How we can all pull back from even more violence

Stop it, all of you.

All of you on the left claiming that the assassination attempt carried out against former President Donald Trump was staged sound like lunatics.

You on the right who are blaming President Joe Biden and the media for the sick act of a 20-year-old about whom we know almost nothing are doing exactly what you’re railing against — turning up the political temperature and politicizing a tragedy.

One man, a firefighter and father of two, lost his life Saturday and two others were critically wounded while exercising their constitutionally protected right to assemble.

So whatever the malicious motivation of the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, of Bethel Park, Pa., and whatever the political effect of his crime, this was an attack not just on a former president but on our democracy, and on who we are.

Not infrequently, I hear people say they’re going to opt out of voting this November because they don’t care for the choices. Instead, how about opting out of violent rhetoric, online and off? That is something we can all do, and something that would make a difference if we did.

When Donald Trump was pulled to his feet after shots were fired, his first instinct was to pump his fist in defiance and yell, “Fight!” several times. Yes, that was wholly in character, but the man also had to have been drowning in adrenaline at that point.

On Sunday, he promised to stay “defiant in the face of wickedness,” and we should all do that, but without seeing wickedness in the face of everyone with whom we disagree, even on the most important matters. We can never ignore evil, because that’s complicity, but how we go up against it does make a difference.

What I hope is that neither Trump’s followers nor his detractors will fight, other than at the ballot box. Can we please, step back from the precipice of even more political violence?

Two explosive devices were reportedly found in the gunman’s car and authorities are looking at what may have been a third at his residence. But we do not have to be part of the never-ending explosion of vitriol in this country.

“They did it first” or “they do it more” or “they are worse” are just attempts to rationalize being part of the problem.

After every shooting, we hear what a surprise it was, and in that one way, the attempt on Trump’s life was no different. Many of those I saw interviewed after the rally said they couldn’t believe it, and of course they were in shock, too.

But as I wrote after the Super Bowl rally shooting in Kansas City, Mo., the worst thing about that stomach-turning outbreak of gunfire on what had been such a proud and jubilant occasion was just how unsurprising it was.

It’s both too many guns and too much free-floating rage that are killing us, while we generally continue to blame only one or the other.

One thing that the left and the right do have in common is that we all believe that our democracy is under threat. With everything on the line, it’s no surprise, either, that extremism has all but smothered civic life. But again, we do have the power to do something about that.

Sometimes, we feel that our problems are just too big for us to do anything about as individuals, and that only fuels frustration and resentment. But every single one of us can express our most deeply held beliefs without becoming what we hate. Which, after all, is hate itself.

Melinda Henneberger is a columnist for The Kansas City (Mo.) Star.