The Day of the Jackal is a famous 1971 novel about a rifle expert who tries to kill Charles de Gaulle (he needn’t have bothered, presumably, since France would soon destroy itself via low-skill immigration).
*** spoiler alert: stop here if you’re planning to read the book or watch the movie; otherwise scroll below the cover ***
Wikipedia: “… hire a professional mercenary from outside the organisation … the Jackal’s exhaustive preparations for the forthcoming project. … he commissions a master gunsmith to build him a special suppressed sniper rifle of extreme slimness with a small supply of mercury-tipped explosive bullets. … his first shot misses by a fraction of an inch when the President unexpectedly leans forward to kiss the cheeks of the veteran he is honouring”
What would be the appropriate title for a book about the $3 billion/year U.S. Secret Service attempting to protect Donald Trump from a teenage assassin in 2024? The book would focus on Kimberly Cheatle and other senior bureaucrats establishing sloped roof policies and then keeping their jobs until a fat retirement pension begins to flow. How about The Day of the Jackasses?
Google Gemini’s image generator is back (some cognitive decline issues?):
ChatGPT:
Looks like book jacket designers will still have jobs for a while…
Related… a friend asked an aviation group if anyone wanted to donate items for a non-profit org auction. My response: “I will donate a year of protection from the $3 billion/year Secret Service. Also, a concrete bunker in which to hide during that year.”
Kimberly Cheatle should be fired, there is no excuse.
I don’t understand the argument about the sloped roof as the reason for not putting agents on top.
Other pictures showed USSS snipers on another roof building with a greater slope.
Why do the people in government seem less and less accountable with each passing year?
She won’t step down and no democrat or liberal will force her to step down. Why? Because, deep down, they all think the agency didn’t do anything wrong. After all, to them, Trump is an asshole, no asshole would attempt to kill an asshole.
Somewhat related: Breaking news – Jill Biden drops out of presidential race!
Dr. Fauci can replace her, I hope!
Next up, Kamala! All the Democrats are going to be like “I never knew she was so bad at talking and answering questions”. Imagine her with other world leaders…
“The governor and I, we were all doing a tour of the library here and talking about the significance of the passage of time, right, the significance of the passage of time. So, when you think about it, there is great significance to the passage of time in terms of what we need to do to lay these wires. What we need to do to create these jobs. And there is such great significance to the passage of time when we think about a day in the life of our children.”
““So we are committed in everything we are doing, and yes, then the president did say in the state of the union. There is a price to pay for democracy. Gotta stand with your friends. And as everybody knows even in your personal life, being loyal to those friendships based on common principles and values–sometimes it’s difficult. Often it ain’t easy. But that’s what the friendship is about based on shared values. So that’s what we’re doing.”
“So, I think it’s very important, as you have heard from so many incredible leaders, for us at every moment in time and certainly this one to see the moment in time in which we exist and are present and to be able to contextualize it–to understand where we exist in the history and in the moment as it relates not only to the past, but the future.”
“And the act of the United States Supreme Court to take away a constitutional right that they didn’t recognize in the people of America will impact a lot of people and differently in some situations and we need to be responsive to these issues and also lift up the voices of all people who will be impacted in the way that they will be impacted…a couple of points in terms of the direct impact.”
“Well I think culture is–it is a reflection of our moment and our time, right? And-and-and present culture is the way we express how we’re feeling about the moment and-and we should always find times to express how we feel about the moment that is a reflection of joy ‘cause, you know–it comes in the morning. Ha ha ha! We have to find ways to also express the way we feel about the moment in terms of just having language and-and-and a connection to how people are experiencing life, and I think about it in that way, too.”
“We also recognize, just as it has been in the United States, for Jamaica, one of the issues that has been presented as an issue that is economic in the way of its impact has been the pandemic….we will assist Jamaica in covid recovery by assisting in terms of the recovery efforts in Jamaica that have been essential.”
“In terms of, uh, the discussions that the president [inaudible] and I had, uh, they ranged in subject, including the issue of the Black Sea, and I’ll let him explain in more detail as he would like, uh, but we are, again, fully aware and apprised because we are in constant communication with the president, with his administration here about the concerns that they have about the entire region and frankly the vulnerability. All you have to do is look at the map.”