LETTER TO THE EDITOR - EDITOR

Last week in the Tiffany Telegram, Tiffany came out to condemn political violence. Except he didn't. His letter did nothing to turn down the temperature. Instead he fueled the fire that his maga supporters thrive on. These letters are written for his most loyal followers and are aimed at keeping them angry.

Tiffany is concerned about the state of our society. He asks 'What kind of country have we become when we call our neighbors 'Nazis' then act surprised when violence follows?'

In POTUS's first term, after far right demonstrators, doing Nazi things and chanting Nazi phrases, and later left a young woman dead in Charlottesville, NC, POTUS said 'There was good people, on both sides.' For ten years POTUS has said multiple times that immigrants are 'poisoning the blood of America.' A very Nazi thing to say.

For Tiffany's part; he has said many racist things, including immigrants should 'speak English in public.' Why does that bother you? They are not likely talking to you anyhow.

He goes on, 'We cannot allow political violence or media driven division tear us apart.' In the immediate aftermath of right-wing, MAGA influencer, Charlie Kirk's public murder, right-wing media was quick to point the finger at the left. Big names like Jesse Waters, Steve Bannon, and Deputy Chief of Staff for POTUS, Steven Miller, were all angrily blaming the left and calling for more violence against the left.

In the next line he writes, 'As President Trump warned us this week, years of demonizing political opponents can lead to deadly consequences, something he knows all too well.' He goes on to post a link to POTUS's remarks about the Kirk murder.

Tiffany is playing the victim card here. That the Republicans are the victims. That POTUS was the victim of left-wing assassin's bullet.

POTUS knows fool-well the consequences of demonizing his opponents, he has been doing it for more than ten years, starting with 'Lock her up,” and calling the Democrats the radical left and stating they hate and want to destroy this country and so much more ever since.

In the video that Tiffany linked to, we see POTUS praise Kirk as a martyr for free speech and a man of deep Christian faith. And also demonize the left. POTUS said we must go after the people that threaten ICE agents and other law enforcement. This from the one that pardoned and released from prison, people that attacked police with brutal force and leaving death and destruction in their wake on January 6, 2021.

POTUS goes on to blame the left for all the violence, giving multiple examples of violence from the left, but only one could be attributed from the left. Rep. Steve Scalice was shot on a ball field. No mention of Rep. Gabby Gifford, a Democrat, who was shot and left brain damaged years earlier.

POTUS blames the left for the attempt on his life last year, when the kid's political leanings were unclear at best. The shooter was a troubled young white male, from rural America, with easy access to guns, looking for infamy. The all too typical demographic of the school shooter.

It was a young, white male, from Mormon country, from a good Christian family that supported POTUS and knew how to handle guns that shot Kirk.

It was a right-winger that compiled a list of Democrats and shot four people, killing two in Minnesota. Tiffany doesn't mention these victims of political violence, instead he diverts by calling attention to the tragic murder of a young Ukrainian refugee, only to blame the left for a failed judiciary system.

In the immediate aftermath of the Minnesota killings, Tiffany's colleague, Utah Senator Mike Lee, posts despicable comments trying to blame the left.

When Paul Pelosi was beaten with a hammer by a POTUS supporter, Trump Jr. was making jokes and smeared the victim. I could go on.

Tiffany and all those that voted for POTUS, can claim all they want that they condemn violence, but they are only lying to themselves and to each other. They have no credibility. They saw the violence of POTUS supporters on January 6th and voted for more violence. They all long ago convinced themselves that the violence of January 6th didn't count, that it was justified, that it should be ignored and forgotten.

Unless and until the Republican party admits that they have a problem with political violence, the problem will continue to worsen.

No one deserves to die for what they said. But Kirk played a dangerous game. His whole shtick was to be provocative. To play on people's emotions. To make people mad. He has been accused of using extreme rhetoric, making racist and misogynistic comments. And now Tiffany acts 'surprised' that this happened.

Kirk was an advocate for free speech, and also the Second Amendment. When asked about gun violence in America, he said we must 'accept' gun deaths, to protect our rights to guns.

Charlie was wrong, we don't have to accept young white males shooting up schools, churches, synagogues, stores, politicians, and even political pundits like Kirk himself. We can protect our citizens and our rights at the same time. We have seen so many mass shootings that they barely make the news anymore. Each tragedy has to be bigger than the last to gain the attention these killers seek. They can be found, they can be stopped. A majority of Americans support sensible gun safety laws.The Republican party, the NRA, and the gun industry stand in the way of progress.

Ron Gutenberger Colby