Up front:\u00a0\u00a0there\u2019s never an excuse to \u201cgun down\u201d anyone.\u00a0\u00a0The two National Guard soldiers shot in Washington on Wednesday were not \u201clegitimate\u201d targets for any kind of protest.\u00a0\u00a0They were American young people, doing the job they signed up for.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019ve got friends in the National Guard.\u00a0\u00a0They joined with a sense of duty, to be a part of something bigger than just themselves, a little adventure, and maybe some advantage in training for future employment.\u00a0\u00a0Those West Virginia soldiers didn\u2019t in any way, shape or form, \u201cdeserve\u201d this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We live in a society where madness happens.\u00a0\u00a0There are more guns in America than people. (Check that, more guns in America than people, statistically, one and a half guns per person).\u00a0\u00a0And, I know, my \u201cSecond Amendment\u201d friends will say that \u201cguns don\u2019t kill people, people do\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0That trite phrase is true on the surface.\u00a0\u00a0But it\u2019s unreasoning.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We also live in a nation polarized to an historic extreme.\u00a0\u00a0Not since the late 1850\u2019s have Americans been so against each other.\u00a0\u00a0Into that sea of division we stir in an overwhelming amount of deadly weapons.\u00a0\u00a0So why is it any surprise that those who are on the edge of mental breakdown, \u201cfall off\u201d and use guns to show it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s hard not to think that these kinds of horrific events aren\u2019t exactly what the Trump Administration is looking for.\u00a0\u00a0They have turned up the heat on the \u201cpot\u201d of unrest.\u00a0\u00a0Armed troops, ICE, are skirting or ignoring American legal protections, rounding up individuals based on the color of their skin or the sound of their accent.\u00a0\u00a0Their randomness, and the \u201cpride\u201d ICE takes in its own inhumanity, is stoking the fire of discontent.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We don\u2019t know why an Afghan who fought bravely with American troops in his homeland, decided to drive across our country and target two kids from West Virginia.\u00a0\u00a0But we can see the inevitability of it happening, somewhere, sometime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So what is the Trump Administration response.\u00a0\u00a0Add more fuel to the fire.\u00a0\u00a0Send five hundred more troops to Washington, five hundred more \u201ctargets\u201d of discontent.\u00a0\u00a0Instead of reducing the causes of division, they are doubling down; using the results of their own actions to make things worse.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Because, in the end, the Trump strategy is to show Americans how bad things are.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And if they aren\u2019t really that \u201cbad\u201d (see Portland), it seems they are creating situations where it will be.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They are offering this choice:\u00a0\u00a0troops in the streets, anonymous forces disappearing neighbors, mass detention facilities, or civil unrest and violence.\u00a0\u00a0But the unrest and violence is, in large part, a result of the Administration\u2019s own actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t blame the National Guardsmen, doing the job they signed up for.\u00a0\u00a0And I don\u2019t excuse the madman with a gun. He should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.\u00a0\u00a0But I do blame Donald Trump and the people around him for acting in an inhumane and unamerican ways.\u00a0\u00a0They are acting to provoke violence.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0And they got what they wished for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I worry, about the fate of the remaining National Guardsman still alive, and about the extent of the reaction of the Trump Administration.\u00a0\u00a0And I truly worry about the future of our Nation.\u00a0\u00a0If we cannot find a way to step away from this division, that it will ultimately consume the American Democracy.\u00a0\u00a0We are losing our values, our ideals.\u00a0America is giving away freedoms to gain \u201cprotection\u201d from forces that the White House itself is creating and aggravating.\u00a0\u00a0We are in a circle of increasing authoritarianism, with each action creating an even greater reaction, and less freedom.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We need leadership back to our \u201cbetter angels\u201d of law, democracy, and freedom.\u00a0But we\u2019ve got a long way to go to get there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"