The Violence Must Stop

In as few as five years the number of threat investigations launched by the US Capitol Police has grown from 3,939 in 2017 to 9,625 in 2021.  An increase of almost 150 percent.  For 2022 Capitol Police reported 1,820 cases by the end of March setting the pace for more than 8000 incidents this year.  That's lower than 2020 and 2021 but current and final numbers have yet to be reported.

The recent attack-upon Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul, punctuated the danger our elected officials face amid a rise in violent political speech.  There are people out there that on their best day struggle with sketchy mental health.  And they are dangerous.

In August a Pennsylvania man plead guilty to threatening to shoot and kill an unnamed member of Congress.

In July a man climbed a stage and tried to stab Representative Lee Zeldin.  Zeldin was unharmed and the attacker arrested.

The FBI arrested a man who has been charged with attempting to assassinate Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

In January 2021 hundreds of rioters stormed the US Capitol forcing lawmakers to flee.  More than 100 Capitol Police officers were injured, one died the next day, four others committed suicide and four rioters died the day of the attack.  No elected officials were harmed. 

The same month Senator Mitch McConnell's home was vandalized and spray-painted with threatening graffiti.  The Pelosi home received similar graffiti treatment and the severed head of a pig was left behind.

Representatives Steve Scalise and Gabby Giffords were shot.

Anthrax-laced letters were sent to Senators Patrick Leahy and Tom Daschle.

The list of dangerous incidences in Washington DC alone continues to grow.

I have previously blogged about this yet at a recent Idaho rally a young man stepped up to a microphone to ask when he could start killing political opponents.  When do we get to use the guns?  How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?

Political violence has been part of our American story since the time of our Founding Fathers.  Brawling, duels, name-calling from all sides can be found throughout history.  But this is absolute nonsense.

And social media amplifies this by order of magnitude.

I have friends who ordinarily wear their Christian beliefs on their sleeves who have recently taken to their Face Book pages to gleefully gloat about and parody the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi.

Does the imaginary shield of a handheld device disguise?

It is perfectly acceptable to have a difference in political beliefs and to respectfully disagree.  However, when you dehumanize your political opponents, or anybody for that matter, it becomes easier to commit violence against them.

This is wrong.

This has to stop.

We are capable of better.