The violence continues. Today, a disgruntled political activist committed an act of terrorism by opening fire on a baseball practice attended by several Republican members of Congress. Forty to fifty shots rang out. The incident could have been far worse. No one was killed. Five people were injured, one critically. Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise was taken to surgery for a gunshot wound in the hip.
Two capitol police officers quickly took down the gunman, James Hodgkinson of Illinois, despite sustaining gunshot wounds themselves. Hodgkinson is dead. Our culture of violence is very much alive.
The shooter was a volunteer for the Bernie Sanders campaign last year. Since President Trump’s election, he has actively protested administration policies and actions. There’s nothing wrong with his passionate political engagement. But recently, his Facebook posts became increasingly vulgar. His anger turned to rage. He came to embody the same incivility that has ramped up protest into tribal hatred across the American political spectrum. Regardless of your political leanings or the merits of your political activity, when you cross the line into violence, you’ve lost your legitimacy. When doing harm to others becomes a means of expressing your political discontent, your violence has become the issue, completely obscuring any cause you seek to advance.
Robust political debate is the lifeblood of democracy. But the hateful, vengeful rhetoric that has become commonplace on-line and in the streets over the last decade is a disease that, if left untreated, can kill democracy.