Firmer ground – Cease firing

So much has happened over the past several weeks at home and abroad. A week ago, there was great uncertainty as to whether and how the US would be drawn into the Israeli/Iran conflict. Now, with the successful attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities and the subsequent ceasefire, President Trump’s gamble seems to have paid off. Whatever we think about how this came about and whatever questions remain about the end results, we can hope that the ceasefire will hold. And having seen Iran further weakened, we could hope that Israel would move toward a ceasefire in Gaza and the full restoration of humanitarian aid to that shattered population.

And it was only two weeks ago, that our attention was fixed on the drama here at home. ICE agents on the streets of Los Angeles and the protests this evoked. And President Trump, without communicating with state or local authorities, sending in 2,000 National Guard troops and 600 Marines. Because the protests were largely peaceful, most of us thought this unwarranted. This wound up being the backdrop for the President’s June 14th Military Parade. This and the No Kings protests around the country, which unlike the Parade drew large crowds. And it was later this same day that we learned of the politically motivated attacks in Minnesota that took the lives of Melissa and Mark Hortman and wounded John and Yvette Hoffman. We learned later that the killer had a long list of political targets.

It would be tempting to count this as a random, if tragic, incident, the case of just another disturbed individual. Except that this is just the latest in a series of such incidents, dating back at least to the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally in 2017. Except that last year there were more than 9,000 threats against members of Congress, and more than l,000 against federal judges. And except that, immediately after the news broke, the conspiracy mill got going suggesting Democrats were responsible and there was joking about it. This represents for us, I believe, a sad marker of where we find ourselves, still divided, stuck and wandering in a wilderness of competing narratives.

When he was asked about the epidemic of violence, historian Matt Dellek responded, “Well there a lot of factors. One is the general loss of faith in institutions and a kind of roiling anger against elites, expertise, a real hatred of government … President Trump, his rhetoric and his actions – he’s been a victim of political violence, of course. But he’s also an accelerant – so his dehumanizing language, calling his opponents scum, saying the greatest threat to the U.S. in internal.”

It is hard to see how we can find our way back to more civil discourse when our President talks the way he does, ever ready to demean and divide us. When retribution and the rank politization of the organs of our democracy are the order of the day.

Professor Dellek also pointed to the role of social media and our “fractured reality.” In light of this, it’s important to recall that while it’s the extreme voices on the right and left that get amplified, a majority of us are more moderate and think in a more nuanced way about the issues facing the nation. This isn’t to pretend that our differences don’t matter or that we shouldn’t stand by our convictions. It is to say that the tribalism and cynicism, the “othering,” that is constantly being promoted is not worthy of responsible adults and is poisonous for our national life. Surely, we can unite in condemning political violence and the hate speech that fuels it.

I commend to you Senator Amy Klobuchar’s heartfelt remembrance of her friend and Minnesota colleague Melissa Hortman. Hortman was a model public servant. Earlier this year, when the State House was tied, it was she who forged a power sharing agreement with her Republican counterpart. She reminds us of what integrity in public life looks and sounds like.

A week after their parents’ murder, the Hortman children Sophie and Colin broke their silence and released a statement. Here is just a part of it: “… Our family would like to thank law enforcement for their swift action that saved others … Our parents touched so many lives, and they leave behind an incredible legacy of dedication to their community that will live on in us … Hope and resilience are the enemy of fear. Our parents lived their lives with immense dedication to their fellow humans. This tragedy must become a moment for us to come together. Hold your loved ones a little closer. Love your neighbors. Treat each other with kindness and respect …”

Steve Bullington

Adrian