124 Langdon Street, Boston Store and the old Airporter Hotel near the Halifax airport. All three locations have something in common for Papa. Tonight it was pure happenstance. I’m on a no tv gig up in Cape Breton. However, circumstances took me to Halifax today. The tv in my room wasn’t working. After a front desk visit and fix I was able to watch television. Not ten minutes later CNN carried a Trump rally and gunshots rang out. Now I am watching the initial attempts by news station to sort out what has happened. A long night ahead. It will take days to develop all the facts.
In 1963 I was finishing lunch at my fraternity when Mike rushed in and said JFK has been shot. Mostly a wise person did not pay attention to what Mike said. But, the ashen look on his face instantly convinced me that it was true that the beloved JFK was shot. Television news at that time reminds me of tonight’s coverage. Scrambling. I remember Frank Reynolds, I think, express frustration that the facts could not be nailed down. Within the first hour JFK ‘s death was confirmed. For whatever reason students poured out of their campus housing and walked up Langdon to Bascom Hill even though all classes were cancelled. It was a devastating weekend.
When a conflicted young man who apparently wanted to impress a famous actress shot President Reagan I was walking near the television sales display in the Boston Store at Brookfield Square. I watched the first half hour of coverage there and saw replays as the President was shot at from close range. Immediately he was hustled into the safety of a secret service vehicle. That the President had been shot was not confirmed until he was in the car and a search for physical damage was done.
Television cameras and reporters were present at all three shootings. I see a lots of similarities on the coverage. It’s too early to know all the details of why Trump was shot today. There was such a mix of motives about JFKs death. People still indulge in conspiracies about the killing. Reagan’s shooter was wacky in his own right. It never seemed that it was personal animus in the 1963 or 1981 shootings. Time will tell but my gut says there is an abundance of personal hate towards Trump. Way too many people feel that while hate is wrong there is one acceptable exception, Donald Trump. He seems to be hated so much that even folks who support him are also hated or disparaged. I was once asked why do people support Trump. Papa being Papa I rose to the fun of analyzing the question. I was about to make a second point when I was accused of being a secret Trumpster. An intellectual discussion was not wanted. Just agree that his supporters are dumber than dumb etc.