“ . . . expected to make a full recovery.”
Such is the medical bulletin put out after the husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi was subjected to attempted murder. A medical note of hope, to be sure, but also a small solace. How much pain during the recovery. How long will it take? What therapy will need to be endured? What long-term consequences for Mr. Pelosi’s medical management and for his family? How much time away from work, not to mention enjoyment? How much “messing with his mind” will this recoverable injury entail?
We raise these matters out of sympathy for Mr. Pelosi, and for another reason: to highlight an often overlooked, personal consequence of political violence, namely, the sustained pessimism about or anger in our country. There are countless victims of every act of political violence, beyond the immediate victim.
The dastardly attack on Speaker Pelosi’s husband reinforces and reflects a dangerous recent history in which violence has been threatened against, or perpetrated against, a Supreme Court Justice (Brett Kavanaugh), a House whip (Steve Scalise), a Representative now running for governor of New York (Lee Zeldin). Woe unto you and woe unto us if the violence is deemed less offensive if its target is your disfavored public figure or more offensive if its target is deemed your favored public figure.
When we visited Europe long ago and saw the heavy security outside the synagogues we breathed a sigh of relief that this does not happen in America. That was then. Now, expect to see heavier and heavier security also around candidates for lower and lower levels of office. This is the country we live in now. Do not be comforted by “ . . . expected to make a fully recovery.”
Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News
