Last August, in Washington DC, I hosted

hundreds of thousands of people that many

in the media tell us are the most dangerous

in our society. Transportation was

overwhelmed, lines were long, temperatures

were hot, space was crowded, and I was

long winded. Throughout, a far smaller

amount of protesters circled the crowd with

signs accusing the audience of the most

horrific insults imaginable. Yet, there was no

documented violence, no documented

arrests, and almost no documented trash

left on the ground afterwards.

The fact that a vast majority of our society is

miraculously civil might not make for exciting

headlines, but it's absolutely true. I think that

if you asked Adams or Jefferson to compare

the discourse of today to the campaign of

1800, they'd be amazed at how civil we are.

The trick is to take seriously those who do

call for violence, while not trampling the rights of those who don't. While we must always stand up to

protect those rights, we should also realize that only a civil society could maintain this balance as well as

this nation has for over 200 years.

To do my part to further and honor that historic balance, I have challenged the media and those in politics

to take a firm stance against those advocating riots and violence. I hope they will join me. Either way, the

truth is clear: God has truly blessed this extraordinarily civil republic.