Ryan Wesley Routh

Man, what's up with that weird moral hand-wringing? With all due respect, a news photographers job is to photograph what they see before them. One of the "boons" of news photography is that because moments come and go, these people can't really think too much about what they are shooting. They can't move to get the framing right, they can't ask people to "redo", and so on. The moment a photographer stops and thinks about all the ways their photo could be used, that's the moment they start self-censoring - and failing their job as a news photographer. Every iconic photograph in humanity's history has had a "propaganda use". But just imagine if the person photographing 'Napalm girl' had stopped and not taken the shot because it could be used to promote anti-war sentiment or if the british news team photographing concentration camps in Bosnia in 1992 had decided against taking a shot of an emasculated man behind wire because it could pressure Western governments into action. More on reddit.com

Personally, I think a preponderance of all the evidence shows it was a legitimate assassination attemp. But I can also see why it's not a big stretch to believe it was a setup. I don't think it would be nearly as popular if Trump hadn't played up being "shot in the ear" when there is ample evidence now that he didn't get hit by *anything,* he bit his lip when he fell/got tackled by the Secret Service. But the actual argument for it all being a setup is retroactively applied because of what happened after. You start with everyone *immediately* talking about how an attempted assassination was a game winning shot for Trump. The national sympathy for him getting shot at would catapult him to re-election, no doubt about it. Well if that's true, and everyone is claiming that was obvious even before-hand, then why wouldn't Trump *want* an assassination *attempt,* if it could be controlled properly? Add to that what appears to genuinely be lax security and defense, especially around an *obvious* shooter location. Even a police officer who allegely thought someone was up there with a gun just didn't seem all that bothered by it. Then you have Trump so SEVERLY overplaying it over the next few weeks, people got sick of it fast. Especially when it became clear he wasn't actually hurt, and didn't actually seem affected by *almost getting shot* AT ALL. He didn't suddenly become the wise, reflective leader the media kept hoping for. And lastly, you have consideration of the caveats. Would Trump actually care if someone died in the process of getting him re-elected? Hell, we already have the answer to that. He doesn't give a ****. He is definitely the kind of person who would sacrifice a supporter to gain sympathy. And for lesser things than getting elected President. More on reddit.com

The FBI says former President Donald Trump was the target of what “appears to be an attempted assassination” yesterday while he was golfing in West Palm Beach, Fla. Police arrested the alleged gunman, Ryan Wesley Routh, as he fled in his vehicle. Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said Routh was about 300 to 500 yards from Trump. The shooter left behind an AK-47 style rifle equipped with a scope, which Bradshaw says put him within range. Political tensions continue to heat up as Trump faces a second assassination attempt. With how quickly the first assassination attempt left the public conciousness, it'll be interesting to see if this latest attempt moves the needle on anything, or if it will fall out of the news cycle just as quickly. More on reddit.com

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