Opinion
By Jeff Childers

07-16-24
Good morning, C&C, itβs Tuesday! The news was popping yesterday, even louder than CNNβs reports of sounds from Saturdayβs Trump rally. Yesterday was yet another historic day packed with good news. In this morningβs roundup: βDoctorβ Karen Pinder back in the news as her school digs into the troubled recesses of her overheating brain; FBIβs stupid βlone gunmanβ theory already unraveling as local cops leak, witnesses report possible second shooter, and Congressional investigation takes off; Trump names Vice President J.D. Vance early and I attempt to add some context not covered in one million mainstream stories; Trump attends RNC first day; and tremendous Trump win as his Mar-a-Lago Raid case is dismissed.
ππ¬ WORLD NEWS AND COMMENTARY π¬π
π₯π₯ The Canadian Broadcasting Network ran an encouraging story yesterday headlined, βUBC looks into prof’s social media posts after Trump shooting.β The story is getting a surprising amount of coverage in Canadian media, for reasons that will become obvious. The gist is that Dr. Pinder, who teaches fledgling doctors the Foundations of Medical Practice in the Department of Cellular and Physiological Services at the University of British Columbia, which is located somewhere in Canada, whose Prime Minister resembles a Cuban dictator, literally, is now under disciplinary βinvestigationβ at her school.

As a reminder, right after President Trump was shot, and right before she permanently deleted her βXβ account, showing an impressive lack of impulse control and judgment, Dr. Pinder tweeted, βDamn, so close. Too bad,β and βWhat a glorious day this could have been!β Dr. Pinder presumably expected to receive βlilesβ and digital high-fives from other liberal Canadians. But this article, as well as the others about Dr. Pinderβs posts, were packed with quotes condemning the tweets β very politely (itβs Canada, after all).
Who knows whether University administrators βsitting in the socialist utopia of Canadaβ may legally take any action against Dr. Pinder professionally for what were, after all, Karenβs private comments on her personal Twitter account. I assume University officials prefer to purge her and her insane rants. By and large, Canadians fussily avoid the kinds of violent rhetoric rumbling around Karenβs feverish brain, preferring instead to express their dissatisfaction with stern looks, pursed lips, and quick shakes of the head. At least we can be confident that Karen is fully boosted.
On an aside, whenever I reference the βKarenβ meme, as I did yesterday, it inevitably offends our own fine C&C citizens whose parents named them Karen, blissfully unaware of the dark turn that moniker would take in the Millennium. To be clear, I am acutely aware there are tons of βgoodβ Karens out there, and I love and appreciate them all, mean no offense whatsoever, and am rooting for them to turn the tide and reclaim their good names.
Still. Come on. Just look at her. The memes make themselves.
This particular Karen does not represent the gaggle of meddling, middle-aged women with over-high opinions of themselves. This Karen represents a massive contingent of pro-violence leftists, who are not βdemocraticβ at all, but instead are peanut-brained armchair revolutionaries lacking the wit to extrapolate the obvious bitter consequences of their poorly-considered ideas.
Say what you like, but βDemocracyβ as a political ideology is generally antithetical to political violence. Political assassinations are the day-to-day tools of dictators and thugs, fascists, marxists, and anarchists. Not βdemocracyβ lovers. People who really support democracy trust in voting and so-called βdemocratic institutions.β
So the leftβs barely muted glee at Saturdayβs shooting ironically betrays the lie inherent in their overwrought public fretting about βdestroying democracy.β They donβt really care about democracy. Just power.
Thanks, Dr. Pinder! Maybe, and I am just making a suggestion, you should start by diagnosing yourself.
π₯ The FBI may say the investigation is over and Matthew Crooks acted utterly alone, just another lone gunman, but everybody else seems to be ignoring the ailing law enforcement agency. CBS ran a live update yesterday headlined, βThree snipers were stationed inside building used in Trump assassination attempt.β In a story broken by the local Beaver County paper, we learned yesterday that three local Beaver County sharpshooters who should have been stationed on the building, were instead inside the building, and it gets worse.
Snipering usually works much better from an elevated position, and isnβt super effective from the ground. Iβm not an expert, but it seems obvious.
Anyway, the cops spotted assassin Crooks, several times. Each time Crooks was acting incredibly sketchy and even once used a rangefinder. The Beaver County police stayed put, but called it in to the command post β all while Crooks continued prowling around on the ground. They knew exactly where he was βwell before he took the shotβ called it in more than once, and even took pictures of him, but still didnβt stop the shooting. CBS:

Not only that, but they knew the building was a good spot for shooting presidents. Citing NBCβs sources, the BBC reported yesterday that the rooftop was a βknown vulnerability,β and Secret Service had assigned local police to secure the building.

Whatever reason. Another unconfirmed wrinkle developed yesterday on social media, with no mention in any of the confirmed reporting. They could just be confused by the fog of war, but at least two witnesses interviewed by local reporters claimed there was a second shooter on the water tower.

Here is witness clip one. And here is witness clip two.
Here is a top-down map showing the potential shooting angles.

