If leftists were honest, which is like saying “if fish could run marathons,” incoming West Virginia state rep Joseph de Soto would be a rising star in the Democrat Party, destined for Congress and — who knows? — maybe even a spot on the national ticket one of these days. Instead, he is under arrest today, and once again, if leftists were honest, they would be agitating for his release, saying that he was nothing less than a trailblazer, a courageous visionary who reached the logical outcome of their thinking before anybody else did. For Joseph de Soto, you see, threatened to kill his political opponents.
It has become commonplace for leftists to call their opponents “fascists.” Even the alleged president of the United States, Old Joe Biden, declared in his ominous red-and-black speech of Sept. 1, 2022 that “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.”
Yet leftists have not been consistent in this. After Trump was reelected, many Democrats and their media shills went from calling him Hitler to congratulating and talking about how they could work together. Even Old Joe himself welcomed the extremist who threatens the very foundations of the republic to the White House for a cordial chat, during which he pledged to do everything he could to make the transition from the Biden-Harris America-Last regime to Trump’s second America-First administration as smooth as possible. As later events have indicated, the sleazy corruptocrat in the Oval Office was lying yet again, but nevertheless, his friendliness to the man he had been telling us was the incarnation of evil itself was striking.
Joseph de Soto is not like that. Joseph de Soto is a consistent thinker. And what makes his consistency even more striking is that he is a relatively new Democrat, having only recently switched his affiliation from the Republican Party. Yet he has taken to his new affiliation with the aplomb of an old, experienced hand: NBC News reported Friday that de Soto, fresh from his election to the West Virginia House, was arrested for making "several threatening/intimidating threats against government officials," according to a West Virginia State Police lieutenant. Now de Soto is in a world of trouble: he has been “charged with one count of threats of terrorist acts,” and his bond was set at $300,000.
It seems that this promising Democrat politician “was upset following a recent meeting where Republican state lawmakers discussed whether to expel him from the caucus, according to a complaint shared with NBC News by an official with the Berkley County Commission.” It’s not clear why Republicans were talking about expelling him when he hasn’t even taken his seat yet, but whatever the reason may have been, de Soto was furious, and said he “was going to kill delegates," and named some of his Republican colleagues-to-be, including the speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, Roger Hanshaw.
Asked what he meant, de Soto claimed that “God called him to kill them." He wrote that the members of the House could "all go to hell, I will send them there as commanded." As if that weren’t clear enough, he added: "I did say I am going to kill people I said I am going that is necessary to put them from office."
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A witness helpfully explained that de Soto "has a temper and can become very angry." No kidding, really? It seems that he “has been very upset over things that have been occurring with the political group and things that he believes are being said against him and feels that he is being attacked and forced out of his position." Well, that’s a shame and all that, and yet although the NBC story clearly doesn’t give all the salient details, it is nonetheless clear that whatever may be the cause of de Soto’s dispute with his former fellow Republicans, he is handling it like a true Democrat.
Really, it was only a matter of time. After demonizing their opponents for years, it was inevitable that some leftist would escalate to outright death threats against them. The cause of de Soto’s rage may have been some personal dispute, but he has already shown a remarkable ability to adapt to his new affiliation. Will Democrats in West Virginia and nationwide chip in to raise his $300,000 bond, or march outside the jail demanding that he be freed? It would only be consistent.