General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I hate this place at times like this. [View all]missingthebigdog
(1,233 posts)We don't know what motivated this guy- yet. Unfortunately, the news cycle doesn't really allow us to wait for that information; if we have any chance of minimizing the damage here, we have to get out in front of it. I hope that's what our leadership is doing right now- deciding what the talking points are going to be, and lining up the Sunday show appearances.
What people need to understand is that it is not all that difficult to incite this type of behavior. We just had an election in which candidates from both parties attempted to leverage economic injustice to their advantage. Some people had to believe that meant things were going to get better for them. Now, those people feel betrayed, and hurt, and forgotten by the candidates, the parties, and the country.
All of the time now, I see hopelessness in people. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, no pot of gold. Nobody is coming to save us. These people BELIEVED things would change, and that the change would come fast. They voted for that, whether their ballot was marked for Trump or they wrote in Bernie or voted for Jill Stein (which is apparently what this guy did). Reality persists, and that is beyond frustrating. Having riled up all of these people on the fringes, can we really expect them to sit back and be quiet? I'm honestly surprised we haven't seen many more incidents like this.
To this guy, this is a dire situation which justifies violence and assassination. We created this, and we better figure out a way to own it.