So having watched Donald Trump somehow eclipse his own attempted assasination, I asked "how could he do it." After a discussion with friends a few things:

* Trump likes drama. He just went from nearly be shot to JD Vance.
* He's surrounded by dramatic people making insane pronouncements.
* The attempted assassin didn't fit any narrative.
* Our news cycle is easily distracted. So it's not just him.

I felt like the assassination would be in the news two weeks. Now I see maybe one.

I don't see Vance's nomination as a sign of confidence. I see it as a doubling down to the base and an attempt to get silicon valley money. It doesn't say Trump is moderating at all.

Trump survived an assassination attempt and two days later nominated a VP so odious people are now talking about THAT more.

For anyone worried dems may go easy on the GOP's politics, my inbox emails about JD Vance say otherwise.

@[email protected] notes that Project 2025 gives us a way to tear apart the Republican coalition.

https://doctorow.medium.com/https-pluralistic-net-2024-07-14-fracture-lines-disassembly-manual-99028324a433

(Check the new GOP platform, which has many people unhappy.)

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Judge Cannon definitely can't read the room.

Some of my acquaintences who are rational and calm people think the Trump assassination attempt was staged. I've been processing that.

I cannot blame them. Sure there's enough dots to connect, but the biggest dot is Trump and the phenomena around him. Trump is basically a showman and has shown no reason to be trusted. If some investigation came out and reliably said "this was fake" there would be LITTLE surprise (and people on Trump's side saying "it was needed.").

That's where we are.

The large disasters of climate change get our attention - but slowly, they're making more subtle changes to live, schedules, and plan. We may miss just how much we're being impacted. https://www.stevensavage.com/blog/2024/07/time-and-temperature.html

And this, perhaps, is a good example of one way things are so broken - speed. People get information quickly, process quickly, and EXPLOIT quickly. Speed rules all, you have to be first to the hot take even if the take starts a fire.

This speed allows narratives to spin up quickly - and also give the impression of coordination.

An example here is that I watched conspiracy theories churn up in real time. This includes very calm, very chill people going off the deep end within an hour.

And this all plays into each other. Seeing GOP members spew conspiracy theories or say "Trump will win" automatically gives *the illusion of complicity* that fuels things more.

As the shooter is a Republican and a gun enthusiast, Jay Kuo gives an EXAMPLE of a possible motivation that shows how twisted our world has become with conspiracy theories.

Our political and social environment is increasingly harder to navigate.

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/2024-isnt-nearly-done-with-us

Pro Trump people saying "this shooting is gonna win Trump the election" seriously fuel those that think it was staged.

Great. Elon musk weighs in on his Trump support after the shooting, which is sure to fire MORE conspiracy theories.

https://www.wired.com/story/elon-musk-endorse-donald-trump-rally-shooting/