The attacks upon our democracy are growing. It is not just idle words about something that may happen, or a partisan offering to curry favor with this or that group of voters. Fundamental attacks upon the political institutions of our nation are underway and have been in various forms since Inauguration Day in 2017. Attacks upon the foundations of the Fourth Estate, the attack on our Capitol for the counting of the Electoral College votes, and the erosion, drip by drip, of the political culture in our country have fascist motives. Right now our nation is again dealing with something that is most serious. That being, the shocking news from overnight.
By now we are aware of the attack upon the home of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the third person in the line of succession to the presidency. The person who attacked Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi‘s husband with a hammer, after breaking into the San Francisco home early Friday morning was reportedly searching for the house speaker. He was heard shouting “where is Nancy?”
I am not the only one in this land who has stated that the political rhetoric that led up to January 6, and has followed since has placed elected officials in danger. It is absolutely unacceptable for violence, of any kind, to be made in threats or otherwise to those who step up and offer their services to the nation. And that goes regardless of political party or ideology. It is incumbent upon all people in the political sphere, be they elected officials or ones rejected by the voters, to never incite, or further any line of dialogue or action, that precipitates violence against politicians or their families.
We have crossed so many red lines since Donald Trump rode an escalator down to announce his bid for the White House. We have been deposited so often into the basement in our country that nothing really surprises me anymore. We even had to endure media companies needing to review the material posted by a former president, so to make sure violent or insurrectionist material was not online.
If one listens and reads the crazy lingo from those angry males who are engaged in right-wing militancy it is soon apparent, that they are again aggrieved—their favorite pastime when not stroking their weapons. Our nation, it needs all to be reminded, did not just arrive at such a moment; rather the GOP helped to create this situation.
The animus the Republican Party has fostered and yes, stoked, within their ranks against law enforcement and the rule of law-and-order is highly troubling and unsightly. We watched the GOP fall for Trump starting in 2015, and then over his term in office followed the disregard he had for the FBI, wanting to use the Attorney General as his own personal lawyer, and striving mightily to undercut the Constitution. The Republican Party stood by and watched and even started to mimic and repeat his false claims and further the erosion of respect for folks who put on a robe or a badge when they head to their job.
This is yet again a time when it is needed to write about the growing trend in the nation that views violence as an acceptable path forward in our nation. A poll finds that Americans say they believe violence against the government can at times be justified, that result being the largest share to feel that way in more than two decades. The percentage of Americans who say violent action against the government is justified at times stands at 34 percent, which is considerably higher than in past polls by major news organizations dating back more than two decades. Again, the view is partisan: The new survey finds 40 percent of Republicans, 41 percent of independents, and 23 percent of Democrats saying violence is sometimes justified.
Our nation has been placed in a truly contentious and troubling place due to the Republican Party caving to the very thing the Founding Fathers feared. It was my clear favorite of those men, Alexander Hamilton, who worried about the populace being swayed by a charlatan or one with low character. He knew of the Donald Trump types, as Hamilton had read books about the nature of mankind. He was also most aware of the threat of unlearned people being easily led, and led woefully astray, as the Trump base within the Republican Party has continually demonstrated.
The angry males that are now threatening and seeking to intimidate the majority of the nation are precisely what Hamilton was worried about in his days of pondering the larger questions about our then-young nation. We join him in his justified worries.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 
Pure projection on the writer’s part. There is absolutely no evidence that the perpetrator was motivated by anyone in the GOP.
Lee Zeldin was attacked by a nut a few weeks ago with a knife. Rand Paul was mauled once by a neighbor and then after the convention. Steve Scalise was among the Republicans targeted by James Hodgkinson, a supporter of Bernie Sanders, with Russian made SKS semi-automatic rifle. Let me remind you of January 20, 2017. To suggest that violence perpetrated by the right has been incited by GOP rhetoric I offer one news report.
From a CNN report:
Washington
CNN
—
“Six police officers were injured and 217 protesters arrested Friday after a morning of peaceful protests and coordinated disruptions of Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony gave way to ugly street clashes in downtown Washington.
At least two DC police officers and one other person were taken to the hospital after run-ins with protesters, DC Fire Spokesman Vito Maggiolo told CNN. Acting DC Police Chief Peter Newsham said the officers’ injuries were considered minor and not life threatening.
Bursts of chaos erupted on 12th and K streets as black-clad “antifascist” protesters smashed storefronts and bus stops, hammered out the windows of a limousine and eventually launched rocks at a phalanx of police lined up in an eastbound crosswalk. Officers responded by launching smoke and flash-bang devices, which could be heard from blocks away, into the street to disperse the crowds.
“Pepper spray and other control devices were used to control the criminal actors and protect persons and property,” police said.
Anti-Trump protests also broke out Friday in US cities, including New York, Seattle, Dallas, Chicago and Portland, Oregon. Authorities in Seattle say one person was in critical condition at a hospital with a gunshot wound. Demonstrations also took place overseas in Hong Kong, Berlin and London.”
Let’s be honest, San Francisco and its environs have become a cesspool of addicts, derelicts and criminals. The GOP had no hand in the cultivation of the culture has people leaving the area in droves. Attempting to vilify the GOP for the attack is a baseless claim designed specifically to instill fear into the gullible.
Instead of casting aspersions on your political foes why don’t you show us all how your ideology is superior. When a salesman knocks the competition, it means he has nothing better to offer.
I am glad to have this chance to, again, prove my points made over the years on this blog. Trump made statements condoning and encouraging violence throughout his presidency. And you can take your own advice and now apply it to your own party. “Instead of casting aspersions on your political foes why don’t you show us all how your ideology is superior.” Fascism and violence are not the answers.
July 2017: During a speech to law enforcement officers in Long Island, New York, Trump seemingly encouraged police officers to be rough with people they were arresting, per ABC News. “Please don’t be too nice,” he told the audience.
