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Politics is about moments. Moments when opportunity presents itself.
These moments are usually mundane. A debate. A candidate forum. An interview with a reporter.
But they can also be profound and heartbreaking. Those sorts of moments often follow a tragedy — when they entire country is locked into a single story.
September 11, 2001, which happened 24 years ago today, was one of those moments. The deaths of thousands of Americans led — albeit briefly — to a change in the tone of our politics, an acknowledgment that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.
The murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk is another moment, I believe. (I am NOT directly equating Kirk’s death with the thousands of American deaths 24 years ago. I am simply saying both offer an opportunity for us to look inward.) Kirk being shot in public while engaging in the very thing that sits at the core of our democracy — free speech — should shake you to the core whether you loved him, hated him or didn’t know him.
Political violence is a stain on our collective body politic. If you can’t express your views openly and freely, then the thing that makes America so special is gone.
My worry? I simply don’t think our political leadership is up to this moment.
Take President Donald Trump’ speech from the Oval Office yesterday following Kirk’s murder.
Trump said that Kirk’s death was the “tragic consequence of demonizing” people with whom we disagree. He then went on to assert that “radical left political violence has hurt too many innocent people and taken too many lives.”
Is Trump unaware of the fact that he regularly calls people with whom he disagrees “evil”? Or that he has repeatedly suggested that his political opponents “hate” America? Or that political violence is not solely the purview of the “radical left?
Then there was what happened on the House floor. When the news of the Kirk shooting broke, there was a call for a silent prayer. Then this happened, according to The Hill:
“I believe that silent prayers get silent results,” [Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren] Boebert said. “Is there someone who could lead us in a moment of prayer out loud for Charlie and his family —”
Groans and a shout of “no” broke out as Boebert continued, “and the victims in Colorado,” in an apparent reference to a Wednesday shooting at a high school in Colorado.
A lawmaker who appeared to be protesting Boebert’s request shouted something about children.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who earlier in the day said she was “done with the rhetoric this rotten House and corrupt media has caused,” yelled back.
“Wait a minute. Wait a minute,” [House Speaker Mike] Johnson said. “The House will be in order.”
Shouting back and forth ensued for several seconds, as someone yelled: “A school shooting in Colorado.”
The normally calm Johnson shouted and banged his gavel: “The House will be in order.”
These are supposed to be our leaders. The people who help us remember our better angels. Is it any wonder that when our leaders behave like this we have people spending the hours after a man has been murdered litigating the specific numbers on whether the right or left is responsible for more acts of political violence?
The problem of political violence is ALL of ours. Pointing fingers does us no good. Figuring out ways to lessen the heat around our politics is the way forward.
I fear — and I use that word purposely — we lack the leaders to realize that the path we are on is one where no one wins. What’s the point of crowing that you were right and the other side was wrong if we lose any sense of our common humanity in the process?
This is a moment. Let’s not miss it.
