Rod D. Martin and Cary Dunst discuss the third Trump assassination attempt: who is Cole Allen, why do 26 percent of young Democrat men believe political violence is "justified", and what can be done?
A few years ago, my wife and I arrived at the New Delhi Hyatt (on a Wednesday night). Our taxi was stopped at the entrance and inspected with mirrors under the carriage for bombs, trunk opened and looked through. After this we are driven to front entrance, our luggage is taken to X-ray machines , we go through airport like security. I asked if this was typical (our first time in India) , they said no, it was because there was a big wedding on Saturday. Not the prime minister mind you, some important dude. The point of the story, is that the Hilton could have and should have done a much better job of controlling access to their premise days before the event. If the cost of doing so is too much for the Hilton, then the event should not be held there, perhaps then all these reporters (who love a party) will finally see the light of having an appropriate sized ballroom at the White House.
Well we have to remember that the shooter didn't get past the entry point, didn't shoot anyone he was actually targeting (he expressly said he didn't want to target Secret Service, and the one agent he shot was unhurt), and even he was tackled and arrested unharmed.
So security was actually quite good.
It's just needless. The White House perimeter is already secure. There's no way to secure the Hilton area without shutting down have the city, and if you really want to do it "right", empty the hotel. It's just not viable.
This is why so many important dinners through the decades have been held on the White House grounds. Even having them in tents is better. Can you just imagine if this had been a state dinner and the guy had been able to threaten the King in addition to our own government?
So Trump's right about the ballroom, and clearly security was far better off campus this week than in Butler. However, the real issue remains that 26% of Democrat men under 45 believe political violence is justified. And so long as that's true, we're going to need better security everywhere, and it won't always work.
Thank you for your reply, I do think you overstate the logistical issues of incorporating better security protocols at the hotel itself. In addition, whilst the security cordon around the president is excellent, we are damn lucky that the fanaticism of the suspect was milder than what we routinely see around the Middle East. A suicide bomber, could have apparently checked in to the hotel with no difficulties. Proximity to the President, less of a necessity in this dire scenario. The domestic secret service hasn’t seemingly benefited from their counterparts threat assessments when as an example Vance goes to Pakistan!
Exactly correct, Marxism is more prevalent nowadays than Christian principles were in our past. It's tragic, and our government-funded schools are responsible for it!
As a socially liberal Independent, I condemn without equivocation, the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner! We have to do better here in America. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dr. Martin so crestfallen or angry in any segment I’ve seen him in. Dr. Martin looked like underneath the surface he was absolutely fuming, his face is bright red and you can almost see the steam coming out of his ears! Rightly so, as this event was disgusting and unacceptable. Political violence left or right, is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Neither side has been free from it. Thought it does seem to be more predominate on the left at the moment. Cole Allen was maniac who was h***bent on charging into that room and killing as many as he could. But the Secret Service and Washington D.C. Police stopped him dead in his tracks before he could. I was glad to see so many Democrats even Zahran Mamdani, denounce the assassination attempt. Even Robert Reich was denouncing this attempt at assassinating Trump.
The vast majority of Americans across the political spectrum do not believe political violence is ever justified. But enough of them on both sides do that it is a legitimate concern. The big question is how do we make things better? How do we return things to normal? I think there are many things we need to do to get there. First off, like Dr. Martin said, we need to reform our education system. CRT, ethnic studies and gender ideology have no place in our public school system. Nor does political bias of any kind. Those on both sides of the aisle left and right, need to stop treating our children’s education and schools as a political football or as another battleground for the culture war. We need to teach a balanced and warts and all view of American history. No more of this nonsense where students are taught that America was perfect or they on the other end of the spectrum, was a genocidal, settler-colonial state. No more teaching history that is whitewashed or all warts.
