photography

There is a lot to talk about this morning and I’m thinking that it’s better to toss everything into one post so that I can get it out of the way and get on with my day. Sleep last night was fitful as my dreams were consistently apocalypse-driven horrors made all the worse because they made zero sense. Hamilton must have been channeling my dreams because he was up and down, off and on the bed all night as well. Cats were here and there with occasional hissing as one would try to lie down in another’s spot. We’re all going to need naps later.

Yesterday didn’t start out bad, of course. Kat dropped me at Robert’s Camera so I could talk to the Sony rep about the new a9iii. I was primarily concerned about the details of their claim of 120 fps bursts. There are some caveats. The burst can only run for about a second and a half before the body has to rebuffer. It can’t move that fast at full RAW because it wouldn’t have time to write the files completely. 80 fps is about as fast as it can be pushed. It will do the 120 fps on compressed RAW, however. The recommendation was to use the a9 with a long lens for any outdoor work, including weddings, but continue using the higher-resolution a7ii for critical work that needs the 61MP detail. That would be $9K worth of camera for those of you keeping score, and you’d still need lensing and gear. Is it all impressive? Of course. Is it worth putting on a wish list? Probably not mine. I think that the upcoming AI modifications are going to push cameras into a realm we’ve not yet imagined. I’ll wait.

Leaving Robert’s, I walked down to Mass Ave and had a reasonably safe lunch of fish and chips before calling a Lyft to pick me up. It definitely wasn’t the best ride-share experience I’ve had. The dude drove right past me and I had to chase him down. Try doing that when you’re using a cane to stay upright. He then had to slam on his brakes to avoid running a red light and other bad driving habits while moving across St. Clair. I was watching the street rather than relaxing in my seat.

We came home, napped nicely, chatted with G about the new D&D character/class he’s developing (he’s really excited about it), put meat down to thaw for dinner, and then…

Before I get into all that, though, let me say that losing Dr. Ruth and Richard Simmons on the same day really sucks for those of us who were young adults in the ’80s. They were both on our televisions every time one turned around, both telling us to be healthier, to think beyond traditional boundaries, and assuring us that it wasn’t wrong to explore. We needed that level of positivity then more than we realized, and it wouldn’t hurt to have people we can trust like that again. I’m not sure that’s even possible now, though.

From the outset of this discussion let’s set some expectations. The only person who knows all the truth about what happened and why is dead. What you see/hear/read through any media source is edited based on someone’s biases, whether intentionally or not. The facts around the actual event will be argued and debated for decades, to the point that eventually no one will actually give a shit. We can’t change what happened, of course. What we have to do now is prepare for what’s coming next.

My first notice that anything had happened came from a push alert from Reuters that simply said, “Sounds of multiple shots were heard…” It didn’t say whether the former president had been hit. At that point, they wouldn’t even confirm that it was a gunshot. It was around 6:30 PM EDT and I needed to get dinner started. So, I was in the kitchen with veggies in the skillet when Tipper came gleefully bouncing in and said, “T*’s been shot!”

The weight of the moment was completely lost on the 14-year-old. She was dressed in her furry suit and on the phone talking with her friends, none of whom seemed alarmed, concerned, or adversely affected by what had happened. They went right on talking about things like putting bells in the furry suit rather than squeakers. From their perspective, the person who had been shot was a bad player anyway, so who gives a shit if the bad guy gets killed?

I finished making dinner. We all ate. I then cut a big piece of the watermelon that’s been languishing in the bottom of the fridge and took it outside. The dogs were happy to come along. As I sat there dripping watermelon juice onto my chair, I heard what sounded like cannon fire, the ceremonial kind such as what they use at the track when the gates open. Three volleys. I watched for any hint that it might be poorly-timed fireworks. There was none.

Nothing in the neighborhood changed. Curtis, across the street, continued weed-eating in his backyard. Jason, next door, had guests over and was rapidly getting drunk. A couple of doors to our North, a couple’s baby was objecting to his Momma putting him down in a walker. It showed all the signs of being just another Saturday night in the neighborhood.

