I’m surprised more unhinged individuals aren’t flipping out in this political environment.

I am refering, of course, to right-winger Cesar Sayoc, the guy who allegedly sent would-be mail bombs to CNN, a host of political leaders from the Democratic party and actor Robert De Niro.

It’s a likely outgrowth of the political climate in which we live.

Oddly, both sides of the political aisle will blame the other for this most recent spate of political violence.

People on the left will say it’s President Trump’s fault because he calls people names, engages in inflammatory rhetoric and doesn’t act presidential.

People on the right will say it’s the fault of the Democrats and the media for constantly deriding Trump.

I see it both ways. Everybody needs to dial it down.

Trump shouldn’t be talking trash about his opponents and giving attaboys to supporters who punch people or body slam journalists.

But then again, Rep. Maxine Waters shouldn’t be encouraging people to “surround” cabinet members and “tell them they’re not welcome here.”

De Niro shouldn’t blurt out “F*** Trump.”

Madonna shouldn’t wax warmly about “blowing up the White House.”

There are literally hundreds of examples of inflammatory rhetoric against Trump.

This makes Trump supporters mad.

This Sayoc character from Florida plastered his van with all manner of placards and stickers supporting Trump and deriding Democrats.

Not sure what the trigger was, but something set him off and prompted him to mail pipe bombs to a bunch of people who have said bad things about his idol, Trump.

Not sure what triggered James Hodgkinson, either. He’s the left-winger who shot up a baseball field full of Republicans and damn near killed Majority Whip Steve Scalise.

Hodgkinson was shot at the scene and died later.

Thankfully, Sayoc was a lousy bomber. Nobody got hurt as a result of his derangement.

I have become convinced that we are past a point of no return in politics. We are divided beyond repair.

It’s not even the big things that divide us anymore. It’s everything. Both sides demagogue every issue.



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Republicans claim Democrats want “open borders.” Name one Democrat who wants open borders.

Democrats claim Republicans want dirty water and dirty air. Name one Republican who wants dirty water or dirty air.

On every issue, one side or the other twists the facts to gain whatever the politician in question perceives as a political advantage.

I was reading a column by Eugene Robinson in this very newspaper earlier this week. His topic was voting in the upcoming election and he wrote this:

“The coordinated, nationwide GOP response – suppressing the black vote – seems likely to fail as well. Even the purging of some 50,000 voters, most of them black, from the rolls in Georgia is marginal given the state's total population of more than 10 million.”

I happened to be aware of the “exact match” legislation in Georgia he was referring to, so I edited his work to read, “Even the potential purging ...”

Why?

Because an accomplished Washington Post columnist like Robinson should have known that Georgia’s law, passed in July 2017, allows voters 26 months to fix problems.

Georgia’s law says a voter registration application is complete only when the information on the form exactly matches the department of driver services or the Social Security administration.

Some 50,000 voters were mailed a form that said they had errors on their voter registration application. They have 26 months to fix the problem and can vote in the meantime.

That, of course, takes any “potential purging” well past next month’s election.

Details, details. Never mind.

Now, certainly one can argue that the law is heavy-handed. I tend to agree.

But for Robinson to suggest that 50,000 voters will be purged and that this will affect this election is just flat wrong.

And even if he was talking about future elections, can he confidently predict that not one of those 50,000 voters will correct the errors on their voter registration applications?

Of course he can’t.

But this is where we are these days.

Little or no regard for facts. Just push the narrative that makes your side look good and the other side look bad.

Trump does it. Republicans do it. Democrats do it. Columnists do it. Journalists do it.

I try really hard not to do it. I try to make sure the opinions I foist upon readers are supported by facts.

I’m sure at some point along the way I have failed. But it’s not for lack of trying to maintain fairness and accuracy in formulating my opinions.

I don’t know where we go from here as a nation, but I’m confident it’s not a good place.