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The occasion for their object lesson was the stabbing of former NFL quarterback and current football commentator Mark Sanchez in Indianapolis.

When the Sanchez news first flashed, it included no details or context.

That, though, didn’t stop Republicans Braun and Beckwith from rushing to judgment. They were eager to lay the blame for the incident at the feet of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett and his fellow Democrats.

“I’ve been clear: city leaders must do their jobs and hold criminals accountable. When Indianapolis headlines national news for a lack of public safety, it hurts our city and our state. Hoosiers deserve better. Praying for a full recovery for Mark Sanchez,” Braun wrote in a social media post.

Beckwith went even further.

“Unacceptable. This is happening in our capital city… right here in Indiana,” his post began, then veered to even more strident partisan posturing.

“Indianapolis is sliding into lawlessness because local leaders refuse to prosecute criminals and protect citizens. Our law enforcement officers want to do their jobs, but they’re being handcuffed by soft-on-crime politicians who value ideology over safety,” Beckwith continued.

“It’s time for the State of Indiana to step in. We must restore law and order in our capital. The General Assembly should act this session to give the Governor and Attorney General clear authority to enforce the law and prosecute offenders when local officials won’t. Indiana deserves safe streets and leadership with the courage to deliver it.”

When video records and testimony strongly indicated that Sanchez was the instigator in the incident—it appears he started a fight with an old man almost twice his age and has been charged with committing at least one felony and accompanying misdemeanors—Braun and Beckwith quickly deleted their posts.

But they didn’t apologize.

Nor did they say, “You know, upon reflection, I realized that I shouldn’t have opened my mouth until I knew the facts. Pausing to find out what really happened not only would have kept me from looking stupid, but it also would have avoided escalating tensions in our state.”

The reason Braun and Beckwith won’t—can’t—say something that self-evidently true is that they don’t want to solve problems.

They want to pick and win fights.

Sadly, they’re not the only ones who approach things that way in our political culture.

Not long after I learned about the Sanchez episode, an acquaintance texted me a link to a story in Governing magazine that asked where all the Republican mayors have gone.

The piece’s thesis was that having stronger GOP presences in America’s cities would result in more moderation and more focus on collaboration in the face of persistent social and economic problems.

I agree.

America’s cities would be better if they weren’t Democratic monoliths. Monopolies, including political ones, always lead to laziness, arrogance and defensiveness.

But the same could be said of rural America, which increasingly has become a gated GOP enclave.

Just as there would be more voices speaking for the rights of property owners and local businesses if Republicans had more power in America’s cities, my guess is that this nation’s soybean farmers wouldn’t be taking the beating they are from President Donald Trump’s misguided tariff policies if they had some Democrats arguing for their interests.

U.S. farmers grow about $60 billion worth of soybeans annually. More than half is sold overseas. China alone accounts for nearly $15 billion in sales.

With China closing its markets—including the soybean one—to the United States in response to Trump’s trade-war games, many American farmers now face bankruptcy.

Because Democrats reign over urban communities unchallenged, cities cry out for creative solutions to crime and other enduring problems.

Because Republicans rule unopposed in rural America, farmers see their lifeblood reduced to little more than a bargaining chip while this country’s leaders play ego games.

Both these problems spring from the same source.

Single-party dominance produces sluggish and often ineffective public policy problem-solving.

Without genuine competition, politicians seek out opportunities for distraction and chances to do finger-pointing rather than ways to serve their constituents.

That’s what Mike Braun and Micah Beckwith showed us in the Mark Sanchez episode.

They don’t want to help.

They just want to find someone to blame.