We have yet another example of a right-wing extremist goal to target Democrats at any and all costs in order for their agenda to be carried out. And this particular incident happened at a Teabagger rally in blood-red Springfield, Missouri this past Thursday, in which Gateway Grassroots Initiative co-founder Scott Boston (who has close ties to fellow rabble-rousers Jim Hoft and Dana Loesch) shouted out "we need to kill the Claire Bear."
Alex Seitz-Wald at Think Progress:
Police are assigning extra security to Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) after a Tea Party activist declared at a rally last week, “We have to kill the Claire Bear ladies and gentlemen.” The rally was hosted by the group Tea Party Express, which is endorsing McCaskill challenger Sarah Steelman (R), who was in attendance at the rally.
Scott Boston, a St. Louis Tea Party activist, said, “She walks around like she’s some sort of Rainbow Brite Care Bear or something but really she’s an evil monster.” “We have to kill the Claire Bear,” he added.
Adam Shriver at the St. Louis Activist Hub:
Boston is a cofounder of the group GGI (Gateway Grassroots Initiative) along with other interesting characters.
Sarah Steelman defended Boston's mean-spirited rhetoric aimed at McCaskill:
On Tuesday, Steelman came to Boston's defense, blaming the "liberal media" that, she says, employs a double-standard when it comes to covering political rhetoric that contain a hint of violence.
"I may disagree with the words Mr. Boston chose in his statement," Steelman said in her own statement, "but I understand his frustration and I emphatically support his right to express his views."
However, one Republican in the MO-Sen race to attempt to defeat McCaskill, John Brunner condemned the threat against her.
"This type of rhetoric is unconscionable and I reject this kind of politics," Brunner said in a statement. "Comments like these have no place in this U.S. Senate campaign, or any other campaign in this country, because they don't represent American values."
Todd Akin is silent as a mouse on this one, and I'd wager that Akin supports Boston's threat.
Resident Breitbart whiner and CNN "contributor" Loesch defended Boston's actions (as did almost all of the commenters):
Earlier today, FBI agents dropped in on the home of St. Louis conservative Scott Boston over remarks he made about Sen. Claire McCaskill at a Tea Party Express rally in Springfield. Fortunately, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch was able to break the news to him, as the information was first brought to the paper before Boston himself knew.
This isn't the first time that a Missouri Democrat has attempted to take on the grassroots over allegations of offensive language; in 2010 Russ Carnahan claimed that grassroots activists trespassed on his yard and left a coffin, which was quickly debunked by local media.
It's a questionable response from the Senator, who once called the criminal Occupy movement "patriotic."
While I didn't hear Boston's quote, he told me what his remarks were, as did Kremer, and others. I do wish that Democrats would pay as much attention to the speech from their own side as they do the speech of conservatives.