It's Scary as Sh --

Susan Estrich on Jun 19, 2025

We have gotten to the point where lawmakers openly complain about it being "scary as sh--," according to NBC News, with security briefings having "done little to calm nervous lawmakers."

They're right to be worried, as are political leaders at the state and local level, most of whom receive no special police protection. Risking your life should not be the price of public service.

Yes, crazy people do crazy things.

But the rhetoric in politics -- coupled with the misguided actions of this president -- are enough to ignite the flames that threaten to engulf us.

Politics is too damn hot.

Consider what Mike Lee, the Republican senator from Utah, had to say about the political assassinations in Minnesota. In two separate posts on X, Lee said on Sunday, "This is what happens when Marxists don't get their way," along with a photo of the alleged assassin. He then posted a second time, with more photos, and the caption, "Nightmare on Waltz Street," a reference to the Democratic governor of Minnesota and vice presidential nominee Tim Walz.

Lee wasn't alone in pointing fingers at Walz and Democrats; Minnesota Rep. Duane Quam, a Republican, reportedly echoed Lee with his own post suggesting the suspected killer's wife interned for Walz, which is a total lie, as is the characterization of the killer as a Marxist. In fact, all reports are that he is a right-wing zealot and Trump supporter.

And yet, there is Mike Lee, playing the blame game before the bodies are buried.

On Monday, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith, a friend of the assassinated former speaker of the Minnesota House and someone whose name was on the list found in the killer's car, confronted Lee on the Senate floor. According to Smith, he "seemed a little surprised to be confronted." Later, Lee didn't say a word as reporters asked him a number of times about his posts, with one Lee staffer going so far as to try to block the camera's view of Lee walking away.

It wasn't until Tuesday, when the criticism had really started piling up, that Lee finally took down the posts. There have been no "corrections," much less an apology from the Utah senator.

What is wrong with this man?

When Marxists don't get their way? What happens when right-wing zealots don't get theirs?

No one plays the blame game with the vitriol of our president. At the rate he's going, he'll still be blaming Joe Biden when he's done with his second term. Or it all will be Barack Obama's fault. At Fort Bragg, he flubbed the insult, saying Biden never was the "sharpest bulb," and then claiming Biden "never dreamt about open borders ... when he was of sound mind, which actually was a very long time ago."

You won, Donald. He's no longer president. He's fighting stage-four cancer. Words have power. Actions even more.

What message does it send when the president pardons the Jan. 6 rioters who engaged in violent assaults on lawmakers and the Capitol Police?

What message does it send when the president openly muses about pardoning the men who plotted to kidnap and kill Michigan's Democratic governor? How could he even consider doing such a thing?

I grew up when politics was kinder and gentler. People fought hard, and sometimes fought dirty, to win. But we didn't hate each other. We socialized. We talked. We practiced common decency. We condemned violence, not pardoned it. Bin Laden was the enemy, not Bush. You wouldn't have to brief a politician about what to say in the wake of an assassination; they knew what to say.

This is a time when many people on both sides feel passionately about politics. There is tinder on the ground, on all sides. It is the responsibility of anyone who would claim to be a political leader to act with care so as not to ignite more violence.

We may never know what actually incited the Minnesota murderer. But we know where he was coming from, and it is a dangerous place.

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To find out more about Susan Estrich and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.