Would You Go Through This?

A few days ago I recorded a podcast in which I interviewed Talk Radio host Brian Rust on the continuing attempts on former President Trump’s life. I began the program by asking listeners whether they would be willing to go through what Donald Trump has undergone since his literal and metaphorical descent down that escalator and into the cesspool of American politics:

So the question in my mind — and the question I pose to you — is what would you do if you had already been shot, the bullet hitting your ear, just millimeters away from your brain, only to have someone else laying in wait for you with an AK-47 on the golf course?

To clarify the matter further, let's travel back through the hazy mists of time and visit a world in which you are a titan of business. A wildly successful real estate mogul with stunningly luxurious properties at lavish locales scattered across the globe, you are the toast of the town everywhere you travel. Presidents and heads of state seek your attention, celebrities compete for interviews with you and pour more praise than you can conveniently cork.

You are fawned over by everyone from Oprah and Jesse Jackson to Al Sharpton, to Muhammed Ali, the Clintons and more. In an interview with Oprah in 1988, she asked if you’d ever be open to running for President, to which you responded:

Trump: “I just don’t think I really have the inclination to do it. I love what I’m doing. I really like it.”

Oprah: “Also it [the Presidency] doesn’t pay as well.” (laughter)

Trump: “But, you know, I probably wouldn’t do it, Oprah. I probably wouldn’t, but I do get tired of seeing what’s happening with this country. And if it got so bad, I would never want to rule it out totally because I really am tired of seeing what’s happening with this country — how we’re really making other people live like kings, and we’re not.”

You receive various honorary degrees, along with a flood of awards and accolades. You wind up with an award-winning reality show of your own. The world is your oyster, as they say.

Then, true to that caveat back in 1988, you announce that you are indeed running for the presidency and are instantly transported from king of the hill to the bottom of the heap. Nevertheless, you actually win. Interestingly enough, while most presidents end their terms substantially richer after leaving office (Barack Obama’s net worth went from $1.3 million to $70 million, while Bill Clinton went from $1.3 million to $241.5 million), your net worth was estimated by Forbes to be $4.5 billion prior to assuming office, and you lost a cool $2 billion when you left.

Not only that, you donated your presidential salary while in office to such causes as the National Parks Service, the Small Business Administration, COVID relief and much more. You kept the country out of war and presided over a prosperous economy that saw energy independence and more money in everyday Americans’ pockets.

Your reward? Constant and hysterical vilification from people who used to commend you... at least when there was money in it. The problem was that the closer you looked at what you called “The Swamp,” the more alarmed you became. As the phrase goes, you know too much, and the governing class will never forgive you for that.

So they’ve come after you, relentlessly, belligerently and dishonorably. They tried to bankrupt and imprison you, concocting novel criminal charges that they refuse to enforce on themselves. Slowly but steadily, higher courts offer a sober assessment of these charges and you press on, inexplicably, for a second term in office. It’s not like you need the money. Frankly, you didn’t need any of this crap...and your character was never besmirched until you became a political opponent.

Then, as the pressure mounted and the calls of “Dictator,” “Threat to Democracy,” “Fascist,” and the like ramped up to a fever pitch, your enemies’ unhinged and violent rhetoric found its home in the unsettled mind of a lunatic who stood up while the Secret Service stood by...and you came within millimeters of being murdered on nation TV.

Question? Who in the actual hell would continue after that? You lost a ton of money, you are spending what should be your golden years relaxing in lavish surroundings, and yet you literally volunteered for this madness.

Then, two months later, another nut, spurred on by the steady drumbeat of hate and existential doom of being told that you were the next Hitler, decided to take another shot.

What would you, dear reader, do under the circumstances? Here’s what Chis Cuomo said he’d do:

“A guy pointed an AK-47 at him while he’s playing golf? And we take solace in the fact that the guy didn’t get any rounds off? If I had been through what that guy has been through in the last two months, you would not know where I am. You would never see me on TV again. No way I would do that! I don’t know how he does it!”

In the military, they say that the very best plans never survive contact with the enemy. Mike Tyson is on record as saying, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.” It’s what a person does after taking that punch that shows what they are made of. Even soldiers who excel in training can fold like a cheap suitcase when real fighting starts.

At an age when most guys have settled down and are enjoying their golden years, Donald Trump literally takes a bullet for this country and his instinct is to get right back up and respond with, “Fight, Fight, Fight!” If you had billions of dollars, would you stand up and keep fighting or would you say, “Screw it,” and go enjoy life?

How about you? Most politicians enrich themselves off their “Public Service.” Here’s a guy who lost a major chunk of change and keeps getting shot at, yet he presses on. What would you do?

I’m pretty sure that authoritarians and enemies of freedom around the world (and more than a few at home) would prefer that a fighter with that much heart should decide to take his money and make his way toward the exit. Would you go through this?