Yesterday, in a small North Idaho town (Coeur d'Alene), a pastor was shot 5-6 times in the back after a church service. Although he was badly injured, he has been operated on, and it appears that he will survive. The police have learned who the shooter is, and are actively searching for him. Now....... Here is the issue about this. The pastor is a Cruz supporter, and had apparently led a Ted Cruz rally the day before, or at least said the prayer for the rally. There are pictures on Facebook of Cruz standing with the pastor. However, the comments that are coming out online have made the whole thing political, even before anything is actually known about what motivated the shooting. Some people are saying that it was a deranged Trump supporter, and others are claiming that it was actually some liberal Democratic nutcase that shot the pastor. Either way, derogatory political slurs are the main parts of the comments, as opposed to actually caring about the man who was shot, or his family. I realize that this presidential race has generated a lot more interest than maybe ever before; but when it goes so far off course as this incident has, then I think that this is not a good sign. If the police have any idea why the pastor was actually targeted by the shooter, it is not being made public as far as I can see, so the people who are claiming that it was political may well be way of base in their presumptions. In any case, whether it was politically motivated, or the people just think that it is; I think that this is not a good thing that people are assuming it is political.
Yes, the worst part is that it's become very ugly within the Republican Party. This is the ugliest I've ever seen it. Almost all comments anywhere have become political and have nothing to do with the story at all sometimes.
I usually keep up with the news, especially news of this type, but I've been out of the loop, so missed it. I'll have to keep an eye open for an update. It's such a shame that people feel the need to act out in this manner. I always wonder why people don't take action ahead of time, because there are usually many warning signs, and it often appears that intervention could have made a difference, and potentially saved one or more lives. I'm glad to hear that he will survive, although obviously his life will never be the same. Politics have become so ugly lately that I've had to step back. There's a large group of people on Twitter that have been mutually following with similar beliefs for about 8 years. I don't even read a lot of their tweets these days, because it's all mud slinging and name calling, even of those who they've been 'friends' with for years, all because each is convinced that his/her candidate is the only one who will save the country. Hopefully we won't see more incidents like this one, but there are a lot of people out there with untreated mental illnesses, and the economy has pushed many into fragile states, as well.
Actually, this isn't really the dirtiest that politicians have gotten. Way back when our founding fathers were around the political scene was Way, Way nastier. Apparently the candidates would sit back in their homes and let people they hired do the campaigning and what was also apparent was that the hirees did their jobs quite well. http://mentalfloss.com/article/12487/adams-vs-jefferson-birth-negative-campaigning-us The above link is just one campaign between Jefferson and Adams which was probably the most famous when it came to mud slinging between presidential candidates.
Interesting statement, @Cody Fousnaugh . I'm thinking that.... well no, I can't say that, or *I* would be making a political statement. Hmmm.... how do I get around that? Okay, let's just wait for your answer and then I'll say more.
Just my opinion, Chrissy. Some multitudes of voters continue keeping our leaderships' offices filled with self-aggrandizing people either of great ignorance or great charlatanry. For example, Nancy Pelosi, who declared no one would know the contents of the Affordable Care Act until it was passed, and then read? (!!?) What double-speak and arrogance! Don't get me started. Frank
Political campaigns have been ugly for a lot of years now but mostly in TV ads attacking verbally the opposing candidates...now days those attacks are getting really personal and dirtier than ever before. And now we have innocent people getting verbally and physically attacked too. This stuff is going way to far but I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon. I have little confidence that whoever becomes our President will really be able to change much in our Country either.
Negative campaigning has always been with us. As early as 1800, Vice President Thomas Jefferson accused President Adams of having "a hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman." Adams called Jefferson a "mean-spirited, low-lived fellow, the son of a half-breed Indian squaw, sired by a Virginia mulatto father." Before the campaign was over, Jefferson had called Adams a fool, a hypocrite, and a tyrant, while Jefferson was referred to as a weakling, an atheist, a libertine, and a coward. Even Martha Washington got into the spirit of campaigning, calling Jefferson "one of the most detestable of mankind." Presidential candidates didn't actively campaign back then, as they do now. Adams and Jefferson spent most of the election season in their homes. The campaigning was done in the newspapers, and by proxies. Jefferson hired a man by the name of James Callendar to be his hatchet man. Callendar set about persuading people that Adams wanted to attack France. Although there was no truth to it, enough voters bought into it that this was attributed to Jefferson's victory on election day. Callendar later served jail time for the slander. When he was released from prison, he felt that Jefferson owed him. When Jefferson refused to pay, he was the one who broke the story about Jefferson's affair with Sally Hemings, one of his slaves, an allegation was finally proven by DNA testing in 1998. Either they made up or it was all in the spirit of campaigning, because Jefferson and Adams remained friends, writing letters to one another throughout their lives, both dying on the same day, July 4, 1828, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. During the campaign that pitted John Quincy Adams against Andrew Jackson, Adams was called a pimp, and Jackson's wife was called a slut. One newspaper reported that "General Jackson's mother was a common prostitute, brought to this country by the British soldiers. She afterward married a mulatto man, with whom she had several children, of which number General Jackson is one."
Very interesting mud slinging there @Ken Anderson! It's nice to know history is just repeating itself, although maybe taken up a notch or two.
There have been some interesting developments in this case of the Idaho pastor being shot. Some really STRANGE developments, in fact. They have now arrested the shooter (a former Marine), and he was arrested at the White House in Washington DC. He mailed electronic flash drives to his parents, and several newspapers, and then made his way to the White House, and threw some over the White House fence; and was then arrested by the White House security. Interestingly, he also made threats against many of the Senators, Congressmen, and Israeli leaders. The police are taking the threats seriously, and investigating everything in the information that he provided. One of his claims seems to be that all of these people, including the pastor, are from an ancient Martian civilization, and are here to harm or maybe take over the earth. ( I am guessing that this is not one of the threats they are taking seriously) Facebook chatter is still trying to blame Donald Trump for all of this, of course. Ridiculous...... http://www.inquisitr.com/2870125/id...ew-odom-has-been-arrested-at-the-white-house/
I am sick of the whole election mess. @Ken Anderson for that info about other fun campaigns..lol. I'll just be glad when we're down to two people. I think things need to change with both parties. We deserve better leaders.