NationStates Jolt Archive

I recently saw a production of the musical Assassins (for those not familiar with it, its about all of the people who have tried to kill a US president), and it got me thinking. Most of the would-be assassins were amateurs, many had never even shot a gun before. None except one (who failed) had what you might call an incredibly complex plan. Yet despite both these setbacks they still managed to kill (or almost kill) some of the most important people in the US. With the surprisingly little they had to do to carry out their plans, you'd think that a president would die shorty after he was elected. The last one, barely 20 years ago, was only held back by lack of skill at aiming. All this makes you wonder: how, if so many people claim to hate him, how, if he rules a country of 250 million, of which hundreds of thousands may be just as mentally unstable as the people in the musical, how, if even twenty years ago one could still just open fire from a crowd and almost succeed, how is the president still alive? Is it that no one really hates him enough to pick up a gun and do the deed? Is it that the secret service has simply become amazingly more effective over the last twenty years? It makes you wonder how many assasination attempts they have to foil every day to do their jobs.

Bump :sniper:

I bet that the secret service is so good that they grab pebbles and rocks being hurled at Bush during public appearances so quickly that they go undetected. So fast, so stealthy.

You would think it's a combination of both. Granted, people do hate Bush but how many people hate him enough to commit a crime that would ruin your life AND you still may not suceed or be killed in the process! It's all a big gamble and in the end, you still lose.

You would think it's a combination of both. Granted, people do hate Bush but how many people hate him enough to commit a crime that would ruin your life AND you still may not suceed or be killed in the process! It's all a big gamble and in the end, you still lose.

The thing that puzzles me though is that it was just as much of a gamble for the people who assassinated previous presidents. None of them got what they wanted in the end, yet they still inspired people to follow in their footsteps. Many of them were people whose lives were so shitty that they really had nothing to lose. It's not that uncommon a mindset, I'd bet that with a US population of 250 million or so hundreds of thousands may be like that, ready to make the gamble even though they are sure to lose. The question is, why don't they? Why hasn't someone opened up fire in the middle of a crowd and, successful or not, tried to shoot the president?

The thing that puzzles me though is that it was just as much of a gamble for the people who assassinated previous presidents. None of them got what they wanted in the end, yet they still inspired people to follow in their footsteps. Many of them were people whose lives were so shitty that they really had nothing to lose. It's not that uncommon a mindset, I'd bet that with a US population of 250 million or so hundreds of thousands may be like that, ready to make the gamble even though they are sure to lose. The question is, why don't they? Why hasn't someone opened up fire in the middle of a crowd and, successful or not, tried to shoot the president?
Well we'd have to analyze the locations other than the Whitehouse where to president has appeared at. Odds are you'll find that most locations were probably not sniper-friendly and easy to secure for the secret service or had locations where counter-sniper teams could be placed. Plus I'm sure civilians that are searched before being even allowed to get near the pres.

Well we'd have to analyze the locations other than the Whitehouse where to president has appeared at. Odds are you'll find that most locations were probably not sniper-friendly and easy to secure for the secret service or had locations where counter-sniper teams could be placed. Plus I'm sure civilians that are searched before being even allowed to get near the pres.

Most of the people weren't even snipers though, they just pulled a gun in a crowd and fired. Does the president make public appearances anymore? The only way I could see every attempt being stopped would be if they just never let the president speak in front of crowds outdoors anymore, but I think he still does that.

It's pretty simple, everyone in the crowd is going to get searched prior to the appearance of the president. It's a simple enough deterent to not to try.

It's pretty simple, everyone in the crowd is going to get searched prior to the appearance of the president. It's a simple enough deterent to not to try.

That can be done in an indoor appearance, but what about outside? Is every area the president appears at fenced in? That could probably work.

So does anyone besides Skyfork want to talk about this? It seemed like an interesting anomaly.