By an Inch: Trump, JP II and Fatima

vox.com

July 13th was the 107th anniversary of the one of the visions to the children at Fatima, this one concerning hell, the consecration of Russia and the devotion to the Immaculate Heart.

It was also the day that Donald J. Trump almost had his head blown off on live television, the bullet from the assassin’s AR-15 slicing his ear, missing by an inch, or less. He turned his head at the last second, unwittingly saving his own life.

Not to equate Trump with Pope John Paul II, but it does seem an odd parallel that the former pontiff also had a would-be assassin miss a lethal shot by millimeter’s, on the anniversary of Our Lady’s first appearance at Fatima, May 13th. Ali Agca was surprised the Pope survived, but as the Pontiff later said, ‘Our Lady guided the bullet’.

The gulf between the culture of life and the culture of death is widening, becoming ever-more evident. Witness the comment of Canadian physician Dr. Karen Pinder, who teaches other doctors at the University of British Columbia. And we wonder why the medical system is collapsing. Our physicians are murdering patients via MAiD. If you can euthanize a fitting and deserving patient victim with a syringe, why not a rifle, if the reasons are proportionate and the motives good?

And the Democrats? Here is Trump’s lawyer with a collage of some of the incendiary language from the never-Trumpers.

I don’t think Trump is a saviour – there’s only one of those, and put not thy trust in princes and all that – but he seems to be playing a significant role in God’s providential plan. What, precisely, remains for him has yet to unfold, but the Almighty appears to have given him a longer lease on life. A priest – Father Jason Charron – prayed publicly before the event, specifically for protection of the president. The photo of Donald J. Trump, defiant, fist-in-the-air and blood-streaked, with the stars-and-stripes waving in the background – well, it’s certainly iconic, ranking up there with Iwo Jima.

God spared us. As the aforelinked article says:

The consequences that might have flowed from the murder of Donald Trump are beyond imagination. America would have changed overnight. The impending shadow of civil unrest that hangs over the country could easily have been ignited. If so, it likely would have spilled over to the rest of the world.

As far conspiracies about all this go, I’ll leave the surmised details of that to others. Questions, of course, abound, and I’m critical and dubious of anything coming from main-stream media (with initial reports that Trump ‘fell down’ on the stage). Here are just some thoughts:

How did a 20-year old manage to get a clear line of fire, on a rooftop, with a convenient ladder, carrying an assault weapon, within 150 yards of a presidential candidate? He was a member of a gun club, but had ‘bad aim’, according to reports. Was he a patsy? Did he act alone?

Why did it take ‘minutes’ for security to react, when onlookers were yelling there’s a guy on the roof with a rifle, apparently giving him time to lock, load and fire multiple shots? Why was Trump permitted to keep speaking after the shooter was detected, and not immediately hauled off the stage?

Were the Secret Service in on it, or just grossly incompetent, or a bit of both? This is a question upon which Mark Steyn muses with his usual aplomb – well worth a read.

Here is one commenter:

Some loser knows where the event is going to be and guesses that he’ll be able to get on a roof to shoot at Trump? And in 3 years he goes from too bad a shot to be on the rifle team to one turned head away from taking out Trump at 150-ish yards while knowing there’s a cop right behind you? And he has no social media but conveniently registers as a Republican? And they can’t get into his phone? And the secret service agents see him but don’t tell anyone to get Trump off the stage? There are waaaay too many holes in this cheese to make the hole in Trump’s ear.

And what’s with the female front-line Secret Service agents? Their amateurish responses can be seen here and here – fumbling, fearful, hesitant, pony-tails a-bobbin’, projecting anything but a sense of ‘security’. I’m not saying I would do any better, and may well be on the ground in a fetal position with the thought of an AR-15 bullet ripping through my body, but, then, I don’t have the proclivity to become a Secret Service agent for various reasons, not being an American citizen amongst them. And they’re nowhere near tall enough to shield the 6’3″ Trump. Even if we were to presume equal competence, height and strength, the fairer sex should not be in the business of taking bullets for men, septuagenarian former presidents or not. Besides, what if they are with child?

Anon, there’s far more to this than meets the eye or ear. Pray for the ever-less-united United States, for the victims of this tragedy, for the perpetrator, for peace and truth and freedom to reign.

Deus Americam benedicat.