By Brad Friedman on 7/14/2024, 11:42am PT  

Given Saturday's horrific assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, I am postponing today's Sunday Toons for now. The toons I had prepared on Saturday, prior to the shooting, can wait. It does not feel appropriate to publish at this hour.

We all still very much need the occasional relief of finding humor in the god awful churn of news events this nation is facing. Perhaps now more than ever. But, for now, for this moment, that can wait. Maybe for a few hours. Maybe a few days. Or maybe until next week. We'll see.

What happened on Saturday was nothing but disgusting and shameful. I am glad --- and we are all very lucky --- the outcome was not even worse.

Though we don't yet know the full circumstances of whatever occurred, it is appalling that a would-be assassin was able to obtain what appears to have been a long-range semi-automatic rifle with which so many rounds could be fired in a matter of seconds and with such deadly precision at such a distance. (Reportedly from outside of the venue's perimeter, from about 150 yards away from where the former President was speaking.) Such a weapon is a weapon of war. It should come as little surprise then that they are now regularly being used in such a fashion. For a political war.

The political violence that has been fostered, and that we have seen play out in too many incidents in recent years, must end. The assassination attempt on Trump reveals America at its shameful worst. Despite his disgusting repeated mocking of a similarly grotesque attempt to assassinate the husband of Nancy Pelosi in October of 2022 --- repeatedly treated as a literal joke by Trump and his supporters --- there is nothing amusing about what happened on Saturday. We should all condemn such behavior, no matter who carries it out and no matter who the victim or attempted victim may be.

We must also continue to speak the truth --- always peacefully but clearly --- and not allow this incident to be used by opportunists as an attempt to chill accurate, fact-based political speech at one of the most critical moments in American history. Our toons --- and that free, peaceful, critical political speech --- will return...

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Article Categories: Pennsylvania, Toons, Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump, NRA/Gun Violence, Election 2024