Joe Straus: Combating Hatred and Violence Requires Moral Credibility From All of Our Political Leaders

Lionel Gutierrez was just driving his family to the movies in El Paso. But he's also a police officer who was off duty at the time of the terror attack of August 3, so when a stranger approached his car and told him what had happened, Gutierrez gave him a ride to the hospital and then went back to the scene to help others.Army Pfc. Glendon Oakley Jr. ran toward the chaos when he was shopping that morning. He grabbed as many children as he could carry to safety because, he told a local TV station, that's what the military taught him.The terrorism in El Paso, directed at the Latino community, painfully reminded us of the selflessness of many of our fellow Americans. Unsung heroes put themselves in harm's way to help others, labored for hours to save lives and donated blood from hundreds of miles away. None of this was surprising because it is who we strive to be as Texans. It's certainly not surprising to those of us who know El Paso to be a caring community that embraces its unique place in the story of American immigration.But the El Paso attack also reminds us that our stock political responses to these tragedies are not enough.  Continue reading...