This Has to Stop
I am profoundly sad. There is no other way to describe it; a citizen of the US decided, for whatever crazy reason, to attempt to kill the Republican nominee for President. It is simply unacceptable and another example of how far the country has progressed towards a society that can’t seem to figure out how to exist peacefully.
Immediately after the world received confirmation Trump was okay, people began to reference the last time someone of this stature had been shot; President Reagan in March of 1981. The inference of the Reagan assassination attempt almost suggests we haven’t experienced political violence in this country in 40 plus years. That is misguided and simply not true.
In January of 2011 a conspiracy theorist shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and 19 other people; that was followed by a group of Republican congressman being shot in Washington at a baseball field with Congressman Steve Scalise being seriously injured, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was threatened by a crazed individual with death, Paul Pelosi was attacked in his home by a hammer carrying invader who was seeking to hurt Nancy Pelosi, attackers violently beat members of the capital police on January 6th, 2021, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer was the target of an organized kidnapping attempt.
Before someone points to the “other side” as the cause of these political assaults, please note the attacks do not discriminate, both sides are falling victim and are at risk. If you can’t see it as an American problem, and only see it as a problem caused by the party you loath, then you are part of the problem.
Today’s political rhetoric is toxic; when people talk politics, it is common, if not expected, that they position the other side as corrupt, immoral, and the devil incarnate. The hyperbolic language used by leaders within both parties and their most fervent followers is extreme and out of control. I have heard the argument that the people who commit these violent acts must be responsible for their own actions and people who say inflammatory things can’t be held accountable. Okay, if that is the logic those who incite others with their words subscribe to, then why can’t they at least be responsible for their own language; the words out of their mouth. Don’t they have some ownership of what they say? I think they do; I think we all do.
If a fervent believer of a particular party or cause is unable to consider the other side’s perspective and despises them with a level of contempt that causes their blood to boil and stomach to turn, then, it seems, they are not going to be able to accept the country as it has been since we fought each other more than 150 years ago. In my view this country is great because we accept a joint, higher calling, and allow our better angels to drive a society where each person can live their American dream. The moment a group on one side or the other decides living their own personal dream isn’t enough, but other people must live their mandated dream as well, we have a problem.
Free speech is a right in this country, and that right doesn’t only exist for people who are smart and say smart things; you take the good with the bad. There will always be a vocal group of people that we all wish would shut up, but we must accept their right to speak, so that if we ever want to express our own beliefs we can. It is an elegant approach, and it is hard.
Sadly, what isn’t hard is expressing hate. It is time for this to stop; however, I am not naïve. Turning the momentum of the hate machine down is going to take time and won’t be easy; but it needs to happen. I heard this morning that Trump has begun to rewrite his acceptance speech for his nomination at this week’s convention to a more subdued and conciliatory tone. I hope that is true. It takes a great person to come out of an attack with grace. I don’t know if he can or will do it, but this country needs him to lead with grace.
Regardless of what our leaders decide, I have been thinking about what I can do. Admittedly, not much of what I do matters nor will have any impact. However, I can’t let my inability to make a big difference deter me; I must try to not fall prey to the pit of hate that is growing. For me that starts with considering my words closely; words matter. I believe strongly that what we say says everything about who we are as a person. It signals what we stand for, and make no mistake about it, I stand with America. Despite the pressure to “choose a side” and get in one camp, I have decided I remain with the core values of our founding fathers, and not the hijacked versions of America the right and left spew.
This column is about thinking, mine and hopefully yours. It is not about always agreeing or influencing people to think how I do. If I put forth a thought that is personal, I am attempting to use that as a source for you to engage in your own mind. I would welcome you sharing your thoughts in the comments section, but if you don’t, I hope you will take time to reflect on your own.
I am not doing this for a personal agenda. I genuinely believe we are losing our ability to step back and freely develop our own thoughts. We seem unable to escape social media, or the propaganda that finds our inbox. Regardless of how you view the debate between the right and left, you can’t honestly believe it is good if all you ever hear is from people who believe exactly what you believe and serve only to confirm your view; confirmation bias is a thing, and it will isolate people who traffic exclusively in it.
This isn’t the first time this country has been stressed, and it won’t be the last. How we handle it will determine how our kids and grandkids live in the coming decades. How our leaders handle these days--and I hope we begin to hold them accountable for their future role in pushing American and its citizens into this vacuum of hate—will determine the pace at which we settle this madness. I hope we can step back and develop our own views and not fall prey to the mob mentality. Maybe hope isn’t enough, maybe prayer is a better approach.
Whatever approach I or you choose, it is time for us to reject what is happening and to take pride in the American dream; it is time because, this has to stop.
