No one not comatose the past year and a half would deny that President Trump is a bit of a bully.
He enjoys, it would seem, lashing out at anyone who crosses him, often with Tweets that at the very least are unkind. Trump has been described as a loose cannon and often even his closest advisers arent sure when a round is going to be launched, sometimes in direction of Americas closest allies.
Such behavior is bound to produce repercussions.
But what we have seen occurring with increasing frequency, attacks viciously verbal if not physical against those who work under Trumps banner or support the president in a public way, have gone embarrassingly too far.
To wit: Monday morning two avowed conservatives, Charlie Kirk and Candace Owens, were accosted during a breakfast at a Philadelphia restaurant. A small group of Antifa (anti-fascists) protesters, which were few in number and intensity and then grew, hurled rude and crude insults against the pair, and made some contact, though we doubt dosing from a water bottle should be construed as a violent assault.
Eventually, police officers were summoned to defend the pair.
Some staunch Trump supporters want to blame Maxine Waters rant for liberals of all stripes to make life uncomfortable for Trump and those who find favor with the president with such goings-on. And there may be more than a modicum of truth in that accusation, but more likely the fault lies elsewhere, including the demise of civility that has been festering from before Trump ever announced a run for the presidency.
Gridlock that has affected Congress for some time, starting in some measure with Republicans unwilling to cooperate with Obama from day one of his eight years in the White House, surely has been a driving force.
Arrogance, condescending attitudes and projecting patronizing superiority have had much more than passive roles. Some of the same concerns have come to roost in Topeka, though a group of moderate Republican taking office two years ago was a positive move forward, primarily to end the ill-advised income tax cuts of 2011-12 and the years-long drought in school funding.
WE NEED to embrace each other, in politics and all other phases of life.
A smile, a helping hand and admitting your way is better than mine goes a long way in keeping things on an even keel.
Perhaps some of that will occur on Election Day, Nov. 7, and lead to a different approach in Washington and state capitals in 2019 and years beyond.
That may be too sanguine a wish, but we can always hope.
Bob Johnson
