Now, read the article, “Pipe Bombs Sent to Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and CNN Offices,” and answer the following questions:

1. To whom were pipe bombs sent this week? What do all the figures have in common?

2. In your own words, what do you think this statement means: “Coming less than two weeks before the midterm elections, the discovery of the pipe bombs reverberated across a country already on edge, stirring anew questions about whether political discourse had grown too vitriolic.” Do you think the political discourse has become too bitter and harsh? Explain.

3. CNN also received a bomb. What does it have in common with the other recipients of the explosive devices?

4. What details did bomb technicians who studied photos of the device sent to CNN notice? What clues did they think these details might reveal about the bombs and the bomb maker?

Finally, tell us more about what you think:

In the Op-Ed essay “The Hate That Is Consuming Us,” Alexander Soros writes:

... Now we have attempted bomb attacks. While the responsibility lies with the individual or individuals who sent these lethal devices to my family home and Mr. Obama’s and Ms. Clinton’s offices, I cannot see it divorced from the new normal of political demonization that plagues us today. I am under no illusion that the hatred directed at us is unique. There are too many people in the United States and around the world who have felt the force of this malign spirit. It is now all too “normal” that people who speak their minds are routinely subjected to personal hostility, hateful messages on social media and death threats.

Read the entire essay and then respond:

• Do you agree with Mr. Soros that there is a “new normal of political demonization” in the United States? Do you agree with him that the tone of politics has changed with the election of President Trump? Explain.

• Mr. Soros ends his Op-Ed essay with the lines: “We must find our way to a new political discourse that shuns the demonization of all political opponents. A first step would be to cast our ballots to reject those politicians cynically responsible for undermining the institutions of our democracy. And we must do it now, before it is too late.” Do you agree with his proposed solution to address this political demonization? Do you agree with his sense of urgency? Why?