Kerry calls Edwards, post-debate, form his hotel room in Englewood, Colorado, October 5, 2004.
Posted on 10/06/2004 5:37:05 PM PDT by jmstein7
IT'S TIME TO ACT [10/06 03:38 PM]
Kerry calls Edwards, post-debate, form his hotel room in Englewood, Colorado, October 5, 2004. |
My friends, it is time for a vital message.
Yesterday we read about some disturbing cases of political violence related to the election. Now we turn our attention to a less directly threatening, but still disturbing trend in American politics.
Every election cycle, there are always reports of campaign workers stealing or defacing signs. Usually it's an overzealous campaign volunteer, or a drunk, or some activist with more anger than brains or knowledge of trespassing laws and respect for others' property. Or all simultaneously.
But something seriously disturbing is going on this year. There's been an exponential number of reports of signs not just stolen, but burned, defaced with swastikas, and torn down by pistol-packing angry teenagers. (An anti-Bush gun-control supporter, perhaps?)
The political season has turned ugly in Howard County, with an Ellicott City homeowner reporting a late-night fire that burned two Republican campaign signs in his back yard.
In addition, local Republicans say scores of other campaign signs have been destroyed or vandalized in the past couple of weeks, most of them along major highways.
"It's absolutely outrageous," said Howard Rensin, chairman of the county Republican party. He said about $1,500 worth of GOP signs have been destroyed.
"We're talking about dozens and dozens and dozens of signs. We think we may be looking at a concerted effort here," Rensin said. "If people want to express their political views, they ought to do so at the polls." ...
Over the weekend, county police conducted a surveillance operation prompted by the spate of sign destruction. On Sept. 25, police spotted a man on Route 40 cutting down with a power tool a sign urging voters to re-elect President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Police arrested Corey Robert Cooke, 33, of Ellicott City and charged him with destruction of property.
Pfc. Dave Proulx, a county police spokesman, said Cooke has not been charged in any of the other incidents.
The most dramatic incident so far involved the burning of the 4-foot-by-8-foot Bush-Cheney sign and a smaller sign endorsing U.S. Senate candidate E. J. Pipkin in Ellicott City.
James McQuarrie said he awoke shortly after 1 A.M. Sept. 25 and saw a fire burning in the yard of his home in the 10100 block of Old Frederick Road.
"I saw a big flame outside my window," McQuarrie said. He rushed to fight the fire with a hose, then county firefighters arrived to help. The fire also burned part of his yard fence and a nearby pile of wood, McQuarrie said.
Another case in the same neck of the woods:
Howard County's spate of political sign destruction led to the arrest late Friday of a Randallstown couple accused of using a bayonet to cut the centers out of two Bush/Cheney campaign signs on U.S. 40 near Ridge Road in Ellicott City, according to court files and county police.
Peter Lizon, 30, and his wife, Stephanie Louise Lizon, 34, of the first block of Valdivia Court, were each charged with destruction of private property. Peter Lizon faces weapons charges. He is free on $3,500 bail and Stephanie Lizon on $3,000 bail.
"We did it."
Three Duluth teenagers walked into the Duluth News Tribune on Wednesday afternoon, opening with these three words. The boys said they were responsible for vandalizing Bush campaign signs and painting a swastika and the word "Nazi" at a London Road residence last weekend.
An hour later, the three boys traveled to the Lakeside-Lester Park police station, where Sgt. Scott Campbell was waiting to talk to them.
The teenagers told the News Tribune they meant no harm to Bob James, the homeowner and Bush-Cheney supporter who erected the signs. They said they spray painted the signs and the swastika on James' sidewalk but had nothing to do with the vandalism of two of James' vehicles.
Friends and supporters of James and the Republican Party of Minnesota had offered a $2,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of those responsible for the vandalism.
While the teenagers were remorseful for what they did to James, they stood by their contempt for President Bush. They said they left a phone message for James on Wednesday and twice went to his house to apologize, but he wasn't home. They planned to try again later Wednesday.
"It was not an act of hate," said Dustin "Dusty" Dzuck, 17, a senior at Denfeld High School. "My mom called me a terrorist. It wasn't terrorism; it was activism. It was for a cause.... The whole thing is, basically, I just wanted to get the word out there that in my opinion Bush isn't doing this country any good."
Dzuck said his actions bothered him more when he learned James is an Army veteran.
Police said a Nashville teenager and his friends stole 71 Bush-Cheney yard signs because he was mad at President Bush for sending his brother to Iraq.
Andrew Thurman, 18, told police that he and 19-year-old Frederick Stevenson stole the signs from several west Nashville neighborhoods because his brother, a U.S. marine, was sent to Iraq.
"It's not unusual to see the isolated theft of campaign signs in local, state and federal elections," Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said. "However, this is the first time I can recall that someone who admits responsibility for the theft has linked it to the war in Iraq."
Thurman, Stevenson and two other teens were riding in a Honda Accord when they were stopped by police. Officers searched the car and found the signs, along with three pistols.
Thurman and Stevenson were cited for misdemeanor charges of theft and unlawful weapon possession. The other teens, who were both minors, face only the weapon charge.