We need to build a new American consensus as well. Congress must be filled up with people who actually want to solve our problems and govern like we elected them to do. We also need to get all these crusty old people out of office like Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell and get younger people in there. We need to cut government spending and bring back the DOGE and expand its scope. Paying down the national debt must be a priority. We need campaign finance reform, passage of the Stock Act, passage of anti-lobbying legislation, congressional term and age limits, a Presidential age limit, and the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine and net neutrality. Journalism needs to be reformed too. The Supreme Court must be expanded to restore ideological balance. We need to institute a rule that if Congress can’t agree to a budget, they will keep in place the previous year’s budget until they do. We need to scrap the outdated and outmoded two-party system and replace it with a multiparty system. The defense budget is bloated and needs to be slashed by half.
The Pentagon needs to be audited ASAP. As to the White House Ballroom, it needs to be built for this very reason. The White House will have much better security than a random hotel would. The Secret Service and Washington D.C. are heroes for their actions that day but I also criticize the fact that Cole Allen got in like he did and security was so lax. Heads need to role over that! I’d feel no different if it was Barack Obama or Joe Biden who this man had tried to kill. Both sides and the press need to tone down their rhetoric. President Trump is not innocent in all this either. He needs to get off social media, be more guarded and circumspect with what he says and stop taking all these jabs at the Democrats. They in turn need to stop taking jabs at him and the Republicans.
Yes, the vast majority believe political violence is wrong. But it is very disturbing that 26% of leftwing men under 45 believe it's right (vs. 3% of self-identified "very conservative" men). The 3% is scandalous: how much more so 26%? And that's a LOT of people, who will soon be the leaders of our society, so what happens to us then?
The hate groups like SPLC, the domestic terror groups like Antifa and BLM (I'd include the Klan but apparently the Klan only still exists on funding from the SPLC), all have to be rooted out tooth and nail. This is the time to get serious about RICO, as we once did against the mafia. There will always be organized crime, but we eliminated the level of gangland violence that once existed, and we can beat this too.
I don’t care about the shooter, I don’t care what he thinks or what he does or where he came from. I care about the people in charge of the protection of the President and why nobody is ever held accountable ever?!
That investigation should take place immediately, names named people fired people prosecuted whatever it takes, but hold somebody accountable! And tell the American people, don’t hide it!
A few years ago, my wife and I arrived at the New Delhi Hyatt (on a Wednesday night). Our taxi was stopped at the entrance and inspected with mirrors under the carriage for bombs, trunk opened and looked through. After this we are driven to front entrance, our luggage is taken to X-ray machines , we go through airport like security. I asked if this was typical (our first time in India) , they said no, it was because there was a big wedding on Saturday. Not the prime minister mind you, some important dude. The point of the story, is that the Hilton could have and should have done a much better job of controlling access to their premise days before the event. If the cost of doing so is too much for the Hilton, then the event should not be held there, perhaps then all these reporters (who love a party) will finally see the light of having an appropriate sized ballroom at the White House.
Well we have to remember that the shooter didn't get past the entry point, didn't shoot anyone he was actually targeting (he expressly said he didn't want to target Secret Service, and the one agent he shot was unhurt), and even he was tackled and arrested unharmed.
So security was actually quite good.
It's just needless. The White House perimeter is already secure. There's no way to secure the Hilton area without shutting down have the city, and if you really want to do it "right", empty the hotel. It's just not viable.
This is why so many important dinners through the decades have been held on the White House grounds. Even having them in tents is better. Can you just imagine if this had been a state dinner and the guy had been able to threaten the King in addition to our own government?
So Trump's right about the ballroom, and clearly security was far better off campus this week than in Butler. However, the real issue remains that 26% of Democrat men under 45 believe political violence is justified. And so long as that's true, we're going to need better security everywhere, and it won't always work.
Thank you for your reply, I do think you overstate the logistical issues of incorporating better security protocols at the hotel itself. In addition, whilst the security cordon around the president is excellent, we are damn lucky that the fanaticism of the suspect was milder than what we routinely see around the Middle East. A suicide bomber, could have apparently checked in to the hotel with no difficulties. Proximity to the President, less of a necessity in this dire scenario. The domestic secret service hasn’t seemingly benefited from their counterparts threat assessments when as an example Vance goes to Pakistan!
And people around the President are no longer the only ones vulnerable. Just ask Charlie Kirk.