August 2017: In the aftermath of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump failed to unequivocally condemn the violence and said “many sides” were to blame, failing to distinguish between those who participated in the “Unite the Right” rally and those who showed up in opposition to it.
October 2018: While speaking at a Montana campaign rally, Trump publicly praised Montana’s then-Rep. Greg Gianforte (R) — the state’s current governor — for previously assaulting a reporter. “Any guy that can do a body slam, he is my type!” Trump said.
October 2019: A New York Times report outlined various strategies Trump had allegedly deliberated to keep migrants away from the U.S. southern border, including a water-filled trench with snakes or alligators and shooting migrants in the legs to slow them down.
May 2020: Trump used violent rhetoric when referring to protests in Minneapolis in the wake of George Floyd’s killing, tweeting, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.” The phrase has a racist history going back to police brutality against Black Americans in the 1960s, per the New York Times.
June 2020: Trump threatened to use the U.S. military to quell Black Lives Matter protests across the country. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them,” Trump said.
August 2020: Trump expressed interest in sending the National Guard to Portland, Oregon, to confront protesters, per Vox. “We could fix Portland in, I would say, 45 minutes,” Trump said.
September 2020: Trump lauded law enforcement officers for killing Michael Forest Reinoehl, a self-described Antifa member suspected of killing a right-wing activist the previous month. “That’s the way it has to be. There has to be retribution,” Vox reported.
September 2020: When offered the chance to unequivocally condemn white supremacist violence during the first presidential debate, Trump failed to do so, instead telling the far-right Proud Boys that they should “stand back and stand by.”
January 2021: At a rally preceding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Trump repeated false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen and told supporters that “we’re going to walk down to the Capitol,” adding that “you’ll never take back our country with weakness.”
I offer the video accounts of Donald Trump at his rallies calling for violence, too. Our nation has never had a presidential candidate that called for violence at their political rallies.
“Our nation has never had a presidential candidate that called for violence at their political rallies.”
Never? You’s don’t say…
To wit:
** Obama: “They Bring a Knife…We Bring a Gun”
** Obama to His Followers: “Get in Their Faces!”
** Obama on ACORN Mobs: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!”
** Obama to His Mercenary Army: “Hit Back Twice As Hard”
** Obama on the private sector: “We talk to these folks… so I know whose ass to kick.“
** Obama to voters: Republican victory would mean “hand to hand combat”
** Obama to lib supporters: “It’s time to Fight for it.”
** Obama to Latino supporters: “Punish your enemies.”
** Obama to supporters: “I’m itching for a fight.”
**Obama to UAW mob: “Fight for me!”
Bias makes you’s stupid; hyper partisan bias makes you’s stupid ON STEROIDS!
The Gotch
Hopeless Changey, and The Gotch quotes verbatim:
“If they bring a knife to the fight, WE_BRING_A_GUN.” (bolds/caps/italics mine)
To…um…borrow a phrase: “Our nation has never had a presidential candidate that called for GUN VIOLENCE AGAINST THEIR OPPOSITION at their political rallies.”
Hypocrisy; thy name is Lefty!
The Gotch
I noted not a word in your comment about Nancy Pelosi or her husband being attacked with a hammer. Following what we know Republicans and conservatives have done (Jan. 6th and at the home of the 3rd in line for the presidency) I ask at what point will a larger sliver of the GOP call out this danger to democracy? I noted yesterday that one GOP governor was even cracking jokes about the attack in San Fransico. You know, humor abounds when an 82-year-old man is hit in the head with a hammer! That requires surgery. Come, on! I expect the ‘same-old politics’ on a raft of issues. But what will it take to wake your party up to what is happening in front of their faces? We had friends on our lawn yesterday talking about this last point and I noted that gun-control advocates often ask how large of a mass shooting it will take to really wake up the nation? A classroom of small children clearly was not enough, and an attack at the home of the House Speaker is not for your party, either. Reasonable people, politics aside, know this road our nation is on will lead to events occurring that will be most troubling. I am asking that you be a voice for reason within your party.
“But what will it take to wake your party** up to what is happening in front of their faces?” (bolds mine)
The numerous references to your party compels The Gotch to report that he’s a devout Independent; he figures if The Framers weren’t fond of the idea of political parties, and they weren’t, that’s good enough for him.
“I noted not a word in your comment about Nancy Pelosi or her husband being attacked with a hammer. ”
FTR, this occurred to him before he read your response, and he’d planned on returning to post that he condemns this reprehensible act, and all others like it, in the strongest possible terms.
Anyone mocking /making light of it is WAY_OUT_OF_LINE and should be condemned similarly.
Making political hay out of it, (which an argument could be made you’re doing) deserves mention.
The Gotch
I have been consistent and continuous about the need to consider the grave dangers our democracy faces, as it slides towards embracing autocracy and fascism. To not talk about and demand the Republican Party stop the insanity would be a slap to the Founders which we both respect.
This hammer guy by all accounts is on the left. So this entire spin the dems are putting on it is hilarious, but also rather sickening. Anyone who saw what antifa and blm did has no illusions about who is ok with violence.
Your IP address is in Vietnam….Ho Chi Minh City…..so, perhaps, you are a bot? Clearly just reciting lines that are in front of your computer to paste on sites such as mine. Informed readers know that David DePape posted memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook about Covid vaccines, the 2020 election, and January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. He had posted much about antisemitic screeds and content linked to the QAnon conspiracy theory. DePage featured videos accusing LGBTQ people of “grooming” children, and declared that “any journalist saying” there is no evidence of election fraud “should be dragged straight out into the street and shot.” The right-wing nut case is on full display— even for one who has to hide behind an IP address in Vietnam! What a tool you are.