Reflections on the Day in Butler

Editorials and Opinions 2023

Posted Wednesday, July 17, 2024 8:00 pm

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By Steve Stefanides

I, like so many of you, was dismayed on Saturday afternoon to learn of the attempted assassination of the 45th President of the United States. It is a miracle that his life wasn’t taken from him on that afternoon in rural Pennsylvania, and it was a tragedy that saw the life taken of another attending the event in Butler, Pennsylvania, and two others who were seriously injured.

Our prayers and our thoughts go out to both former President Trump and his family and the families of the individual who lost his life and those who were seriously injured. It’s a miracle that more had not been hurt.

The investigation into this blemish on our nation’s reputation is ongoing. As I write this, the investigation is less than 48 hours old, and it may be weeks if not months before we have a clearer picture of what really happened and why. There is nothing to be gained today regarding the over-the-top conjecture regarding the details of the events and the time leading up to them.

What is in evidence is the fact that this is not the America that I or you know so well know. The fabric of this great nation is made up of men and women who get up every day and go to work, or to a house of worship to pray for a better day. They are the men and women who are dedicated to protecting our citizens and putting their lives on the line to do so. They rush towards danger, as did the volunteer fire chief from a small rural town who shielded his family with his own body, and in turn, lost his life doing what he knew was right.

They are the teachers who care deeply about their students and those individuals who volunteer to help coach in our community schools and recreation departments so kids can have the opportunity to participate in sporting events in their communities such as Butler, Pennsylvania, a town of 13,176 residents.

Their community is in as much shock as all the rest of America. It is the iconic representation of our nation, with the county courthouse standing in the middle of town with small shops and dinners. Folks like you and me have strolled those streets or many like them. In my past life, when I was a manager in the Northeast United States, I had the opportunity to make a stop in Butler and found it to be a perfect example of a Norman Rockwell illustration.

Yes, the events of last Saturday will stay with us for a lifetime, the same as the assassinations of JFK in Dallas, RFK’s abbreviated run for President that was violently cut short in a small kitchen in a Los Angeles hotel and Martin Luther King’s death on a motel balcony by another crazed gunman.

We must always be vigilant in our nation and support the logical and balanced approach to the protection of our citizens’ rights to keep and bear arms, as well as the protection of the Second Amendment. We must not fear legislation for a balanced approach to those issues surrounding how to deal with gun violence.

Dealing with mental health issues regarding the availability of firearms to individuals, as well as a criminal’s ability to obtain that hardware, while strengthening the laws regarding stricter sentencing guidelines, even if it means the construction of more penal facilities to house those breaking present laws.

Our nation cannot be portrayed based upon what we saw last weekend, it is not who we are. We are not some lawless third-world nation without regard to the sanctity of life or the laws that govern us. We are an omni-cultural nation, encompassing men and women from various nations, religions, ideologies, and ethnicities, which represent all parts of the world community.

I, like many of you, still hold to the truth that “all men are created equal,” a basic premise of the foundation of our great nation. Are we perfect? Of course not, because we are human and we have faults, but as I say that, we do not condone the errors of the past as we have continued to address them.

There is no place in America for that type of violence within a nation that is seen as a beacon of Democratic values around the world.

The process of the election of our leaders is revered throughout the world. Free and open elections are a staple of the Democratic process, and we have written those commitments with the blood of our young men and women since the inception of this great nation 248 years ago.

It is my fervent hope that those looking in on our imperfect Democracy understand our commitment to those truths that the Founders of this great nation penned on parchment all those years ago.

America and its people stand committed to those words and the meaning of them still today, as we come together as one people dedicated to the democratic values that have served us so well over the years.

Our prayers go out to all those in Butler, as well as the Trump family and those first responders who ran towards danger on that day.

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