Associated Press, April 21: Protester faces charges for vandalism at NRA lobbyist’s home.

Back in 2003, Chris Hedges wrote a book entitled War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. (You can probably get the gist of his perspective from his 2008 book, American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America.) Still, there’s a lot of truth in the title. Think of all the martial metaphors we use to describe the ups and downs of life: We’re in a battle, we’re charging forward, we’re crusading for a cause, we’re chasing a goal, we’re fighting for our beliefs, we’re taking a beating, we’re getting flak, our proposal is shot down, we’ve reached a ceasefire. A new idea represents a “revolution.”

Perhaps politics is another force that gives many Americans meaning. It gives them an enemy, a target and focus for all of their worst impulses and feelings. Very few of us can completely escape the temptation to feel hate, contempt, disdain, and a desire for someone else. Politics gives us a target and an excuse.

See those people over there? They’re not just mistaken or wrong, they’re trying to destroy the country. They’re “a basket of deplorables,” as Hillary put it.