Durbin reacts to attack on the House Speaker’s husband

Posted on November 3, 2022

By Dave Dahl

DECATUR – The hammer attack this week on the husband of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was heartbreaking to U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who says Paul and Nancy Pelosi are friends of his.

“There will be more security. I am concerned, because it’s happening too frequently,” Durbin said in Decatur this week, giving another example: “Rodney Davis, Republican congressman. At baseball practice several years ago, (he) was assaulted by a gunman from the other side of the political spectrum. It’s unacceptable. Violence is unacceptable, whatever the political motivation. Period.”

The baseball field shooting, in 2017, seriously wounded U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.)

Speaking of members of Congress who have recovered to serve, Durbin said he believes Republicans’ criticism of John Fetterman is unfair. Fetterman is the U.S. Senate candidate from Pennsylvania who recently suffered a stroke, the effects of which are on display in every public appearance, including in a debate against Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican hopeful.

Durbin says you do not have to look far to find a stroke patient who persevered and returned to Congress. “Does the name Mark Kirk ring a bell?” Kirk was a Republican U.S. senator from Illinois who lost to another person known for fighting obstacles: the war-wounded Tammy Duckworth.

Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…