• Special Message about the Assassination Attempt on Donald Trump: As usual, some Americans will learn all the wrong lessons from this act of violence.
• Kareem’s Daily Quote: Joni Mitchell on how to deal with life’s inevitable troubles while searching for its elusive pleasures.
• AOC launches effort to impeach Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito: Even if impeachment doesn’t succeed, at least their corruption is made widely known.
• MAGA Senator Josh Hawley Advocates for Being a Christian Nationalist: The attempt to impose one’s religion on everyone else should scare us all.
• Kareem’s Video Break: It pleases me that someone went through the trouble to learn this just to amuse others.
• Trump and Rubio try — and fail — to defend ‘Black jobs’ comment: What makes this even worse is that they have no clue why their words are racist. The inability to recognize it in themselves means no desire to see it in the world.
• Kareem Gets Artsy: These works of art are stunning and I hope will brighten your day the way they did mine.
• Eden Bareket, Vanisha Gould & Chris McCarthy Perform “Never Let Me Go”: Some cool jazz to ease this hot summer.

Since a bullet nicked Trump’s ear on Saturday, there have been an endless number of indignant editorials decrying violence and how the attack on Trump is an attack on democracy. Sure, assassination accomplishes nothing, and failed assassination often elevates the target to martyr status, thereby making the situation even worse. Assassination is the solution of the insane narcissists who themselves want to be a martyr.

Now comes the worst part: Politicians and their mouthpieces trying to take political advantage of it. They point fingers instead of guns but their aim is meant to be just as lethal. They both know this act was as random as lightning but if there’s a way to exploit it for gain, they will find it.

Using threats of violence to attack democracy has been ongoing for years, so why all the sudden pearl-clutching? In or out of office, Trump has encouraged violence as his go-to solution:

• Let’s start with his rapes (“Judge clarifies: Yes, Trump was found to have raped E. Jean Carroll” and “The 26 women who have accused Trump of sexual misconduct”). That’s violence against women, which his supporters, including women, have no problem with. A vote for Trump is an attaboy slap on the back to rapists everywhere.
• He incited the Jan. 6 insurrection against the country, an act of treason meant to subvert democracy. He told supporters that “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol,” adding that “you’ll never take back our country with weakness.”
• He has openly called for George Floyd protestors to be shot: “Can’t you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something?” He also tweeted, when referring to protests in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s killing “When the looting starts, the shooting starts.” This racist phrase goes back to the 1960s when used to threaten civil rights protests.
• He has encouraged police, “Please don’t be too nice,” when arresting people. He encouraged violence at his rallies against reporters. Several times he threatened to send in the military to quell protests. He wanted illegal immigrants shot in the legs if they managed to cross his alligator-filled trenches.

Still, the violence against him isn’t directly his fault—or anyone’s really (unless you want to discuss the unnecessary and dangerous proliferation of guns). However, the violence against him is a reflection of his own violent rhetoric. Violence is his instant answer because he is not smart enough to explore the much more effective alternatives. Like every bully, punching is his answer to every question. When you preach violence as the default solution, it’s going to eventually come back on you. Look at the cultural signals his followers promote: Kid Rock doesn’t like a beer company doing business with a trans influencer, he puts out a video of himself shooting the beer. The popular song “Try That in a Small Town” threatens to hunt down people they don’t like with granddad’s gun.

The Washington Post reported, “On X, right-leaning venture capitalists and entrepreneurs posted that the mood has decidedly shifted toward the former president.” Why would an assassination attempt make a candidate more popular (“GOP Pollster: Assassination Attempt Will Boost Trump Enough to Win the Election”)? Because we live in a country where many people’s entire philosophy of life can fit on the front of a t-shirt. For me, the reaction of one person at the rally says it all: “The first thing I thought to myself was, America’s under attack. I grabbed the hands of a couple of people I didn’t even know. We said the Lord’s Prayer. I called my family and told them I loved them.”

While I’m sympathetic to this person’s trauma, I’m perplexed that his first thought is that America is under attack. This reveals the enormity of the problem with Trump supporters. He’s arrogant enough to hear hoofbeats and think unicorns instead of horses. If America were under attack, they wouldn’t be attacking Trump at a small rally in Pennsylvania. Russia is actually working to get Trump elected, which is how they attack democracy today (“U.S. intel officials: Russia wants to boost Trump in 2024 race”). He’s also clueless enough to not realize that America is already under attack—by Trump and supporters just like him.