A left that now worships Hamas is going to get into the suicide bombing business. This is likely to get worse before it gets better.
Exactly correct, Marxism is more prevalent nowadays than Christian principles were in our past. It's tragic, and our government-funded schools are responsible for it!
Nice Star Wars reference at 5:58
Wasn't that cool?
As a socially liberal Independent, I condemn without equivocation, the assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner! We have to do better here in America. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Dr. Martin so crestfallen or angry in any segment I’ve seen him in. Dr. Martin looked like underneath the surface he was absolutely fuming, his face is bright red and you can almost see the steam coming out of his ears! Rightly so, as this event was disgusting and unacceptable. Political violence left or right, is unacceptable and must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Neither side has been free from it. Thought it does seem to be more predominate on the left at the moment. Cole Allen was maniac who was h***bent on charging into that room and killing as many as he could. But the Secret Service and Washington D.C. Police stopped him dead in his tracks before he could. I was glad to see so many Democrats even Zahran Mamdani, denounce the assassination attempt. Even Robert Reich was denouncing this attempt at assassinating Trump.
The vast majority of Americans across the political spectrum do not believe political violence is ever justified. But enough of them on both sides do that it is a legitimate concern. The big question is how do we make things better? How do we return things to normal? I think there are many things we need to do to get there. First off, like Dr. Martin said, we need to reform our education system. CRT, ethnic studies and gender ideology have no place in our public school system. Nor does political bias of any kind. Those on both sides of the aisle left and right, need to stop treating our children’s education and schools as a political football or as another battleground for the culture war. We need to teach a balanced and warts and all view of American history. No more of this nonsense where students are taught that America was perfect or they on the other end of the spectrum, was a genocidal, settler-colonial state. No more teaching history that is whitewashed or all warts.
We need to build a new American consensus as well. Congress must be filled up with people who actually want to solve our problems and govern like we elected them to do. We also need to get all these crusty old people out of office like Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell and get younger people in there. We need to cut government spending and bring back the DOGE and expand its scope. Paying down the national debt must be a priority. We need campaign finance reform, passage of the Stock Act, passage of anti-lobbying legislation, congressional term and age limits, a Presidential age limit, and the restoration of the Fairness Doctrine and net neutrality. Journalism needs to be reformed too. The Supreme Court must be expanded to restore ideological balance. We need to institute a rule that if Congress can’t agree to a budget, they will keep in place the previous year’s budget until they do. We need to scrap the outdated and outmoded two-party system and replace it with a multiparty system. The defense budget is bloated and needs to be slashed by half.
The Pentagon needs to be audited ASAP. As to the White House Ballroom, it needs to be built for this very reason. The White House will have much better security than a random hotel would. The Secret Service and Washington D.C. are heroes for their actions that day but I also criticize the fact that Cole Allen got in like he did and security was so lax. Heads need to role over that! I’d feel no different if it was Barack Obama or Joe Biden who this man had tried to kill. Both sides and the press need to tone down their rhetoric. President Trump is not innocent in all this either. He needs to get off social media, be more guarded and circumspect with what he says and stop taking all these jabs at the Democrats. They in turn need to stop taking jabs at him and the Republicans.
Yes, the vast majority believe political violence is wrong. But it is very disturbing that 26% of leftwing men under 45 believe it's right (vs. 3% of self-identified "very conservative" men). The 3% is scandalous: how much more so 26%? And that's a LOT of people, who will soon be the leaders of our society, so what happens to us then?
The hate groups like SPLC, the domestic terror groups like Antifa and BLM (I'd include the Klan but apparently the Klan only still exists on funding from the SPLC), all have to be rooted out tooth and nail. This is the time to get serious about RICO, as we once did against the mafia. There will always be organized crime, but we eliminated the level of gangland violence that once existed, and we can beat this too.
I don’t care about the shooter, I don’t care what he thinks or what he does or where he came from. I care about the people in charge of the protection of the President and why nobody is ever held accountable ever?!
That investigation should take place immediately, names named people fired people prosecuted whatever it takes, but hold somebody accountable! And tell the American people, don’t hide it!