Transcending political warfare has never been more urgent and necessary for us all
Photo: The helmet of firefighter Cory Comperatore who died at the rally shielding his family from rifle shots.
A Column by Andrew Harris
Last week, politics was full of unknowns.
We were all wondering normal things like, “Will Biden drop out?” or, “Who will Trump pick for his Vice President?”
This week, politics is focused on political violence: When will it end? Will it get worse? What should we average Amercians do?
Amidst the unknowns, every American must be protective of our government and our civil society. We can’t let one insane killer force us into chaos or any further tribalism. We can’t let an election upend American life because violent people choose to take advantage of a pivotal moment.
We all should be honoring the memory of Cory Comperatore, who died at the rally trying to protect his family. He was a volunteer firefighter who would protect your family regardless of who you would vote for in the upcoming election. He did not die for politics or his preferred candidate or to defend democracy. He died to shield his family in a split second as gunfire erupted.
His death could have been your death. Or mine.
Will it be in vain? Will we just keep on foamenting at the mouth about politics ? Keep up the conspiracy theories? Keep calling each other names and allowing the personality politics fracture personal relationships? Keep forming tribes?
Consider, what could have happened if that bullet hit former President Trump in the face on national television? Consider who would have been killed within 24 hours of that bullet?
Me and my pals, lefties and righties in the mix, all discussed that.
“What if he had been killed?”
That mixed group all winced at that question, all thanked the stars that Trump wasn’t killed, and talked about that big “what if?”
I’m not about to get into those nightmarish hypotheticals and I’m sure you have considered the possible.
We should all be grateful to whatever god or fate you believe in, that the killer missed his mark.
That miss has created a rare opportunity for every red-blooded American to dial back, chill out, de-escalate, and get back to the common ground in the name Mr. Comperatore.
To steal a phrase from popular culture, “Check yourself.”
Are you a die-hard Democrat? Do you consider yourself “MAGA?”
Bring it back to the middle, you are not part of a tribe, it is a political party.
Stop yourself from posting that provocative meme on social media. Call up your friend who drifted away over national politics. Refuse to consider yourself or others part of any tribe, other than the United States of America.
Please do this for our little towns, for our families, and for Cory Comperatore as a patriotic act.
