Over the past year, I’ve heard a version of the same concern from many current and former high-level US government officials: “Something very bad is happening beneath the surface of our nation. I have a growing sense of foreboding.”
Time can play tricks on the mind, but it’s only been seven months The targeted killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. I fear that in the hours and days that followed this abominable act of political violence, thousands of our fellow Americans cheered in online posts. A lot of those hateful comments came from “Professional” class, Health professionals, including academics and members of the media, criticized Kirk for expressing unacceptable views.
Since when did it become acceptable in our nation to execute youths with different ideologies in broad daylight?
or take Assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson “Shooted in Cold Blood While Walking the Streets of Midtown Manhattan.” There has been a massive outpouring of support for shooter Luigi Mangione, who has been Lionized as a modern day Robin Hood Fighting against corporate greed. How did we get to a point where so many can argue or enjoy such obscenity?
of last week Attempted assassinations of President Trump and other high-ranking US government officials At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC, it brings to mind a very disturbing survey highlighted after Kirk’s assassination. Last April, the Network Contagion Research Institute with Rutgers University made the discovery Fifty-five percent of self-identified left-of-center respondents said the assassination of Donald Trump was at least somewhat justified..
Sadly, later Three assassination attempts against TrumpKillings of Kirk and Thompson, and Sniper attack on an ICE facility in Dallas, It is much less shocking to believe such a disgusting statistic. Importantly, this should be emphasized Biased hatred swirled manifests itself across our political spectrum.
A YouGov poll taken after Kirk’s assassination found that Democrats were more likely to support or approve of political violence, but a percentage of Republicans and independents shared the same vile views. According to polls14 percent of Democrats, 13 percent of independents and 6 percent of Republicans support or justify political violence. While the “good” news from that poll was political violence, 81 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of Democrats, and 65 percent of independents said it was. “Never fair,” The quiet and scary part was still said out loud.
If ever there was a DefCon 1, a five-alarm warning for our leadership, this is it. In this “Age of Trump,” purposeful, hate-filled rage, brought on by years of lies and dehumanizing rhetoric, has potentially radicalized millions of Americans into considering the worst possible solutions within their own nation.
As Trump’s press secretary Carolyn Levitt said After the truly horrifying but all-too-predictable incident at the WHCA dinner, “This hateful and persistent and violent rhetoric directed at President Trump day in and day out for 11 years has helped legitimize this violence and bring us to this dark moment. Those who constantly falsely label and denigrate the President, threaten to brand him as a Democrat. Points are fueling this kind of violence.”
This violence must be dealt with immediately in the most bipartisan and united manner possible. This is why I am calling on the “President’s Club” to personally call out and call out this threat.
That “club”—the most exclusive in the world—includes living presidents and vice presidents. These include former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden as well as Vice Presidents Dan Quayle, Al Gore, Mike Pence and Kamala Harris. The meeting should be hosted by current President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House.
Our nation now sits on the brink of chaos, with seemingly countless Americans radicalized to embrace political violence. The “Chairmen’s Club” must be called together immediately before such violence and insanity becomes unstoppable.
Douglas McKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.
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