A fist in the air
I waited as long as I could to type these words into my computer because I was praying for the inspiration needed to provide some words that might be appropriate for any readers whose eyes might find their way in front of them.
I have lived now through two shootings of Presidents – Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump. My extended maternal family includes four who were killed and one who was wounded – Presidents Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt.
When the news announced the shooting of President Reagan, I remember the fear and worry for he and Nancy brought on me when I heard and saw it. I looked up to them both. But I also looked up to President Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, who I had known since childhood. That use to be OK, you respected and looked up to those who took on the mantle of leadership that we gave them.
I was preparing to entertain at a concert Saturday night, when I was told by some attendees about the shooting of President Trump. I have never met him, although I have shook hands with Don, Jr. and know many who are in his circle from my time serving as a local elected official. Unlike the others listed above, I have no familial ties with the Trump family, so other than the fact he has always been part of my life through his media exposure and seeing all he did and tried to do for Americans like myself during his four years in office, he has my appreciation as my president.
At the concert, I led those who attended in prayer for President Trump, for the others shot and their families and for all who were forever changed by witnessing this. I prayed for our country, for our leaders, that our shared love of America could bring us together to further the principals of this great experiment created under the greatest generation of thinkers and patriots to ever live.
It was many hours later that I was able to become more familiar with what came to pass through the videos and eye witness accounts available online. The strength of spirit exhibited by President Trump under fire and threat of fire was amazing. The love and dedication of the men and women in that crowd who also stood their ground under fire and were more concerned about the president, protecting their families and their fellow attendees than themselves. Had the crowd ran rather than going to the ground, many more could have been injured. The selfless attendees who responded to help those who were shot and comfort those with them was inspiring. And the outpouring of support for the victims and their families is heartwarming. My prayers go out to the family of Corey Comperatore, who gave his life protecting his family, and the other injured victims whose names I do not know.
As I write, the Republican Convention is underway and President Trump is now the nominee and he has just named his running mate as Senator J.D. Vance. Despite the fact that such an outcome was a couple of millimeters from not occurring just 48 hours earlier, President Trump and the American political process is moving on.
I will not sugar coat the fact that what I have seen the last couple of days has moved me greatly. I have found myself holding back tears several times. That is why I wanted to write these words. I know I cannot be the only person who is hurting by seeing what happened. To see where the country I love has come. To see the work my family members fought and died for beginning in 1775 all the way up to the present being treated so recklessly. Now, I know this is not new, obviously based on the list of cousins I have lost to this type of violence. On many occasions, my ancestors would challenge someone to a dual over a point of pride or a political difference if that difference was pushed to insults. That is true of many of our leaders especially in the first 125 years of our republic.
Civil society left those practices behind by in large decades ago. But perhaps that is the problem, perhaps we are once again moving away from a civil society. Impressionable people are being brainwashed by others – politicians, educators, media and others to the point of violent acts to get whatever it is they want or whatever they have been taught will save the world. Is this the direction we want for our future?
Granted our ancestors fought a Civil War when we could not solve our political differences; we overcame political differences, social, political, economic and equality ills struggling forward during the suffragette, labor, and Civil Rights movements, and many were injured and died during these struggles. But in my opinion those brave men and women were struggling to further the more perfect union ascribed to and dreamed upon by our founders. And through the years, we marched ever closer to that realization of those hopes.
I saw a man last Saturday get up off the stage, bloodied by an assassin’s bullet, probably somewhat angered, probably greatly worried about his family and those who had come to see him, who defiantly and boldly reached his fist in the air not knowing if another shot might be close at hand to take him out. The words he chose to say to Americans was “Fight, Fight, Fight.” In my opinion he was letting everyone know that he was OK and no matter what happens not to give up on our country. That video and the images captured around it were those that photographers live a lifetime hoping to snap. They will endure as long as America does. I pray that Americans can see it is time for our country to come together and work in unity rather than spending our time fighting among ourselves. Otherwise, we won’t have a country to fight over, because our enemies, many who are within our borders, are inch by inch working to take America and the founders dreams for it away from us.
