Not again. Not another assassination attempt on President Trump. I watched the videos of journalists crouching by their tables, of the gun man running through the hallway. I listened to Trump say he hoped the dinner would continue. He looked brave and tired, maybe close to tears.
I wondered how the would-be assassin got so close. Forty-five years ago, I was at the Washington Sheraton promoting well known Christian authors, when the Secret Service cleared us out of our rooms we could avoid the sniffer dogs because President Reagan was speaking. The black SUVs parked outside were something to see.
Yet again, national chaos grabbed my attention. I began doom scrolling. One writer wondered how these lone wolf types seem to know where security is porous. Others said this attempt like Butler was staged so Trump could get his ballroom. With regards to the would-be assassin, NPR correspondent Odette Yousef said, “But honestly, his content falls into a kind of mainstream left now.” During the protest outside the correspondents’ dinner, a man held a sign: Death to Trump supporters.
“Rainbow!” I yelled, jumping up from the news to run into the sun shower, to see a rainbow as bright as I’ve ever seen arching over the neighbors’ farms. Why am I doom scrolling when there’s this? When daily I walk past redwing blackbirds sitting on sticks of weeds? I thought about the yard sign “Hate has no home here,” how it also applies to Trump and his supporters.
I’m Katie Andraski and that’s my perspective.