When I came back inside, though, enough time had passed that media hell had broken loose. I can’t begin to describe to you what happens in a newsroom, regardless of the type of media, when an event like this takes place. To call it chaos seems inadequate. Everyone gets called in. Interns are stumbling over each other trying to call any source that might possibly have an opinion. Producers are watching what everyone else is doing, attempting to manage the onslaught of information, and questioning what is valid. Writers are scrambling to keep up with new information to feed to anchors sitting at a desk trying to control their angst. And yet, their job is to present accurate information in a manner that doesn’t incite public panic.

Fortunately, if there was any panic, it was quickly quelled. Major cities put their police departments on alert, but as far as I know, at 7:05 AM EDT, there were no significant events in response to the shooting. That fact, in itself, may eventually prove to be telling, but it is too early to have any certainty in that matter. There are still a shit ton of questions to be answered. The names of the one person killed and others hit have not been released, which should raise some eyebrows. CNN, CBS, and BBC all have interviews with people who saw the shooter climb onto the roof and tried to alert police. By all accounts, police nearest the shooter seemed “confused” and unsure as to what to do. Why was such a close (145 yards) line of sight left unguarded? Why were there people in the stands, particularly one man in a blue blazer and black straw fedora, who never flinched, never ducked, and never seemed particularly disturbed by the shooting? In fact, the man in question whipped out his cell phone and was recording video. There remain a lot of questions and I don’t know that we’ll ever get adequate answers.

I’ve seen a few people relate last night’s event to the Reichstag fire in 1933 that gave Hitler an excuse to suspend civil liberties and declare war on communists within Germany. I’m not yet convinced that this was that level of event. The Orange Felon does not have any real power (yet) and President Biden is more likely to take a measured approach in responding. If this were to be followed with an attempt on President Biden, then yeah, there might be something resembling a crackdown, but even with immunity for “official acts,” we’re not working with a President that is going to step outside established protocols. We’ve been here before. Repeatedly. There are rules for how the White House responds.

So, let’s address some of the rhetoric I’m seeing this morning. There is so much nonsense that I’m hard-pressed to choose which to address first. Let’s start with one of the first things out of officials’ mouths last night: “This is not America.”

BULLSHIT. Like hell, this is not America? This is so much like America that it was predictable, by me and others, as far back as January. This is red, white, and blue America! The first such event came in 1835 when an attacker’s pistol misfired against President Andrew Jackson. The attacker, Richard Lawrence, was declared insane. He said “Jackson was preventing him from obtaining large sums of money and was ruining the country,” according to the Congressional Research Service. Since then, attempts on both presidents and candidates have become almost commonplace. I’ve noticed that, as far as I can tell, no one’s asked Robert F. Kenney, Jr. what he thinks of last night’s event, given that his father was actually killed during the 1968 campaign. And a graze on the ear seems almost insignificant compared to the attempt on Governor George Wallace in 1972 that left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. This IS America, gun-toting, ego-driven, take-it-in-my-own-hands, bad-ass wannabe wrapped in a flag type of so-called patriotism. Wake up, smell the grease burning, and own this dumpster fire. This is exactly what America is.

As for those who are claiming that “God saved” the Orange Felon, again, let’s stamp that as BULLSHIT. If your God was remotely interested in American politics, which he is not, then he would not have let the event happen in the first place. Second, why would your God, who is allegedly holy, have anything to do with a man who is a serial cheater, a serial rapist, a con artist, a convicted felon, and a foul-mouthed, narcissistic demon bent on destroying our democracy? Attempting to put any God in a relationship with the Orange Felon immediately discredits the deity completely. So no, this was not the religious moment you want it to be. This was nonsense.

