Great article! Incidentally, did you happen to see the embarrassing spectacle on Capitol Hill yesterday between Patel and Schiff. The FBI Director, and a U.S. Senator, yelling personal insults, and interrupting, and talking over each other. In the chambers of Congress during a formal hearing. It’s no wonder we have the volatile political division in this country. There was more civility in my 4th grade classroom when the teacher canceled recess.
A much needed take on what's happening in our country, thank you. Perhaps I'm spending too much time online (and getting sucked into the posts/tweets by the MAGA nuts) but it seems to me the "blame the left" argument is winning by a mile. Not enough pundits like you are getting through to the masses.
I also propose a seven-day waiting period before declaring "political violence" so that solid evidence can be gathered. It could often take longer than that, after all we still don't know the motivation behind Trump shooter Thomas Crooks, but you have to start somewhere. Seven days could also serve as a cooling off period.
That's probably a good idea. My inclination has been to call something "political violence" when the target of that violence is political (while not casting aspersions at an entire side). But maybe it shouldn't even be labeled "political violence" unless the motivations of the perpetrator are either obvious or later determined.
I think we know all we're going to know about Thomas Crooks: a mentally struggling misfit who didn’t have firm political leanings, and had been researching the movements of other high-profile targets including Joe Biden.
Maybe this is a poor analogy, but just as a black man being killed by a white man (or vice versa) doesn't necessarily make it a racial hate crime, a politician who is attacked doesn't necessarily make it an act of political violence. Thomas Crooks and John Hinckley are examples. Another thought - let's watch the use of the pronoun "they" until we find that more than one person was involved. Right now, Charlie Kirk's alleged murderer is Tyler Robinson and Tyler Robinson alone (a "he"). Any reference to a "they" could include Robinson's transgender roommate, the transgender community, the entire political left, etc. That's a broad brush, and the lack of specificity doesn't help the conversation we are all having over this tragedy.
7 days cooling off period? Try 7 YEARS ' cooling off' period. That is more realistic. I believe the big explosion is yet to come, and there is no stopping the momentum now, as it is full-speed ahead. Sorrow, not sadness, is what I feel.
In my opinion the people that commit these horrific crimes are sick pieces of you know what and use political tribal excuses to commit these acts. This is the case of the school shootings and the Charlie Kirk assassination. More concerning is the Rutgers NCRI report that I listed below. This appears to be a sickness of our young people today. This report from a survey shows left of center and right of center percentages of people who believe violence is a political solution. And in this case, the left heavy favors this solution over the right.
Trump down the chain needs to tone it down and we need to become Americans again and end this tribal warfare. We need to re-evaluate our terrible education system that has degraded over the years from the best in the western world to one of the worst. I can't speak for the country, but Minneapolis public schools are run by communists. To repeat the quote from the President of the Minneapolis Teacher Union, "We are striking against the Patriarch system and Capitalism". That says it all.
John, I'm speechless, you hit the nail on the head. Neither political party will admit this, and it is getting more heated as the week goes on. Fuel on the fire, and what a bon- fire it is. The other shoe is dropping.
Another observation I've made - whenever there is a shooting, or any kind of violent crime that makes the national news, the Left hopes and prays that the suspect is an angry old white dude, while the Right hopes and prays the the suspect is an illegal immigrant, a muslim, or trans, or at least a person of color. They high five each other when they get what they wish, and become REAL quiet when they don't.
Bernie and John,
Great article! Incidentally, did you happen to see the embarrassing spectacle on Capitol Hill yesterday between Patel and Schiff. The FBI Director, and a U.S. Senator, yelling personal insults, and interrupting, and talking over each other. In the chambers of Congress during a formal hearing. It’s no wonder we have the volatile political division in this country. There was more civility in my 4th grade classroom when the teacher canceled recess.
I didn't see it, but I can picture it. Patel and Schiff have been terrible government officials, in my view.
A much needed take on what's happening in our country, thank you. Perhaps I'm spending too much time online (and getting sucked into the posts/tweets by the MAGA nuts) but it seems to me the "blame the left" argument is winning by a mile. Not enough pundits like you are getting through to the masses.
At the moment, the argument probably is winning... which only distracts from the broader problem.
I also propose a seven-day waiting period before declaring "political violence" so that solid evidence can be gathered. It could often take longer than that, after all we still don't know the motivation behind Trump shooter Thomas Crooks, but you have to start somewhere. Seven days could also serve as a cooling off period.
That's probably a good idea. My inclination has been to call something "political violence" when the target of that violence is political (while not casting aspersions at an entire side). But maybe it shouldn't even be labeled "political violence" unless the motivations of the perpetrator are either obvious or later determined.
I think we know all we're going to know about Thomas Crooks: a mentally struggling misfit who didn’t have firm political leanings, and had been researching the movements of other high-profile targets including Joe Biden.
Maybe this is a poor analogy, but just as a black man being killed by a white man (or vice versa) doesn't necessarily make it a racial hate crime, a politician who is attacked doesn't necessarily make it an act of political violence. Thomas Crooks and John Hinckley are examples. Another thought - let's watch the use of the pronoun "they" until we find that more than one person was involved. Right now, Charlie Kirk's alleged murderer is Tyler Robinson and Tyler Robinson alone (a "he"). Any reference to a "they" could include Robinson's transgender roommate, the transgender community, the entire political left, etc. That's a broad brush, and the lack of specificity doesn't help the conversation we are all having over this tragedy.
Oh, I totally agree about the "they" thing. I've said that multiple times on this website over the past week.
7 days cooling off period? Try 7 YEARS ' cooling off' period. That is more realistic. I believe the big explosion is yet to come, and there is no stopping the momentum now, as it is full-speed ahead. Sorrow, not sadness, is what I feel.
In my opinion the people that commit these horrific crimes are sick pieces of you know what and use political tribal excuses to commit these acts. This is the case of the school shootings and the Charlie Kirk assassination. More concerning is the Rutgers NCRI report that I listed below. This appears to be a sickness of our young people today. This report from a survey shows left of center and right of center percentages of people who believe violence is a political solution. And in this case, the left heavy favors this solution over the right.
Trump down the chain needs to tone it down and we need to become Americans again and end this tribal warfare. We need to re-evaluate our terrible education system that has degraded over the years from the best in the western world to one of the worst. I can't speak for the country, but Minneapolis public schools are run by communists. To repeat the quote from the President of the Minneapolis Teacher Union, "We are striking against the Patriarch system and Capitalism". That says it all.
https://networkcontagion.us/reports/4-7-25-ncri-assassination-culture-brief/
We are pretty much in a crowd behavior society; rules are largely meaningless!
John, I'm speechless, you hit the nail on the head. Neither political party will admit this, and it is getting more heated as the week goes on. Fuel on the fire, and what a bon- fire it is. The other shoe is dropping.
Another observation I've made - whenever there is a shooting, or any kind of violent crime that makes the national news, the Left hopes and prays that the suspect is an angry old white dude, while the Right hopes and prays the the suspect is an illegal immigrant, a muslim, or trans, or at least a person of color. They high five each other when they get what they wish, and become REAL quiet when they don't.
YES! I think that's been going on on the Left at least since 9/11.