By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
Paul Pelosi, 82-year-old husband of U. S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is recovering from a fractured skill and other injuries he sustained last week during a home invasion at his residence in San Francisco.
A man identified as David DePape, 42, is charged with striking Mr. Pelosi several times with a hammer after police responded to a call about an early-morning break-in.
The Washington Post described the assault as “a chilling escalation in a string of violence and threats directed at political leaders across the country.”
Political leaders from both major parties – including Sen. Mitch McConnell -condemned the incident in which the accused appeared to be searching for Speaker Pelosi as he supposedly shouted, “Where is Nancy?”
The Pelosi assault followed a dramatic increase in personal threats since the attack on the U. S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Just last week, a man was convicted of threatening to kill Congressman Eric Swalwell of California. Three men were found guilty of being part of a conspiracy to kidnap the governor of Michigan.
Earlier this year, a man was apprehended while carrying a gun near the Washington home of U. S. Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. He had been accused of making threats against the justice.
The mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was heard chanting, “Nancy, Nancy” and “All we want is Pelosi” as they ransacked the building, overwhelmed police and tried to stop the counting of electoral college votes in President Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 presidential election.
The man accused of the attack on Paul Pelosi apparently is the author of an Internet blog which features anti-semitic and racist rants and anti-Democratic posts, as well as positive comments about Hitler and the Nazi Party.
It doesn’t take a genius to see that the crazy talk of overthrowing the government and even crazier actions of political extremists have become epidemic since that orange-haired man started claiming his defeat in 2020 was the result of election fraud.
To make matters worse, the most evil hatemongers returned to Twitter last week when Elon Musk took over.
(Keith can be reached at keithkappes@gmail.com)