STOP IT!!! JUST STOP IT!!! 🛑

Posted on by under Election 2020, Election 2022, guns, Law and justice, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Rants, Social commentary

Early this morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home was broken into and her 82-year-old husband was brutally beaten. Speaker Pelosi was in Washington at the time. This past summer, Senator Susan Collins of Maine had windows broken out in her home.  Many members of Congress have received hate mail and death threats recently.  As I read aloud the story about the attack on Paul Pelosi with my voice cracking and tears threatening to make a trail down my cheeks, I turned to my daughter and said, “This is NOT who we are!!!”  And then, after a pause, I thought, but maybe it is now.  Maybe the racism and greed and bigotry that have become such a part of this nation since its inception is turning us into monsters.

Senator Collins recently stated that “I wouldn’t be surprised if a senator or House member were killed. What started with abusive phone calls is now translating into active threats of violence and real violence.”  Consider these instances …

  • In Seattle, a man who had sent an angry email to Representative Pramila Jayapal repeatedly showed up outside the lawmaker’s house, armed with a semiautomatic handgun and shouting threats and profanities.
  • In Queens, a man who had traveled across the country waited in a cafe across the street from Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s office to confront her, part of a near-constant stream of threats and harassment that has prompted the congresswoman to switch her sleeping location at times and seek protection from a 24-hour security detail.
  • In the months since the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which brought lawmakers and the vice president within feet of rioters threatening their lives, Republicans and Democrats have faced stalking, armed visits to their homes, vandalism and assaults.

The man who attacked Paul Pelosi had an online presence that should have thrown up red flags if anybody had been paying attention.  He had posted memes and conspiracy theories on Facebook about Covid vaccines, the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

And now, just hours after the attack, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin apparently thought he was being funny when he said at a rally, “Listen, I want to stop for a minute and — listen, Speaker Pelosi’s husband — they had a break in last night in their house and he was assaulted. There’s no room for violence anywhere, but we’re gonna send her back to be with him in California. That’s what we’re gonna go do. That’s what we’re gonna go do.”

It is said that the attacker entered the home screaming, “Where’s Nancy?”, and yet one Fox host claims that perhaps it was a random break-in, not necessarily intended for Speaker Pelosi.

The attacker, who I shall not name, is being charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and “several other additional felonies,” according to Police Chief William Scott.

A number of lawmakers have said they are ‘horrified’ by the attack on Mr. Pelosi, and outgoing Senator Ben Sasse said, “every single American needs to be lowering the temperature. This is increasingly obvious: Disturbed individuals easily succumb to conspiracy theories and rage — the consequences are bloody and un-American.”  While I fully agree with Senator Sasse, I also hold certain members of Congress, as well as a former president and his followers, for inciting the violence that is tearing this nation apart and threatening lives of innocent people.

JUST STOP IT – EVERYONE!!!  JUST STOP IT!!!  BE BETTER THAN THIS!

Note to Readers: “Paul Pelosi underwent surgery at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital after sustaining a skull fracture and serious injuries to his hands and right arm. The surgery was successful, and he is expected to make a full recovery, said Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”

50 thoughts on “STOP IT!!! JUST STOP IT!!! 🛑”

    • I said to my daughter tonight that I just cannot understand how we have come to this point. Oh sure, I know some of the things that have triggered it, such as immigration, climate change, Covid, Trump, the election of a Black president not only once, but twice … but none of that explains the acceptance of cruelty and violence that are now so much a part of our daily lives. 😔

      Liked by 1 person

  2. The attacker was a mentally unstable man. Someone said this is not who WE are but who THEY are. Who is WE and THEY? Why mention right wing folks who have drunk the cool-aid? This is what CNN and other liberal outlets tried to do as well. There is no connection between this man and any political or other organization. This man represented himself and nobody else. Trying to use this event for political points (as President Biden did) is a problem, one that is bothersome as the problem you are tying to address.

    https://nypost.com/2022/10/28/biden-slams-political-violence-attack-against-paul-pelosi/

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  3. I spend way more time on right-wing and QAnon forums than is good for my health, and the drumbeat for violence and civil war on those sites is constant. Constant. It really is terrifying, and I don’t know how to turn it around, except maybe to work on conversations and connections with people we know in real life who have different views from us. It’s harder to hate when you have a friend or neighbor you like who belongs to the hated group. Not an easy task, I know that from experience.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I could not visit the QAnon and right-wing forums, for my blood pressure would go so high I’d likely have a heart attack and die! Plus, they have nothing of value to offer, so … why waste my time on them? I had several friends who drank the Kool Aid, but gradually we drifted apart, for I don’t hide my views, nor do they.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Thank you for sharing!!… in the past (with technology being what it was) not everyone would be aware of what is going on…. hopefully with today’s technology we can get the word out about what is going on in this country and perhaps get the people to work together to deal with the issues without over reacting.. 🙂

    Until we meet again..
    May your troubles be less
    Your blessings be more
    And nothing but happiness
    Come through your door
    (Irish Saying)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Very true, but in the past, perhaps people worked harder at trying to get accurate information by reading newspapers, going to the library, etc. And the flip side of the information age and the ability it gives us to have instant information is that there is an equal amount of MISinformation available as well, and some do not have the understanding to separate the two.

