THIS IS TRULY CHILLING – AT 1:56 P.M. ET:  Are we a third-world country?   Maybe we're getting there.  Republican officeholders now fear for their safety.  From The Hill: 

A growing number of House Republicans are facing physical threats from angry constituents in their districts, leading many to fear for their safety. 

In the last few weeks alone, the FBI arrested a man threatening Rep. Martha McSally's (R-Ariz.) life, a woman pursued Rep. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) in her car, and Rep. Tom Garrett (R-Va.) heightened security at a town hall event in response to death threats. 

Other Republicans still holding town halls say they haven't felt physically threatened by protesters, but they worry about the depth of anger from some constituents in the polarized environment and what it means for political civility.  

Scores of GOP lawmakers have experienced going viral this year with videos of constituents shouting their disagreement on support for President Trump and policies such as the GOP’s healthcare bill. 
Lately, though, Republicans have observed some furious constituents who appear to be going even further.

Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) described attendees at a town hall in his district last week who booed him down after he said people’s rights are God-given. 

“They booed God. They booed the pastor. They booed the prayer. They booed the name of the church. They booed when I said rights come from God,” Brat recounted to The Hill just off the House floor. “That’s a fundamental tenet of western civilization. I mean, I didn’t think that was partisan.”

COMMENT:   I'm guessing that the threats are coming from the fringe left.  And they're going beyond politics.  Last week a college president asked that a scheduled meeting be moved to an alternate location because he feared for his safety. 

We run the risk of a serious violent incident, possibly involving multiple deaths, unless people calm down and the extremists are brought under control.

May 21, 2017