If you see something… - The Jewish Standard

Someone coined a phrase several attempted assassinations ago. If you see something, say something. It was another irrelevant idea, part of American myth, that if you see a threat to anyone’s well-being, just tell an authority. It will be dealt with immediately.

In the aftermath of the attempt to assassinate Trump, I heard a convincing interview with a man who was outside the perimeters of the rally site. He said that before the shooting, he saw someone on the roof of a nearby building, and he told the police. He was ignored.

I was in Newark Airport several years ago when I saw something. While waiting for a plane in the transit area, at a gate, I saw an untended piece of luggage. It stayed that way long enough for me to feel concern. I diligently tried to say something. After all, I had seen something. Not a single person wearing a uniform reacted with an attempt to investigate, and I tried several. What they did was try to pacify me by telling me the person who owned the suitcase was probably in the restroom or having a snack — something they surmised but did not know. It turned out that the suitcase was harmless. It also turned out that the advice to report a suspicious object was useless.

We are all so shocked that this attempt at Trump’s life happened. We react, especially our television pundits, as if it was a surprise, an unexpected event. Why is that? Each of us, and all the mavens on television as well, has vicariously lived through numerous attempts on the lives of political figures. And Donald Trump is a lightning rod.

Did we not grow up with the story of John Wilkes Booth shooting President Abraham Lincoln while Lincoln and his wife were attending a theater performance? Since then, and particularly in our own lifetimes, there have been many assassinations in our country, Israel, and throughout the world.

Is America the leader in terms of attempts? According to my friend Google, America is tied for first place with Spain and the Dominican Republic in assassination attempts. Four of our presidents have been assassinated. Four! An astounding number for our not-so-peaceful homeland.

The pattern of these things is that now authorities will search for a motive. That is a complete waste of time. What can we glean from a motive? And does it matter? Do we know what went through Booth’s mind before he shot Lincoln? Did it make Lincoln any less dead?

But there is something that should be done, of course. Our country, our Supreme Court, can cease to justify the ease with which citizens can purchase and wield guns, guns that destroy innumerable lives. In 2023, more than 40,000 Americans died from gun violence. Many killed themselves. Many were killed by total strangers. Young children were often victims. Whatever the reason, guns take innocent lives over and over and over again. Today our shuls often have armed guards to prevent invasions by gun-wielding citizens. Our schools are dangerous places. No place in America can be considered safe.

It’s time to dispense with the Second Amendment. Instead, we have a Supreme Court increasing the ease with which a person can become weaponized. Perhaps when a 20-year-old attempts to assassinate a candidate for president, and this is what happens, they will reconsider.

But I know better. They will not.

Let’s be honest. There is absolutely no justification for killing Trump. He can and should be silenced in the election booth. That’s the appropriate way to rid our country of a despot. But this event does not make him less of a despot. Unfortunately, in the minds of his followers, this will probably go far to heroicize him.

And we need to realize that, ironically, Trumpian rhetoric and actions encourage violence due to his strongman speeches, his respect and admiration for unstable and vicious world leaders like Putin and Kim Jong Un, his constant criminal behavior, his disdain for American law, and his demonstrable attack on our government, particularly with the January 6 coup that was an attempt to overthrow our election law with a violent attack on our Capitol and took at least five lives.

Our national history is constantly being written. This attempt at Trump’s life will surely appear in the history books. But as to Trump the man, let’s hope that there are no further public chapters and that he lives in peace and health at Mar-a-Lago or wherever he chooses — as long as it is not the White House.

Rosanne Skopp of West Orange is a wife, mother of four, grandmother of 14, and great-grandmother of seven. She is a graduate of Rutgers University and a dual citizen of the United States and Israel. She is a lifelong blogger, writing blogs before anyone knew what a blog was! She welcomes email at rosanne.skopp@gmail.com

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