For the last 20 years, Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, has tried to shrug off the threats and slurs hurled at her because of her high-power position.
Her typical response has been to flick at her shoulder, as if a piece of dust were on her jacket.
“If I weren’t effective, I wouldn’t be a target,” the California Democrat has said.
On Friday, her armor cracked.
In the wee hours of the morning, her husband of 59 years was violently assaulted by a man who broke into their home looking for Ms. Pelosi.
The man attacked the 82-year-old Paul Pelosi with a hammer, fracturing his skull, as well as other injuries.
“Where’s Nancy?,” the attacker repeatedly demanded.
When caught, zip ties were found in his pocket, reminiscent of the rioters who plundered the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. There, too, shouts for Ms. Pelosi echoed through the hallways.
ON SATURDAY, Ms. Pelosi said she and her children and grandchildren were “heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop.”
That her position has jeopardized the love of her life must be a terrible burden.
According to articles posted by the attacker — a white, middle-aged man — he is enthralled with conspiracy theories including those that purport COVID-19 is a hoax perpetrated by a dark state to lure innocents to accept a zombie-inducing vaccine; that the 2020 general election was rigged to defeat incumbent Donald Trump, but not any other Republicans on the ballot, and that those who rampaged the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 are being persecuted.
The attacker has also posted anti-semitic diatribes and maintains the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were an inside job.
His targets are not only Democrats.
Last month, he posted that journalists who denied the former president’s election fraud claims “should be dragged straight out into the street and shot,” according to the Associated Press.
Unfortunately, these are not the rants of a lone renegade. Some of our elected officials spout the same garbage with no consequence in the offing.
