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Upfront disclaimer: This thread is NOT about approval that the shootings happened, nor is it especially NOT about *who* was shot.
A day or so ago I posted the following:
Or, are people going to say the right things as above, make a couple well-intentioned but half-hearted empty gestures, and continue down their chosen path?
Personally, this is directed at both our leaders (Congress, Executive Branch, etc.) and their followers, but this question is focused on our leaders. Leaders give us what we want, or what they think we want, whether we know we want it or not. Our leaders, however, set the tone and the followers just mindlessly follow along.
One would think that once we get to the point that the followers are whipped up into such a frenzy that they're willing to attack and/or kill the leaders, and I'm not talking just random dissatisfaction, that said leaders would see that as a "wake-up call" and stop being such partisan putzes.
As this is the first (that I can recall) "random" attack I do not hold out much hope. I suspect that we will quickly be back to 'business as usual'. We the people will demand it, and they give us what we want (and other things while we're distracted, but that's another topic). I hate to say it, but if there's to be a change back to civility then it's going to take several more extreme incidents to truly convince them.
Am I being too cynical? I feel like I don't have much faith in humanity.
A day or so ago I posted the following:
Is it likely, or even possible, that something good can come out of the recent Congressional (Scalise, et al) shootings? And by good I mean that maybe our leaders and their followers will be shocked back into a sense of common good and abandon the mindless rhetoric that has been increasingly dividing our country for quite some time now.I saw a Congressman interviewed on the news last night (didn't catch who it was) and he said the right things... about how we need to stop blaming, and stop being divisive, and stop playing partisan politics, yada yada yada... but my only thought was, "Dude, you people (politicians and Congress) are the ones who have been stoking this atmosphere. If it's to stop, YOU need to stop."
Or, are people going to say the right things as above, make a couple well-intentioned but half-hearted empty gestures, and continue down their chosen path?
Personally, this is directed at both our leaders (Congress, Executive Branch, etc.) and their followers, but this question is focused on our leaders. Leaders give us what we want, or what they think we want, whether we know we want it or not. Our leaders, however, set the tone and the followers just mindlessly follow along.
One would think that once we get to the point that the followers are whipped up into such a frenzy that they're willing to attack and/or kill the leaders, and I'm not talking just random dissatisfaction, that said leaders would see that as a "wake-up call" and stop being such partisan putzes.
As this is the first (that I can recall) "random" attack I do not hold out much hope. I suspect that we will quickly be back to 'business as usual'. We the people will demand it, and they give us what we want (and other things while we're distracted, but that's another topic). I hate to say it, but if there's to be a change back to civility then it's going to take several more extreme incidents to truly convince them.
Am I being too cynical? I feel like I don't have much faith in humanity.