Partisans could make every part partisan.
For instance, who causes a standoff?
Each side.
It takes two to face off. If both facet gave in to its opponent’s place, there could be no standoff.
So who precipitated the federal government shutdown?
Each side, in fact. The Republicans have been being cussed on points that mattered to Republicans. The Democrats have been being cussed on points that mattered to Democrats. You would possibly agree with one facet or the opposite about whose stubbornness was extra cheap, or which situation higher justified stubbornness, however there could be little question about who precipitated the federal government to close down: Each side did.
Right here’s a fair worse instance: Who’s in charge for Rahmanullah Lakanwal having shot two Nationwide Guardsmen in Washington, D.C., final week?
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, in fact.
Or possibly you could possibly break it down additional. Let’s allocate blame as, say:
- 95% Lakanwal, who was, in any case, the shooter;
- 1% Lakanwal’s dad and mom and well being care professionals, who most likely didn’t increase him proper and handled his psychological sickness poorly;
- 1% the Taliban and the CIA, who collectively seemingly precipitated a few of Lakanwal’s psychological well being points;
- 1% the Biden administration for having allowed Lakanwal to enter the USA in 2021 below the Operation Allies Welcome parole program for Afghans who had helped the U.S. through the battle;
- 1% the Trump administration for having granted asylum to Lakanwal in April 2025;
- 1% the Trump administration for shifting its focus from anti-terrorism efforts to frame enforcement (if it seems that Lakanwal was a terrorist);
- 1% the Trump administration for sending the Nationwide Guard to the District of Columbia, with out coordinating with the native police and over native opposition, for the political function of attempting to embarrass a metropolis run by Democrats; and
- 1% the Trump administration for sending the Nationwide Guard to D.C. regardless of warnings that the Guard’s deployment offered a straightforward “goal of alternative” for grievance-based violence.
Good! Besides that my percentages most likely add as much as greater than 100. However you get the concept.
When Rahmanullah Lakanwal shoots somebody, Rahmanullah Lakanwal is in charge. The remainder is petty bickering.
Who was accountable for attempting to assassinate Donald Trump final summer season?
The shooter.
Who was accountable for assassinating Charlie Kirk?
The shooter.
You may quibble across the edges of this stuff, all the time assigning blame to the opposite facet for having very barely contributed to the shooter’s motivations. However that slight blame is nothing in comparison with the place the blame actually lies.
Furthermore, in conditions equivalent to these, it most likely is smart to place partisanship apart for a second — each to decrease the temperature of our nation’s political local weather and to extra precisely place duty for atrocities the place the duty really lies.
Mark Herrmann spent 17 years as a associate at a number one worldwide regulation agency and later oversaw litigation, compliance and employment issues at a big worldwide firm. He’s the writer of The Curmudgeon’s Information to Training Legislation and Drug and Machine Product Legal responsibility Litigation Technique (affiliate hyperlinks). You may attain him by e mail at [email protected].
