Pandemic of Lunacy author J. Budziszewski insists that when we are too casual about the conditions for mercy, we discredit both justice and mercy itself.

Sometimes we hope desperately that our predictions are wrong. Fourteen years ago, I suggested that it was only a matter of time before character assassination would be replaced by real assassination. That has happened in a big way. Although the political murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has been called by some a tipping point, there have been a lot of political killings and attempted killings. And no, there is not “equal wrong on both sides,” a fact that has the unfortunate result of making efforts to do justice seem partisan.

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