Wondering on Wednesday (v152)

On a day when pipe bombs were stopped from being delivered to President Obama, Hillary & Bill Clinton, Eric Holder, Maxine Waters, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and former CIA director John Brennan, the president didn't make his own statement, initially - he "wholeheartedly agreed" with the statement of his veep on a retweet.

When he did make his statement, here's what he offered:

A major federal investigation is now underway. The full weight of our government is being deployed to conduct this investigation and bring those responsible for these despicable acts to justice... We have to unify. We have to come together. Acts or threats of political violence of any kind have no place in the United States of America. This egregious conduct is abhorrent to everything we hold dear. We're extremely angry, upset, unhappy about what we witnessed this morning and we will get to the bottom of it. 

Tonight at his rally in Wisconsin, he served up a plateful of comments on the issue, including this:

My highest duty, as you know, as president, is to keep America safe. That's what we talk about. That's what we do. The federal government is conducting an aggressive investigation and we will find those responsible and we will bring them to justice. Hopefully very quickly. Any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself. 

And this:

No nation can succeed that tolerates violence or the threat of violence as a method of political intimidation, coercion, or control. We all know that. Such conduct must be fiercely opposed and firmly prosecuted. We want all sides to come together in peace and harmony. We can do it. We can do it. We can do it. It will happen.

And this:

For example, those engaged in the political arena must stop treating political opponents as being morally defective. The language of moral condemnation and destructive, routine -- these are arguments and disagreements that have to stop. No one should carelessly compare political opponents to historical villains, which is done often, it's done all the time. Gotta stop. We should not mob people in public spaces or destroy public property. There is one way to settle our disagreements, it's called peacefully at the ballot box.

And this:

As part of a larger national effort to bridge our divides and bring people together, the media also has a responsibility to set a civil tone and to stop the endless hostility and constant negative and often time false attacks and stories. Have to do it. They've gotta stop. Bring people together. 

At no point did he say that he would stop lying, or that he would stop calling people names, or that he would put a halt to the 'lock her up' chants, or that he would stop celebrating people who body slam a reporter, or that he would stop any of his other vile statements, including violence will ensure if the Democrats win.

As it's clearly not the president, I wonder who will be leading the "larger national effort to bridge our divides and bring people together"?