"Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength."
— Theodore Roosevelt
In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt was on his way to deliver a speech when he was shot in the chest with an assassin’s bullet. James Strock writes:
The history of 1912 leaves breadcrumbs if we summon the humility to look.
In the moment Roosevelt was, to put it mildly, controversial. Seeking a third term as president, he split his political party. Longtime accusations of “Caesarism” were given new life.
Nonetheless, Roosevelt’s undoubted courage under fire was acknowledged, including by political adversaries in the closing weeks of a hard-fought campaign.
Trump was shot in Pennsylvania, but he gave his speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the same city where Roosevelt gave his 112 years ago.
Politically, and in a variety of ways, TR and Trump are worlds apart. But they have one thing in common. They’re the Man in the Arena.
As I watched X (Twitter) watch the last night of the Republican National Convention, I felt something shifting inside of me. I don’t know if it was the vulnerability on Trump’s face, his sadness after his brush with death, or his courage to give his speech anyway and do it for 90+ minutes that elevated me beyond our usual politics and forced me to look at who we are.
Strock does much of this in his excellent column on the failed assassination and how ugly things have gotten in the press to bring us to this point. That was only half of the story. The other half is how so many gathered around to “judge” how well Trump did and whether or not this means he will win in a landslide or whether it’s now a toss-up.
They want Biden’s debate and Trump’s speech to level the playing field. There’s just one problem. They’re not the same things, and everyone knows it. Trump was polling ahead of Biden even before the debate. He’s still polling ahead because there is no fixing what the Democrats have done to this country. For now, Trump has the wind at his back, whether or not he gave a great speech.
Here is Megyn Kelly with her guests, Kmele Foster and Matt Welch.
Roosevelt lost in 1912 but was going for his third term after all. He handed the presidency to Woodrow Wilson, who would ultimately become a Biden-like disaster for the Democrats.
Given that, Republicans should not take anything for granted in November. They should not rely on the polls or be complacent. However, if they plan to drag Old Joe over the finish line, they must do it without Mark Zuckerberg.
That is where we’ve arrived now in this most extraordinary year in American history, where a man can be shot and, by the grace of God, turn his head a few inches and miss being among the short list of politicians who have met their fate with an assassin’s bullet.
I watched Trump’s speech holding my breath because I knew the cold, vicious eye of the Left and their propaganda press was upon him, waiting to see him fail, waiting for that moment when they could call the night a win for themselves. But like most witnesses to history, the importance of the moment sailed right over their heads.
Leave it to Walter Kirn from Racket News to describe it best:
Roosevelt’s speech was just a little bit shorter than Trump’s by just 8 seconds. 84 minutes to Trump’s 92. He was urged not to speak so long, to give a shorter speech, because of the wound in his chest. But he said his manuscript was so thick it likely saved his life. So why not read it all?
Trump, too, should have been given as much time as he wanted to say everything he wanted to say. Was it slick and performative like the usual political candidate? No. Would they have credited him even if it had been? No. The story goes only one way. They prop themselves up as morally superior, requiring Trump to fail.
Here is Whoopi Goldberg.
A Gathering of Angeles
For the Left press, the appearance of Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Eric Trump was like an array of earthly delights. They could mock any of them. They would write sanctimonious, agonizing “columns” that get everything wrong. They know that to take down Trump, they must take down one of the angels looking out for him, and Tucker Carlson is the most delicious.
Carlson brought the house down with his speech, but please take note: None of that mattered. They would find the loose thread somewhere and pull as hard as they could to turn what had been a successful night into a disaster.
Tucker spoke about Trump being a leader, especially in a time of crisis.
He talked about real courage, something we don’t see much of anymore because the people who tell us those stories only see courage in people who matter to them: people who are weak and marginalized, not people who are strong and forthright.
Another angel of Trump’s for years now is Dana White, a true friend if there ever was one. Later, Trump told a story about White being on vacation with his wife and how it would be difficult to show up. But that’s what angels do. They show up when you need them the most.
Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan bring on the bombast, but they’re angels to Trump too. Kid Rock’s message after the failed assassination attempt showed how angry he was.
And needless to say, so was Hulk Hogan.
These angels are rough and tumble, like a protective gang. They remind me of a video I saw that sent the message that if Trump wants protection, he should go to the hood. They’ll protect him.
Another angel was Melania Trump who seemed to magically appear.
It’s still hard to believe that she had never graced the cover of any fashion magazines during Trump’s term. Yes, that’s how petty they are on the Left.
Melania showed up first on stage to greet Trump. She startled him slightly, but then they exchanged kisses before the rest of the family formed a protective circle around him. His success as a patriarch, business owner, and leader will make him a great president for the second time.
Most of all, though, Trump is blessed with his army of red-hat angels who know him. They know he often shows humility and vulnerability. They know what he says at his rallies. They hear the same jokes over and over again and laugh every time because they can still laugh and because they still have a sense of humor. They chant for him. They celebrate with him.
No one outside of MAGA understands that this is not a movement based on hate. It’s a movement based on love.
Trump knew when he took the stage that he had to put on a show - and he did. It was as wild, funny, and brash as a gold-plated skyscraper emblazoned with the word TRUMP on it. But he also knew he wanted to talk to his supporters and tell them the story of what happened, a story they needed to hear.
And when he told them that he is not supposed to be there, they chanted back words of encouragement, yes, you are.”
It mattered to Trump that he told them he was grateful they didn’t run. That is, he said, what motivated him to raise his fist in solidarity with them and send the message that this was not over yet.
What we just saw Trump do is something no other politician has ever done or will do in our lifetimes. It wasn’t easy. He must have thought he saw shadows everywhere. His body and nervous system were likely on high alert.
Watching him speak brought home, at least to me, how important this man’s survival has become to so many of us. It was as though invisible threads were holding him up, and there was nothing but choppy shark-infested waters below him.
Hang on, Trump, I kept telling myself. Look at everything you’ve gone through so far. Look at what you’ve survived. No one else could handle even one of those things, let alone all of them.
I have been watching Trump long enough to know that something finally did get to him and that something was a surprise attack on his life.
Here is Walter Kirn:
But even still, even with that kind of trauma, Trump stood there, and he finished his speech. He did it to hold his movement together and to give them hope. He did it for his country. He did it because he believes in moving forward. He did it because he knows, at least right now, no one can replace him.
What the MAGA movement is, how it’s been embraced by the GOP, has united all of us outsiders under one big tent to say no, we do not like what has happened to our country and we want to fight fight fight for change.
If they think this was somehow a diminished Trump or now Biden would come roaring back like a lion with Superman at the bottom of the pool, think again.
Trump will be holding one rally after another heading into Election Day. He knows he’s come too far to turn back now.
I am reminded of this quote by Teddy Roosevelt, "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst you can do is nothing."
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