MY TURN: 'Who is They?'
JD Vance said “they” shot Charlie Kirk. Before the gunman was even found, the president said the "radical left" did it. To date, no police or FBI official has said either of those things. In fact, no group has been implicated in any way. The act of a single human being should not result in the hate of an entire group. Those statements are political propaganda designed to divide us and make us less human.
When the politicians try to incite violence through blame, the best thing to do is to go to the research. According to a 50-year research study conducted by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, 2%, or 65 politically motivated deaths, were committed by people who lean left.
That same study found that 11% or 391 deaths were committed by those who lean right. These facts are not a win for either side. This only gets better if all political violence ends.
Charlie Kirk’s assassination was a heinous crime. So was the murder of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and the shootings of State Sen. John Hoffman, Rep. Steve Scalise and Rep. Gabby Giffords, setting fire to Gov. Shapiro’s home, the plan to kidnap Gov. Whitmer and the attempt on the life of the president.
Thankfully, most people recognized individuals committed those crimes. When that happens the temperature for violence goes way down. There was no “they." Why are some Republican politicians seeking to divide us creating a “them and us” mentality? The “radical left” did not kill Charlie. It was the act of a single madman. It made me sick to my stomach and I am a Democrat. What’s more, it upset every Democrat I know.
If you wish to end the violence, as I do, both parties need to take care of our own house. Left leaning or right leaning groups should lead the charge against your own bad actors, making sure the criminal(s) are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Don’t explode and blame a group of people until your “team” has zero acts of violence. Don’t ever be silent to protect your “team." Don’t ever say you support a violent criminal because it harms all of us as individuals and it harms our country.
To quote Ezra Klein “The foundation of a free society is the ability to participate in politics without the fear of violence. To lose that is to lose everything … there is no world in which political violence escalates but is contained just to your foes … Political violence is a virus. It is contagious.
Kirk and I were on different sides of most political arguments. We were on the same side on the continued possibility of American politics. It is supposed to be an argument, not a war; it is supposed to be won with words, not ended with bullets. I wanted Kirk to be safe for his sake, but I also wanted him to be safe for mine and for the sake of our larger shared project, America. We are all safe, or none of us are.
I am your neighbor and you are mine. In times of trouble, I will stand with you without regard to your politics. Will you stand with me or will you choose believe that there is a “them and us?”
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Barbara Ostipwko is a Coeur d'Alene resident.