We do not yet know the motive of the would-be assassin who attempted to take Donald Trump’s life. We do know that he was, like all of us are, confronted with a constant barrage of words promoting hate and divisiveness at every level of our politics.

Have we created a climate that says violence is an acceptable means to address and redress our political differences?

Whether we will ever know the reason a 20-year-old decided to pick up a rifle to address whatever he was thinking or feeling, it should be a clarion call to us all.

What is the end game to all of these hate-filled and divisive words and actions that have replaced reason, respect and civility as means to settle our political differences?

Too many leaders and people with a microphone and a following seem unable to see that such reckless and inciteful words can ultimately cause harm, injury — even death — not only of policies and ideas, but people.

Will this clarion call albeit from a potential assassin be enough for us to say ENOUGH, not just during the Republican National Convention, but in the coming days and weeks ahead.

Sadly, often we have a short memory of even the most tragic event, remembering it only until the next dramatic incident dominates the news.

We have seen it time and time again with the horrific shootings of school children, unsuspecting shoppers and bystanders simply going about their daily lives. Most of us are stunned and shocked only to return to business as usual.

Can we afford to continue to be dismissive or accepting of acts of violence?

Yes, we are stunned by the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.

How tragic it will be if the calls in the aftermath for toning down the political rhetoric and the pleas to focus on policies and not personalities only last for a few days, a couple of weeks.

Would you be surprised if we see a return to all the name calling, hate speech, lies, misinformation, and disinformation spewing from the mouths of candidates seeking to gain our support and get our votes?

We have been tolerant of this toxic political environment for too long.

Can we expect a real and lasting change to come, now?

More importantly, what are our options if after the assassination attempt, political party leaders and candidates are back to incendiary claims and verbal slug fests that have been normalized?

We as the ultimate decision-makers about who will lead us have many options, beginning with calling out such dangerous and detrimental behavior at every opportunity, and refusing to be caught up and persuaded by all the distorted noise.

Also, we can take time to ask and answer honestly some very important questions.

First, what is the candidate’s true character, has he or she shown themselves to be honest, to have high integrity, is selfless and a true public servant?

Second, what are the real reasons they are seeking office, what are their policy proposals, will they be in my best interest, that of my family, my community, my state, my country?

Third, if they have been in office, what is their track record, what policies have they proposed, what actions have they taken that were beneficial to the majority of Americans?

Fourth, how do they regard the principles and laws that set America apart as a democratic republic, do they respect them and are patriotic enough to adhere to them and preserve them?

Fifth, do they have the best view of what role America should assume on the world stage, and what America’s responsibility should be in promoting peace, preserving our planet and humanity?

Answers to these critically important questions exist. It is incumbent upon us to get them.

You may have a host of other questions for which you need answers.

But, through all of the fear, pain, and concern for the toxic political environment that we have tolerated, if not encouraged actively or passively, now we really must focus on what are the short and long-term results and consequences we want for ourselves and our nation.

There is a lot riding on the elections, all of them.

It will matter who becomes president, who we send to Congress as our senators and representatives, who we elect as our governor, state legislators and other local office holders.

If we haven’t been paying attention to what they have been saying and promoting as candidates or office holders, we can no longer afford not to. We will only have ourselves to blame if the worst candidates are elected.

We are very thankful that Donald Trump did not fall victim to an assassin’s bullet.

There are many wild speculative theories and conspiracy theories floating around about why and how this tragic incident happened, and no doubt more will emerge in the coming days and weeks.

But those should not be our focus.

Our focus should be assessing — among those vying for our support and our vote —who is best to lead and serve? Who is best to meet this time in history and the state of humanity that we are in, and who can best pursue those policies to make things better.

What are our responsibilities in getting them elected?

Incidents — good and bad — will come and go in the days and weeks ahead.  Will you be able to put them in their proper perspective, and continue to focus on what is in the best interest of us all?

There is so much riding on our ability to do so.