For multiple reasons, I thank God that Donald Trump was not killed, injured or shot at in the latest attempted attack by a domestic terrorist who appears to have been politically motivated.
There will always be those who are inclined toward violence, some of them pursuing that path for reasons we may never understand, but it is past time to attack one of the seeds of political assassinations: the rhetoric that we hear from our leaders. It is past time for them to do their part to attempt to restore a measure of domestic tranquility, to think about the words they speak before they exit their mouths: to be civil.
When one demeans, degrades and dehumanizes their opponent through using extreme terms, when one implies that violence against foes is acceptable, we risk anarchy.
Can our political figures not disagree without being disagreeable? Can they not challenge an opposing ideology without engaging in vicious personal attacks against the proponent of that ideology?
If we continue down the road of an escalating level of polarization, our country and its institutions and system of governance are at risk.
I pray for the safety of Trump, JD Vance, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Oren Spiegler
Peters