Reacting to the Pelosi Assault – Here We Go Again

 

Here we go again; the rush to politicize another horrific violent assault.

We see it with every terrible mass shooting. And now, with the bizarre attack on the 82-year-old husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Paul Pelosi.

We wish him a full recovery and the full force of our justice system on his attacker. From several accounts of the assailant, he was deranged, if not mentally ill. But that hasn’t stopped partisans from trying to pin the attack on Republicans in these final days before the 2022 elections.

“Following the attack on Paul Pelosi, Democrats and the media quickly framed the alleged assailant as a right-wing conspiracy theorist incited to violence by rhetoric from former President Donald Trump and Republicans,” reported Justthenews.com.

And it was led by none other than the President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden.

President Biden on Friday likened the attack against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying the San Francisco attacker shouting “Where is Nancy?” echoed chants used by the rioters.

Speaking at a Democratic fundraiser in Philadelphia, Mr. Biden condemned the attack as an act of political violence and chastised Republicans for stoking widespread vitriol.

“It’s reported that the same chant used by this guy they have in custody was used on January 6th in the attacks on the U.S. Capitol,” he said. “This is reported. I can’t guarantee it. We can tell you what’s being reported.”

Please don’t complain to me about anything Donald Trump said ever again. Joe Biden is unfit for the presidency. Gone are the days of waiting for the facts before weighing in on such matters.

Blogger and former California Independent gubernatorial candidate Michael Shellenberger detailed the assailant’s story. It’s worth your time. He concludes with this:

We must reject the opportunism of politicians and activist journalists to blame addiction-and-mental-health tragedies on their political opponents. When fanaticism is behind violence we should hold the ideologies to account. But it was, fundamentally, mental instability, not political ideology, that drove DePape. My aunt who suffered from schizophrenia, and was raised in the 1950s, had delusions about Elvis and JFK. Psychotic homeless people I interview speak frequently of their communications with aliens. There is a huge difference between the mere rantings of a psychotic and the ideological drivers of a fanatic.

Finally, it’s simply not the case, as Biden claimed, that just “one party” lies, and talks of stolen elections; they both do. DePape’s alleged attack on Pelosi was not, at bottom, “the direct result of toxic right-wing rhetoric,” as Weiner said, but rather the direct result of America’s continuing failure to properly treat mental illness, dangerous psychiatric disorders, and drug addiction.

He’s right, of course. Shellenberger, a former Progressive activist, and energy expert (nuclear proponent), is a best-selling author on the Golden State’s homelessness crisis.

The people who expect me to write a dissertation on the evil attack on Paul Pelosi are also strangely silent about an assassination attempt on a sitting US Supreme Court justice and violent attacks on more than 100 pro-life pregnancy centers, organizations, and churches. The White House has been strangely mute on that violence, with one exception.

I quarter no lectures or lessons from them. This isn’t about “whataboutism.” It is about incivility, double standards, hypocrisy, and projection.

One constructive reaction concerns growing threats of violence against our public officials and the need to increase their security. The shooting of former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords (D-AZ). The attack at a Republican congressional baseball practice that nearly killed US Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA). The violent assault on US Senator Rand Paul (R-KY). The “Swatting” of US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). And now this.

Perhaps we could start by having the children of our public officials at least not celebrate attacks on Members of Congress, as Christine Pelosi did in 2020 in this now-deleted tweet.

Regardless of party affiliation, all of us need to consistently call out and condemn the violence of this nature and the celebrations and politicization of it by partisans, especially in our tribes. Until we do, this incivility will continue and incent more violence and evil.

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  1. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Bob W (View Comment):

    I just heard on the news he had duct tape also. Better get to Home Depot tomorrow and stock up ties and tape.

    That’s getting kinky.

    Like the old Twitter game of listing three items in a shopping cart that would make the Wal-Mart cashier wonder about you.

    I’ve never played that game. You mean like going through the 12-or-less line with just Dentugrip, Preparation H, and hydrocortisone cream?

    And cashier would say, “Sir, did you forget your feminist hygiene products?”

    FeminIST hygiene products?

     

    • #121
  2. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Bob W (View Comment):

    I just heard on the news he had duct tape also. Better get to Home Depot tomorrow and stock up ties and tape.

    That’s getting kinky.

    Like the old Twitter game of listing three items in a shopping cart that would make the Wal-Mart cashier wonder about you.

    I’ve never played that game. You mean like going through the 12-or-less line with just Dentugrip, Preparation H, and hydrocortisone cream?

    And cashier would say, “Sir, did you forget your feminist hygiene products?”

    Several sets of large brown bikini underwear and a plentiful package of condoms.

    – a gopher for an African musical stage production. Condoms were for the wireless mics so they wouldn’t shock the singer-dancers.

    • #122
  3. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    TBA (View Comment):

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Bishop Wash (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Bob W (View Comment):

    I just heard on the news he had duct tape also. Better get to Home Depot tomorrow and stock up ties and tape.

    That’s getting kinky.

    Like the old Twitter game of listing three items in a shopping cart that would make the Wal-Mart cashier wonder about you.

    I’ve never played that game. You mean like going through the 12-or-less line with just Dentugrip, Preparation H, and hydrocortisone cream?

    And cashier would say, “Sir, did you forget your feminist hygiene products?”

    Several sets of large brown bikini underwear and a plentiful package of condoms.

    – a gopher for an African musical stage production. Condoms were for the wireless mics so they wouldn’t shock the singer-dancers.

    I hope they remembered to get non-lubricated.

    • #123
  4. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Bob W (View Comment):

    I just heard on the news he had duct tape also. Better get to Home Depot tomorrow and stock up ties and tape.

     

    Sounds a bit kinky.  Hammers, duct tape, underwear, …

    • #124
  5. Bob W Member
    Bob W
    @BobW

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Bob W (View Comment):

    I just heard on the news he had duct tape also. Better get to Home Depot tomorrow and stock up ties and tape.

     

    Sounds a bit kinky. Hammers, duct tape, underwear, …

    Gives a whole new meaning to consensual.
     

    • #125
  6. namlliT noD Member
    namlliT noD
    @DonTillman

    Tucker spent the first half of his show tonight on Paul Pelosi.  

    Check it out, it’s quite good:

     

    • #126
  7. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    namlliT noD (View Comment):

    Tucker spent the first half of his show tonight on Paul Pelosi.

    Check it out, it’s quite good:

     

    I watched 15 minutes worth and will try to catch the rest tomorrow. You’re right, it’s quite good. I rarely watch Tucker Carlson, but he wasn’t even a bit annoying this time. So far. 

    • #127
  8. CuriousKevmo Inactive
    CuriousKevmo
    @CuriousKevmo

    Vance Richards (View Comment):

    And now “zip ties” take on a new meaning. Yay journalism!

    That is quite a leap to get to Jan. 6.  Any excuse to bring it up I guess.

     

    • #128
  9. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    CuriousKevmo (View Comment):

    Vance Richards (View Comment):

    And now “zip ties” take on a new meaning. Yay journalism!

    That is quite a leap to get to Jan. 6. Any excuse to bring it up I guess.

     

    And who was likely to have zip ties on them on Jan 6, other than FBI plants?

    • #129
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