After video of attack on Paul Pelosi, let’s regain some basic cultural courtesy
Quin Hillyer
Can we all find not just some civility, but some basic human decency, please?
Background, before returning to that main point: Now that officials have released the videos and phone recordings related to the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of former speaker Nancy Pelosi, the establishment media is having a field day blasting some original right-wing media responses to the attack. Rightfully so. Numerous outposts on the right spread nasty conspiracy theories about the attack, and an astonishing number not only expressed no sympathy for Mr. Pelosi, but even suggested that he deserved it. (I deliberately choose not to dignify them by linking to them.)
PAUL PELOSI ATTACKER’S CHILLING CALL FROM JAIL
There are no gray areas here: The people and organizations that did this were not just wrong but vilely so. No excuse, not in a million years, can justify the entirely baseless insinuations and even accusations about Pelosi, much less the lack of compassion. For the record, Pelosi suffered a fractured skull from the attack, along with serious injuries to his hands and right arm. Three months later, the elderly man is still trying to recover from his wounds. And the attacker made absolutely clear that his real target was then-Speaker Pelosi, whose kneecap he wanted to break.
Yesterday’s release of the recordings, though, confirmed every bit of the original police reporting that the attacker broke into the house rather then being invited in, that Pelosi did not know him, and that the actual attack was vicious and nearly deadly. The whole thing was horrifying.
Yet even after the proof was released, social media was full of people saying that because of the Pelosis’ political stances and alleged profiteering, nobody should feel sorry for them. Repeat: An 82-year-old man gets awakened and terrorized at 2 a.m. by a home intruder, then beaten within an inch of his life with a hammer, but, well, the commenters don’t like his wife, so they say he deserves it.
What in tarnation is wrong with people?
There’s a larger point here, completely divorced from the identity of the victims of this heinous assault. The inhumane, indeed inhuman, responses come from all sides, not just the Right. Again and again, left wingers cheer when conservatives are harassed or attacked, as a stunning number of them did when an assassination attempt came within a single minute of taking the life of Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.), now the House Majority leader. Anybody if utterly unworthy of respect if he expresses outrage at the “other side’s” callous or even barbarous behavior while trying to excuse dangerous rhetoric or serious harassment or violence by one’s one “side.”
There’s nothing wrong with strongly worded but thoughtful commentary, but everything wrong with actually wishing personal ill on one’s perceived adversaries. The temperature in American politics and culture desperately needs to be reduced. Norms of civility need re-establishing.
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A new, Louisiana-based organization called “The Neutral Ground” (I am one of many public signers of its pledge and supporters of its aims) posits that “public discourse is broken” and, in response, “embrace[s] the critical importance of healthy discourse, and model[s] behaviors that reinforce mutual respect and trust.” This is a movement that needs to grow and a model that should be emulated elsewhere, all across these United States.
Almost all of us over-emote at times. When we do, we should apologize. But all of us should be able to embrace the idea that debate can be vociferous while still being, at an elemental level, reasonably civil. There’s a cavernous middle area between meekness and savagery. Surely we can stay within those bounds. Surely we must.