The US sits on a political powder keg of its own making

Americans hardly needed an assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump to realize that our civil society is fraying.

Last weekend’s horrific shooting feels in many ways like the logical progression of a political culture that has been growing increasingly extreme for years.

The former president himself has been a prominent purveyor of rhetoric that often encourages or fantasizes about violence against his political foes. This is, after all, the same Trump...