According to the old line, a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged.
Updating that, what's a radical Defund the Police leftist who wants people threatening her to be detained without bail?
On MSNBC's Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart, Rep. Pramila Jayapal talked about a man yelling outside her home who was arrested for threatening to kill her. So now, as Jason Rantz asserted, "She is now the beneficiary of the very systems she seeks to destroy."
Capehart was "chilled," and Jayapal was "not OK" with the fact that the man has been released from jail pending further investigation.
Capehart, predictably, never mentioned that Jayapal has been a critic of cash bail, has supported defunding the police, and told her supporters to "take to the streets" and "fight tooth and nail" for abortion.
He never mentioned -- as Rantz did -- that "Jayapal was one of the 27 progressives who voted against the bill that enhanced security for the immediate families of Supreme Court justices. The assassination plot against Justice Brett Kavanaugh did not move her to offer the support she is currently grateful for."
Jayapal told Capehart:
"I expect the Capitol police, and the Seattle police department, and the prosecutors office, will all take my safety very seriously."
That's fine. But why doesn't Jayapal take "very seriously" the safety of Americans who don't enjoy the privileged protections afforded high-ranking politicians? Jayapal also made a predictable pitch for more gun control, saying, "we have to take away the tools, that racists, white supremacists, extremists are using." Why did she exclude the wielders of the "tools" of urban violence, who account for inordinately commit more homicides every year—going back way before Trump—than the white supremacists do?
Capehart then brought on former "Anonymous" author and Never Trumper, Miles Taylor. He warned that "we're entering that red zone for potential political assassinations."
As proof thereof, Taylor cited, "threats against American governors. American Members of Congress. The Vice President of the United States had people calling for his assassination on January 6th."
Notice something missing from Taylor's list? The Kavanaugh assassination attempt.
Question: how much of a Republican has Taylor ever been? He's admitted to having contributed to Obama's campaign in 2008, long before the Trump era he now bemoans.
Note: whereas Taylor failed to mention the potential Kavanaugh assassin, give Capehart credit for having done so at the top of the show. But Capehart made a potentially dangerous blunder of his own. While claiming he didn't want to compromise Jayapal's security, Capehart asked her whether she was currently at home, or elsewhere. Why would Capehart possibly want to broadcast her location, particularly given that the alleged suspect is currently at large?
Capehart and Jayapal discussing the threats against her without mentioning her hypocrisy on bail and security for judges was supported in part by Progressive, Hyundai, and Procter & Gamble, maker of Bounty.
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart
7/17/22
10:00 am EDTJONATHAN CAPEHART: On July 9th, Seattle police arrested a man, armed man, with a gun, outside of Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal's home. According to the Seattle Times, a neighbor told police she heard the man shouting, quote, go back to India. I'm going to kill you. And another reported seeing the suspect drive past Jayapal's house three times, while shouting profanities.
Joining me now, is Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Progressive caucus. Congressman Jayapal, thank you very much for coming back to this Sunday Show. I am sorry to hear about what happened to you, how are you and your family?
PRAMILA JAYAPAL: Jonathan, thank you. This is the first time I'm talking about this, and I appreciate you having me on, to talk about not only what happened to me, but the connections to exactly what you were just starting the opening with. I am, uh, not okay. And I'm okay. I think, you know, this is a scary time for me, and for my family.
. . .
CAPEHART: Congresswoman, it is chilling to hear the news, that you just said, that this same person has been stalking you for months now. That man was released on Wednesday. Why weren't they able to hold him?
JAYAPAL: Well, they have 72 hours after they arrest somebody to be able to file the charges. And I am firmly, I believe, maybe because I need to believe, that the prosecutors will be able to charge him. I think it would be a terrible, terrible sign. Not just to me, but elected officials across the country, if they are not able to arrest him, and charge him.
. . .
CAPEHART: Congresswoman, one last question before I let you go. Considering everything that you've just said, and the fact he has been released, not trying to get you to compromise your security at all. But, are you, are you at home? Or have you gone elsewhere?
JAYAPAL: I am not at home right now. I am traveling, I will be in D.C., this week. But, I expect that when I go home, I expect the Capitol police, and the Seattle police department, and the prosecutors office, will all take my safety, very seriously. I intend to. But I hope that charges will be filed soon. At the end of the day, Jonathan, we have to take away the tools, that racists, white supremacists, extremists are using.
And as Dr. King said, you cannot regulate morality, but you can legislate behavior. And we have to do that, we cannot make it so easy, for people to get guns, and for people to carry out these violent threats, against people, as all part of what this country has come to be --
CAPEHART: Right, right.
JAYAPAL: -- under six years post-Donald Trump.
CAPEHART: I want to bring in Miles Taylor, former chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security, and co-founder and executive director of the Renew America Movement. Miles, thank you very much for coming to the Sunday Show. Just, your reaction to what you heard, from Congressman Jayapl?
MILES TAYLOR: Well, she started off that segment by saying, I'm okay, and I'm not okay. I think that's what the country could be saying right now.
We are lucky not to have had one of these episodes, and tragically, but it's not okay. We are not okay. And I would say right now, bottom line upfront, the light is blinking red right now in this country when it comes to political violence.
When I look at all the indicators, and I'm awash with data on this, it is a very, very terrifying moment. And I've talked to a lot of experts recently, nonpartisan experts, who worry we're entering that red zone for potential political assassinations.
That sounds like hyperbole. But just in the past two years, Jonathan, we've seen threats against, American governors. American Members of Congress. The Vice President of the United States had people calling for his assassination on January 6th.
I worry right now that this is a ticking time bomb. On most things, I do not say there is inevitability. On most things, when it comes to national security, I always say, we have a choice and the ability to mitigate them. But I think we are past the period we have a choice of dialing this down, and avoiding, at least low-level, sustained political violence. We've gotten past that period, and I think it's a big concern for national security.