Who knows? Itβs much too early to rule anything in or out. But even though the FBI is wrapping up its βthoroughβ research, multiple other investigations are already underway. You can expect this thing will get a lot of attention. For instance, in its article, the BBC reported that the House Oversight Committee has already confirmed Secret Service Directory Kimberly Cheatle to testify and requested all the rally records:

Finally, the New York Post interviewed a trained Canadian sniper who holds the current record for the longest kill. I was especially gratified that a professional, military-trained sniper agreed with C&Cβs assessment: it seems unlikely unemployed drifter Crooks could possibly have planned and executed the sophisticated operation without some help, regardless of what the FBI says:

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas β who oversees the Secret Service β conceded on βGood Morning Americaβ yesterday that βa direct line of sight like that to the former presidentβ should never have been possible. βThatβs why President Biden directed an independent review of the incident,β Mayorkas quipped. By βindependent,β the impeached Secretary meant a totally controlled internal FBI whitewash by the same field office that βdebunkedβ the Hunter Biden laptop.
π₯π₯π₯ As you almost certainly already know, in another flash of political genius, President Trump accelerated his plans to announce his Vice President and yesterday named freshman Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. The Associated Press ran the widely-covered story under the headline, βTrump picks Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, a once-fierce critic turned loyal ally, as his GOP running mate.β One of my best lifelong friends immediately texted me yesterday noting that Vance remarkably resembles the βChadβ meme:

To that strong comparison, you might also note that the Senator from Ohio also looks like he could be directly related to our second Republican President and brilliant Civil War general, Ulysses S. Grant:

Right? You see it too? Iβm not imagining things, am I?
There is a lot that could be said about Trumpβs bold choice. Vance is Mike Penceβs reverse opposite. J.D. is a political newcomer, having won his Ohio Senatorial seat in 2022 as his first public office. Vance is a veteran Marine, Yale lawyer, and bestselling author. His 2016 rags-to-riches story Hillbilly Elegy was adapted into a Netflix movie starring Glenn Close as Vanceβs troubled mother. Close was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance.
J.D. Vance is 39 years old β just a few years younger than U.S. Grant when that military veteran ran for office.
Demonstrating Trumpβs political brilliance, Vance started his political career in 2016 as a self-described βNever Trumper.β But by 2021, heβd apologized, recanted, and joined Team MAGA. This was politically masterful since Vanceβs early skepticism builds a sympathetic bridge for anti-Trump Republicans, helping cure Trumpβs greatest intra-party weakness. And Senator Vance ticks all the C&C boxes. Vance was deeply skeptical of pandemic overreach and opposed vaccine mandates. He was one of East Palestineβs strongest advocates. And his nomination is catastrophic for Proxy War proponents; Vance once famously remarked, βI donβt really care what happens to Ukraine.β
Without seeming unsympathetic to the plight of Ukraineβs luckless citizens, at this point in history we prefer that our politicians focus on fixing our border instead of fixing Ukraineβs. Ukraineβs border has received more U.S. taxpayer money than has our own porous border, and we are still waiting for the thank-you cards.
π₯π₯π₯ Yesterday, two days after being shot, and after announcing the Vance pick, fearless President Trump βwith bandaged earβ attended the Republican Conventionβs opening day in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Historical note: In 1851, having only a teeny-tiny bit of space left on the state seal, Wisconsin adopted the succinct state motto of βForward,β and has ever since encountered great difficulty when turning corners. U-turns are right out.)
The triumphant former President entered the RNC convention floor to wild acclaim, tears of joy, and gratitude for Godβs intercession, which saved his life on Saturday. Trump didnβt speak, and wonβt until he formally receives the partyβs nomination on Thursday.

CLIP: President Trump triumphantly enters the 2024 Republican Convention floor (4:15).
(The Conventionβs first day was not without some controversy. Perhaps not reading the room, GOP Chair and pandemic lawyer Harmeet Dhillion delivered a strange Hindu prayer and some kind of weird, warbling song, but Iβll reserve my comments about that for later this week.)
π¨ββοΈπ¨ββοΈ As I predicted, following Justice Thomasβ exhaustive concurrence in the Presidential Immunity decision, first thing yesterday morning, Judge Aileen Cannon dismissed Trumpβs Mar-a-Lago Classified Documents Raid case. The BBC reported the story headlined, βJudge dismisses Trump documents case over special counsel appointment.β This case was the leftβs last, best hope to nail the former President somehow.

Closely hewing to Justice Thomasβs logic, Judge Cannon wrote that βSpecial Counsel Smithβs appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.β Boom. The Justice Department will surely appeal this dismissal to the 11th Circuit. But in doing, the DOJ must fly in the face of Justice Thomasβ concurring opinion, in which the Supreme Court Justice laid out in painstaking detail exactly why Special Prosecutor Jack Smithβs appointment was unconstitutional.
Thomasβs concurring opinion is not binding precedent. But it is what lawyers call βpersuasive precedent.β Persuasive precedent from the Supreme Court is supremely persuasive to lower courts. To reverse Judge Cannonβs dismissal, the 11th Circuit must reject not only Judge Cannonβs rationale, but also Justice Thomasβ logic. I wouldnβt rule anything out at this point, but the DOJ has to dig itself out of a Thomas-sized hole.
Appeals to the 11th Circuit initially draw a three-judge panel. But after that, the losing party can request review by the entire 12-judge court. From there, the case could return to the Supreme Court, which can take the case or not. And, thanks to Justice Thomasβs special concurrence, everybody already knows how at least one influential Supreme Court Justice would rule.
All that inside baseball may not even matter at all, because this case will now be tied up in multiple levels of appeal for the foreseeable future. For purposes of the 2024 election, the hopes of βGet Trumpβ liberals everywhere are demolished, cooked geese, done, finito. Itβs over.
Yesterday was a massive good news day. Be greatly encouraged. More is coming.
Have a terrific Tuesday! Skate, drive, or helicopter back here tomorrow morning, whatever you need to do, for more astounding 2024 essential news and commentary.
We cannot do it alone. Consider joining up with C&C to help move the nationβs needle and change minds. I could sure use your help getting the truth out and spreading optimism and hope, if you can: β Learn How to Get Involved π¦
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Β© 2022, Jeff Childers, all rights reserved
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida.