I’m usually a stickler for language. I was recently embroiled in a silly argument about whether a round sticker was a bumper sticker. I say no, others say yes. Words matter.

I’m not a stickler when it comes to words to describe a recording. The phrase digital recording doesn’t sound as good as the word tape; so today’s secret word is tape.

That brings me to the DePape Tapes. David DePape is the wingnut burglar who attacked Paul Pelosi last fall. The video and audio tapes of the attack have been released, which confirm Pelosi’s account. Some wingnuts remain unrepentant. They hate Nancy Pelosi so naturally the attack was justified and it had to be a gay assignation gone wrong because San Francisco.

I’m not going to post either the tapes of the attack or DePape’s interrogation. You can find them on the YouTube if you’re so inclined.

I am, however, posting a video of a story from KTVU, which is the Fox station in the Bay Area. David DePape called reporter Amber Lee and approved her recording his rant. Presumably, it was recorded on her phone. No tape but iPhone recording doesn’t scan.

DePape’s thinking is as disorderly as the messed up tapes in the featured image. There’s that word again.

Pelosi’s attacker issued a bizarre and twisted apology for his actions:

“I want to apologize to everyone. I messed up. What I did was really bad. I’m so sorry I didn’t get more of them. It’s my own fault. No one else is to blame. I should have come better prepared.”

So, he’s a Bizzarro World Boy Scout now? I was a Boy Scout albeit a lousy one. I don’t recall the whole “be prepared” thing being applied to attacking an old man married to a powerful woman.

DePape issued a futile disclaimer to the reporter as well:

At the start of the nearly six-minute call, Lee said, she was told that she could record it but that she was not allowed to challenge DePape’s statements or ask follow-up questions because he didn’t want the call to affect his legal case.

Too late for that, buddy boy. You confessed again. Presumably, his attorney is apoplectic about the call. This flushes the not guilty plea down the legal crapper.

I have some unsolicited advice for DePape’s lawyer: cop a plea or plead not guilty by reason of insanity. His client walks, talks and acts like a lunatic. In my book, that’s a recipe for an insanity defense.

I also have some unsolicited advice for David DePape. You have violated the first rule of holes: When you’re in one, stop digging.

Confirmation bias is a pox on our political system. DePape has a bad case of Pelosi Derangement Syndrome. It’s no secret why. Check out this image circulating in far-right circles:

They call her a She-Devil. It gives a whole new meaning to the old aphorism, the devil is in the details.

There have been two movies titled She-Devil. I haven’t seen either.

The 1989 movie got the punctuation and casting right, but the tagline for the 1957 flick is appropriately lurid. I hope I’m not giving ideas to any GOP hatchet men.

The power of language is often underrated. Words matter. Years of rabid right-wing attacks on Nancy Pelosi came home to roost last fall. Unfortunately, they came to her home in the person of David DePape. It nearly cost her husband his life.

The last word goes to Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth fame: