𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽.

Concerning the most recent tragedy. I knew the name Charlie Kirk before last week, but I have to be honest. I never really watched his content. Mostly because I don’t spend alot of time in the world of social media influencers. Clearly, many Americans do. So I spent some time learning about him. Family man. Christian. Loving father. His viewpoints? Some I agree with, some I don’t. But he was a very effective communicator who used words. That’s a hallmark of American democracy. His death unquestionably a tragedy.

Many statements followed over the next few days. Sadly, a high-profile State Rep. and candidate for Lehigh County Executive made a particularly reckless post that entirely missed the mark. He took the low road. The result? More toxicity and unproductive finger pointing on his page. That’s not leadership. Not at all. And it saddens me to think that element might be creeping into County politics, where our current board and Executive have worked hard to solve problems together.

Others Nationally rose to the moment. Gov. Cox said, “𝘈𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘧𝘧-𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘱, 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦.” He’s right. We desperately need to find the offramp.

Senator Bernie Sanders added: “𝘈 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺…𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 — 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴.” That’s the kind of restraint and perspective we need.

I’ll share something personal. Twice in my 12 years as a part-time local official, loved ones have told me I should stop. Why? Because public service now almost feels dangerous. Mind boggling considering 12 years ago that wasn’t the case.

𝗦𝗼, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗴𝗼 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?

Elected officials and candidates for office need to resist cheap applause lines demonizing opponents. Stop trying to score easy political points exploiting anger. Start modeling restraint. Acknolwedge disagreements don’t erase a political opponents humanity.

We need to acknowledge that people we disagree with, even vehemently, often want to get to the same places. Safe communities, opportunities for our kids, a country that works. Right? The basics.

We need political reforms that eliminate the zero sum game. Gerrymandering hardens divisions instead of encouraging cooperation, fueling anger and mistrust. We also need to restore systemic checks and balances. The founders designed a government that moved slowly to encourage debate. We’ve drifted from that in a world of instant gratification, where the U.S. Congress has ceded too much power and Presidents of both parties lean far too heavily on executive orders. We need to again make civic education a cornerstone of K–12, so the next generation understands how our American democracy was designed to work.

We all may have different ideas on how to get there philosophically, policy etc. but that doesn’t make our neighbors enemies. Democracy depends on us debating the path forward without some clumsy zero sum game of trying to destroy, “own” or demonize each other.

Let’s take the next exit off this path. Otherwise, I’m not scared for myself. But my daughter? I’m nervous about the world we’re leaving her.