On April 19, 1995 I got to my office at the University, fired up my new
computer, and read about the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma
City that morning. I immediately called my 80 year old stepfather, one of
the few remaining members of my family in Oklahoma. Jack still ran a bank on
the southwest side of the city but had many dealings downtown. His condo was
about 5 miles north of the downtown. He did not answer. I left a message on
his answering machine. When I arrive home mid-afternoon, I found a message
from him on my answer machine, and it said something to the effect that
"This is an act of war. We are going to war with whoever did this." And I
called and let him describe what had happened from his point of view.

A few days later, as it emerged that we had found the enemy and he was us,
Jack expressed to me his disbelief that any American could so attack our
government. I posed to him several questions: Jack, if you walked across the
street and  into the men's bar at the Oklahoma City Golf and Country Club
and asked a couple of people what they thought of the US government, most
would say they hated it. He agreed. I asked the same of his church. He
agreed that in his social circle the dominant view of the US government was
that it was dangerous and a threat to mankind and they hated it. But, of
course, he posited, and I agreed, that it was all talk, that the same people
would, and in many cases, had offered their lives in defense of their
government. Even though they hated the IRS, hated Bill and Hillary, and
thought that nothing but socialism and communism came out of Washington, in
fact they paid their taxes, said the Pledge of Allegiance with passion and
conviction, and would never take up arms against the US government. 

My point to him, with which he agreed, was that when the respectable
educated leaders of a society emit such venom from their mouths, it should
not surprise them when some crazies take them literally and act it out.

That, to me, is the danger of the incredibly hateful and irresponsible
things that are spewing across the media (and into my answering machine
daily) in this election time. Makes me want to wash my telephone's
mouthpiece out with soap. 

You'd think western civilization would have learned something with the death
of Thomas a Becket.