Those claiming that this was all a planned setup to generate support for the Orange Felon, I have to admit that there is reason for that concern. Primarily, the fact that the line of sight was left open, and the quickness with which the Felon popped back up, fist raised, yelling, “Fight! Fight!” to the crowd. There are a number of possible scenarios here, from the GOP’s own panic over a forecasted dip in the polls to the idea that some Conservatives might want to replace the Felon with another bad actor who could carry out their plans without as much distraction. The latter is buoyed by the fact that no running mate has been announced. The former would address the concerns of those hoping to ride the Felon’s coattails to Congressional seats.

As tempting as conspiracy theories may be, even where there is some sense to the allegations, it is, for me, impossible to discount the number of moving parts that have to be aligned in pulling off such deception. For example, the entire Secret Service would have to be in on the plot. All of them. The detail assigned to last night’s event would have needed to be briefed and in agreement with what was going to happen and exactly when and how they needed to respond. The detail on the ground in Milwaukee preparing for this week’s convention would need to already be making plans for a “tighter than usual” level of security at an event where guns are not banned outside the arena itself. The FBI, in extremely large numbers, would have to be in agreement with how the investigation is handled. The Department of Homeland Security would have to be severely compromised as well. My experience interacting with some of these people tells me that such a deep level of cooperation simply isn’t possible. They take an oath to uphold the Constitution and let me be the first to say, to a person, I’ve not met one who didn’t take that oath seriously.

Our response needs to be predicated on facts, not supposition, and there are plenty of facts that come to bear right now, without exception. Let’s make a list.

1. The Orange Felon remains a threat to democracy and must not be elected. He’s still the same evil bastard today as he was yesterday. He’ll do everything in his power to turn last night’s event into a rallying cry. He’ll likely issue a call to arms in his convention speech this week. He has to be stopped.
2. Project 2025 is still the ultimate goal for right-wing conservatives. At one level or another, the Heritage Foundation and all the evil players that are a part of that cabal don’t give a shit who the frontman is. They’re after results and if they have to sacrifice a few bodies along the way, then they’re fine with that. Power is all that matters to them and they’re not going to let anyone get in their way if they can help it.
3. This opens a wide door for foreign activity into the election. This is no secret. Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea were already looking for an opening to get in and meddle with the election. This event just gave them that opening. Expect the rate of foreign-generated misinformation to escalate dramatically. Don’t trust any source, especially on X or Threads, that can’t be tracked to its origin point.
4. Ziklag, an organization of wealthy “Christians” trying to sway the election, is an increasing concern. Follow the link. These folks are real, happy to have everyone distracted by Project 2025 noise, and could have a severe impact on the election. Light ’em up and let everyone know what’s going on.
5. The violence may continue. Calls for unity and peace coming from both candidates and politicians are nothing more than pandering to the media. Be sure that White House officials are concerned about a retaliatory event. We also must realize that the same people who stormed the Capitol on January 6 are likely to take this event as the initiation of civil war. There’s no reason to think this is over.
6. Your daily lives, for now, remain unaffected. There may be some noise from the usual rabble-rousers in Congress, but no one is taking away anyone’s civil rights, no one’s limiting your freedom of movement, and you’ll get up in the morning and go to work just like you do every Monday. This event changes nothing for the average American.

Meanwhile, our distraction has allowed us to miss out on some things that actually do matter. At least four people were killed and nine others were wounded in a shooting at a Birmingham, Alabama, nightclub late Saturday night. Four people were killed and three others were injured in a mass shooting early Saturday morning inside a home where people were celebrating a 21st birthday party in Northern Kentucky. An Israeli airstrike killed at least 90 Palestinians in a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza on Saturday.

And while we’re at it, let’s not be lost on the fact that on this day in 1798, citizens of Paris stormed the Bastille, freeing the seven prisoners inside and setting off the French Revolution.

The President wants everyone to condemn yesterday’s event, primarily because he’s fearful of retaliation if we don’t.

I’m sorry, Mr. President, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

Strap in. The ride’s just starting.