Assassination attempt should be cause for pause

Many were watching on TV when a shooter perched on a building near where former President Donald Trump was holding a rally took several shots at Trump as he spoke, hitting him in the ear with one of the bullets while killing an innocent bystander and injuring a couple more. With the divisiveness of politics in this day and age, it’s not much of a surprise that someone attempted assassination of one of the presidential candidates. It was shocking, nonetheless, and something that cannot be condoned or tolerated.
Regardless of what you think of Donald Trump, and there are members of our staff who don’t care for him at all, he is in fact the former president of the United States. What’s more, he is a husband, a father and a friend. For anyone to attempt to take his life is unacceptable, just as it is unacceptable for anyone to take another’s life. The shooter no doubt believed in his mind he was justified for what he was doing. The fact is he was not, and political violence is never something that should happen in this country.
What’s even more ghastly is the number of people who cheered the assassination attempt, or lamented that the shooter didn’t actually kill Trump. That’s where we are at in this country. There are people who are openly wishing for someone to die because that person’s political beliefs don’t align with theirs. It’s as ridiculous as it is sad. But that’s the world we live in now.
Political violence isn’t the product of one party, either. We all saw what happened Jan. 6. Unfortunately, as divisiveness ratchets up, so do the actions of the bad actors whose identity is so wrapped up in politics they openly seethe and call for the elimination of their “enemies,” which in this case, is simply a member of the party across the aisle.
This assassination attempt should serve as a wake up call for Americans, but we fear it won’t, and it already looks like it didn’t. Both sides are blaming each other, of course, digging in more and more, unwilling to see that an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.
We call for both sides to be more civil. We don’t want to see another assassination attempt. We don’t want to see another Jan. 6. This country is better than that. We want to see civil disagreement, peaceful transitions of power, and all of the other basic tenets of being the greatest country on earth. If we can’t do these things, perhaps we no longer have the right to call ourselves the greatest country.
We are glad President Trump survived his assassination attempt, and we’re thrilled President Biden called Trump and checked on him while he was in the hospital. Yes, the two men agree on next to nothing, but they are humans first, and civility should always triumph in situations such as this.
Let’s all take a step back, cool off and rethink how we act. We would all be better for it.

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