I came of age in the late 1960s. JFK was killed the day before my 10th birthday. I can still remember the teacher's tearful delivery of the news to our 5th grade math class. I remember the riots after the murder of MLK Jr. by a white racist. My city (Wilmington, Delaware) was under martial law and curfews for weeks. I watched Bobby Kennedy's funeral train pass on its run from DC to Boston (or maybe Boston to DC). I remember the Weathermen blowing shit up, including themselves. I remember Bull Connor gassing, fire hosing and beating civil rights protesters. I was tear gassed at an anti-war protest. I remember the odious George Wallace being shot. All that said, the political violence of today seems more sinister. More dangerous. More organized. More by design than by chance. More by direction than by lone wolf.
If Trump and the MAGAs cared, they would use this moment to call for an end to the violence. They seem incapable of that so far and act as if this is another opportunity to increase the frenzy of his followers. This will not get him any new votes. This may lose him more votes than he can afford to lose. No matter what, this will not end well for America and its people.
It’s been noted that in 1968 when Bobby was shot at point black range, on the floor and bleeding, in and out of consciousness, he asked the first responders and those attending to him, “is everyone alright?” That’s the kind of leader he had become. The empathy and concern for others till the end. What a remarkable human being.
I remember the JFK assassination, too. I'd turned 10 about 5 weeks before it happened. I remember the confusion and helplessness we all felt. It's impossible to describe to someone who was too young to remember, or was not yet born, what it was like. We felt like our world had collapsed. And really, it had. And 60.5 years later, I still remember everything that happened on that day and the following days.
Political assassination and other violence, including other types of murder during the 1920s and '30s, was pretty awful in central and eastern Europe, though. I'd say we haven't yet reached that point. The land empires in central and eastern Europe collapsed after WWI. There were civil wars, wars between states, revolution, and counter-revolution. There were (if I remember rightly) 376 political assassinations in the Weimar Republic alone, most of it right-wing. As per historian Robert Gerwarth (University College, Dublin), there were more people killed in central and eastern Europe between Nov. 1918 and July 1923 than were killed in the *combined* militaries of the US, Britain, and France between Aug. 1914 and Nov. 1918. What we should strive to do is avoid what happened in the 1920s and '30s. Violence is deeply embedded in our culture, from the days of colonial North America to the present, though, and most of it seems to me to be related to racism. It would take nothing less than a cultural change to get rid of it.
Thanks once again Rose for a quality post, packed with informative and useful facts and stats.
Number of people killed in central/Eastern Europe Nov 1918–July 1923 is staggering. I hadn't known its true dimensions until you made this comparison with number killed combined Allies 1914-1918. Thankyou for that information.
I share your memory of the JFK assassination: I was walking across the front terrace of our house, on my way inside on returning from school, where I was completing what is now called Year 12, the final year of secondary school, in Australia where I live. I heard the news from inside the house as I approached the front door and felt a strong visceral shock. This was accompanied by an instant knowing that the world had now changed.
You may find this parallel experience of mine interesting, since it demonstrates just how far, and how deeply, US affairs extended across the world in those days, reaching us here in Australia instantly even then, in a major life-changing way.
And the parallel extends further: violence, mostly related to racism, is deeply embedded in our antipodean culture too. We recently had a referendum where a "Voice from the heart" from our indigenous peoples asking for an official advisory role to Parliament was overwhelmingly voted down. A concerted campaign from far right extremists, coordinated from the US, turned our people's natural goodwill and generous open heartedness into fear and defensiveness—Are they trying to take our land back from us? Throw us off our land? We beat them, so it’s our land now! Captain Cook was ages ago, doesn't count now! I didn't do anything! That was great grandad. Nothing to do with me! Etc., etc.
And I also stood with 100,000 others in central Melbourne in 1968, protesting the violence and atrocities of the Vietnam War as Dr Jim Cairns condemned US imperialism and vowed a Labor Government would get us out of that bloodstained people-destroying, culture-destroying quagmire. And subsequently, it did all come to pass.
So there is hope. Always. In that, I agree wholeheartedly with Dr Snyder.
In other respects, I disagree strongly with the line Dr Snyder is currently taking. I will post here separately to address those issues, and here too I am indebted to you for providing us with the invaluable link to Dr Snyder's Vienna lecture on Paganism: From post-modern to pre-modern.
So this post is to thank you for your ongoing contributions, to provide further personal testimony of my own as to the effects of historical events we both witnessed, and to back you unreservedly in your call for an end to the violence.
My next post will be critical of important aspects of the process Dr Snyder is engaging, in trying to achieve his goals. While I endorse his goals without reservation, I find his approach quite risky, and in the end potentially counter-prodcuctive in the long term.
I highly recommend everyone read Robert Gerwarth's ''The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End.'' I've read some of his other books, but that one is especially accessible to nonhistorians. Peer-reviewed history, such as Jörn Leonhard's ''Pandora’s Box: A History of the First World War,'' can be dense. I always try to steer people who want to read history to the more accessible historians to avoid scaring them off.
Thanks for sharing your experience about the JFK assassination. I'm always interested in what people from other countries have to say about the US, including and maybe even especially, the bad. Most Americans become defensive when they hear harsh criticism from people from other countries. I don't, as long as the person comes prepared.
