By Paul Bledsoe, opinion contributor - 07/16/24
(Follow above article link to listen to audio version of article.)
The political career of former President Donald Trump has been marked most notably by attempts to divide the American people against one another. Even when rejected by the voters, as he was in 2020, his instincts and actions were to foment illegal rebellion to overturn the will of the American people, as demonstrated by his remarks and actions on Jan. 6, 2021 and ever since.
Thank goodness an assassin’s bullet missed Trump. Now that we have avoided disaster, we must confront the cause. We must reject this culture of political violence once and for all.
The only way to end the culture of political division and violence is to seek new voices who will unify the country — genuinely, not falsely.
Trump’s supporters have real concerns and grievances regarding problems in our country. They are not to blame. But equally, we must call on all Americans to reject the culture of violence that Trump and others have leaned on as a political strategy for so long.
Whatever your views on policy issues — and the country is clearly in disagreement about many major issues — those concerns must be secondary to ending our internal political division. Ideally, the solution would be unity ticket of a Republican and a Democrat, serving as president and vice president. Sadly, our culture seems unable to produce this.
Since this best result is unattainable, we must support those politicians who have rejected division and violence. In particular, we must call on our congressional leaders to put aside their culture of extreme partisanship, rejecting all candidates who will not begin to work together again on behalf of all Americans.
I had the privilege to be a staff member in Congress in the 1980s and ’90s, including at the U.S. Senate Finance Committee. I remember marveling at the incredible camaraderie and respect among the committee members, including leading figures of the day like Bob Dole (R-Kan.) and George Mitchell (D-Maine), the two Senate party leaders at the time. Many others, such as the chairman, Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.), and now largely forgotten figures such as John Danforth (R-Mo.) and John Breaux (D-La.), exuded sincere good will, and frequently put aside their own political views for the greater good.
I learned through this experience that my policy and political views are not more important than the political process itself, a process that must be about compromise and progress for the benefit of all. We have lost this lesson in our politics in recent years, in large measure due to political extremism and absolutism like that exemplified by Trump.
The former president has vilified his opponents, calling his fellow Americans “enemies,” ridiculing his opponents rather than respecting them, undermining our faith in our institutions. This must stop.
The greatest Republican of all time, Abraham Lincoln, who saved our country during the Civil War and himself fell victim to its political violence as it ended, said it best in his first inaugural address.
“We are not enemies, but friends,” he said. “We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”
This whole opinion piece, is made on the assumption, and viewpoint, that this was a legit, serious attempt to kill Trump. It was not, it was a staged, fake assassination event, for Trump's political benefit, and the three spectators who were shot, one of them killed, were just collateral damage from it, innocent bystanders. As for Thomas Crooks, the alleged shooter, it's too early to tell or know, based on the current reporting, as to whether he was a duped patsy, who actually expected to be allowed to live after the staged event and the shots were fired at the stage, either by him or another sniper, or whether he was fully aware of the plot, to have him killed by another sniper as soon as the shots were fired towards the stage, and that he was fully cooperating in letting himself be sacrificed for the plot and coverup. I have no problems believing that there are true believer Trumpers that would be willing to knowingly die for their leader, nor in believing that Trump and his cronies are fully willing to sacrifice duped or unknowing victims to achieve their political ends.
To me, 9-11 proved that these sort of people have no problem sacrificing a couple thousand dead Americans, much less three or four, in order to get what they want politically, in that case, the war with Iraq, that W. and Cheney wanted. So they let the hijackers go on with their plans, which they knew about in advance, and ignored the warnings from the FBI and even private citizens. What happened this weekend, was right out of the dark political satire movie, Bob Roberts. If you haven't seen it, and are skeptical about the idea that this was a staged, fake assassination attempt, I suggest you watch it..
It's not an assumption, it's what happened baring evidence to the contrary. So far, zero evidence. Just like birthers and 9/11 truthers.
@Druvius Oh comeon, are you telling me, that you actually think this was a real assassination attempt, where Trump was ever in any real danger of being shot and killed, and that the authorities were not in on it to allow Crooks to get on the roof and be able to fire?
@TomMcGiverin Apparently everything anyone does is fake or a conspiracy these days. No wonder the empire is in free fall.
@Druvius I don't agree with that at all, not everything is a conspiracy, but this event was just way too conveniently timed, and with way too many fishy coincidences in how the event played out.. But of course, I do agree the empire is in free fall, and has been for a couple decades now..
@TomMcGiverin it unfolded like countless other disasters in history, a number of individual questionable decisions led to a catastrophic outcome. When evidence otherwise comes out, I'll rethink my position. it won't, but since most Americans no longer live in an evidence based reality, they will just continue to believe what makes them feel good. It's no wonder we're so screwed as a country.