Baseball shooting brings out the best; if only it could last
The shooting of Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., and four others at a ballpark outside Washington, as bad as it was, could have been far worse.
Had the gunman been a better shot, he could have wreaked more carnage among the many members of Congress, staffers and lobbyists on the practice field in Alexandria, Va.
And had the Republican team not included Scalise, the House majority whip, no Capitol Police detail would have been present to respond before local law enforcement arrived on the scene. Indeed, the bravery of Capitol Police officers David Bailey and Crystal Griner prevented a much bigger tragedy.
The aftermath of the shooting could also have been worse. Rather than using Wednesday’s horrific events to score quick political points, our nation’s top elected leaders acted with the kind of maturity and respect that Americans have a right to expect but too rarely see.
As President Trump noted, those in public service may have strong differences on policy, but they are motivated by love of country. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said. House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called Ryan’s remarks beautiful.
America’s political discourse has grown increasingly polarized in the past several decades, and with that the arguments have gotten more heated. That’s especially true outside of Congress, in the worlds of social media, cable television, talk radio and public protests.
And it’s especially dangerous when angry debate collides with people who are unstable. The gunman, identified as James Hodgkinson, was not only a Democratic backer of Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont with unbridled animosity toward Republicans. He also had a long history of arrests and strange, sometimes violent behavior.
Politicians should not — must not — refrain from standing up for what they believe in. But they should always be mindful of how their most inflammatory rhetoric might affect their most impassioned or unhinged constituents.
It might surprise Americans to know that most of their elected officials manage this just fine. Their tweets and remarks are often pointed but rarely personal. Many have respectful working relationships with each other; some even have friendships.
The next time you witness a cable shoutfest or hear a talk-radio attack on one party or the other, think about the women senators of both parties who’ve been dining together for years. Think about the solid bipartisan partnerships behind the drive for criminal justice reform.
Think about the congressional pair — Republican Will Hurd and Democrat Beto O’Rourke — who took a 24-hour road trip from Texas to Washington. Or the two senators, Arizona Republican Jeff Flake and New Mexico Democrat Martin Heinrich, who went to a remote island to film Rival Sur
vival. And think about Thursday night’s annual congressional baseball game for charity.
A shock like the ballpark attack is best seen for what we take away from it. Hopefully more civility, more compromise, and more voters telling their leaders that’s what they want.