There's No Need to Reschedule the Correspondents' Dinner

"The assassination attempt targeting members of the Trump administration has provoked the now-standard suite of responses to outbreaks of political violence: the rush to detect rigid partisan motivations in an otherwise messy and meaning-challenged act."

"If milksop and insincere appeals to civility and common purpose won't arrest the country's drift into ever deeper currents of politically minded mayhem, we can at least start to close down our nation's cottage industry in bogus civility."

"The event furnished a comparatively obliging target of opportunity, it also undergirds one of the most toxic fictions behind the collapse of our democracy: the idea that the national political press and the executive branch of our government are chummy equal partners in the management of the polity."

"This fable is immensely flattering to members of the Beltway press, who eagerly throng to the spectacle of the WHCD as ready validation of their civic and cultural role."

An assassination attempt targeting Trump administration members has sparked predictable responses, avoiding the root causes of political violence. The event underscores the need to end the facade of civility surrounding the White House Correspondents Dinner, which serves as a toxic symbol of the relationship between the press and government. The alleged assassin exploited the event's security weaknesses, revealing the dangers of viewing political press and the executive branch as equal partners in governance. This incident calls for a reevaluation of the narratives surrounding political discourse.

Read at The Nation