I've read about the attitude of White Australians towards indigenous peoples. Yikes! They sound a lot like some Whites in the US. I didn't know there were campaigns in Australia that have been coordinated by the US far right. I knew the same has been happening to our northern neighbor, and it sickens me. This is quite similar to Russia's years-long destabilization campaigns throughout the world. Much of history is made of opportunities taken at just the right moments. When internal chaos is present, other countries strike not necessarily that country, but somewhere else. In his guest lecture for one of Prof. Snyder's Ukraine classes, Prof. Arne Westad said, "But then of course, making use from the mid-19th century on of a unique moment when the eastern, and here I would include Britain, meaning British India, the eastern empires that Russia confronted, got into trouble, all three of them, The Qing, the British, and the Ottomans, roughly at the same time. The Qing mainly for domestic reasons, I would argue, and then followed by confrontations with Western imperialism, the Ottomans because of the beginning of nationalist organizations in part of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the European part, and the British, because of the rebellion in India in the 1850s. So instead of pushing outwards, these empires start to step aside, opening up for a remarkable period of Russian imperial expansion. Now that's opportunistic. It's opportunistic for a reason. That reason is the weakness of others." BTW, that was one of the best lectures I've ever heard. I emailed him to ask him for one of his course syllabuses, and he sent me the pdf. Right after that lecture I ordered and read his ''The Cold War: A World History.'' If he were ever to teach a Brezhnev-centric course at Yale--one that included say, the Soviet Union, the US, and China--I'd drop everything I was doing and make plans to find a place to stay for the semester and audit that course.
I'm looking forward to your criticism of Prof. Snyder's approach to our current problems.
Kindest regards to you, Penelope. I send to you my warmest and most heartfelt greetings.
I am more sanguine. I don't want to add pessimism to the weight of this feeling. Cultivate hope. We do have agency... and I have hope. I think more people are becoming more aware, the worse it gets. More will become involved. It is a test of who we are.. a real test.
There is one central issue amidst all of what is going so wrong here that cannot be denied Our political divisions are as old as the Republic itself. 700,000 Americans once paid the ultimate price for them, and a level of destruction and desolation unmatched in our history before or since was laid upon the land. The reason, despite all attempts then and now to blame the Civil War on anything else, was the existence of slavery in a nation founded upon the principles of freedom and individual rights, and the determination of some Americans to prolong and extend it.
Now there is again one essential cause. And that is the self injection of Donald Trump into the equation. Without him the divisions would still exist as they always have. Their level of seriousness would wax and wane as they always have. But it is Donald Trump’s disastrous presence upon our political stage that has pushed us so close the edge. Without him, there is not the central event ofJanuary 6th with all that preceded it, abetted it, and still surrounds it, extending into every facet of our social and political lives.
I utterly condemn the action of that terribly misguided young man, and I thank god his skill was not equal to his purpose. I grieve for those he did kill and injure.
But Donald Trump is the living embodiment of the ancient Biblical truth. “He that sows the wind, shall reap the whirlwind".
Thank you, James. I've been pondering this thought since early this morning, "as ye sow, so shall ye reap." Although not a religious advocate, I do receive inspiration from like passages.
A thought we children of the 60's may embrace. The alleged shooter/assassin/murderer was located, identified, and eliminated within a short period of time, silencing and sealing his motivation and reasoning. Sound familiar?
I wrote POTUS and VPOTUS and my reps back in March and asked them to not attend events together and to immediately polygraph all Secret Service agents to make sure none are insurrectionists. They must not underestimate the Christofascist threat with the insurrectionist MAGA Mike Johnson second in line to POTUS. If these Christofascists simultaneously assassinate POTUS & VPOTUS it’s Gilead time as insurrectionist MAGA Mike Johnson is sworn in as POTUS, pardons the assassins and hands the election to Don the Con.
I believe polygraph exploration of domestic threats should be expanded to all law enforcement including the FBI, active-duty military, and National Guard members. There are retired generals who are concerned that some governors will send their Guard units to assist in the next insurrection.
POTUS & VPOTUS did not take my advice to not simultaneously attend events. I hope they are rethinking everything after yesterday. POTUS also best consider activating all Army and Air National Guard troops around 1 October, so they are under his command and not under the command of insurrectionist governors.
I fear Christofascists will follow their leader and use violence. When you call for violence and make sure everyone has easy access to assault rifles you should not be surprised when that violence visits you.
Not to mention, Putin sees President Biden as an existential threat. And a slew of far-right politicians in the European Parliament were recently accused by German law enforcement and counter intelligence of accepting bribes from the kremlin.
I cannot believe any Republican who says “We’ve got to turn the temperature down in this country” when a sitting Republican Senator and a sitting Republican House member blame President Biden for the shooting. Mike Johnson’s appeal is hollow and mere rhetoric.
All so true, but don't you think there's more in our circumstances......No matter who the shooter was, or what his ideology was, Pandora's Box has been opened. Whether Trump and MAGA Republicans articulate it (inciting violence) or not, we are a nation of guns (endorsed by the Supreme Court), mostly in the hands and homes of Trump supporters, and there is now vivid evidence of the need to protect and strike back. Verbal hostility and violence has already maxed out and become common. Enthusiastic Republican officials have already proclaimed the theme of Democratic responsibility. Lone actors and "militias" need no more instructions. I would not want to be a Democratic politician on a stage anywhere in America now.
Trump wants violence. I think he will use this assassination attempt, the killing of one audience member, injuring others, and the "boo-boo" on his ear as evidence, as he said, with his fist up in the air, of the need to "fight" "fight". He wants this. Watch for the fists in the air.
