When asked once which aspect of governance worried him most, former British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan replied, “Events, dear boy, events.”

MacMillan’s remark is as true in American politics today as it was in Great Britain in the 1950s, as recent developments threatening to destabilize our nation in dangerously unpredictable ways have shown. Americans have been swept along in a tide of ugliness and viciousness as public figures of all stripes denigrate and threaten each other.

In the two weeks since the cringe-worthy debate between the former and current president, the Democratic Party has been at war with itself over whether “Joe should go,” while MAGA Republicans gloat over the disarray and prepare to anoint their man Trump.

And then came the rally last Saturday in Butler, Pa., when the former president’s ear was grazed by a bullet evidently intended to kill him as he addressed his supporters. Chaos ensued as Mr. Trump, ear bleeding profusely, was whisked off the stage and into a waiting limousine, while the crowd ducked for cover during the deadly attack.

The Secret Service — as well as other agencies, whose functions could be jeopardized in a second Trump administration — went into overdrive. What’s next? How might yet more violent rhetoric and resultant actions affect the next four months or years? “Events, dear boy, events.”

Anne Carr Bingham

Colchester