A black-pilled 42-year-old conspiracy theorist assaulted the husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi in an attempt to get to the Speaker herself, who was not at home. He reported shouted "Where's Nancy?", echoing the eerie calls that echoed down the hallways of the Capitol on 1/6. The backdoor had been broken into. A 911 call made by Paul Pelosi alerted law enforcement to his home, where they were able to witness a part of the assault, which included an attempt to tie Mr. Pelosi up until his wife came back.
And the right-wing world didn't blink. Fox News blamed Democrats for being soft on crime, the Pelosis for not having better security, and vaguely waved away the anti-vax and other bizarre conspiracies shared by the assailant--because their viewers share those sentiments, too, and because they are the cause of that. Republican politicos on the campaign trail didn't take one respectful beat to keep the name of Nancy Pelosi out of their mouths. And the conspiracy theorists just kept making more conspiracy theories, because what was going to stop them? Reality? Basic common decency?
As I found myself on Twitter yesterday, I liked and re-tweeted a sentiment that "They won't stop until someone gets killed," but even that doesn't sound right. We're four years from the anniversary of the Tree of Life synagogue slaying. We've seen death in El Paso and Buffalo. This week, three "Wolverine Watchmen" were found guilty of a plot to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. A PA man pleaded guilty to threatening to kill Rep. Eric Swalwell and his staffers.
It's almost a sick joke to ask where someone like David DePape becomes radicalized. Really? After Speaker Pelosi has been demonized by the RW press for so many years? When social media like Facebook has made a journey through a rabbit hole leading to a cesspit of lies and violence so accessible?
If the hate train slowed down, even took a pause to acknowledge that they enabled this would the shock of it after so much acceleration in recent years derail it?
I don't even know. I only know this time they never slowed down so the passengers could take a look.
No comments:
Post a Comment