We have to be very careful not to get sucked into this. But also we must respond to the accusations rationally loudly and often. I believe there will be violence. The *current* government has to be in control. It's coming from Trump and the right.
see my post above - I think Trump set this up to raise the temp and create a "sympathy event". He wants to appear a victim, and blame his opponents- and his advisors in KGB psy-ops know how to do this most skillfully.
Trump wants to preserve himself above all. He's a coward. But this did cross my mind. He does want to appear the victim..but we MUST stress that he is his own victim and he is dragging us all down. We must stress that it is very dangerous to go to a Trump rally- and even more dangerous for us all to vote for him. The KGB_PSYops would risk these bullets hitting Trump using a young inexperienced guy and the wrong weapon?
Lisa I also immediately thought it must be planned by Trump/allies. But that is a real stretch thinking further. It would have been very risky. The gun was inappropriate for the target and the shooter a novice. Of course Trump was assured by both the state and the Secret Service and the regular security he has had which has kept him safe for years. They failed this time.. a Trump supporter lost his life, two were injured and yes Trump got a boo boo to brag and lie about, that he took it for his people.
The violence of the trump era began in Charlottesville when Heather Heyer was murdered. The threats of violence, the actual violence has increased tremendously since he glided down the escalator. His blood streaked face is the future he wants for all of us.
It is very sad that it has come to this. The stupidity of the Dems to destroy their own front runner.
The GOP is defending a criminal while the Dems are destroying a good man who is old but not senile.
Mainstream media is very bias, they protect Trump and scrutinize Biden for every little mistake .
Biden should have had Trump arrested on Jan.7, it was very clear that Trump incited the violence and did nothing for 3 hours to stop it, he relished the idea of the mob murdering his Vice President . It was all based on Trump's big lie .
Biden has had the bully pulpit for 3 1/2 yrs but never used it. Most Americans have forgotten how horrible Trump was; racial hatred, 1 million death of covid, I.C.E. terrorizing entire communities (disgusting private jails), doctors and nurses without protective clothing, dressed in garbage bags, chaos in the White House etc. Most people have no idea how much Biden has done for the country. Biden should have connected with the American people often from the Oval Office; communicating his achievements and reminding people of the failures of the previous guy.. I am convinced that Biden would have been far ahead of Trump in the pols
Biden is old but not senile but also this was not because of his age principally; he's not beating the pants off Trump which he should be doing. I agree he has not used the bully pulpit (I so completely agree!!). Our presidents used to command the networks and talk to the nation. We have had this Trump threat ongoing for three years plus.
Why are we depending on the media to do this for us? The media is corporations.. yes they have responsibility. Trump has commanded everyone's attention, a media genius.
Biden needed the Justice Department to be strong. Instead with the appointment of Garland it's been fearful. Biden has been fearful, fearful re Putin as well.
Now the NYTimes etc. is supposed to be the bully pulpit, and say to the nation what needs to be said? This all the while folks are angry at the media such that they cancel subscriptions while blaming the messenger now?
I agree with you: Biden has been very good but not nearly good enough re the threat of Trump
and now he is running poorly again for 4 more years. This is depressing. Analysis says he's on track to lose. How do we turn this around quickly after we wasted time waiting on Biden?
My point is that mainstream media is owned by billionaires, they benefit from tax cuts and de-regulations. Remember how they destroyed Hillary with her e-mails (front page news every day) and gave Trump a pass on his horrible agenda. Yes the media should be honest and warn the public about the dangers of a fascist president, no front page news when he says he will rip up the constitution, replace the Justice Dept. with loyalists, prison camps along the border, the right to assassinate his opponent.
The media is not a monolith. It's not one big monster. I don't agree. The NYTimes infuriates at times and especially did so when it was doing both sides arguments with an eye to being fair. But not now after they have been heavily criticized and decided to consider moral and existential issues. When a media company goes all out for one side, it loses readership of the general public. You could probably name many. The major media corporations have an interest in having integrity, journalistic responsibility, especially in reporting. The public wants and needs that. Responsible journalism is bottom line. Murdoch made his choice regarding Fox. Fox is not going to warn you about the dangers of a fascist president. The NYT will have opinions to that effect and plenty of them. More rare on both WAPO and the NYT these days you will find arguments for the right. And fact checking of lies is done more now. What do you want??? Complaining about billionaire ownership of the media means what?
Trump was treated fairly at the time (2016) not knowing how he would behave.He might have conformed to norms. But he did not. Again, major media have since modified how they report on lying. That they devoted a lot of time to Trump speaks to Trump's genius for creating news and, as you say, Biden's weakness in that area, The bottom line has to do with readership/ subcriptions/advertisments. filling the news with stories of interest to readership.
Thankfully we have Substack and social media forums and this may influence the MSM as well but that channels us, divides us further making the major media all the more careful.
Excellent note. I wish there was a way to make it available to more. But thank you especially for the reminder of the horrible presidency of trump. We apparently have short attention spans!!
Thank you Dr. Snyder. Having been born in 1933 I am acutely aware of the horrors of fascism. I've never understood why Americans (I am an American born in Canada) so feared socialism and equated it with Communism (I'm sure you, as a historian, are well aware we have never had a true Communist nation at any time. They are all authoritarians disguising themselves as 'parties of the people' whom they treat as badly as the authoritarians they ousted) fascism is the form of authoritarianism we should fear most, being historically the worst.
