THE assassination attempt of former US President Donald Trump really shocked me, although I can not stand the man and wished he would just go away.
But violence in politics is something totally unacceptable and we all need to stand up against that, because it is wrong.
It is always wrong, no matter where it is in the world.
Democracy is about an exchange of political opinions.
It is not a war and those with different political views are not the enemy. We need to have mutual respect for our differences and listen to each other.
Who knows, we might actually learn something from each other.
Simply dismissing the opinions, ideas and suggestions from political opponents is silly, narrow-minded and immature.
Please take note of this Australian politicians!
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull rightly said last weekend that we need to move back to the centre of politics and find our common interests.
The extreme right and extreme left views are divisive and not very helpful to get better outcomes.
Political parties need to go back to their core values, that have been displaced by populism and hyperbole.
It should start at the undignified chaos question time is in our federal Parliament.
That Canberra chaos inspires people to extreme nastiness on social media, where slander, innuendo, defamation, name-calling and conspiracy are sadly the norm, and often based on total ignorance about the topic they write about.
Common courtesy would be so much better when we engage in political debate.
Political assassinations are sadly not at all new, and not as president Joe Biden claimed, unheard of.
In the US Abraham Lincoln was killed in 1865. In my lifetime John F Kennedy was killed in 1963, when I was only 15-years-old.
It shocked me so much that I wrote my first ever poem about the assassination.
Since then Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were also killed. World War I started after archduke Ferdinand was killed in Sarajevo.
Terrorism by political and religious zealots has made our planet a lot less safe.
Zealots
The Baader Meinhof Red Army group kidnapped and killed industrial leaders in Europe to make a political point in the 1970s.
At school in the Netherlands we learned about the assassination of the Prince of Orange in 1849, whose last words were: “Lord, please have pity on me and those poor people.”
We are indeed poor people if we believe we can solve our political differences with murder and violence, instead of respectfully engaging with one another.
Even at our local councils public speakers sometimes treat the elected members with disdain and disrespect.
It is absolutely OK to disagree with our governments and criticise them, but there is no need at all to do so without the courtesy they deserve, and the office they hold demands. They try to do their best for the common good.
That might not always be good enough in our opinion, but they were elected to make decisions and show leadership, so give them a bit of slack and encouragement as well.
The world we live in is not perfect, and neither are any of us.
We all make mistakes.
We all sometimes react too strongly and dismissively when we don’t agree with each other, so we need to call ourselves out, chill a bit, and stop being disrespectful.
Political hatred is nonsense.
Opponents are just fallible human beings, like all of us, who believe in certain political directions. They don’t deserve to be treated like scum, and have to fear for their life and wellbeing.
Politicians also have that responsibility. Inciting fear, hatred, even violence is absolutely not acceptable.
What we want and need in Australia are good political values, not hyperbole, spin and election pork barreling.
We will have the WA and Federal elections next year, so get ready for a lot of attempts at trying to buy our votes with, often empty, promises.
nd if the legal challenge to the Fremantle council election should be successful, we might also have a bi-election for Coastal Ward in Fremantle next year.
Three elections! OMG! May the universe be kind to us!
Roel Loopers
freoview.wordpress.com