The shooting in Washington, DC today pierced my heart. It showed me that even people who share my political and social perspectives can be just as monstrous, just as vile as people I’ve labeled demonic and uncaring. I condemn the bastard responsible for today’s attempts on the lives of Republicans. Regardless of how much you hate their politics or their positions on social issues, you have absolutely no right to gun them down. Doing that, aside from its deviant sociopathic elements, gives credence to the same deviants on the conservative side who decide to do the same. Are we not civilized? Are we not decent people? I will readily admit to hating—truly hating—Donald Trump and his zealot supporters. I think they are psychotic. But I do not condone assassination. I do not condone violence like that done today. If today’s actions have any positive effect, it will be that we, as a society, will take stock of who we are and what we’re doing. We should step back and realize that we are tearing our country apart. Neither conservative nor progressive will “win.” We will achieve success only to the extent that we persuade the “other side” to consider our perspectives and, on occasion, concede that they offer the best course of actions.
Only if we collectively condemn violence, lies, manipulation, and monstrosity, will we progress. I need not retract my condemnation of Trump (I think the man is an affront to civilized thought and deserves to be jailed for crimes against humanity), nor do opponents of Hillary Clinton need to change their hearts and express undying love. But we need to accept that differences of opinion are valid. The hard parts will be the issues that create the most heat; abortion, health care…what else?
If my conservative friends and acquaintances will stop calling for Hillary’s imprisonment long enough to talk about decency in social discourse, I’ll stop insisting on Trump’s imprisonment for crimes against humanity (but I will require him to relinquish the Presidency). 😉
