In the contest to replace Paul Ryan as Republican Speaker of the House, one of the leading candidates is Steve Scalise. There are many reasons to hope that he prevails. To let your congressman know that you support him. First of all, Scalise is a solidly pro-life, principled conservative, who wants to secure our borders. (On the last point, he’s a huge improvement over Paul Ryan.) He’s personally courageous, charismatic, and honest. Those are all excellent reasons why Scalise should be a finalist, at least.

A Survivor of Leftist Terrorism

But the reason why the GOP should pick him is starkly symbolic. Scalise is a survivor of left-wing domestic terrorism. Remember when a Bernie Sanders volunteer tried to kill a dozen GOP congressmen, including the House’s leaders? It’s the most serious act of politically motivated terror since the killing of Robert Kennedy. Scalise was gravely wounded, and his slow, dicey recovery highlighted his determination and courage.

The attack on GOP congressmen has vanished from history like one of Stalin’s former colleagues in a “corrected” Soviet textbook.

Imagine that in 2009 an angry Mike Huckabee supporter had responded to the election of Barack Obama by trying to wipe out the whole Democratic leadership in Congress. But the media were too caught up in an almost unanimous wave of “resistance” to Obama to pay it much attention. They just waved it off as a “lone nut’s” tantrum, of no broader significance.

Have you finished laughing yet? No, the media would have exploded. They would have called it a “coup” attempt. The FBI would have pounced on every organization to the right of the Chamber of Congress, bugging and infiltrating them as they (rightly) did “militia” groups after Timothy McVeigh bombed Oklahoma City. (I’d say that the IRS would have gone after grassroots conservative groups on flimsy pretexts, but that happened anyway under Obama appointee Lois Lerner — even without such a terror attack.)

Never mind if the shooter was just a solitary nutcase, with no formal ties to any conservative group. Just his one-time link to a GOP candidate would have kept media circling like sharks around pro-life groups, Christian churches, and of course, the NRA. You know, all the groups that the left is targeting right now, in the virtual absence of right-wing or Christian acts of violence.

Escaping the Memory Hole

The media have airbrushed the attack on the GOP congressmen out of history. It vanished like one of Stalin’s former colleagues in a “corrected” Soviet textbook. We need to bring that story back. To throw it in the face of the left every time it falsely accuses peaceful groups that defend the First or Second Amendment of endangering public safety. What else could do that, but electing a House Speaker who himself was the victim of the real wave of political violence in America — all of it stemming from the Left?

From homeschoolers to Chick-Fil-A, left-elitists treat churchgoers, gun owners, and Trump voters like a violent, subhuman species that needs corralling. Since Trump’s election, these elites have conducted a campaign of cultural terror.   They’ve used outrageous language of “resistance” better suited to a Nazi-occupied country. They’ve led destructive protests, encouraged “Deep State” officials to sabotage the administration, and thrown false theory after theory against the wall to see if it would stick. (The Russians hacked the vote. Okay, then but … they colluded with Trump. All right, even if they didn’t … they bought clumsy Facebook ads! And what about Stormy Daniels?) All to delegitimize the votes of half of America.

From homeschoolers to Chick-Fil-A, left-elitists treat churchgoers, gunowners, and Trump voters like a violent, subhuman species that needs corralling. Since Trump’s election, these elites have conducted a campaign of cultural terror.

Survivors Have Credibility

It’s clear that the Left and its media minions see victims as potent weapons. Why else would David Hogg, who hid in a closet throughout the Parkland attack, now serve as the spokesman for left-wing attacks on the Second Amendment? Meanwhile, Anthony Borges, 15, saved the lives of 20 people by facing down gunfire to barricade a door — and was shot five times in the process. (He’s now in a wheelchair.) Have you even heard about Mr. Borges in the media? Maybe that’s because he’s not calling for gun control. No, he’s asking why the deputies assigned to protect his classmates were cowering outside. He doesn’t fit the narrative, so the networks gently shove him down the spiral stairs to oblivion.

Should Rep. Scalise become our Speaker the media couldn’t get away with that. He could (and should) refer to his own personal story to rebuke the reckless stokers of outrage on the left. Even better, it’s likely he’d become a major figure in national politics. He might even become the answer to the question that eats away in the back of our heads: Who on earth could lead the party (and maybe the ticket) after Donald Trump’s second term? A populist, pro-life patriot and terrorism survivor from Louisiana sounds like just the ticket to me.