'Democracy in action,' Speaker Pelosi … or 'insurrection'?

It was mid-February 2011 when a series of pro-union demonstrations began in the capital city of Madison, protesting Republican Governor Scott Walker's proposed budget-cutting moves that then-President Barack Obama described as akin to an "assault on unions." In a tweet at that time, Pelosi stated:

"I stand with the students & workers of #WI, impressive show of democracy in action #solidarityWI."

A few weeks later, pro-union activists outside the State Capitol stormed the building, sending state lawmakers into hiding until the police managed to remove the protestors. Pelosi's response on Twitter?

"Tonight #WI GOP showed their true aim: undermining workers' rights. I continue to state in solidarity with @wiunion."

But earlier this month (on January 6), when protestors outside the U.S. Capitol invaded her turf, forcing members of the House and Senate to retreat for their own safety, she wasn't in a congratulatory mood. In her eyes, it was an "insurrection" incited by President Donald Trump, worthy of being impeached:

"They used [President Trump's] words to come here. When we talk about did any of our colleagues collaborate, that remains to be seen; we have to get the evidence of that. And if they did, they would be accessories to the crime – and the crime, in some cases, was murder. And this president is an accessory to that crime because he instigated that insurrection that caused those deaths and this destruction." (MSNBC interview on Jan. 19)

Columnist Marc Thiessen, writing for The Washington Post, summarizes the inconsistency this way: "In other words, Democrats were for occupying capitols before they were against it."