      I always smile when I read your Irish Sayings, my friend!

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      • And there are many who have a closed mind and looking for that which agrees with their thinking, even if it may be wrong, especially in the realm of religion… and there are those like Trump and others too numerous to mention who take advantage and tell them what they wish to hear to gather their support… 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

        • That is so very true. I know a few people like that … they will dig until they find someone who tells them exactly what they wanted to hear. The mockery, the horrible jokes that are in response to the attack on Paul Pelosi are … unconscionable! The attacker is even being called a ‘patriot’. This is not who I thought we were, my friend. I’m convinced now, though, that humanity is on the wane, while cruelty is on the rise. I used to think that good people would overcome the evil, but … I don’t think so anymore.

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  7. Jill, this is not who WE are. This is who THEY are.

    I mean, if you want to align yourself with these people, go ahead. But I’m not going to.

    There have always been assholes in this country. Look at any period of our history & you’ll find people who were working against the good of this nation. If you lived in those times, would you be one of those people? Would you be a slave-owner, a robber baron, a union buster, a red-liner making sure that “those” people didn’t get to live in good neighborhoods? Would you have descended on the Capital on January 6?

    This is not who WE are. This is who THEY are. The ones who want to destroy this country.

    Liked by 3 people

    • I agree. It is who THEY are and there’s a lot of trash out there and it’s growing everyday…and always not much accountability…especially if you are a trumpet.

      Liked by 1 person

    • I meant the “we” in the broader sense, as in … humanity as a whole. No, I don’t align myself with them, but I am fortunate to have received a good sound education, to learn how to think for myself rather than simply parrot what the loudest voices are saying.

      Having studied history most of my life, yes, there have always been assholes but typically they don’t rise to the highest echelons of power, and if they do, they are usually quickly rooted out. Today we have more assholes in charge of the nation than, I believe, at any other point in our history.

      You are right in that there are at least as many like WE as there are who are like THEM, and we should be able to restore order, but … WE are not working as hard at it as THEY are working at destroying the nation. Sigh.

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  11. Horrified is the appropriate word. It’s sickening that anyone would do these kinds of things to anyone. Thank goodness Paul survived the attack, and the attacker will probably be locked up forever, but it’s still horrifying that this happened at all.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I fully agree … it IS horrifying. I can’t help but wonder if this is the new world we’ve created and will be leaving to our children and grandchildren. If so, we sure have made a mess of it all. Yes, thankfully Paul survived and is expected to recover, but at his age, I’m sure it didn’t do him any good!

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      • “wonder if this is the new world we’ve created”

        Sorry to say yes, it is exactly the world you have created. Old Americans like Biden and Pelosi are the worst as they show younger generations how to ruthlessly gain an advantage by lying and stealing and bullying.

        Best example is Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan: No meaning, no purpose, just pure povocation, aggression and warmongering.

        And her boss, sleepy Joe telling Putin he mustn’t use nukes. Know what, Joe, neither Putin, nor any members of his adminstration, nor any Russian militaries have talked about nuclear weapons. Putin, when asked just said they will only push the button when NATO nukes are about to hit the Red Square. Retaliation, no other use for nukes. It is Americans suddenly coming up with the idea to use “strategical nuclear strikes”.

        It is your generation and the democrats party poopers who wanna see the world burn! But more and more countries, and particularly the people, see through the charade and can’t wait to cut ties with America.

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  12. Pingback: STOP IT!!! JUST STOP IT!!! 🛑 — Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  13. Pingback: STOP IT!!! JUST STOP IT!!! 🛑 — Filosofa’s Word | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

    • Awww … I’m sorry you couldn’t reblog, Nan! But thanks for trying and I’m glad you found value in the post. I just wish … just wish the world was a little brighter these days.

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  15. Revolting. (That’s become my favourite word lately) Skull fracture? What kind of a bastard beats up an 82 year-old man? I’m not big (at all) on the death penalty, but sometimes I wonder whether there shouldn’t be exceptions.
    There will be war I’m afraid…

    Liked by 1 person

    • Revolting, horrifying, disgusting … I’m thinking we need a new word that goes even further these days. Indeed, what sort of person could do such a thing and live with their conscience? Or … do people like that even have a conscience? I fear we are going to see a wave of violence across the country post-election … some against politicians, some against anybody who has the misfortune to cross the path of an angry person. I hope I’m wrong, but too many candidates are already saying they will only accept the election results if they win, and too many people in this country are gun owners without much of a conscience.

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