Officials say this presidential campaign has triggered more reports of stolen campaign signs than in previous elections.
The battle over political yard signs continued in Rapid City on Friday night, and the Republicans seemed to get the worst of it.
Signs supporting Republican candidates John Thune and Larry Diedrich were spray painted, stolen or destroyed up and down West Boulevard, as well as on several streets nearby. West Boulevard resident Ellen Drabek said Saturday that she lost two signs from her yard during the night.
"Mine weren't painted. Mine were stolen. And there were two large Thune signs up at St. Patrick Street that were broken up. All the rest of them were spray painted," Drabek said. "None of the Democratic signs were touched."
The vandalism and thefts occurred about two weeks after three Rapid City teenagers were caught after they were spotted in the act of stealing a large yard sign for Democrat Stephanie Herseth from a West Boulevard yard. Signs for Democrat Tom Daschle also had been taken.
There are also sporadic reports of Kerry signs being stolen or defaced. If you are a Bush supporter, and you tear down Kerry signs, you are among the lamest human beings on the planet.
But so far, the majority of these cases — and the ones involving the most disturbing details of bayonets, guns, fires, and swastikas — are targeting Bush-Cheney signs.
There is, of course, a way to fight this.
And, coincidentally, it just happens to involve the of the Kerry Spot.
Are those of us — left, right and center — going to let a bunch of bullies push us around? In our homes, front lawns, and neighborhoods?
I quote the football coach in the movie, Rudy: "No one, and I mean no one, comes into our house and pushes us around."
Or, if you prefer the University of Maryland, WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE!
In this case, "this house" means our right to publicly support the candidate of our choice. If somebody stole your sign, they're trying to send you a message — that your voice shouldn't be heard, that their willingness to stroll onto your property break the law can trumps your First Amendment rights. Are you going to let those snot-nosed punks win?
If you have to only put your sign out while you're home, so be it. If you have to take it inside overnight, so be it. Better to make that little extra effort than to concede that their enthusiasm for vandalism can shut you up.
needs some advance time to get stuff sent to you. They got a slew of stuff to my Bush-supporting friends awfully fast, but we know they're going to get a rush of orders in the closing month of the election. And a sign for your candidate only does good before Election Day, obviously (unless it's for moral support during the recount, I suppose).
I know there are a bunch of you out there who don't usually put signs up. It's gauche. Wearing your heart on your sleeve. Kinda cheesy.
But this isn't a normal year. These aren't normal times. And a bunch of little twerps think they can help their guy win by stealing stuff and painting swastikas. On the property of a veteran. Guy spends years defending his country so some kid who can barely spell "Nazi," much less define "national socialism," can march onto his property and spray paint the symbol of those fascists?
Hands balling into fists yet? Jaw clenched? Getting in that Ben Grimm "It's clobberin' time" mood?
Go , or click on the ad at the top of the page. Bring the credit card or the checkbook. Buy as much stuff as you like.
And let's show the world what happens when these little sign-defacing reprobates mess with the wrong folks.
Amazing days we're living in. 'Rat thugs invade, trash, steal computers from and shoot into Republican campaign HQs, and we're blamed for trying to suppress the vote.
"'It wasn't terrorism, it was activism. It was for a cause...'"
"Oh, well, that makes breaking the law perfectly okay, then."
Treason is not treason if the trator's side wins. He is then a patriot. This fellow thinks he's a patriot. More likely an elitist in training.
The left can either get it's cultivated nutcases in check, or let's get this settled now. I'd rather have me face this threat than my kids.
911 bump. Thanks.
This country is pulling in different directions like an amoeba about to split.
I had read all 3 of those books before finishing grade 11, and was still a leftist for another 15 years.
It just takes longer for the penny to drop for some of us, i suppose.
If you consider the FL statutes, you soon discover that deadly force may be used if reasonably necessary to prevent a "forcible felony". Reading further, the first forcible felony listed is: [drumroll] TREASON.
FL defines treason as:
876.32 Treason.--Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war against the same, or in adhering to the enemies thereof, or giving them aid and comfort.
hmm...is John Kerry an enemy of the State of Florida?
Which is why the communist left, er, democrats, hate him. He can think, speak and produce ten time better than the average dim. And they KNOW it.
I don't want to blow my image, but my first computer was an Osborne. Prior to that, I sat and listened to my friends in research and development daydream about a day when we would have computers on our desks and the building sized mainframe would be a thing of the past. :) I built my second computer and marveled that my brother and I could very slowly transmit small files to each other via phone lines. And I do remember the first time we discussed using abbreviations to show some sort of emotion....LMAO comes to mind! :)
I have been watching for some time as things that set off suspicious red lights in the past have actually managed to come to pass. Amazing! Utterly amazing that people around me just laughed off the warning signs as unwarranted paranoia. When logic was stood on its head in favor of freedom of expression and the right to do whatever felt good, I cringed. I remember when divorce became a right which took precedence over obligation and commitment. I cringed. From that we sat by in stunned amazement as people made the choice to have children without the benefit of marriage and traded the will of God for a petrie dish. And I cringed. If nothing we had been raised to believe mattered really mattered...what would ever matter? Don't worry....be happy! ;)
I remember my mom referring to our generation as the throw away generation. Children of the industrial revolution. When I got my first enlish bicycle my uncle told me how much he wanted a bicycle at my age. He began collecting parts from junk yards and after 5 years of yearning for the day, he finally finished his bicycle when he was 15. He said by then his friends were dreaming for cars and laughed at his delight of the two wheeler. Ah, the times they were changing. We no longer bailed underneath a desk when we heard sirens. Yet, to some of us the movement seemed too radical to be wise. Some of us cautiously observed as the wisdom of ages was cast aside....yet we laughed as our parents told us, "waste not, want not!"
