Beatified by an Assassin’s Bullet?

Providence or random chance? Which was it that saved Donald Trump? And, if providence, are we to attribute it to the Lord God Almighty of the Christian and Jewish Bible? To satisfy the mob, my inclination is to say, I don’t know. But that would not be true. I do know. God determined it. He is not about to leave things to chance. Where might that lead? It makes no sense to me to think otherwise. But, then again, many think the whole thing from the dawn of time is down to blind chance. Deus non est.

So, what am I saying? Is the Secret Service off the hook because God made them inept on the day? No, as a Christian of the Anglican persuasion, I accept the conundrum of predetermination and free will coexisting. Mind you, how that works is beyond my puny brain. And, much more notably, beyond the comprehension of any number of learned theologians. See, for example, Predestination and Free Will (1986) in which four theologians of repute debate their different approaches to solving the conundrum. So be it. Apes cannot do algebra. Nonetheless, algebra is real enough as we all learnt at school. Got to be modest. There are more things in Heaven and Earth than either we or Horatio can grasp.

Okay, if “demonic” is too hard for you to swallow, let us say their actions do not seem to be on the side of the angels.

As for Trump, it is fair enough for him to believe, as he reflected in his acceptance speech at the Republican convention, that his survival of the sniper’s bullet was providential. Spared to do great things for America. To take the government out of the hands of the demonic Democrats. Okay, if “demonic” is too hard for you to swallow, let us say their actions do not seem to be on the side of the angels. To digress, a non-exhaustive account:

Funding the fanatical Iranian Mullahs; allowing millions of unvetted people to stream across the southern border; sponsoring state prosecutors who are intent on favouring criminals over law-abiding citizens; favouring no-strings abortion; giving men comporting as women access to women’s places and spaces; failing to protect children from abhorrent Mengele-like trans-gender procedures; replacing meritocracy with DEI; promoting new forms of divisive racism; subverting the rule of law by engaging in vexatious and vindictive lawfare against their political opponents; and, maybe, who knows, by giving any would-be assassin of Trump a sporting chance of success. That is enough to go on with.

Back to my theme. Of course, it is no good trying to second guess God. Trump might have been saved to let JD Vance through the door to power? And this despite Paul Kelly (July 17) thinking that Vance “is a symbol of Trump’s corrupting magnetism.”

I am not sure what is meant by “corrupting magnetism”, but it does not sound good. There is a clue later in Kelly’s pretentious piece. “Trump is manifestly a threat to American democracy … [he] refused to accept his legitimate defeat at the 2020 election”. Notice the word legitimate. Of course, Kelly has not the least idea as to whether it was legitimate. It is a mantra of those superior mortals who persuade themselves they are in the know.

Supposedly, there were over 81 million votes cast for Biden. That is over 15 million more than Obama gained in 2012. Pull the other one, ordinary mortals might say after a beer or two in their local pub. Rigged it seems to have been, in one way or another. And yet, so far as I know, the transfer of power was duly completed in accordance with the Constitution. Being a threat to democracy is a beat-up — a Biden and Madame Cackle talking point given currency by tendentious, sterile journalism.

Being a threat to democracy is a beat-up — a Biden and Madame Cackle talking point given currency by tendentious, sterile journalism.

Why are anti-Trump diatribes a regular feature of Murdoch’s national daily newspaper? I ask, despondently. Particularly when today’s Left represents the real threat to democracy as it perniciously undermines the fundamental values which hold our civilisation together. And when Trump is the only warrior in sight who might best the philistines. He is flawed, they say. Not nearly so flawed as King David; yet still chosen by God to vanquish the for-real Philistines of his day.

I happen to think that Senator Vance’s explanation as to why he changed his mind about Trump rings true; and that the only thing it had to do with magnetism is that good policies attract open-minded people. And Trump’s policies during his tenure were good; as anyone of open mind would agree; which, sadly, would exclude all leftists and most journalists. As to journalism, a forthcoming new book Against the Corporate Media, explores its sad state. I am still in it and worth a read.

Is it then Trump or Vance who will lead America out of the pit of despair? Hopefully, one or other or both. Though, again, God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. However unlikely, maybe Biden returned (or perhaps Kamala Harris anointed) is the key to restoring the Republic. Perhaps it must get worse before it gets better. A discomforting thought, even for those of us who believe it is all in God’s keeping.