We call it a “One News Day” in our business. It’s a story so big it crowds out all other news as it dominates TV, radio and the web.
That’s what happened at 6:12 p.m. ET Saturday as yours truly had just finished working on his little white truck. I’m plugged into several new sources that issue alerts for weather, and breaking state and national news. To say my phone “blew up” is an understatement.
I wiped the grease from my hands, the sweat from my brow and started answering texts from family, friends and my champions in Clarksdale. People want to know what is going on when things like this happen.
It’s my job to help them figure things out.
The image
If you haven’t seen the image of Donald Trump, with blood on his face, holding a fist in the air with an American Flag in the background and Secret Service men on the left and right, you’ve been living under a rock.
We’ll talk about spin in a minute, but whether you are a Trump fan or not, you can’t deny the power of that photo. We are visual creatures and the impact of that photo carries so many emotions and says so much.
Evan Vucci, an Associated Press photographer based in Washington, D.C. took that photo. Remember his name because it should be a Pulitzer Prize winner.
I hope you will read some of the commentary about that photo on the web; just type in Vucci’s name.
You can curse the media all you want to, but when you want to know what is going on in this big world, you turn to us for answers.
Marines raising a flag over Iwo Jima, the tank man at Tiananmen Square, Coretta Scott King crying at her husband’s funeral, you get my drift.
The spin
The lies started the minute the story started.
I got a text with a Facebook photo saying Trump had been hit behind the right ear, implying it was a fatal shot. Then I heard it was a “known Democrat” who had shot Trump.
There were other lies that I will not repeat.
I even had to tell one of my son’s in Texas to slow down, step away from the media avalanche and give police, the Secret Service and the media time to get the facts straight.
As the saying goes, “the first casualty of war is the truth.” That means people will do almost anything to win, to push their agenda and to color the lens with their own views and bias.
By Sunday morning we had a very good indication of what had gone on. The Media did a pretty good job over a hectic 24 hours.
Sadly, there will be people who push their conspiracy theory for years to come, and they could care less about the truth now or then.
The President
Joe Biden is my President.
He is the man heading up the country I love. I can’t really say I love Joe, or Donald Trump. I pray for them both.
Joe Biden is the man in charge at this point in our country’s history.
We’ll see what Democrats decide to do at their convention next month. They’ve got their backs against the wall and must resort to desperate measures.
I’ll be the first to say, I don’t have a crystal ball, but a strong and defiant Donald Trump looks very hard to beat this summer.
The fall out
We have a story on Page 2 about a Rep. Bennie Thompson staffer saying some very derogatory and hateful things following the assassination attempt on Trump.
I don’t think the blow-up will affect Rep. Thompson at the ballot box fall. He’ll get the job once again.
But I do think the Mississippi Second Congressional District won’t see very many Federal goodies head our way if Donald Trump is elected.
Somewhere I read you reap what you sow.
Violent world
Where were you when you heard Martin Luther King had been assassinated? John F. Kennedy? Ronald Regan? John Lennon? How about the Challenger space shuttle explosion or the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center?
They are moments that mark our life.
There are others.
How about the moment you heard a 13-year-old boy had been shot earlier this year at a gang house in Clarksdale? How about the youngster killed at our world famous Crossroads a few short years ago?
People like guns because they project power. They call on a single finger to make their point.
Don’t they realize a gun can get you into more trouble than it will ever get you out of?
But America is stronger than a single bullet. We’ll move on to the November election, inauguration and watch our leaders closely as they head into 2025 and beyond.
I think it is time we look at changing a few things around here.
I mean, do you really like living like this?
Floyd Ingram is Editor of your Clarksdale Press Register. He urges you to be a wise and conscientious voter. Email him at floyd@pressregister.com with your views of this world.
