"Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) remained dug in despite revealing that his wife felt compelled to sleep with a loaded gun." This is Trump's Republican Party.

At the University of Pennsylvania Museum photography studio I worked with a man who was a U.S. Army Air Force photographer stationed in the Pacific in World War II. He developed and printed reconnaissance photos on Pacific Islands. They worked & lived in tents. Fox holes & trenches to protect against Japanese Betty Bombers couldn't be dug on the Islands. He just stayed in the darkroom tent during bombings. There was no where to be safe. 

At night Japanese soldiers would slit throats while soldiers were sleeping. He slept with a 45 under his pillow. 

The 45 stayed under his pillow for more than a year after he came home. He couldn't fall asleep without it. 

Democrats and mostly Republicans and their families will have post traumatic stress disorder long after they retire from politics in the Trump era. 

I developed "street smarts" when I walked around Philadelphia with a Nikon F. I carried expensive cameras in dangerous areas in Philly & somehow managed to not be mugged. People said it was how I walked. 

The internet wasn't like it is today when I began writing the Coatesville Dems blog. I  got death threats in person. 

I look both ways carefully when crossing streets. I quickly size up people. When you get death threats it stays with you.

***

"It’s difficult to know whether that was because of intimidation they were getting or anticipating; it’s also possible they simply wanted to unite as a conference and/or got assurances from Jordan. But the problem with threats and intimidation is that the real impact is often unspoken. Nobody wants to broadcast that they gave in or to inflame those who have already demonstrated a willingness to threaten. And until people speak up, you just don’t know.

That said, we do have instances in which Republicans have cited these things having an actual impact on votes. And to hear certain Republicans tell it, they might have played a significant role in the political course of the Republican Party in recent years.

We’ve recapped some of this before, but it’s worth running through again at this moment:

• Retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in recently published comments recounted how, during Trump’s post-Jan. 6 impeachment, a member of GOP leadership was leaning toward voting to convict him. Then the senator’s colleagues cited their personal safety, even invoking their children, the Atlantic’s McKay Coppins reported in his new book. The senator voted to acquit.
• In announcing his retirement, now-former congressman Anthony Gonzalez (R-Ohio) cited a deluge of threats after his vote to impeach Trump.
• Now-former congressman Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) suggested that the violence on Jan. 6 also weighed heavily on not just impeachment votes but votes to certify the election, which more than two-thirds of House Republicans opposed. “They knew in their heart of hearts that they should’ve voted to certify, but some had legitimate concerns about the safety of their families,” Meijer said. “They felt that that vote would put their families in danger.”
• Former congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said that during Trump’s impeachment “there were members who told me that they were afraid for their own security — afraid, in some instances, for their lives.” She cited how “members of Congress aren’t able to cast votes, or feel that they can’t, because of their own security.”
• The Republican majority leader of the Pennsylvania state Senate said of signing a letter backing Trump’s attempt to overturn the results in that state: “If I would say to you, ‘I don’t want to do it,’ I’d get my house bombed tonight.”...

The Washington Post

Threats couldn’t save Jim Jordan. But Trump-era intimidation has had an impact.

The holdouts on Jordan’s speaker bid spotlighted a problem that has long lurked beneath the surface

Aaron Blake

October 20, 2023 at 1:59 p.m. EDT

***

"Multiple members who've opposed Rep. Jim Jordan's bid for House speaker on the floor are going public with claims of death threats and other intimidation tactics they've faced as his bid for the gavel has come up short to date.

• Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa): The Iowa Republican flipped to oppose Jordan on the floor Wednesday and said in a statement that "I have received credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls" since doing so. "One thing I cannot stomach, or support is a bully," she added.
• Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.): The New York freshman posted an image of a threatening message he received, pledging to "whip all of the hair out of your fucking head" if they met. "I will not succumb to threats," he vowed. He's opposed Jordan both times on the floor.
• Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.): Opposed twice to Jordan on the floor, Bacon shared images of threatening anonymous texts received by his wife."

MORE AT:

POLITICO

Multiple members are detailing death threats and other intimidation they've faced for opposing Jim Jordan's speakership bid.

Jordan said the threats "are terrible and that should never happen."

Anthony Adragna. 10/19/2023, 8:43am ET