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this post was submitted on 13 Jul 2024
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There are moments in history that completely change the course of events for decades to come. We just witnessed literal inches between two possibly extremely different futures. Very strange feeling.
As much as I loathe the guy, I think we all dodged a bullet.
If he died of natural causes last month I don't think the MAGAts would have rallied behind Desantis, or whomever got the nomination. I'm not saying they wouldn't have voted for them, just that the excitement wouldn't be there.
If this has succeeded, the supporters would have transferred and been even more pumped up. And sympathy from those weird fuck undecideds could make the difference, not just in the presidency, but both chambers of Congress, and for their policy goals too.
Riding the wake of an assassination the draconian shit they would push through could have been far worse than anything Trump would have been able to accomplish in a second term.
Take civil rights legislation in the 60s; a lot of what LBJ accomplished was credited to the national feeling after the Kennedy assassination. Would JFK have been able to accomplish all that if he had served eight years with public sentiment toward civil rights being divided?
It sucks that this is boosting his chances in November. But a martyr, a new figurehead, and a more energized base could have been far worse.
I think the same thing about the Apollo program. Kennedy gave that speech and then died, and now not only did we have to beat the Russians we had to do it for a beloved slain president.
There's also an episode of Red Dwarf where they go back in time and convince Kennedy to be the second shooter on the grassy knoll, because his survival would have started WWIII.