Yes really.
One of his targets reacted with a sobering prediction.
Ocasio-Cortez said Gosar posted “a fantastic video of him killing me” but “he will not suffer any consequences because (Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy) encourages him with an apology.”
This situation is just the latest example of elected officials – including members of the House – threatened with violence because of their political beliefs or even for saying something as simple as the 2020 elections were not. in fact not rigged.
To consider:
Above all of this looms the ongoing investigation into the insurgency on the U.S. Capitol on January 6. This riot left 5 dead and more than 100 police officers injured. More than 600 people were arrested for their role in the riot that day.
The hope had been – at least immediately after January 6 – that that day had been a near-cataclysm for the country that no one wanted to repeat it. That the violence and hatred – and misinformation – that fueled this riot would dissipate after this day.
This does not happen.
While there has been no major violent event like the one that happened on January 6, there has been a constant stream of threats and ugly incidents directed at health experts and elected officials over everything. , from Covid-19 to critical race theory to Trump. lies about the 2020 election.
Violence – or the threat of violence – is now dominant in American politics. While once a congressman tweeted a video in which he appeared to kill another member he would have been widely and bipartisan, now he is inscribed on the right to “own libraries” and not only tolerated but celebrated.
There is nothing good on this road. When violence is mainstreamed – or ignored for political ends – it escalates and grows.