It was the Cold War. The McCarthy hearings started right after it began. But CW propaganda is still with us, 33 years after the fall of the Soviet Union: A few days ago when I saw a tweet from a right-winger who referred to Democrats as ''big government communists'' I blocked him straight away so I could get him out of my mind as fast as possible. What in blazes is a big government communist? It was Brezhnev who killed communism by reversing Khrushchev's plan to transition from socialism to communism. Libertarians, with their goal of shrinking the government until it's small enough to drown in a bathtub, are closer to communists than are Democrats.
I agree, Rose. In fact there has never been a communist nation EVER. The closest thing to communism were the hippy communes of the 60's and 70's. Those countries that call; themselves communists are in reality authoritarian dictatorships and do as much for their people as the autocratic monarchists before them.
Such a good, very informative essay! I think it may be very important now for Democrats and the many passionate critics of Trump and MAGA to hold onto our manners—not to return insulting, disdainful, nasty or violent language with the sane. While at the sane time continuing our criticisms on a factual basis and not giving up on informing voters of what Trump’s stated plans for another possible presidency are. Insulting language and highly dramatic statements are tempting and easy but the calm, disciplined factual approach, delivered clearly and emphatically enough but without nastiness, venom and aggression, as Trump frequently does, gives us the best chance to persuade and impress enough American voters to win.
Whether it works or not, that's what we have to do. Some of the rhetoric on the left about this event is also pretty offensive, from what I've seen. I understand the bitterness that many people feel about the Right's callousness toward murdered schoolchildren, placed side by side with Republicans' outrage over this near miss. It's hard to have much sympathy for them. But we just have to take the moral high ground no matter what.
Here, and elsewhere else, it seems, I see the word FEAR a lot. A Lot! Look how trump, in an adolescent like, absurd way, uses the ‘fear button’ at his $hitty shindigs. Consider the imagery a moment. Sharks, electrocution, sinking boats, Hannibal F’ing Lecter. Then, of course, all the millions of bloodthirsty savages outside our doors. Not savvy, like Daddy Vladdy, but his gang is not real discerning. “This too will pass.” I wonder if readers know the origin of this perfect gem. It’s the perfect antidote for us, and with absolute constancy of purpose, Democracy will prevail. Thank you Dr. Timothy Snyder!
Some years ago in Ancient Greece a contest was held for all the public to participate in. The quest was to create a statement which would FOREVER BE TRUE. Forever. This too will pass won hands down, and for good reason. And, so it goes, in the words of Mr. Kurt Vonnegut. jd
Thank you Professor Snyder. No one, anywhere, is prepared for what is coming. The dire wolf of political violence has breached the gates. With resolve, we must face history, accept reality and pursue a better future with the courage of truth, solidarity and non-violent purpose.
That's exactly what I said. He'll rake in a boatload of money. And he'll probably have photo ops with the shooting victims or their families to raise more.
This coming week we’ll see merch in the form of T-Shirts, mugs and more with the photo of a “bloody” face plus fist up in the air a la Josh Hawley, SECONDS after the shooting. How can that possibly be? Mary Trump’s Substack The Good In Us had an extra comment not mentioned anywhere. When he was huddled down by the Secret Service, his elevated shoes came off so he wouldn’t budge until they were back on his feet. Wouldn’t anyone who’s been shot be in some form of shock? He is a reality tv star. It makes one think that all of this was staged for the purpose to change the narrative from his Project 2025 platform and the Epstein papers.
Yes, I thought it was staged as well until I heard about the 3 people actually seriously injured with one fatality. And then the immediate death of the shooter.
I do think that the trump team will use this incident to the fullest however. He's never passed up a chance to profit from a tragedy.
I can’t “like” your comment, Teresa, but it is one that follows the natural progression of maga thought and comes off as logical because of their consistent past behavior. I’m sure you’re not alone in that assessment.
I too think this must be considered as a possible hypothesis; not abusing the word 'theory' for something only based on hints: security had warnings from the public of a man on the roof, he was killed after the shooting so as not being able to tell his story, Trump's desire for victimhood is endless, the red solution in his face must be analyzed as his blood, cost of lives is nothing to the Trump campaign if they can get away with it, this is exactly what the campaign needed to get together with extra donations as a bonus. All together a perfect plot for campaign promotion; only the well acted gesture and words when standing up again, is consistent also with someone in shock and cut off from emotions.
There’s no evidence he went to hospital at all. I learned from Mary Trump’s Substack that he wouldn’t budge from the stage until he had his shoes with lifts on. The very next day he was playing golf and then flying to Milwaukee. A successful stunt with no shooter alive to tell the story, counting on Biden to do the right thing by us and give the news conference plus cancelling all his plans for today. BIG WIN FOR TRUMP.
I came of age in the late 1960s. JFK was killed the day before my 10th birthday. I can still remember the teacher's tearful delivery of the news to our 5th grade math class. I remember the riots after the murder of MLK Jr. by a white racist. My city (Wilmington, Delaware) was under martial law and curfews for weeks. I watched Bobby Kennedy's funeral train pass on its run from DC to Boston (or maybe Boston to DC). I remember the Weathermen blowing shit up, including themselves. I remember Bull Connor gassing, fire hosing and beating civil rights protesters. I was tear gassed at an anti-war protest. I remember the odious George Wallace being shot. All that said, the political violence of today seems more sinister. More dangerous. More organized. More by design than by chance. More by direction than by lone wolf.
If Trump and the MAGAs cared, they would use this moment to call for an end to the violence. They seem incapable of that so far and act as if this is another opportunity to increase the frenzy of his followers. This will not get him any new votes. This may lose him more votes than he can afford to lose. No matter what, this will not end well for America and its people.