I too worry about the challenges of the generation we will leave behind, although I do believe the time of reconing will come much faster then we think. There will be some who did grasp the cautions and warning signs and will have the ability to lead with reasoned certainty. Liars and cheats have always been a dime a dozen. Men who would misguide us for their own personal gain have always been among us. Somehow through faith we have always pulled the last of the bootstrap and managed to stand up. And I am heartened by the sight of so many young people who are holding tight to some of the ideals you and I value so deeply.
I am not satisfied to pass through without leaving my mark deeply embedded somewhere! In fact, I have left it all over the place! LOL! I have always wanted to write a book but I never knew where to start. Too many things interest me and my life has been touched by so much. I remember before my father died he said, "We need to bring God back into our lives in this country!" He too worried about my generation as I now worry about the next. And so, I have decided not to write about the excesses of this day, but rather go back to the day before my time when the struggles that seemed so remote to our generation brought forth the best of America that we have seen squandered. Waste not, want not and the golden rule have somehow become cherished words.
Too late for that now. If you even know what an Osborne is . . . we are more contemporaries than I thought. No insult was ever intended.
I don't worry as much as I used to. People have been decrying the decay of civilization my whole life, yet things are pretty good today. IMHO the economic conditions are far more important than the social ones. By this I mean the federal debt and unfunded mandates which are heading us towards a crash. A depression is far more socially destructive than the divorce rate. I still consider a person's philosophy, implicit or explicit, far more important than social policy. Socialism versus freedom. Individualism versus collectivism - these are telling issues.
I am not satisfied to pass through without leaving my mark deeply embedded somewhere!
I know the feeling. Only a handful of people are going to even notice my passing.
My main concern is that a good portion of Americans don't understand the true nature of the war we are engaged in. The date of Sept.11th wasn't an accident. It was historically significant to the Muslim world. We have been in this war for centuries, we are just now starting to wake up to this fact in this country.
I keep waiting for, and predict, a major strike in Europe. Like a plane ramming the Eiffel Tower (did I spell that right - I'm too lazy to go check now.) Muslims are literally taking over Europe. One day we are going to wake up to a different world.
They are all jealous because Bush supporters have yards to put signs and cars to put bumper stickers.
Yes, you are right. Much to my dismay.
BTW, it has been heading this way for a very, very long time. I know that in the 70's there were already people hear (muslims from the middle east) who were strategizing for what has yet to happen. Amazingly enough, one that I know was working at smuggling weapons back to Morocco, was elected class president at one of the California Universities. He was later arrested in Europe but had been sending unsuspecting females to visit his compound with contraband in their luggage.
Reminds me of history when Hitler educated the youth to hate the Jews. The youth corps in turn initiated violence against Jews and felt no remorse for their actions because it is what they had been taught.
Political hate is being taught to our youth by the actions of their parents. Socialism is knocking at our door and the first step in socialist philosophy is to suppress the speech of the opposition thru acts of violence and intimidation.
This dangerous trend fortells violence at the polling place in America, bringing the credibility of our to date successful election process to the level of the 3rd world election. CCW permittees need to carry to the polls to protect their rights. Thugs have little or no right to voice the brand of freedom that threatens true freedom.
Hehehe,..you're probably one of those NRA lunatics who has equipped his trebuchet with an illegal, over-30 cartridge magazine,...admit it, you arrogant trebuchet lugging swine, you...
*sobbing*
I admit it!
I am a iron-booted-chainmail-wearing trebuchet nut!
They have to be made illegal,....why just imagine,....what could anybody possibly do if a junior high school student slipped a trebuchet under his jacket and walked into his school class with one to show it off to his classmates.
It's just too horrid to imagine what might happen,...they might actually ignite one of the oil laden boulders and accidentally trigger the trebuchet,....oh the horror...
First Amendment BUMP!
I have my W'04 sticker on my back window here in the Bay Area, and if it's defaced, I've got 7 more.
T'would be a terrible sight to behold!
Why, he might even have people helping him by rolling the boulders into the building as extra ammo!
You know what I'd like to see? For all these Halliburton attacks by Kerry et al., I'd love to see the President tell him what's what. Halliburton is one of two companies in the world (the other is in France) that does what it does, including rebuilding infrastructure while under fire. They have lost their employees and contractors to hostile fire.
Most leftists probably aren't even aware of what they do. They just hate it.
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