Wishful thinking, my friend.
Even in a worst-case scenario, he’s three Tom Cruises in a raincoat.
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A drummer from Spinal Tap might prove that wrong.
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The oversized bandage is both literally and metaphorically a cover-up.
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I remember watching him in the 80s from the western circuit on TV (WCCW and whatever the mexican wrestling circuit that showed in my area) and maybe in WCW/NWA? He was fucking brutal…
But yeah, famously, Trump as connections to some serious kayfabe… But I just don’t think it’s the case here…
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Trump’s YUGE ear bandage is just his way of saying he doesn’t have to listen to anyone.
I don’t know about Trump. But when my Grandpa was in his late 70’s it took him a really long time to heal. He’d get a scratch and it would be black and blue for weeks.
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From looking at the footage, it seemed to me that his ear got nicked when the secret service tackled him. He made a gesture before as if swatting at an insect, my guess is that’s what he mistook the sound of the bullet whizzing by for initially? Still, perfectly reasonable to be freaked out over the whole thing.
Also, some pedantry: by definition, cosmetic surgery is never required.
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Yes, I think that’s plausible! HCR’s letter from last night makes me even more skeptical.
She spells out some of Tromp’s connections to and participation in the world of professional wrestling, and I now wonder if he’d thought ahead of time about what to do when shots ring out. Act like Hulk Hogan! Might he have gone so far as to cut his own ear, make sure his face is smeared with blood, and then be ready to raise his fist and shout Fight fight fight! while being dragged away?
It’s a ridiculous possibility, but then, so is most of what Tromp has been doing as a public figure.
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It occurred to me at the time that the swiping gesture at his ear was a perfect time to cut himself with a concealed shard of glass that he could simply drop when tackled.
Some problems:
- Is T***p skilled enough at sleight of hand to confidently pull that off?
- How would they find a patsy willing to take a shot in T***p’s general direction?
- Are there SS agents loyal to T***p willing to eliminate the patsy, who might be an embarrassment if allowed to live? (That would explain their slowness to react when bystanders reported a gunman on the roof.)
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Well, as I just wrote, maybe he was ready to cut himself whenever certain things happen, like hearing shots fired, or being tackled by someone who rushes the stage. No need then for a patsy.
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True, but that would require prestidigitational skill that I find improbable in T***p. Could he palm a sliver of something sharp through speech after speech, making all his gestures and clenched-fist salutes, then decide in a split second if some disturbance was suitable and react instantly?
Although…
“She held out her hands, palms up, the white fingers slightly spread, and with a barely audible click, ten double-edged, four centimeter scalpel blades slid from their housings beneath the burgundy nails.”
– William Gibson, Neuromancer
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I doubt he could palm it. But say, a small razor tucked in his jacket sleeve? 
I wouldn’t normally think that’s at all possible, but given his adoration of bloody pro wrestling theatrics…
I do think he’s fundamentally too much of a coward to hurt himself, but then, he does have a LOT riding on this election. And what a story to share with the guys later!
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The only razor that has any bearing on this wound belongs to William of Occam.
You’re giving him far too much credit for planning ahead more than 5 minutes at a time. Plus, we can’t descend into conspiracy theories over this. That would still be only a tiny bit as crazy as Qanon, but it’s not a good look nevertheless.
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Thanks, but I’ve seen that clip many times before.
Which is? That clip includes no closeups of him on the ground.
And you know that because you’re what, a close personal friend of his?
I’m not saying that something possible actually happened. But he ie is a con man with a showman’s instincts who invited Hulk Hogan to his convention… And would any other kind of person have the presence of mind to pump their fist and play up to the crowd like that?
Oh come now, I’m not saying I have any better sense than any of the rest of us of what he actually did or planned. I’m just describing something that I find easy to imagine. 
But okay, I’ll stop, since it seems to bother y’all.
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Okay. Sorry. I’ll remove it
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As I said above, I’m a close personal friend of William of Occam
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I’m the asshole here (obviously, I’ve been the asshole my whole life, so why stop now), but it’s really frustrating to see this conspiracy-theory based understanding of what’s happened here…
I don’t know how this endless speculation that the thing was staged is remotely helpful WHEN THERE IS LITERALLY NO EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THAT… 
I’ll post this here, too, since it addresses why people grasp at conspiracies:
Just… live in this uncertainty. We should be fact-based here, not trading in pointless guessing about what’s happened. Given the very real danger, we should tread pretty carefully here… not to sway the right and the MAGA movement, but for ourselves and our larger movement to actually fix our shit.
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