* From NCSL…
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) President and Illinois State Senator Toi Hutchinson (D) and NCSL President-elect Wisconsin Speaker Robin Vos (R) said:
“The recent news regarding explosive devices being sent to various persons across the country is an outright act of domestic terrorism. Now more than ever, those of us who have dedicated our lives to public service must take a stand against violence intended to damage the very foundations of our great nation. Let us come together–not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans–to reflect on the core values of our nation that include the peaceful and respectful resolution of our differences through debate, discussion, and elections–never violence.”
- wordslinger - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 3:15 pm:
Well said. And it certainly is an act of terrorism.
Lincoln’s Lyceum Address is highly relevant for these times.
http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/lyceum.htm
- Hamlet's Ghost - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 3:22 pm:
I find the term “stochastic terrorism” to be insightful and useful in this context. The term refers to events that are individually random but are a predictable response to inflammatory rhetoric.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/25/opinion/terrorism-bombs-democrats-deniro-biden-soros.html
I’d also submit that stochastic terrorism is a 21st century mass media variant of the Henry II / Thomas Beckett affair:
“Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”
- DuPage - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 3:24 pm:
Their message is good, but I am afraid no one is listening. Someone on the radio claimed to work for the post office and that the packages were meant to be found. They said the packages had too little postage and that caused them to be looked at closely by postal employees. Each of the packages appeared suspicious and were intercepted. The implication was this was some kind of publicity stunt by the Democrats. This does not bring opposing sides together.
- Northsider - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 3:38 pm:
All the stochastic terrorism comes from one side and one side only.
- Cable Line Beer Gardener - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 4:35 pm:
Their message is good, but I am afraid no one is listening. ***
I think you should be included in that listening group-an unnamed postal authority positing a theory on radio does not the truth make, nor is it true that all of the packages were intercepted prior to delivery, nor has it been proven that the Democrats did this as a publicity stunt. I dare say that blaming a group before an investigation is complete furthers the divide.
- Norseman - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 4:54 pm:
Nice to see a president issuing a thoughtful comment.
- 21st State - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 5:32 pm:
I was evacuated on Tue Sept 11 — went out to Oak Ridge and found a Civil War plate to sit beside and read “Storm Over the Land”
so proud of Toi — so glad she’s in such position to be able to issue such an important and timely statement
so glad to have you Rich — thank you for being such a lifeline
- Jocko - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 5:37 pm:
==this was some kind of publicity stunt by the Democrats==
Am I to guess you’re still looking for the kidnapped children whisked away from the Comet Ping Pong Pizzeria?
- wordslinger - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 5:42 pm:
–Their message is good, but I am afraid no one is listening.Someone on the radio claimed…–
Maybe you could do your bit and not spread the toxins emitted from the radio/cable fever-swamp.
- DuPage - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 6:29 pm:
- Cable Line Beer Gardener - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 4:35 pm:
Their message is good, but I am afraid no one is listening. ***
===I think you should be included in that listening group-an unnamed postal authority positing a theory on radio does not the truth make, nor is it true that all of the packages were intercepted prior to delivery, nor has it been proven that the Democrats did this as a publicity stunt. I dare say that blaming a group before an investigation is complete furthers the divide.===
- wordslinger - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 5:42 pm:
–Their message is good, but I am afraid no one is listening.Someone on the radio claimed…–
===Maybe you could do your bit and not spread the toxins emitted from the radio/cable fever-swamp.===
I was referring to the person on the radio to be “not listening” to the call for “calm and reflection” by the NCSL people. As I said, the NCSL message was good.
- wordslinger - Thursday, Oct 25, 18 @ 11:17 pm:
–All the stochastic terrorism comes from one side and one side only.–
Heather Heyer, the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church prayer group, and Rep. Scalise would disagree.
There’s no question that first the Murdochs, and then Trump, have degraded and perverted the national discourse. But murderous nuts come in all flavors and we must overcome them.
From Lincoln’s Lyceum Address:
–Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never!–All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Buonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.–
It’s a good idea to regularly re-read Lincoln, the first great, and still greatest, American writer in the English language.