The country is paying dearly for the division it has caused itself.

Our countrymen—-you, me and everyone else—-are the blame. The shooter had the gun and pulled the trigger, but this is on all of us.

Our politics have gotten so mean, we should’ve expected this to happen.

We’ve all lost friends over politics—a new phenomenon on the American political landscape. The polarization began in our hearts and has mostly been carried out through the devices of social media.

This situation could get worse because the questions surrounding the attempted assasination of former President Trump will grow as the inquiry by law enforcement and Congress ensues, particularly as related to the Secret Service, around which many questions properly linger.

Less than 24 hours after the tragedy, conspiratorial rhetoric began to appear on social media, with both sides of the political divide being blamed.

This was written a day after Mr. Trump was targeted and most of a week before publication, but it appeared one person and only one caused it.

We’re all speaking with a bad political tone and we’ve lost friends due to politics, within even our own families. I have dear cousins I’ve almost lost over the subject.

Everybody is too vocal nowadays. Used to be, the mild and meek among us wouldn’t open their mouths about politics. Now, they’ll scream at you over the issue—-where? On social media, of course.

I have a close friend whose famous statement on this subject goes like this: “I refuse to lose a friend over politics.” That’s an admirable take and I like his philosophy, but I struggle to follow it.

I’m not as good-hearted as he is. I need to change, as do others. I’m on the edge of losing not one, not two, but several friends over politics.

The country is broken. Many fear it can never be put back together again.

Americans can’t even agree on the value of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, an organization of our allies that could save the world from turning to dust.

Guns are in the hands of the wrong people—obvious in this case. Friends say they can’t give up theirs because then only the bad guys will have them.

Someone with a gun in his hand tried to kill former president Donald Trump. This man had intentions to kill the former president and would’ve found a gun, no matter what.

We’re glad the former president was not hurt worse and hope and pray he will be fine.

Most of us want elections to be decided by votes, not guns. However, in a sad reflection of the times, millions of Americans probably expected something like this to happen.

The vitriolic campaign has more than three months left to go and everybody’s upset over what happened in rural Pennsylvania. We can only pray we won’t have another such incident, but would anyone be surprised if we did?

Once we pass the Nov. 5 election date, with the country’s leader for the next four years decided, how will we address our division? Or will we?

A country divided cannot save itself from oblivion. What if this nation is attacked again like it was on 9-11-2001?

Can the nation get itself together again long enough to stave off another attack so that we can remain free?

This event moves us only a step away from third-world countries where political revolts occur on a regular basis. We already had endured an attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election, presenting such an aura.

With this God-awful event, we must look at ourselves with disdain. The rest of the world is looking at us with a rare skeptical eye.

---Mac Gordon is a native of McComb. He is a retired newspaperman. He can be reached at macmarygordon@gmail.com.