We have reached the point in our nation’s history and in our lives as Americans when the tragic shooting of National Guard members on duty in the nation’s capital carries with it minimal shock. Political shootings seem to have become common place, so now our focus is the politics of the person allegedly committing the act.

As our hearts and prayers go out to these young Guard members fighting for their lives before a holiday of gratitude, we cannot overlook an uncomfortable fact: Had this been a Leftie trying to kill Guard members for an unwanted and unneeded deployment at a D.C. metro station, we would likely be in a much more locked-down United States of America. As it stands, the nation’s capital will soon receive 500 additional National Guard members. The only reason to think the president found it necessary to call in more troops was that he too thought these shooting victims were essentially taking a bullet for his controversial decision to order their presence on American streets.

Instead, we have a mess of an entirely different nature. The wounded suspect in custody is an Afghan national who battled the Taliban alongside U.S. troops. Rahmanullah Lakanwal is 29 years old and was a member of the Afghan Army. According to Mr. Trump’s address to the nation Wednesday night, Lakanwal came to this country in September 2021 under a Biden Administration refugee program and after the U.S. withdrew from the longest war in its history in a manner widely considered unfortunate.

As of this writing, there is no news on the motive of the alleged shooter. We don’t know if the shooting was related to the war in his country or the war in this one against immigrants of all kinds. His motive may even be something else entirely.

What we do know is that President Trump is ramping up deployment of National Guard members and ramping up pursuit of the nation’s foreign-born residents. The administration has also paused immigration applications from Afghanistan, the New York Times is reporting.

It is a somber way to walk into the season of peace, love and joy. But let’s give thanks for all we’ve been given, all that’s been taken away and the continued determination to peacefully resist when the moment requires.