So this is what is has come to. The anger and vitriol coming from the republican party and their followers is starting to come home to roost. Yes, this is what happens when you inject fear and hate into a debate. Civil discourse is gone, policy disagreements have turned into a win/lose blood sport and the America I know is threatened. Not by socialism, fascism, or communism, but by the angry mob- like mentality that the republicans and their media pundits have wrought. More below the fold…
As they say, all politics is local and the followers of Rush et al are making their opinion known-not by reasoned argument but by vandalism.
http://www.whec.com/...
Not everyone is happy about the passage of health care legislation. Tonight, there is more information about the brick that was thrown through the window of the Monroe County Democratic Headquarters on University Avenue -- it turns out there was a note attached.
A local democratic spokesman said the note read "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice." That's a quote from a speech that republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater gave in 1964
http://www.13wham.com/...
Rochester/Niagara Falls, N.Y. -- The same day a brick crashed through her Niagara Falls office, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D) says her staff discovered an assassination threat aimed at her family members. The Democratic headquarters in Rochester was also targeted
Apparently a blogger by the name of Mike Vanderboeh from http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogsp... is the source of vandalism idea. While he claims this is all he is advocating-a little vandalism--his site seems a bit more violent prone to me:
The Doctrine of the Three Percent.
The Three Percent are the folks the Founders counted on to save the Republic when everyone else abandoned it. And we will. There will be no more free Wacos and no more free Katrinas. For we are the Three Percent. We will not disarm. You cannot convince us. You cannot intimidate us. You can try to kill us, if you think you can. But remember, we’ll shoot back . We are not going away. We are not backing up another inch. And there are THREE MILLION OF US.
Your move, Mr. Wannabe Tyrant.
Your move.
And, as things begin to spin out of control, remember this:
"All politics in this country now is just dress rehearsal for civil war." -- Billy Beck, August 2009.
A closer look at the website negates his claim that this call to action is innocent protesting. First of all vandalizing in any form is illegal and destroying public property is anything but innocent.
We have all read the articles lately with reference to the rise in militia type groups. We have seen the anger at town hall meetings. We have heard Republican Representatives call the President a liar and call another member of congress a baby killer. And we have heard about the increase in threats to our President as well as to our other elected representatives. I am concerned that we may have turned a corner that and that we cannot reverse this trend. We are in desperate need of some type of intervention by the leaders of the Republican Party--the only problem is who are the leaders? Sarah Palin? Rush Limbaugh? Glen Beck? The Republican Party has chosen to link itself to these people. I think the only way for them to stop this runaway train is to not only disassociate with the teabaggers and their right wing leaders is to forcefully denounce them. Yes, it may lose them a good chunk of their base but it may save us from a long line of domestic terror events. I only hope that someone with some sense of reason and responsibility sees this trend with the same concerns and finally decides to do something about it. Unfortunately, I don't think this will happen.
UPDATE: These incidents along with others were just reported by Rachel Maddow She has a great comprehensive report about this topic