Was Rodney King right?

James Hodgkinson from Illinois in the US was killed today near a baseball field just outside Washington, DC. He had a gun and was firing at members of the Republican Party congressional delegation who were practicing baseball. Some members of Congress went into and are out of surgery. No one else died. It was near 7 a.m. Wednesday. The policemen who killed Hodgkinson prevented more tragedy as there were at least 40 people involved in the practice session and many other locals in the area walking their dogs, out to the cafes, etc. For the moment, that episode is over.

I watched a press conference later that day about 4 pm. Featured were Rep. Mike Doyle, Democrat from Pennsylvania, and Rep. Joe Barton, Republican from Texas.

Here they are in the photo. Barton had been on the field at the time of the incident. Barton had his two sons with him, who were just outside the fence. Doyle and Barton have known each other for a long time, they said, and their comments were humanizing and warm. Their affection was not a photo op; their lives are well known to each other and the commaraderie was clear.

The two shared about the tensions in the government, about the hostility and tweets and the atmosphere of partisanship which has lately characterized Congress. And Doyle "hoped" and Barton was "sure" that things would change as a result of today's episode on the field. I heard an echo of the famous line from Rodney King. He famously said, "Can we all just get along?"

To help your memory, King was 25 years old in 1991, at the time of his arrest. Police tried to pull him over in Los Angeles, and had resisted arrest leading police on an 8-mile chase. When finally pulled over police brutality was videotaped. You can see the famous beating by four policemen (see this video from newsman Mike Wallace ). Wallace's report covers the trial and the resultant rioting in South Central and even King's famous line. "Can we all just get along?" (about 18 minutes in)
Here are some other YouTube videos: here and here also .

I agree with Doyle and Barton. Let's get along. Let's stop being so strident, no matter our political views. No matter our race. No matter. Let's learn what Jesus taught, to love one another. I really liked what Rep Tulsi Gabbard (Democrat of Hawaii) said in her interview with Fox News. "I believe failure is not an option... in a moment of unfortunate tragedy... is that opportunity for us as Americans, for leaders in this country to rise up, to set the example, to set that tone of dialogue in conversation... We all have different ideas... The most critical thing is that...we have to debate... actually working together and not demonizing each other."

Maybe Rodney King's famous calming line was right.
Jesus certainly was right.
Labour, Liberal, male, female, he said, she said... Hodgkinson's response was wrong.

Let's all get along.