This morning, a sickening attack occurred in Alexandria, Va., at a congressional baseball practice. The politicians were preparing for a major charity event set to take place tomorrow. By the grace of God, no victims lost their lives.

I am not a political person. However, that is not why I won’t address the specifics of the political hate that was involved. Yes, a certain political party was targeted by a supporter of a rival political party. But to me, violence is violence. It doesn’t matter what ideology the attempted murderer subscribed to or the presidential candidate he supported. What he did was wrong.

Tonight, I have to stand behind what the President said. He called for unity, he noted that everyone on that ball field was a public servant, and he reminded us that we are “blessed to be Americans.” A message we can all agree with, right?

It is time to come together. It is time to respect different views. It is time to move forward.

No matter what political beliefs we hold dear, like President Trump reminded us, we are blessed to be Americans. Hello! We live in a country that celebrates different views and gives us the opportunity to advance them. How fortunate can we be?! There is no reason we should ever resort to violence, let alone attempt to take the life of someone else, just because we don’t agree with them.

We can all do a better job at improving the climate in this country. It starts with just basic civility. We can all pledge to respect our government. From the president to the senators to the locals on the city council, they deserve our gratitude for their service. Do we have to agree with them? Of course not. But we can honor the democratic process and acknowledge their right to do the job they were elected to do.

I know my readers would never do anything horrendous like that troubled man did today. However, we can focus on the little things. We can clean up our social media posts, monitor what we retweet, refrain from crude comments, talk appropriately around children, and not act so bitter. Whether or not we like the government that is representing us currently, we can conduct ourselves in a way that is respectful toward our elected officials. Don’t Blink.