15104 is both the title of this blog, and the zip code of two boroughs in southeast Allegheny County. I spent more than half my life in the 15104 area.
Sadly, today I'm reminded of another neighborhood near Pittsburgh with which I'm also very familiar - Squirrel Hill. I went through Squirrel Hill (zip code 15217) on the 61A Port Authority bus every time I attended classes at the University of Pittsburgh. That route took me past the Tree of Life Synagogue.
Tree of Life was the object of an horrendous hate crime this morning - a mass shooting in which several were injured and even more killed. As I type this, I'm listening to the Fear-Monger in Chief tout the need for guns inside places like houses of worship. According to him, a few more weapons within the temple's inner sanctuary might have prevented carnage like that this morning.
The man has no shame. Undoubtedly, he will continue to evade any statement of responsibility for the atmosphere of hate and xenophobia he has nurtured among some of his devotees. A report about 30 minutes ago from KDKA, the CBS affiliate in Pittsburgh, stated that the shooter blamed Tree of Life and other similar congregations for supporting immigrants to this country/ Allegedly, he also said that organizations that attempt to nurture immigrants do so as a ruse, to cover the flow of Middle Eastern terrorists into the United States; that no one in the Trump administration or family were sufficiently anti-Semitic; and that all Jews must die.
Don't tell me, Mr. Trump, that you bear no responsibility at moments like this. As progressives, healing wounds such as those inflicted today in Squirrel Hill might seem a mountain too high to climb. But as in so many contexts, we have to try.
Vote on November 6.
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