Butler

 

Vance's wife's bio is worth a look.

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Butler

“You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.”--Robert Heinlein. Also known as Hanlon's Razor.

"I think this trying to pin down the precise motive, and how much of it was a mental imbalance or emotional imbalance and how much of it was political, is a bit of a fool's errand. There is a mixture of things they are.

The bottom line I think is that when someone is demonized to the extent Trump was being demonized, you are putting a target on them, and you are increasing the risk they are going to become a target for someone who has a mixture of these factors -- imbalance, some potential political element to it. They become the target.

What was concerning me was that -- and I understand the people on both sides engage in extreme rhetoric, occasionally. But what was bothering me was the thrust of the Democratic narrative for this election year had become that Trump was a mortal danger to our democracy, and if he wins the country is going away. When you take that position, that is an apocalyptic and hysterical position, it is bound to lead to violence, eventually.
...

The sentiments expressed by the president in his remarks just now are very noble and I hope they follow them because if they believe it they will scale back the rhetoric. And what he said about differences in policy, fine, you can attack your adversaries, you can attack their character and their policies, and so forth. But they demonized him -- called him Adolf Hitler, a racist, and a fascist, and so forth it is ridiculous. He is not a threat to democracy they portray. He was a president for four years he carried out excellent policies and it was all done lawfully.

...

That was my perception of what we suddenly saw this increase in attacks, and the decibel level and that vitriol increase, because they did not have an alternative other than this apocalyptic vision they are trying to paint.

And by the way, it is not just about Trump. We have seen the same thing with the Supreme Court, the personal vilification of Supreme Court justices when they disagree with the Supreme Court justices on legal matters."--Bill Barr

Yet, in the analysis following the attempted assassination the event was somehow homogenized with other, general violent events like riots and the crazy attack on Pelosi's husband rather than the very specific thing it was. And the public concerns became things like 'retaliation,' and equal blame, like campus riots being attributable to both anti-semitism and Islamophobia. Even Biden's generic call for unity was tinged with politics.

Insincerity and ambition. We're having trouble looking in the mirror. And we seem to be very willing to sacrifice the common good for our own limited aims.