It’s one thing to say it.  It’s another thing to mean it.  And it’s an entirely different thing altogether to say it twice, and not have a clue what you were talking about either time.

Huh???

Yep, it’s kinda like that.  What am I rambling on about?  Wait — you think “I” am rambling?  Watch this.  I’ll show you rambling…

Now – President Biden on attempted assassination against former President Trump:

“America has suffered too many times the tragedy of an assassins bullet. It solves nothing and just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any… pic.twitter.com/ExLEJAEBII

— nycphotog (@nycphotog) September 16, 2024

“I mean this from the bottom of my heart, there is no place for political violence in America…we must never give it any oxygen.”  Now, if that was the full story, you might wonder what in the world I WAS rambling on about.  But just hang with me.  That is not the full story — not by a longshot.

That was Biden speaking today at a conference, during which he strayed into the realm of political violence.  And that was a really nice, grand gesture; right?  Here’s CNN with a report for context:

President Joe Biden decried Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump and condemned political violence in remarks from Philadelphia on Monday.

Biden, speaking at the National HBCU Week Conference, commended the Secret Service for its “expert handling” of the situation and said the acting head of the agency, Ronald Rowe, is in Florida “determining whether any further adjustments need to be made to ensure the safety of our former president.”

The president added that assassination “solves nothing. It just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen.”

At this point you may think I’m being a tad disrespectful towards Biden, considering his grand verbal gesture and his oh-so-flamboyant words; and you would be right.  To begin with, he’s used those words before.  At least, he has used the “from the bottom of my heart”, part before.  And I just happen to have a clip showing two different times he has used that phrase, only about two months apart!  Check this out:

Joe Biden, Today: “I mean this from the bottom of my heart, there is no place for political violence in America…we must never give it any oxygen.”

Joe Biden, July 12: “I mean this from the bottom of my heart, Trump is a threat to this nation.” pic.twitter.com/EfOEbLJd4e

— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) September 16, 2024

I have a feeling you might have caught on to the sarcastic and overall dismissiveness that defines my current mood towards Biden’s verbal “grand gesture” earlier today.  Quite frankly, as President Trump has stated in the 24 hours since his SECOND attempted assassination in the last two months… the rhetoric of Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and all the other progressive voices that have consistently described Donald Trump as being on the level of Hitler — THOSE VOICES are at least partially to blame for this political violence.

So please, you’ll have to forgive me if I do not easily accept Biden’s latest verbal “grand gesture”.  As my Daddy might have said, he’s “a day late, and a dollar short”.  Except, when you factor in inflation… (but that’s another story).

And, if for some reason you are entertaining the quiet suspicion that this was all just a slip of the political tongue “once upon a time” for an old man, and that the proper thing to do would be to extend grace for a twisted tongue, and assume the best rather than the worst… I would have to remind you, firmly, just how TWISTED and FORKED Joe Biden’s tongue can truly be.

Here he is, saying it again — and not today’s “grand gesture” version, either.  (I am fairly confident he much preferers the original version.  It has definitively been his go-to version down through the years.)

All day every day this is Democrats.

“Donald Trump is a genuine threat to this nation. He’s a threat to our freedom. He’s a threat to our democracy. He’s literally a threat to everything America stands for.”

-Joe Biden pic.twitter.com/fHqmQqrZFW

— E 🇺🇸 (@Simply4Truth_) September 16, 2024

With so many verbal “grand gestures” in mind, where should we go from here?  What should we do with this fresh insight?  (Sorry, that’s an awful lot of sarcasm, even for me.)

Well, considering there was once another Republican President who was shot at, and indeed wounded, by a would-be assassin’s bullet… and considering the humor with which President Trump has (AMAZINGLY) maintained throughout what must surely be an incredibly heavy season for him and his family, I would suggest three keys to moving forward.

1. Never surrender.  (President Trump made this very clear today.)
2. Pray.  (If you haven’t, please join us now in prayer for President Trump and for the life of our nation!
3. Humor.  The Bible says “A joyful heart is good medicine…” (Proverbs 17:22 ESV)

To help us all out (and maybe President Trump as well, if he happens to see this story), and without making light of some of the most serious circumstances a person — or a nation — could ever face, please allow me to inject a little humor from that other President who faced a killer’s bullet and survived; the “Great Communicator” himself:

Remember when Reagan said “missed me” during his speech? Reminded me of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump. A must see… pic.twitter.com/UOhhvtlljw

— ♠️™️ (@trumpsfixer) July 14, 2024

If Ronald Reagan can get away with it after having taken a bullet, I’m going to say we can all laugh for a moment as well; God knows we need it.  And, hopefully, having been reminded that there is a Power and a Sovereign higher than any here on earth — higher than any Secret Service agent, higher than a President, even so much higher than any would-be assassin plotting evil from the shadows of a fence row — maybe we can take a more relaxed breath or two in being reminded that joy truly is a powerful medicine, just as God’s Word says; one we are all likely desperate for in this present moment.

Even… if it comes through a few chuckles and giggles at the expense of political adversaries and their “bottom of my heart” grand gestures.  So be it.