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I was playing my gig at Boardwalk on Big Pine Key last Saturday when I started seeing a repeated video loop on a TV screen across the establishment. The images were unbelievable — presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump was speaking at a rally when he suddenly went down and was “slowly” rushed by Secret Service officers off the stage. He appeared at first to be okay, as well as a bit defiant. While on break, I caught up with the details of the story. Sadly, one rally attendee was killed, and two were critically injured.
It had been a lot of years since a president or a presidential candidate had been shot or shot at. I was in college on March 30, 1981, when newly sworn-in President Ronald Reagan was shot as he exited the Washington Hilton. Reagan recovered and returned to the White House with a new commitment to changing the relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States. His press secretary, James Brady, was shot, as well as a Secret Service agent and a D.C. policeman. Brady’s injuries inspired the bipartisan passage of the Brady Bill, which mandated federal background checks for handgun purchases.
No matter one’s political orientation, the nation was united with the hope the president would pull through surgery and come back to office. I remember feeling the same way when U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords of Arizona was shot at a public event and the same when U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana was shot at a practice for a Congressional baseball game in 2017. I’m also old enough to remember both the Kennedy family assassinations and that of Martin Luther King Jr., as well as the assassination attempt on Alabama Gov. George Wallace in 1968.
I’ve written several pieces throughout my years as a columnist stressing the need to try to find the common ground that unites us — as well as the need to tamp down the partisan rhetoric that inspires the worst of us — including acts of political violence. What happened Saturday afternoon in Pennsylvania is but a manifestation of the hyper-partisanship that seems to define modern American politics.
As is right, there has been an initial outpouring of sympathy from both sides of the aisle. No real American in good conscience wants to see an election decided by bullets instead of ballots. It didn’t take long, however, for the prevailing political rhetoric to reassert itself. Social media posts came out lamenting that the shooter didn’t have good aim. And a candidate for the Senate in Florida sent out a text with this sentence, and I quote: “Democrats want to end Donald Trump’s life.”
As a former elected official, I have been subject to tire slashings and death threats, most recently in 2019. While I never felt like my life was in imminent danger (thank you Monroe County Sheriff’s Office), it was nonetheless disconcerting to know that someone out there wished to do me harm. Those who put themselves out for public service — as well as their loved ones — shouldn’t have to worry about their physical safety.
We can do better than this. We can be better than this. America was founded as a republic where the majority rules, but the rights of the minority are respected and upheld. Compromise for the greater good is not a dirty word. Bigotry, hatred and political violence have no place in American society. We are one nation under one red, white and blue flag — or at least we should be.
It will be interesting to see if the events of last weekend will serve as a reminder of the America we should be. Or will they be just more fuel to the fire of the broken system of political discourse we’ve come to expect? I wish I could be optimistic. Time will tell as this election cycle plays out and the demonization of one’s opponents resumes center stage.
Catch John live Thursdays at Sparky’s Landing, this Friday at Isla Bella, and Sundays at Skipjack Tiki Bar. Find his music anywhere you download or stream your music. www.johnbartus.com • johnbartus.hearnow.com
