A San Francisco man arrested for making threats against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about the health care overhaul bill shows just how dangerous and divisisive the political climate has become in this country and how people like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh may end up getting someone hurt or killed.

Police say Gregory Lee Giusti, 48, allegedly made dozens of threatening calls to Pelosi and even spoke to her directly on one of those calls. Giusti called Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, D.C. and even called her husband's business office.

The AP writes:

The threats involving Pelosi drew increased attention on the verbal attacks and harrassing calls that other Democratic legislators have faced over their support of the health care overhaul. The arrest came a day after a Washington state man was arrested for allegedly leaving threatening voicemails for U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.

On Tuesday, Pelosi told reporters in San Francisco that "people have been active in expressing their disagreement." Sometimes those expressions have risen "to the level of threats or violence," she said, explaining that she was not allowed to comment on her own situation.

And this is not like a prank or something not to be taken lightly. Giusti has been arrested twice before for making threats. Police say he threatened to kill a conductor, after he was kicked off of a commuter train for not paying his fare. He pleaded no contest to a felony count of making criminal threats and was sentenced to a year in prison and three years probation.

A lawyer for a San Francisco church also claims Giusti repeatedly threatened a church after being asked to leave in 2005. Parishioners were fearful of Giusti, and the lawyer said he sued to stop the threats last year. Federal agents linked the number used to make threatening calls to the church to a number used to threaten Pelosi.
One of Giusti's neighbors in a public housing complex in the Tenderloin, Rose Riggs told the AP that he "was known for engaging in heated political debates with others in the building." "He was not one of my favorite people. He had a real attitude problem," she said.

That's the problem with the overheated rhetoric and ideas being pushed about on issue like health care reform. When you tell people that the bill indicates that the United States is moving toward socialism, which many people associate with limited freedoms, and when President Obama is depicted as murderous dictator Adolf Hitler for trying to improve health care, some people, especially the mentally unstable, take that as a call to action.

On one show last November, Beck said the health care bill is for "all the marbles" and that they will "regulate everything" as a result. The bill will "control every bit of your life" and people will "fall like over ripe fruit" into their hands. He talks about guns being regulated via the health care bill.

None of what he said was true, of course, but his urgent tone, combined with virulent lies, is enough to push people to make threats and do something worse. People like Beck and Limbaugh are spreading lies over the airwaves to stir up controversy and financial gain for themselves.

The language of Tea Party protesters comparing themselves to patriots who fought, shed blood and died for a cause is also over the top and could inspire some, especially the mentally ill, to violence. The recent threats and spitting incidents involving Democrats who voted for health care are ominous signs.

Federal authorities in Washington recently charged Charles Alan Wilson with making threatening calls to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray. Wilson allegedly left messages where he told Murray "there's a target on your back now" and "it only takes one piece of lead."

It only takes one person to do something irreversible.