The first delineated crime in the bible: Cain murdering Abel.
Family violence has a long and tragic history, damaging many, many people.
For example, a friend of my dad’s visited a neighbor couple for a Friday night beer. The wife’s ex-husband came in and shot everyone, including putting a bullet in Charlie’s head. No warning, never any meaningful explanation.
During my career in social services I saw the impacts of family and domestic violence on a regular basis. Despite community resources and the help of good people these deadly acts continue. People suffer, people grieve.
Thus the surge of empathy generated by the murders of Rob Reiner and his wife touches most all of us, even though most had never met the couple.
Yet Donald J. Trump hates empathy. A routine expression of sympathy morphed into a ‘he had it coming’ diatribe. The couple’s deaths were about him.
Let’s not be surprised. Trump and his ilk openly worship murder.
Note how the President and his Secretary of War gloat over blown-up boats in international waters, killing most of a hundred people. They share videos of missiles destroying boats and lives.
Now the administration does not deny that it is planning a ground war in Venezuela, officially to topple a leftist regime and stop drugs. (More likely due to Venezuelan oil being a good product for Koch brother refiners along the Gulf Coast). What’s a bit more murder to facilitate political goals?
Meanwhile, despite the thousands of dead civilians in Gaza the President has not pushed-back on Benjamin Netanyahu’s scorched earth policy. Nor has the president given more than lip service recently to stopping Putin’s murder of Ukrainian civilians.
Making things worse, Trump acceptance of violence and murder probably lowers the bar for his ardent, deranged supporters here and around the world.
Remember, the murder of a Michigan politician and spouse, plus the wounding of others, earned barely a whisper from the White House – while right wing firebrand Charlie Kirk’s political assassination brought the President to the memorial service. Kirk’s widow talked of forgiveness, Trump of retribution – more deaths to revenge one tragedy.
Murder keeps getting closer to being an acceptable, routine political act. Be it in Rhode Island or Australia, mass attacks on innocents just don’t evoke the sad reaction they ought. When the President now routinely orders and praises murder, well, it’s just part of how he does his job.
Dad’s friend Charlie survived his wound (though it seriously changed and shortened his life). His two friends did not.
Murder cannot be eliminated. At least we should do more to minimize the deaths. Having the President stop authorizing needless murders would be a good start.
Glenn Koenen