Last week laid bare our compromised politics.

Before we move on, we need to make a full stop.

Last week laid bare our compromised politics. Manipulated to meet the lowest expectations of our fellow Amercians and manufactured to leverage vulnerabilities within the American electorate, hyper-partisanship was fanned into full insurrection.

The “servant’s heart” abiding in most Americans was misappropriated by political leaders as a means to selfish ends. They have led us down a disastrous, dead end path and many are asking us to just keep on moving.

However, first we need a full stop.

Those of you who have traveled with young children or pets know that, while making haste to your destination, sometimes things happen that require you to stop altogether to clean up and reassess before you move on.

We first need to pause, identify, and hold accountable those responsible for both systemic and individual acts of insurrection and domestic terrorism. This is critical to ensuring that the hyper-partisan and insurrectionist spark is not forever tied to our election process and does not consume the critical, nation-defining work of the next four years.

To hear more about the “servant’s heart” and the importance of accountability both from a historical perspective and further down the road on the American journey, take a few minutes to listen to today’s remarks by former Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

We have a proud and strong but embattled Republic. We must work to keep it.