The last week has been one of, if not the, most tumultuous week in American politics in my memory. First, former President Donald Trump literally comes within an inch of his life during an attempt to assassinate him at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Then, after spending weeks insisting that he was not dropping his bid for re-election, President Joe Biden announces that he is, in fact, dropping out of the race to focus on the job of president for the rest of his term. Who know what tomorrow may bring?

I am glad that Trump was not assassinated. I hope we’ve not arrived at a place in this country where people who oppose a particular candidate’s run for president, or any office for that matter, are only too happy to see that candidate’s campaign stymied by assassination. There will always be the loonies, who speak the quiet part out loud in their hope that anything will succeed in keeping someone out of public office. Those people usually lose their credibility in polite circles. But Trump is a unique case. For some reason, people are able to openly speak or demonstrate for his life’s demise without paying much in the way of consequences. Indeed, Kathy Griffin seems to be the exception here. When she held up a faux bloody mock-up of Trump’s decapitated head, she damaged her career, perhaps beyond repair. Not so much for others – those who killed Trump vicariously in a New York version of Julius Caesar where Caesar was made to look like Trump. Or Missouri state senator Marie Chappell-Nadal, who wrote, “I hope Trump is assassinated” way back in 2017. Not only was she not called on to resign, but she went on to be elected to the state house.

The attempt on Trump’s life breathed new life into his campaign, there’s no question about that, and Trump and the Republican apparatchik are taking full advantage of it. “I took a bullet for democracy!” Trump proclaimed in Grand Rapids, Michigan at his first rally post-assassination attempt. It’s all a bit morbid for me. We don’t yet know the motives of the young man who attempted to kill Trump, and there is some evidence that points to his dislike for all politicians, not just Trump. It could be that his attempt on Trump’s life was a matter of opportunity, and had Joe Biden been speaking at a rally in Butler, PA that day, it may be Biden’s ear that got clipped. We know now that Lee Harvey Oswald didn’t kill John Kennedy because he had a particular hatred for Kennedy and his policies. Oswald wanted to kill the President of the United States, whoever that happened to be. But here I go engaging in the type of speculation for which I’ve rebuked others.

We’ve not had a serious attempt on the life of a president or presidential candidate since Reagan in 1981. That’s a long time. It’s reasonable that our country would still be in shock from it. It’s also reasonable to wonder how it was allowed to happen. Has our Secret Service lost its touch? The fact that the roof of a building less than 200 yards away from Trump’s podium was not secured is surprising, and frightening. The fact that the Secret Service knew of the threat prior to Trump’s going on stage yet allowed him to do so (Trump says no one informed him of the threat) is also surprising, and frightening. The Secret Service is supposed to be the best at what they do of any similar agency in the world. How could it have dropped the ball so badly? That they did so will be talked about for decades to come and will provide grist for conspiracy theorists into the next century.

Talk of Joe Biden’s cognitive decline has been non-stop since his disastrous debate performance against Trump on June 27. Of course, many had already been talking about it for quite some time. The difference is that those talking about it after the debate were Democrats and those in the media, who were instrumental in covering-up his decline and accusing those who mentioned it of being ageist bigots. The movement to get him to bow out of the contest began immediately after the debate. Democrats were sincerely concerned that Biden had declined to a point where it was no longer tenable to consider him as a serious candidate, or at least one who could defeat Trump in November. The chief obstacle to having Biden bow out was Biden himself, who insisted that he was ready to take on Trump and was not going anywhere. Excuses were made for his poor debate performance, and he vowed to show the American people in interviews and pressers that he was as sharp as ever and up to the task.

It didn’t work. The interview he gave to George Stephanopoulos, which Biden supporters said proved that he was still the old Joe Biden, competent and on top of foreign policy, was less than impressive. During the interview, Stephanopoulos pointed out that many were concerned about his slowing down, his decline. Stephanopoulos read an excerpt from a New York Time article: “People who’ve spent time with President Biden over the last few months or so said the lapses appear to have grown more frequent, more pronounced, and after Thursday’s debate, more worrisome. By many accounts, as evidenced by video footage, observation, and interviews, Mr. Biden is not the same today as he was even when he took office three-and-a-half years ago.” Biden himself shrugged off his debate performance as a result of his having a “bad night.” Stephanopoulos said afterwards that he did not think Biden would make it through another four years in the White House.

Others were not so willing to shrug off the debate as the result of a bad night. The number of Democrats willing to publicly call for Biden to end his re-election campaign were growing. At first, Biden continued to resist, and his family, in particular the First Lady, Jill Biden, were accused of propping up Biden to secure their own positions of power and influence, which many saw as elder abuse. After the assassination attempt on Trump, headlines announced that the movement to push Biden aside was over. Then the tide picked up again and began to include Democrats who were leaders of the party: Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and Barak Obama. The polls suggested that Biden could not win. Finally, Joe Biden caved.

Biden’s bowing out of the presidential race is the first time a sitting president has chosen not to run for re-election since Lyndon B. Johnson announced his decision not to run in 1968. The circumstances were different. No one thought Johnson was suffering cognitive decline. The Vietnam war was raging, and Johnson had become too unpopular (and, likely, too exhausted) to manage a serious campaign. So, he bowed out. But Biden’s decision to end his campaign came much later in the election cycle – only 107 days before the election in November. That doesn’t give the Democrats much time to get their act together with a new candidate.

All the talk is that Kamala Harris’ nomination is inevitable. Biden has endorsed her, and now so has Nancy Pelosi. Not everyone is convinced. Joe Manchin has even entertained the idea of signing up as a Democrat again (he switched to Independent earlier this year) and going after the nomination. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s much contention for the nomination at the DNC. Manchin would probably be a pretty strong candidate against Trump. He’s a moderate Democrat, mostly pro-life, and no one has ever accused him of being in bed with the progressives. I honestly don’t see how Harris could pull it off. I can’t think of one significant thing she’s done as Vice-President. Spokespeople for the Dems are going back to her days as a prosecutor in California (the catch phrase they seem to have adopted is that Harris is going to “prosecute” her case against Trump – meh). She’s not a dynamic public speaker but is instead famous for her confusing “word salads.” And her cackle of a laugh. Beyond all of that, where is the substance in her candidacy? What has she accomplished?

It’s all very depressing, from my point of view. I’m glad Joe Biden ended his re-election campaign. It’s likely he would not have made it through another four years, so Harris would become president, anyway. It’s just as well that he bowed out and is allowing her to pick up the mantle. But I cannot imagine her being president. I don’t think she’s up for it. On the other hand, I shudder to think what another four years of Trump in the White House would bring, not necessarily because his policies would be so disastrous (no, I don’t think he’s going to imprison journalists or attempt to re-enslave the Black population). But he is unquestionably the most divisive figure in American politics in my memory, or in my memory of all the American history I’ve read. The last figure who was so divisive was Andrew Jackson, whom I’ve heard Trump admires. The Democrats will attempt to impeach Trump again. They will accuse him of all sorts of crimes, real and imagined. The roller coaster ride this country would be treated to is one we can ill afford at a time when the nation is already so polarized.

What to do? Pray, of course. I will be voting third party this year. I hope, against all odds, we are somewhat the recipients of a peaceful political transition to a new president.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.