For example, politician-turned-pundit Tulsi Gabbard posted on X, “The assassination attempt on President Trump is a logical consequence of repeatedly comparing him to Adolf Hitler. After all, if Trump truly was another Hitler, wouldn’t it be their moral duty to assassinate him?” This is the kind of twisted punditry and illogical blathering (echoed by conservative Ben Shapiro) we can expect as they attempt to heap blame on liberals. First, if someone is similar to Adolf Hitler, isn’t it a moral duty to point that out? Or does she advocate silence in the face of political and humanitarian crimes? Second, if he is like Hitler, it is a moral duty to not have him as a leader, but no one of consequence is suggesting assassinating him. Just not voting for him.

People will remember the photo of a bloodied Trump shaking a defiant fist when they should be remembering how we got there in the first place. And they should mostly remember him saying that “it was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.” God personally saved Trump? This is one of the most frightening things he’s ever said. Based on this statement, Trump thinks he, like the royalty of the past always claimed, was anointed by God. Question: Why didn’t God protect Cory Comperatore, the former fire chief at the rally who was killed as he threw his body over his family? Or the two other people who were critically injured? (Or the children at Sandy Hook or other school shootings?) Not a theological question Trump can fathom. To him, God approves of him and everything he does. What atrocities is a man capable of who believes he is protected by God?

What’s scarier than the shooting is the social media whirlwind of misinformation (“Liars and trolls overwhelm social media after Trump rally shooting”). Musk blamed the shooting on diversity hiring in the Secret Service. So, we can save our breath with all these phony calls for “unity.” An election cycle in a democracy is always a necessary cauldron of disunity because that is when we argue about political beliefs. The election itself is what unifies us. If Trump is elected, I will feel an enormous disappointment in the American people and a profound embarrassment for our country. But I will not question the legitimacy of his office. That is how we unite.

I don’t want Trump killed. I want him to stand trial for his crimes. I want America to resoundingly reject him at the polls to announce to the world—and ourselves—that we have political and moral values that cannot be overturned by a criminal conman and a mob of self-righteous cultists. I want America to be the America we are capable of becoming rather than a huddle of fear that feeds off nostalgia and hate.

An unbalanced 20-year-old kid shooting at the president doesn’t define America, it’s our reaction that defines us.

Everything comes and goes

Pleasure moves on too early

And trouble leaves too slow

Joni Mitchell, “Down to You”

Happiness is a simple formula: Maximize pleasure and minimize pain. That is the Golden Rule of living for all creatures. The tricky part is figuring out where pleasure lies because in pursuing pleasure incorrectly, we often cause ourselves more pain. For example, committing adultery with a hot co-worker can bring some pleasure, but when it destroys one’s family and alienates the children, that pleasure is the source of infinitely more pain. On the other hand, when a marriage is already in shambles and holding on is damaging the children as well as the adults, an affair could lead to a lifelong love that, though initially painful, is ultimately best for everyone. Understanding the difference is everything.

The key seems to be in the motivation. If we can look at what we do and why we do it with impartial honesty, we can usually make the right decision that will bring maximum pleasure and minimal pain. But that too is tricky because humans can create elaborate justifications for any action they ordinarily consider immoral. Critical thinking is the angel on their shoulder and when people don’t like what the angel has to say, they slap the angel from the shoulder and dress up the devil in angel clothing. Sadly, that doesn’t bring them happiness because deep down they know they are lying to themselves. But it brings them momentary relief, like a drug addict shooting up. Initial pleasure becomes long-term pain. Those who indulge in this destructive cycle will not recognize themselves in these words or examples because they are too invested in the charade. They are condemned to their addiction.

Society has discovered the joys of delayed gratification over instant gratification. We base our entire moral foundation on this concept. For the religious, foregoing the selfish pleasures that serve the mortal body can lead to a greater reward of everlasting life. For those who aren’t religious, the idea of sacrificing one’s time and money to help others brings a greater amount of pleasure than constantly trying to fill the day pleasing oneself. Delayed gratification simply means being able to see the big picture rather than what’s directly in front.

Joni Mitchell’s lyrics are haunting. I think of them often as I try to navigate the stormy waters of trouble to reach the calm bay of pleasure. I’ve found that path clearly marked: The way through is to take pleasure in the joys and success of others and in helping them achieve joy and success. That increases the amount of pleasure you experience because you don’t have to rely on just your own pleasure. If you take pleasure in the lives of a hundred people instead of just your own, you’re a hundred times more joyful.

That’s just the math of happiness.