It’s been noted that in 1968 when Bobby was shot at point black range, on the floor and bleeding, in and out of consciousness, he asked the first responders and those attending to him, “is everyone alright?” That’s the kind of leader he had become. The empathy and concern for others till the end. What a remarkable human being.
Me too. I am having PTSD anxiety. It's like a re-run of my childhood and adolescence.
MBSR... mindfulness based stress reduction (a course)....helped me years ago and it's still with me.
I remember the JFK assassination, too. I'd turned 10 about 5 weeks before it happened. I remember the confusion and helplessness we all felt. It's impossible to describe to someone who was too young to remember, or was not yet born, what it was like. We felt like our world had collapsed. And really, it had. And 60.5 years later, I still remember everything that happened on that day and the following days.
Political assassination and other violence, including other types of murder during the 1920s and '30s, was pretty awful in central and eastern Europe, though. I'd say we haven't yet reached that point. The land empires in central and eastern Europe collapsed after WWI. There were civil wars, wars between states, revolution, and counter-revolution. There were (if I remember rightly) 376 political assassinations in the Weimar Republic alone, most of it right-wing. As per historian Robert Gerwarth (University College, Dublin), there were more people killed in central and eastern Europe between Nov. 1918 and July 1923 than were killed in the *combined* militaries of the US, Britain, and France between Aug. 1914 and Nov. 1918. What we should strive to do is avoid what happened in the 1920s and '30s. Violence is deeply embedded in our culture, from the days of colonial North America to the present, though, and most of it seems to me to be related to racism. It would take nothing less than a cultural change to get rid of it.
Thanks once again Rose for a quality post, packed with informative and useful facts and stats.
Number of people killed in central/Eastern Europe Nov 1918–July 1923 is staggering. I hadn't known its true dimensions until you made this comparison with number killed combined Allies 1914-1918. Thankyou for that information.
I share your memory of the JFK assassination: I was walking across the front terrace of our house, on my way inside on returning from school, where I was completing what is now called Year 12, the final year of secondary school, in Australia where I live. I heard the news from inside the house as I approached the front door and felt a strong visceral shock. This was accompanied by an instant knowing that the world had now changed.
You may find this parallel experience of mine interesting, since it demonstrates just how far, and how deeply, US affairs extended across the world in those days, reaching us here in Australia instantly even then, in a major life-changing way.
And the parallel extends further: violence, mostly related to racism, is deeply embedded in our antipodean culture too. We recently had a referendum where a "Voice from the heart" from our indigenous peoples asking for an official advisory role to Parliament was overwhelmingly voted down. A concerted campaign from far right extremists, coordinated from the US, turned our people's natural goodwill and generous open heartedness into fear and defensiveness—Are they trying to take our land back from us? Throw us off our land? We beat them, so it’s our land now! Captain Cook was ages ago, doesn't count now! I didn't do anything! That was great grandad. Nothing to do with me! Etc., etc.
And I also stood with 100,000 others in central Melbourne in 1968, protesting the violence and atrocities of the Vietnam War as Dr Jim Cairns condemned US imperialism and vowed a Labor Government would get us out of that bloodstained people-destroying, culture-destroying quagmire. And subsequently, it did all come to pass.
So there is hope. Always. In that, I agree wholeheartedly with Dr Snyder.
In other respects, I disagree strongly with the line Dr Snyder is currently taking. I will post here separately to address those issues, and here too I am indebted to you for providing us with the invaluable link to Dr Snyder's Vienna lecture on Paganism: From post-modern to pre-modern.
So this post is to thank you for your ongoing contributions, to provide further personal testimony of my own as to the effects of historical events we both witnessed, and to back you unreservedly in your call for an end to the violence.
My next post will be critical of important aspects of the process Dr Snyder is engaging, in trying to achieve his goals. While I endorse his goals without reservation, I find his approach quite risky, and in the end potentially counter-prodcuctive in the long term.
Many thanks for your kind words, Penelope.
I highly recommend everyone read Robert Gerwarth's ''The Vanquished: Why the First World War Failed to End.'' I've read some of his other books, but that one is especially accessible to nonhistorians. Peer-reviewed history, such as Jörn Leonhard's ''Pandora’s Box: A History of the First World War,'' can be dense. I always try to steer people who want to read history to the more accessible historians to avoid scaring them off.
Thanks for sharing your experience about the JFK assassination. I'm always interested in what people from other countries have to say about the US, including and maybe even especially, the bad. Most Americans become defensive when they hear harsh criticism from people from other countries. I don't, as long as the person comes prepared.
I've read about the attitude of White Australians towards indigenous peoples. Yikes! They sound a lot like some Whites in the US. I didn't know there were campaigns in Australia that have been coordinated by the US far right. I knew the same has been happening to our northern neighbor, and it sickens me. This is quite similar to Russia's years-long destabilization campaigns throughout the world. Much of history is made of opportunities taken at just the right moments. When internal chaos is present, other countries strike not necessarily that country, but somewhere else. In his guest lecture for one of Prof. Snyder's Ukraine classes, Prof. Arne Westad said, "But then of course, making use from the mid-19th century on of a unique moment when the eastern, and here I would include Britain, meaning British India, the eastern empires that Russia confronted, got into trouble, all three of them, The Qing, the British, and the Ottomans, roughly at the same time. The Qing mainly for domestic reasons, I would argue, and then followed by confrontations with Western imperialism, the Ottomans because of the beginning of nationalist organizations in part of the Ottoman Empire, especially in the European part, and the British, because of the rebellion in India in the 1850s. So instead of pushing outwards, these empires start to step aside, opening up for a remarkable period of Russian imperial expansion. Now that's opportunistic. It's opportunistic for a reason. That reason is the weakness of others." BTW, that was one of the best lectures I've ever heard. I emailed him to ask him for one of his course syllabuses, and he sent me the pdf. Right after that lecture I ordered and read his ''The Cold War: A World History.'' If he were ever to teach a Brezhnev-centric course at Yale--one that included say, the Soviet Union, the US, and China--I'd drop everything I was doing and make plans to find a place to stay for the semester and audit that course.
I'm looking forward to your criticism of Prof. Snyder's approach to our current problems.
Kindest regards to you, Penelope. I send to you my warmest and most heartfelt greetings.
I am more sanguine. I don't want to add pessimism to the weight of this feeling. Cultivate hope. We do have agency... and I have hope. I think more people are becoming more aware, the worse it gets. More will become involved. It is a test of who we are.. a real test.
There is one central issue amidst all of what is going so wrong here that cannot be denied Our political divisions are as old as the Republic itself. 700,000 Americans once paid the ultimate price for them, and a level of destruction and desolation unmatched in our history before or since was laid upon the land. The reason, despite all attempts then and now to blame the Civil War on anything else, was the existence of slavery in a nation founded upon the principles of freedom and individual rights, and the determination of some Americans to prolong and extend it.
Now there is again one essential cause. And that is the self injection of Donald Trump into the equation. Without him the divisions would still exist as they always have. Their level of seriousness would wax and wane as they always have. But it is Donald Trump’s disastrous presence upon our political stage that has pushed us so close the edge. Without him, there is not the central event ofJanuary 6th with all that preceded it, abetted it, and still surrounds it, extending into every facet of our social and political lives.
I utterly condemn the action of that terribly misguided young man, and I thank god his skill was not equal to his purpose. I grieve for those he did kill and injure.
But Donald Trump is the living embodiment of the ancient Biblical truth. “He that sows the wind, shall reap the whirlwind".
Thank you, James. I've been pondering this thought since early this morning, "as ye sow, so shall ye reap." Although not a religious advocate, I do receive inspiration from like passages.
A thought we children of the 60's may embrace. The alleged shooter/assassin/murderer was located, identified, and eliminated within a short period of time, silencing and sealing his motivation and reasoning. Sound familiar?
My heavens, you couldn’t mean Oswald????
I wrote POTUS and VPOTUS and my reps back in March and asked them to not attend events together and to immediately polygraph all Secret Service agents to make sure none are insurrectionists. They must not underestimate the Christofascist threat with the insurrectionist MAGA Mike Johnson second in line to POTUS. If these Christofascists simultaneously assassinate POTUS & VPOTUS it’s Gilead time as insurrectionist MAGA Mike Johnson is sworn in as POTUS, pardons the assassins and hands the election to Don the Con.
I believe polygraph exploration of domestic threats should be expanded to all law enforcement including the FBI, active-duty military, and National Guard members. There are retired generals who are concerned that some governors will send their Guard units to assist in the next insurrection.
POTUS & VPOTUS did not take my advice to not simultaneously attend events. I hope they are rethinking everything after yesterday. POTUS also best consider activating all Army and Air National Guard troops around 1 October, so they are under his command and not under the command of insurrectionist governors.
I fear Christofascists will follow their leader and use violence. When you call for violence and make sure everyone has easy access to assault rifles you should not be surprised when that violence visits you.
Not to mention, Putin sees President Biden as an existential threat. And a slew of far-right politicians in the European Parliament were recently accused by German law enforcement and counter intelligence of accepting bribes from the kremlin.
Judge Dismisses Classified Documents Case Against Trump
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/15/us/trump-documents-case-dismissed/trump-document-case-dismissed?unlocked_article_code=1.7U0.CuO0.aqy7O7TbfnOI&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb
This election IS the Rule of Law vs a Christofascist Autocracy.
I cannot believe any Republican who says “We’ve got to turn the temperature down in this country” when a sitting Republican Senator and a sitting Republican House member blame President Biden for the shooting. Mike Johnson’s appeal is hollow and mere rhetoric.
We’ll see about Johnson. And the Donald has no other platform than violence and is not fit to learn another.
Is it any wonder that the sitting Senator who has blamed Biden is now the veep candidate? I'll refer to him now as JD Sycovance.
Well done, Margaret sycovance! (I have a Dem hat that says “Vote for Joe Not the Psycho.” So there’s your second Syco
America’s wannabe Mussolini and his Stormtroopers can thank themselves for gun violence. #Thoughts’nPrayers 🫣
I wanted to like your post, but was told I had been blocked from liking it. What is going on? No one has officially advised me of anything!
All so true, but don't you think there's more in our circumstances......No matter who the shooter was, or what his ideology was, Pandora's Box has been opened. Whether Trump and MAGA Republicans articulate it (inciting violence) or not, we are a nation of guns (endorsed by the Supreme Court), mostly in the hands and homes of Trump supporters, and there is now vivid evidence of the need to protect and strike back. Verbal hostility and violence has already maxed out and become common. Enthusiastic Republican officials have already proclaimed the theme of Democratic responsibility. Lone actors and "militias" need no more instructions. I would not want to be a Democratic politician on a stage anywhere in America now.
Fear mongers got their wish.
Not we carefully assess which way the wind is blowing and respond accordingly.
Trump wants violence. I think he will use this assassination attempt, the killing of one audience member, injuring others, and the "boo-boo" on his ear as evidence, as he said, with his fist up in the air, of the need to "fight" "fight". He wants this. Watch for the fists in the air.
We have to be very careful not to get sucked into this. But also we must respond to the accusations rationally loudly and often. I believe there will be violence. The *current* government has to be in control. It's coming from Trump and the right.
see my post above - I think Trump set this up to raise the temp and create a "sympathy event". He wants to appear a victim, and blame his opponents- and his advisors in KGB psy-ops know how to do this most skillfully.
Trump wants to preserve himself above all. He's a coward. But this did cross my mind. He does want to appear the victim..but we MUST stress that he is his own victim and he is dragging us all down. We must stress that it is very dangerous to go to a Trump rally- and even more dangerous for us all to vote for him. The KGB_PSYops would risk these bullets hitting Trump using a young inexperienced guy and the wrong weapon?
There could have been a another more skilled sniper shooting as well. I do not underestimate the KGB. they are so close to acheiving their goals...
I'm sure Trump was assured of his safety in advance. The likelihood that poor kid could have actually HIT his "target" is pretty minimal.
Lisa I also immediately thought it must be planned by Trump/allies. But that is a real stretch thinking further. It would have been very risky. The gun was inappropriate for the target and the shooter a novice. Of course Trump was assured by both the state and the Secret Service and the regular security he has had which has kept him safe for years. They failed this time.. a Trump supporter lost his life, two were injured and yes Trump got a boo boo to brag and lie about, that he took it for his people.
The violence of the trump era began in Charlottesville when Heather Heyer was murdered. The threats of violence, the actual violence has increased tremendously since he glided down the escalator. His blood streaked face is the future he wants for all of us.
It is very sad that it has come to this. The stupidity of the Dems to destroy their own front runner.
The GOP is defending a criminal while the Dems are destroying a good man who is old but not senile.
Mainstream media is very bias, they protect Trump and scrutinize Biden for every little mistake .
Biden should have had Trump arrested on Jan.7, it was very clear that Trump incited the violence and did nothing for 3 hours to stop it, he relished the idea of the mob murdering his Vice President . It was all based on Trump's big lie .
Biden has had the bully pulpit for 3 1/2 yrs but never used it. Most Americans have forgotten how horrible Trump was; racial hatred, 1 million death of covid, I.C.E. terrorizing entire communities (disgusting private jails), doctors and nurses without protective clothing, dressed in garbage bags, chaos in the White House etc. Most people have no idea how much Biden has done for the country. Biden should have connected with the American people often from the Oval Office; communicating his achievements and reminding people of the failures of the previous guy.. I am convinced that Biden would have been far ahead of Trump in the pols
Biden is old but not senile but also this was not because of his age principally; he's not beating the pants off Trump which he should be doing. I agree he has not used the bully pulpit (I so completely agree!!). Our presidents used to command the networks and talk to the nation. We have had this Trump threat ongoing for three years plus.
Why are we depending on the media to do this for us? The media is corporations.. yes they have responsibility. Trump has commanded everyone's attention, a media genius.
Biden needed the Justice Department to be strong. Instead with the appointment of Garland it's been fearful. Biden has been fearful, fearful re Putin as well.
Now the NYTimes etc. is supposed to be the bully pulpit, and say to the nation what needs to be said? This all the while folks are angry at the media such that they cancel subscriptions while blaming the messenger now?
I agree with you: Biden has been very good but not nearly good enough re the threat of Trump
and now he is running poorly again for 4 more years. This is depressing. Analysis says he's on track to lose. How do we turn this around quickly after we wasted time waiting on Biden?
(Yes I will vote for him if that is the choice)
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/07/09/opinion/thepoint/trump-shooting-conspiracy-mindset?smid=url-share
My point is that mainstream media is owned by billionaires, they benefit from tax cuts and de-regulations. Remember how they destroyed Hillary with her e-mails (front page news every day) and gave Trump a pass on his horrible agenda. Yes the media should be honest and warn the public about the dangers of a fascist president, no front page news when he says he will rip up the constitution, replace the Justice Dept. with loyalists, prison camps along the border, the right to assassinate his opponent.
The media is not a monolith. It's not one big monster. I don't agree. The NYTimes infuriates at times and especially did so when it was doing both sides arguments with an eye to being fair. But not now after they have been heavily criticized and decided to consider moral and existential issues. When a media company goes all out for one side, it loses readership of the general public. You could probably name many. The major media corporations have an interest in having integrity, journalistic responsibility, especially in reporting. The public wants and needs that. Responsible journalism is bottom line. Murdoch made his choice regarding Fox. Fox is not going to warn you about the dangers of a fascist president. The NYT will have opinions to that effect and plenty of them. More rare on both WAPO and the NYT these days you will find arguments for the right. And fact checking of lies is done more now. What do you want??? Complaining about billionaire ownership of the media means what?
Trump was treated fairly at the time (2016) not knowing how he would behave.He might have conformed to norms. But he did not. Again, major media have since modified how they report on lying. That they devoted a lot of time to Trump speaks to Trump's genius for creating news and, as you say, Biden's weakness in that area, The bottom line has to do with readership/ subcriptions/advertisments. filling the news with stories of interest to readership.
Thankfully we have Substack and social media forums and this may influence the MSM as well but that channels us, divides us further making the major media all the more careful.
Excellent note. I wish there was a way to make it available to more. But thank you especially for the reminder of the horrible presidency of trump. We apparently have short attention spans!!
