As a child growing up in San Antonio in the 1960’s, my Republican mom took me to see the JFK motorcade, two days before the horror in Dallas. My memories of seeing the black limo have ever since been reinforced by the videos we have all seen of “shots fired.”

Later, the sniper at the UT tower caused us in Texas to ask, “Is there something wrong with Texas?” We were ashamed, confused, and concerned.

Fast forward 60 years and threats of political violence have become baked into our political discourse. Would an”R” mom take her kid out of school to wave on the sidewalk as our “D” President’s motorcade drives past? Our immediate past president has just said our most recent Joint Chiefs head should be executed for crimes he has imagined. And he appointed that General!

Our community of Enumclaw voted 52R/48D in the 2020 presidential election. This is a closely divided political landscape. Do you personally feel it is ever appropriate to threaten violence against your neighbor who holds different views from yours?

I am worried that the chaos emanating from the corporate media and one party in DC is causing people to accept the” both parties are the same” and “all pols are crooked”, with the result that people are checking out, just when it is imperative that we all pay extra attention.

This next year will assuredly be a bumpy ride. Forces are invested in getting the voting public to throw our hands up and disengage. Please, friends and neighbors, pay attention. The future of our Republic demands it.

Shawn Johnson

Enumclaw