The United States has endemic crises of violence and political extremism. Both elements were present when a right-wing maniac named David Depepe broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home, apparently hoping to attack or murder her, and assaulted her husband.
The United States has endemic crises of violence and political extremism. Both elements were present when a right-wing maniac named David Depepe allegedly broke into Nancy Pelosi’s home, apparently hoping to attack or murder her, and assaulted her husband, Paul. But when I think about the violence and extremism that will warp the future of American politics, crimes like this, as ghastly as they may be, are not the sort of thing that grip my imagination. What I fear is much worse.
The personal vulnerability of Pelosi is a simple problem that we can, and very likely will, solve. John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln in an era before American presidents received 24-hour security. With the benefit of historical distance, that era — when presidents often received random visitors who wandered by their office — seems incredible.
It seems hard to imagine that a similar level of protection (or at least one much higher than exists now) won’t, in the near future, be extended to high-ranking congressional leaders and judges. People holding positions of such authority will no longer be able to live normal lives in a country whose hatreds spill routinely into violence, but it is a practical solution. At some point, an event like a would-be murderer breaking into the home of a congressional leader and assaulting her spouse will be impossible.