Thank you Dr. Snyder. Having been born in 1933 I am acutely aware of the horrors of fascism. I've never understood why Americans (I am an American born in Canada) so feared socialism and equated it with Communism (I'm sure you, as a historian, are well aware we have never had a true Communist nation at any time. They are all authoritarians disguising themselves as 'parties of the people' whom they treat as badly as the authoritarians they ousted) fascism is the form of authoritarianism we should fear most, being historically the worst.
It was the Cold War. The McCarthy hearings started right after it began. But CW propaganda is still with us, 33 years after the fall of the Soviet Union: A few days ago when I saw a tweet from a right-winger who referred to Democrats as ''big government communists'' I blocked him straight away so I could get him out of my mind as fast as possible. What in blazes is a big government communist? It was Brezhnev who killed communism by reversing Khrushchev's plan to transition from socialism to communism. Libertarians, with their goal of shrinking the government until it's small enough to drown in a bathtub, are closer to communists than are Democrats.
I agree, Rose. In fact there has never been a communist nation EVER. The closest thing to communism were the hippy communes of the 60's and 70's. Those countries that call; themselves communists are in reality authoritarian dictatorships and do as much for their people as the autocratic monarchists before them.
Thank you, Professor Snyder. Thank you.
Such a good, very informative essay! I think it may be very important now for Democrats and the many passionate critics of Trump and MAGA to hold onto our manners—not to return insulting, disdainful, nasty or violent language with the sane. While at the sane time continuing our criticisms on a factual basis and not giving up on informing voters of what Trump’s stated plans for another possible presidency are. Insulting language and highly dramatic statements are tempting and easy but the calm, disciplined factual approach, delivered clearly and emphatically enough but without nastiness, venom and aggression, as Trump frequently does, gives us the best chance to persuade and impress enough American voters to win.
Whether it works or not, that's what we have to do. Some of the rhetoric on the left about this event is also pretty offensive, from what I've seen. I understand the bitterness that many people feel about the Right's callousness toward murdered schoolchildren, placed side by side with Republicans' outrage over this near miss. It's hard to have much sympathy for them. But we just have to take the moral high ground no matter what.
Here, and elsewhere else, it seems, I see the word FEAR a lot. A Lot! Look how trump, in an adolescent like, absurd way, uses the ‘fear button’ at his $hitty shindigs. Consider the imagery a moment. Sharks, electrocution, sinking boats, Hannibal F’ing Lecter. Then, of course, all the millions of bloodthirsty savages outside our doors. Not savvy, like Daddy Vladdy, but his gang is not real discerning. “This too will pass.” I wonder if readers know the origin of this perfect gem. It’s the perfect antidote for us, and with absolute constancy of purpose, Democracy will prevail. Thank you Dr. Timothy Snyder!
Some years ago in Ancient Greece a contest was held for all the public to participate in. The quest was to create a statement which would FOREVER BE TRUE. Forever. This too will pass won hands down, and for good reason. And, so it goes, in the words of Mr. Kurt Vonnegut. jd
A Democrat with a gorgeous cat. I like that Kevin 😺
Thank you Professor Snyder. No one, anywhere, is prepared for what is coming. The dire wolf of political violence has breached the gates. With resolve, we must face history, accept reality and pursue a better future with the courage of truth, solidarity and non-violent purpose.
Trump will doubtless fund-raise off the assassination attempt. Events of late seem to be pointing towards a dark future.
That's exactly what I said. He'll rake in a boatload of money. And he'll probably have photo ops with the shooting victims or their families to raise more.
This coming week we’ll see merch in the form of T-Shirts, mugs and more with the photo of a “bloody” face plus fist up in the air a la Josh Hawley, SECONDS after the shooting. How can that possibly be? Mary Trump’s Substack The Good In Us had an extra comment not mentioned anywhere. When he was huddled down by the Secret Service, his elevated shoes came off so he wouldn’t budge until they were back on his feet. Wouldn’t anyone who’s been shot be in some form of shock? He is a reality tv star. It makes one think that all of this was staged for the purpose to change the narrative from his Project 2025 platform and the Epstein papers.
Yes, I thought it was staged as well until I heard about the 3 people actually seriously injured with one fatality. And then the immediate death of the shooter.
I do think that the trump team will use this incident to the fullest however. He's never passed up a chance to profit from a tragedy.
I can’t “like” your comment, Teresa, but it is one that follows the natural progression of maga thought and comes off as logical because of their consistent past behavior. I’m sure you’re not alone in that assessment.
I too think this must be considered as a possible hypothesis; not abusing the word 'theory' for something only based on hints: security had warnings from the public of a man on the roof, he was killed after the shooting so as not being able to tell his story, Trump's desire for victimhood is endless, the red solution in his face must be analyzed as his blood, cost of lives is nothing to the Trump campaign if they can get away with it, this is exactly what the campaign needed to get together with extra donations as a bonus. All together a perfect plot for campaign promotion; only the well acted gesture and words when standing up again, is consistent also with someone in shock and cut off from emotions.
There’s no evidence he went to hospital at all. I learned from Mary Trump’s Substack that he wouldn’t budge from the stage until he had his shoes with lifts on. The very next day he was playing golf and then flying to Milwaukee. A successful stunt with no shooter alive to tell the story, counting on Biden to do the right thing by us and give the news conference plus cancelling all his plans for today. BIG WIN FOR TRUMP.
Love the Hawley allusion. During the January 6th horror.
No Pete. Let there be light, much light Bro.
Thanks for bringing up Dolfuss. I’d completely forgotten about this.