Violence on three levels: Hollywood, Washington, Ukraine

Hollywood. Washington. Ukraine.

Violence is breaking out all over, in places we thought we'd never see it: on the Academy Awards stage, in the Capitol and a war in Europe.

Are these ugly events somehow connected?

Let's take the Academy scene first. Will Smith struck Chris Rock across the face. The scene seemed out of a movie. In an earlier era, there would have been a duel when the next day dawned.

Alexander Hamilton got caught in the gentlemen's "honor" code in 1804, when he lost his life in a duel for trash-talking Aaron Burr.

Rock made a cruel jest from the stage, mocking Jada Pinkett Smith's painful medical condition that caused her hair loss. Her face contorted and, in a split second, her actor husband rushed Rock in a rage and hit him hard.

Alopecia is no joke, as a congresswoman of color, Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., revealed. A traumatic and public illness, it feels like losing a part of you.

Still, Smith's violence and cursing upstaged everything in the lackluster Oscars show. He wept as he won the Best Actor award, again in a scene that seemed scripted, hard to watch.

The assault was unacceptable, considered a crime. But insulting and humiliating a woman in public, in front of millions, is just a misdemeanor - I know, right?

Chivalry is not dead, encoded in our genes. Smith acted from an ancient desire to defend his wife. Even if understandable, his scenes were way over the line in our times.

Here in our town, we're grappling with violence on democracy itself.

The Jan. 6 mob assault on the Capitol is a wound wide open to investigation. The House Select Committee has interviewed hundreds of witnesses to set up hearings on the conspiracy to undo the peaceful transfer of power.

A coup in the Capitol is what we narrowly avoided that dark day descending into night.

Former President Donald Trump was involved, "more likely than not," a federal judge stated Monday, in a corrupt plot to steal the Electoral Count that certified Joe Biden as the winner.

Never before in history had a presidential loser violently challenged the election results - which weren't even close in 2020.

President George Washington, a hero and general, could have stayed in power if he chose, but rather stepped down in peace.

The first president set the precedent in 1797. We lost the plot in the winter of 2021.

I know for a fact that witnesses still struggle with memories of the siege, because I was there. The bloodshed of 150 police officers defended the lives of lawmakers, who fled. It was not a pretty picture for the world.

When we thought we were beyond shock, came the news the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, Ginni, sought to keep Trump in power after he lost. Her email trail with the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is all raw partisanship.

In a first, Mrs. Thomas may be invited to testify before the committee. Meadows was voted in criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to appear. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is running a swift ship.

Then there's the Russian war on Ukraine. The brazen aggression of President Vladimir Putin was hard to believe. Sure enough, he crossed the line. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a former actor, grabbed the world stage in the weeks since.

Shattering scenes from Ukraine cities and civilians woke up Western democracies allied in NATO. Yes, Virginia, a war could happen again in Europe after two world wars.

Actor Sean Penn, pleading from Poland, urged the Academy to let Zelenskyy address the audience on Oscar night by video, as the leader had done to a somber Congress.

Zelenskyy's bravery and clarion call could have calmed the tempest, putting the Rock-Smith imbroglio into perspective.

If this war ends with Ukraine independent of Russia and NATO, (like Finland) that would be the best achievable peace. The tragic irony is that this might have been hammered out before the bombs began falling.

The old rules of engagement are not working for our brutal new world. Will Smith showed some remorse.

The worst actors in the world, Trump and Putin, would never do that.

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