contributed” to the volatility of our age. Holt became the team captain in the media’s game of feigned ignorance and real timidity. Ignoring that, even according to the FBI, the overwhelming majority of political violence comes from the right, media hosts, like Holt and CNN’s Jake Tapper, who has called for “everyone” to “lower the temperature,” have turned dangerous rhetoric into a “both sides” issue. 

The blood of Trump has washed away the sins of the right-wing world. Donald Trump himself mocked the attack on Paul Pelosi, which almost took his life, made light of the plot to kidnap and kill Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, saying, “maybe it wasn’t a problem,” encouraged the Proud Boys, a hate group dedicated to political violence, to “stand by,” and most infamously, told the would-be insurrectionists on January 6 to “walk to the Capitol” and “fight like hell.”

In his response to Holt’s shallow interrogation, Biden showcased why the majority of his party’s voters would like him to drop out of the race. He struggled to find examples of Trump’s incitement, stumbled over his words, and said things like, “I’m not the guy who challenged an election.” 

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, the shooter actually responsible for the crime, appears to have had no political motive. He was a registered Republican, but once made a donation to a progressive organization. The FBI revealed on Wednesday that it found images of President Biden, House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Fulton County DA Fani Willis and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani on his cell phone. Lacking patience and the willingness to “sit in our lack of understanding,” JD Vance baselessly claimed Biden’s “rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” Trump named him as his running mate days later. Self-important wind puppets like Bill Maher, merely hours after the shooting, declared that the assassination attempt “damages the left.” One might have noticed that since the background information about the shooter cannot “damage the left,” the mainstream media has all but dropped the story, barely mentioning his name. Also absent from post-Butler coverage are the names, James Copenhaver and David Dutch, the two men injured by gunfire. 

Media outlets, including Axios, are declaring, without evidence, that Trump is a “changed man.” He has told America to “unite,” without explaining what that means, and has selected a man as his running mate who called January 6th insurrectionists “political prisoners” and promotes the racist and antisemitic Great Replacement Theory. But he was shot in the ear. So, we must take him at his word. 

On CNN, the Miracle of Butler appears to have led to a few conversions. Dana Bash, while reacting to JD Vance’s weird speech, which mixed endless paeans to Trump with macabre drug-related tales, said that his discussion of economic policy was “stunning.” Turn the channel to MSNBC, and you’ll find a network that refused to air “Morning Joe” on Monday morning out of fear that a host or guest would make an insensitive comment regarding the attempt on Trump’s life. NBC News’ coverage of the RNC, meanwhile, called it “so notable” that Republicans have made a post-shooting “shift” in rhetoric on a night when signs demanding “mass deportations now!” filled the convention hall.

The final night of the cult gathering combined embarrassment and bigotry. It was as if a fifth-grade Mussolini acted as director. Hulk Hogan, tearing open his shirt and declaring the rise of “Trump-a-mania,” drew a standing ovation. Kid Rock leading the crowd in chants of “Fight, fight!” and “Trump, Trump!” served as the culture segment. Dana White, the president of UFC, introduced Trump, challenging media complacency in coverage. 

A jury of his peers has found that Trump sexually assaulted E. Jean Carroll, and dozens of women have accused the former president of sexual assault and/or harassment. White was caught on video twisting his wife’s wrist and slapping her. Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife has accused him of domestic violence, which he denies. Night four of the Republican National Convention was the equivalent of the Democratic Party nominating Harvey Weinstein for president, and asking P. Diddy to introduce him. CNN and the major newspapers failed to note violence against women in their response to the concluding events of the RNC. 

As far as Trump’s speech is concerned, his delivery was Castro on quaaludes – rambling for 92 minutes about everything from Hogan’s “entertainment” skills to “the late, great Hannibal Lecter.” He resurrected the racist chestnut, “China virus,” when referring to the Covid 19 pandemic, and likened Latino immigrants to drug dealers, rapists, murderous gang members, and the world’s most famous cinematic cannibal. He accused Democrats of “destroying our country,” making special mention of “Crazy” Nancy Pelosi, and lied that the 2020 election was “rigged.” 

In the beginning, he said, “The discord and division of our country must be healed,” slurring the word, “discord.” The Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News, and Chicago Tribune lead their stories on the speech with headlines describing Trump’s call for unity, while the hosts and commentators at CNN, who had spent all week predicting and promoting a “new Trump,” struggled to explain his narcissistic and dishonest exhibition of logorrhea. Most of them settled on the false assertion that it was a “great convention, but disappointing speech,” in the words of Van Jones.

Anderson Cooper took the gold medals in absurdity and phoniness when he called Hulk Hogan’s juvenile antics, “Extraordinarily compelling.” 

The only thing that is staged is happening without a script, but due to the ignorance and poor instincts of the two major parties, the mainstream media, and millions of voters. It is the further erosion of a responsible and thoughtful political culture that can strengthen democratic liberalism. Even the Democratic Party is playing along. In a pathetic move, the Biden campaign put its television advertisements “on pause” following the assassination attempt. 

Conspiracy theory, religious nonsense, media complacency, and Democratic gutlessness coalesce not out of a grand plan, but as a consequence of American failure. Democracy is in the crosshairs.