Hanlon’s Ginsu Could Not Cut Through This

I usually rely on Hanlon’s Razor, the proposition that one should never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence. And I am usually pretty generous in determining what is plausibly deemed incompetent. But as the facts pile up in the attempted Trump assassination–the failure of which was only plausibly due to the hand of God, and I do not say that lightly or blasphemously, but quite seriously–it is becoming harder and harder to conclude that what transpired on Saturday was within even the most generous possible drawing of the bounds of incompetence. Which leaves malice–and by whom and for what purpose.

Matthew Crooks was about as stealthy as a funny car out of the starting gate or an F-15 taking off. Everybody saw him doing obviously suspicious and threatening things, and being in places where he obviously should not have been and where he obviously posed a threat to Trump. Crucially, the Secret Service and local law enforcement saw him and did nothing until it was too late. Nothing. They all make the Uvalde, TX police look good by comparison.

All of that is incomprehensible. But what makes me conclude that Hanlon’s Razor doesn’t cut it is the series of bullshit excuses emanating from the Secret Service. Each is worse than the next. Some of the most outrageous ones:

No sniper team was posted on the roof from which Crooks fired because it was too steeply sloped, which would have endangered a countersniper team’s safety. Which it wasn’t. Indeed, it was sloped less than the roof on which the countersniper team that eventually took him out is. And it obviously wasn’t too steeply sloped for Crooks to use as a shooting position. And is Cheatle the head of the Secret Service, or its OSHA manager? Trump’s security detail was staffed the way it was because he’s only the former president, and former presidents get less protection. For the love of God, this isn’t G.W. Bush, about whom no one GAF anymore, that we’re talking about here. We are talking about a man who is not just a former president, but a current candidate, and in the most febrile political environment since the 1850s. And one who has been labeled an existential threat, and who has been the subject of both assassination porn and assassination fears for years. Killing GWB or Obama would be horrible–but that would be nothing compared to what would occur to this country if Trump is killed. And here’s the best one, from the Secret Service’s loathsome official spokesfuck, Angelo Cangelosi (who is only slightly less loathsome than his boss, Kimberly Cheatle): “With counter snipers, you’re usually so far away, it’s not usually clear whether an individual is an imminent threat. It’s harder to discern. Once they discern whether that person is a threat to life or serious bodily injury, they can take the shot.” RUFKM? The countersnipers have optics that would have allowed them to count the hairs in Crooks’ nose from that distance. And for crissakes, U.S. military snipers routinely identify, evaluate, and take out threats from 1000 yards plus, not 100 yards plus. I mean seriously, you fuckwit, watch American Sniper. Or Blackhawk Down. Or watch the old History Channel show on snipers. Read about Carlos Hathcock or Chuck Mawhinney. Read about Marine Scout Snipers and their training. These men are trained to discern threats, at long distance and in seconds, and act without hesitation based on what they observe and what they know.

It’s hard to know whether these utterly bullshit excuses that would embarrass a toddler caught being naughty demonstrate their lack of intelligence or their opinion of ours. But the fact that they are unwilling or unable to come up with remotely reasonable explanations leads me to conclude that they have something to hide, and that something is far more sinister than mere incompetence.

The latest regime story makes things worse, not better. You see, Trump’s security had been beefed up because the US had detected an Iranian threat to assassinate Trump.

You people actually think that makes you look better? Mother of God, if that charlie foxtrot was beefed up security, how shambolic was it before?

I also note that when Iraq launched an assassination plot against G. H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton-yes, Bill Clinton-launched missiles at Baghdad. Any missiles headed to Tehran due to this alleged threat? Of course not.

Yes, I agree with el gato malo (whom you should all read regularly) that communications seams between the Secret Service and local LE with security responsibilities over different parts of the venue are a potential point of failure. But the point is that this is a very well known known (to steal from Rumsfeld, who stole it from psychologists Joseph Luft and Harrington Ingham) and should therefore be a priority in planning. It’s such an obvious potential problem that it should never be an actual problem.

But the scope of the failure and the utterly farcical excuses offered up for it are such that I don’t believe Hanlon’s Ginsu could cut through it. Which again leaves us with malice.

If Trump had not turned his head this nation would now be in the grips of utter chaos at the very least and likely in outright rebellion. (Which, of course, the regime and its media lackeys would blame on the rebels, not on the regime’s failures or malicious acts that caused it). Trump–and we–literally dodged the most lethal bullet in American history. And yes, that counts those that did to Lincoln and JFK what Matthew Crooks intended to do to Donald Trump.

Chalk another one up for Bismarck: “God has a special providence for fools, drunkards, and the United States of America.” If not, I doubt that there would be enough ruin in America to survive it (to paraphrase Adam Smith).

Americans deserve answers. Americans deserve scalps. And we are already 72 hours past the time we should have had them.

Who is going to raise hell to get them?