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Political violence
Leaders should gather to lower the temperature, demand a cessation of violence, and do what they can to heal the nation and body politic. We’re not seeing enough of that.
Yesterday saw the ninth school shooting of the year in the United States. It’s a statement about the prevalence of gun violence in my nation that the murder of political commentator Charlie Kirk in Utah immediately preceded the Denver-area paroxysm of evil.
Political violence in the United States isn’t rare. Earlier this year, the residence of the governor of Pennsylvania was attacked with several homemade firebombs in an attempt to murder the state’s executive. That was April. In June, a gunman shot and killed a state representative in Minnesota and her husband after shooting a state senator and his wife earlier in the day. And then yesterday, we saw another murder in what most presume to be a politically-motivated killing. And that’s just 2025. Rewind the clock further, and you can add several attempts on President Trump and a plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan and overthrow the state government to our list.
In moments like these, calls for additive “war” — here’s an example from Sequoia’s Shaun Maguire — are unhelpful and irresponsible. Instead, leaders should gather to lower the temperature, demand a cessation of violence, and do what they can to heal the nation and body politic. We’re not seeing enough of that.
Political violence is antithetical to democracy. It eats at the core of how our system of governance works — no matter what the politics of the slain are.
Something nice about being a free speech proponent is never having to care about what the speech in need of defense is. While I would echo Hitchens’ point about Falwell concerning Kirk’s views, we can still say in unison that political violence is inexcusable. Just as it was in June. And April. And before. And, sadly, I expect, in the future.
Oracle’s ascent
Oracle’s recent earnings report was a two-parter. In trailing terms, the database and cloud giant underperformed. EPS came in a penny short, and revenue of $14.93 billion in its most recent quarter came in under expectations of $15.04 billion worth of topline.
But it was Oracle’s notes about its future prospects that stunned. Here’s the company’s CEO, Safra Katz (emphasis added):