We all just dodged a bullet.

"This business will get out of control. It will get out of control, and we'll be lucky to live through it." The Hunt for Red October.

Trump wasn’t the only person in America to dodge a bullet this afternoon. He was one of about 350 million of us. Had the attempt to assassinate Trump succeeded, I’m confident that there’d be gunfire in cities around the nation tonight. Including, possibly, my small mountain town in the northern Rockies. That’s how close we are to being out of control in 2024, America.

Right now, there are a number of people in this country, at both ends of the ideological spectrum, who spend their days and nights in political fever sweats. I’m known for saying, "You're assuming that there's reason at the other end of this," in response to my Substack colleagues' expressions of wonder over various political schemes that would have been beyond comprehension not that long ago. We are, at the edges of society, currently bereft of reason. It’s madness, and it’s growing.

Our media and political culture celebrate victory at all costs, which discourages compromise (and unselfishness) and encourages extremism. And we promote, as a way of celebrating inclusion, things that would have been considered mental illness less than a generation ago. It’s a brave new world. And it rests on an incredibly shaky foundation.

There are an awful lot of people in this country who think that they can go to bed every night, no matter what they do or how they conduct themselves, and wake up the next day in a relatively safe, free, and prosperous nation. That’s not so. Freedom and democracy did not condense out of the ether moments after the Big Bang. Our country was built on the blood, sweat, and sacrifice of millions who preceded us. It’s an enduring monument to those who have cherished America and worked to nurture it for the last quarter of a millennium.

Our American brand of democracy is a fragile thing. And not nearly enough Americans have figured that out. Had that bullet's trajectory been off by just a few millimeters, they might be learning a difficult lesson about that just about right now.

For the record, I denounce political violence in America as unnecessary and undemocratic. I denounce illegal protests that result in violence, intimidation, property damage, or harming those who have nothing to do with any of it. I denounce lawfare against politicians. I denounce demonizing those with whom one merely disagrees.

All of this, by the way, cuts both ways. I disagree with everyone who’s reached out to me to complain about this craziness being the sole provenance of one side or the other. That just isn’t so. Both the left and the right are guilty of extremism. Both sides need to own the craziness that they encourage. Barring something quite unusual, I’m not big on the notion that we should hold anyone responsible for what happened to Trump except for his now-dead would-be assassin. Unless the deceased was a crazy, homeless person who was given the gun by some Antifa operative and promised a fortune for an accurate shot, what happened is the shooter’s responsibility. But stoking fever dreams does nothing to ameliorate the harm done by those who would act on fever dreams.

I’ll have more on this in the coming days as the facts emerge. But for right now, thank goodness. We all dodged a bullet. I’m glad that former President Trump is OK. I also think that he just salted away the election today.

I’m trying to put together a video/podcast for tomorrow on this topic. I’ve invited some local pols and writers to join me on Streamyard for about an hour in the middle of the day to discuss. I’ll upload the video here. If any of you, my fellow writers, would like to join this, please DM me with a short bio, and I’ll send you the link. I’d love for you to be part of the conversation.

Hang tough.

Associated Press and Idaho Press Club-winning columnist Martin Hackworth of Pocatello is a physicist, writer, and retired Idaho State University faculty member who now spends his time with family, riding bicycles and motorcycles, and arranging and playing music. Follow him on Twitter @MartinHackworth, on Facebook at facebook.com/martin.hackworth, and on Substack at martinhackworthsubstack.com.