The assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was a heinous and inexcusable act that should be universally condemned. We will learn more details of what happened and why in the long days, weeks and months ahead.
Those gunshots that rang out on a lazy summer weekend reverberate. Shots fired into crowds tragically have become a feature of modern American life. That, too, is inexcusable and should be universally condemned, yet here we are. To think a presidential candidate is immune from this epidemic is folly.
Before many facts were known, partisans across the political spectrum filled social media with invented ones — also known as lies — to further their ideology. Perhaps you saw some.
As The Washington Post reported after the shooting, “… social media platforms are stoking false narratives amid the most divisive presidential campaign in recent history. Some of the biggest have backed away from moderating content, partly out of concern about drawing blowback for removing too much. Sites once lauded as places for views to be exchanged have increasingly become echo chambers for those with like-minded political views serving up falsities to bolster shared beliefs.”
Another feature of modern American life. We are living in what some call “a post-truth world.” Validation of one’s views, however kooky, is always just a click away.
In America, you have this freedom.
You also are free to own a weapon of war.
But with freedom comes responsibility. At least in theory.
We believe each of us has a responsibility in this time to reflect on our common American beliefs and values — the core principles of freedom-loving people.
Sadly, this may reflexively strike some as a bridge too far. As if the troubled waters of our politics must divide us as Americans. As humans, even.
How did we get here?
We live in a violent, hostile age, yet that’s nothing new. Many of us are quick to form like-minded allies and cliques in real life or on social media, some that identify common “enemies.”
Perhaps you have you done this, wittingly or unwittingly.
These are not Democratic or Republican or liberal or conservative problems. Sowing division, fear, hate and contempt of “the other” has been the lifeblood of American politics in 2024 and for many years prior. In fact, this is about the only thing that both the major parties seem to have agreed on: The other side is: deplorable; evil; crooked; anti-American; (insert your favored slur here).
A glance at the fundraising appeals and partisan emails that both sides send out tells you all you need to know on these scores.
And yet, in the aftermath of an assassination attempt, the same voices who have fanned these flames for lo these many years were among the first to ask the American public to douse the fire.
We credit President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump for their calls to lower the temperature of our political rhetoric for the good of our country.
Wouldn’t it be something if both candidates actually did that, and for the duration of this election season, set a standard that insisted their campaigns and supporters do the same?
We might learn what they stand for, rather than just who they stand against.
