When Tempers Flare The Rhetoric Must Be Held In Check
by Larry Turner

During combative times in our country’s history, our most educated, dedicated and polished government leaders assumed control of tense situations involving internal and international policies and negotiated all sides to adopt a temperate stance until all issues could be negotiated and resolved.

That approach would not seem to be favored in today’s world, Instead, those feeling attacked in some respect shoot back with comments intended not to deflate the situation but rather to enrage the opponents even further. This is not smart and reveals a lack of training and mental control when faced with such conflicts in government.

Set out below are examples of a few instances when people in government we usually admire went off the deep end forgetting that their jobs were actually to defuse such matters rather than to stoke the fire further.

Governor Ron DeSantis
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum
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Although there will be arguments about the exact language used after the fact, when it happened Governor DeSantis was reported as saying that drivers in Florida have the right to hit protesters with their cars. That was expanded to tag “if they feel threatened” onto the comment, but in either case the words were much more polarizing that I’m sure than the Governor realized or intended.
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A sheriff in Brevard County, Florida was quoted as saying that protesters who get violent will be killed. The exact statement attributed to him “If you throw a brick, a firebomb or point a gun at one of our deputies, we will be notifying your family where to collect your remains at because we will kill you graveyard dead.”
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Certain Republican lawmakers took great umbrage at Democratic lawmakers who compared immigration and Customs Enforcement operations to the Gestapo. Representative Andy Biggs, R-Ariz. said “Comparing lawful police activity by our nation’s brave law enforcement officers to Nazi Germany’s Gestapo is sick.”
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The Mexican president urged US officials not to enforce border rules during a Gold Cup soccer game. The message, I guess, is that a soccer game is more important than protecting the borders of the United States. Really?
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And then there’s the alleged glitch by the Department of Defense that social media claimed was posted to remember Flag Day but seemed to support the message with the image of a Russian flag. How did the Russians come to be in charge of our Defense Department’s social media?
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Vice President Vance, after our strikes on Iran on June 22, counseled that “We’re not at war with Iran, we’re at war with Iran’s nuclear program.” Let that sink in before you start laughing.
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MSNBC reported during the ICE protests that Los Angeles was very calm “despite a lot of looting.” I guess people in LA can loot their hearts out and that’s okay.
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The Vice Mayor of a small California city in social media seemed to call on local gangs to defend undocumented migrants against ICE raids. Okay, now who defends the rest of the city against the gangs? Things are getting complicated, and nuts.

Additional examples could be added to those above every day, but these are sufficient to prove the point.