For U.S. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy, R - California, to joke it will be hard not to hit House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D -California, with the gavel if he succeeds her, and for that to receive laughs, was unconscionable July 31. The Capitol needed no violence Jan. 6, and Congress and the nation it serves need no humor about the idea of hitting a fellow leader, in her 80s, with a gavel or anything else, not even if a leader disrespected him as Pelosi did recently with a derogatory term after he questioned the science on wearing face masks.

We have seen and heard the recordings of someone calling, “Oh, Nancy” in an “Oh, Lu-cy” manner during the insurrection, where also came chants to hang (Vice President) Mike Pence.

Is this what American politics has become? We can do better than Jan. 6, and better than disagreeing to the point of joking about harm. Spin it however anyone wants after the fact, as to what it meant and did not mean; it was at the very least poor taste, and at worst, another prong in normalizing the idea that a place of peace, like the Capitol, does not have to feel safe for everyone.

If I were Pelosi, I would have about had it with my job serving Americans if it had gotten this hairy. Fortunately, she and other leaders now and before get it: The challenges, however great, maybe unfathomably so, are worth dealing with because the alternative, stepping aside for bullies, is far worse and cannot be undone.

Week’s positive parting thought: Kudos to town and regional bodies including Wiscasset selectmen and Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 with Youtube meeting coverage and Alna selectmen with their planned in-person and remote hybrid meetings, for continuing to give the public options as the pandemic wears on, and possibly offering those options long term. Options enlarge the tent.