In 1865, the Vice President and the Secretary of State were the pseudo-established positions in the line of succession to the Presidency. The Succession Act of 1792 tried to establish a line, but when William Henry Harrison died in office, the reality was no one knew who was President. The Vice President John Tyler basically stormed into the office and refused to relinquish it, setting up a succession framework, but by the time of Lincoln, it still was unresolved. The Succession Act of 1886 finally established a clear line of power, but at the time of Lincoln it was still relatively fragile at best, meaning multiple assassinations could potentially lead to a Constitutional crisis.
Atzerodt either got drunk and forgot about killing the Vice President, or had second thoughts. Powell did attack Seward in his house, stabbing him repeatedly after his gun misfired, nearly killing him. Seward survived. The rest of the attack in 1865 is often forgotten as Lincoln, the main target, was lost to this country.
There have been four successful assassination attempts of our Presidents (Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Kennedy) and multiple other attacks against Presidents, Vice Presidents and national politicians over the history of this country (including the 2017 Congressional baseball shooting, which was universally condemned by everyone). Thankfully no one was hurt by this week's far right terrorist bombing attack by Cesar Sayoc, but there has never been a more aggressive and grandiose political assassination attempt in our country's history.
Think about the scale of this attack, the number of current and former politicians targeted: TWO former Presidents in Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Former First Lady and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former First Lady Michelle Obama, former Vice President Joe Biden (twice), Former Attorney General Eric Holder, Former CIA Director John Brennan, former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, TWO current sitting US Senators, Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, TWO current sitting US Representatives, Maxine Waters and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the news network CNN (twice), two wealthy philanthropists who support Democratic causes, George Soros and Tom Steyer, and actor and vocal critic of Trump Robert DeNiro.
We've had attacks on this country designed to start a traditional war (Fort Sumter, Pearl Harbor). We've had attacks on this country designed to start ideological wars (Harpers Ferry, 9/11). We've had minor domestic uprisings against the government. We've had domestic attacks targeting individual and multiple politicians. We've had attacks on this country via social media networks. We even had an attempt to overthrow FDR in the 1930's by conservative businessmen furious he won the election and that he took the US off the gold standard (The Smedley Butler Affair).
We've NEVER had anything of this scope and magnitude happen in the US, prior to this week.
When you look at the targeted list, it feels like we're not talking about the US government, rather some third world country where a military uprising has targeted all current and former politicians.
For the first time in my life an attempted assassination of US politicians has created an even more divided response. Only a year ago, when a coward targeted Republicans at a baseball practice, the nation condemned the attack as a whole. I'm not sure if the difference is the political party targeted, or whether it's the undeniable growing meanness in this country, but the reaction this time around is jaw dropping.
In regards to Republicans/Trump supporters, 10% seem to be outraged, offering undeniable and absolute condemnation for the terrorists actions, and insisting the toxic rhetoric of the current political environment needs to be toned down immediately. 50% of Republicans/Trump supporters have an attitude of "no one denies bombing is wrong, but when Democrats confront a Republican in a restaurant or in the halls of Congress, they technically started it." They're making excuses for the bomber's behavior, trying to blame Democrats for bringing this on themselves, acting as if a rational response to a heated political discussion is to napalm a neighborhood.
40% of Republicans/Trump supporters initially insisted this was a "false flag" operation, a set up by the Democrats to make Trump and the Republicans look bad. This wasn't just fringe nutbags and conspiracy kooks. Many major Republicans politicians and mouth pieces were pushing this as a fake attack within hours of hearing about it, with ZERO proof to back up their claims. Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. was pushing "false flag" conspiracies on social media, and even Trump himself referred to the attacks in a manner suggesting they might not be real ("bomb").
Since the terrorist Sayoc has been arrested in Florida, about half of the false flaggers are now in the 'Democrats started it' camp. They keep bringing up how the bombs were poorly made, pushing poor craftsmanship as a valid excuse to dismiss the attack. 20% of the Far Right think Sayoc is a patsy, that the Democrats sent these bombs to themselves, and no amount of evidence, even Sayoc's admission, will ever convince them otherwise. They are broken beyond fixing.
There's a concerted effort from the right to push this story off the front pages and to get America focused on a migrant caravan heading for the Mexican border. To those trying to make this story go away: This was the single largest political assassination attempt in US history! The same people who were screaming for a 9th and 10th Benghazi investigation are demanding we no longer focus on these dark days in American history, only the dog and pony show they want everyone to pay attention to. If we do not condemn this with maximum reverence, if we skip past this outrage and focus on lesser stories, then shame on all of us! We ourselves, whether intentionally or not, become part of the cover up. We ourselves will be to blame for the next massive assassination attempt.
If John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators attempted their assassinations today, with the current technology available, it makes me shudder to think what they might be able to pull off. We got lucky with Sayoc. He seems to be mentally incompetent, a zealot who thinks he's fighting a holy war for his true idol, Trump. Help us all if we don't reverse this noxious and poisonous version of America before the next attempt.
Sadly, the World Series and the next football games are more important to many Americans. They won't take this toxic stuff seriously until it's too late. So sad what we have become as a nation!
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