I'm sure some of you have read the news reports, but for those who haven't, or may have only caught three or four of the incidents of right-wing violence and intimidation leading up to and immediately following the health-care bill's passage, the following links should bring you up to speed.

Violence

• Tucson, Arizona
  
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  The front door was smashed out at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ congressional office last night.
• Rochester, New York
  
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  A brick was thrown through the glass doors of the Monroe County Democratic Committee's headquarters on University Avenue, the first such act of vandalism at the office, Chairman Joseph Morelle said Sunday."
• Niagara Falls, New York
  
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  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.
• Wichita, Kansas
  
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  Since then, vandals have struck several offices, including the Sedgwick County Democratic Party headquarters in Wichita.
• Pleasant Ridge, OH
  
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  Someone reportedly threw a fist-sized rock through the front window of the Hamilton County Democratic Party headquarters Sunday night after Congress passed the landmark health insurance overhaul.
• Charlottsesville, VA
  
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  U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother received a threatening letter in the mail on the same day that someone apparently severed a gas line at the home in Ivy.

Intimidation

• Washington, DC
  
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  In the wake of his vote in favor of health care reform legislation, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), a strong opponent of abortion rights, has been on the receiving end of a string of extremely hostile and threatening messages, including death threats.
  

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  "Congressman Stupak, you baby-killing mother f***er... I hope you bleed out your a**, got cancer and die, you mother f***er," one man says in a message to Stupak.
  

  
  

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  "There are millions of people across the country who wish you ill," a woman says in a voicemail, "and all of those thoughts that are projected on you will materialize into something that's not very good for you."
  

  
  
• Washington, DC
  
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  A Colorado member of Congress has received threatening calls at her Washington office, according to NBC News. Rep. Betsy Markey's (D-Colorado) chief of staff confirmed her office had reported two separate incidents to the Capitol police and asked Fort Collins police to step up patrols around Markey's home and her district office.
• St. Louis, Missouri
  
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  A spokesperson for Congressman Russ Carnahan said a coffin featured in a weekend health care reform protest was placed on the Democratic lawmaker's front lawn Sunday night.
• Washington, DC
  
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  Clyburn Says Noose Depiction Faxed To His Office After HCR Vote
• Washington, DC
  
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  Stupak Receives Threatening Fax With Drawing Of Noose
• New York, New York
  
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  Law enforcement officials say a package with white powder was sent to Congressman Weiner's Queens office today.
• Erie, Pennsylvania
  
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  A threatening note addressed to Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Erie, was received by the Armstrong County Comissioner's office. The note read, in part, "You will never sleep through the night again."

To get a sense of exactly how unhinged these lunatics are, get a load of this former Alabama militia leader, who's been widely credited with inspiring many of these attacks.



Somehow, he remained quiet throughout the Bush years as many of his other liberties being taken away, but he's ready to go to war because a health-care bill was passed. For bonus irony, this stalwart defender against the creeping tide of socialism..... happily collects Social Security disability from the Government he loathes.

Lest you think this is an example of nutpicking, just a few bad apples, or whatever, here are some high-profile GOP leaders who've stoked the fires of this armed rebellion, either explicitly or with dog whistles intended to send a message while providing plausible deniability:

• Sarah Palin, Former GOP VP Nominee and Half-Term Governor of Alaska
  
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  Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!"
• Sarah Palin, again
  
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  Sarah Palin is targeting -- yes, with gun sights -- House Democrats facing tough reelection fights who voted for health care reform. Palin's Facebook page now carries a map featuring 20 gun sights, one for each of the Democrats targeted this year by her political action committee SarahPAC.
• Rep. John Boehner, GOP House Minority Leader
  
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  "Take [Rep.] Steve Driehaus, for example," he says. "He may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati."
• Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-TX
  
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  A Republican congressman from Texas on Monday admitted he shouted “baby killer” from the House floor as Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., defended his change of position on health care legislation on Sunday.
• The National Republican Congressional Committee
  
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  "Central and Southside Virginians are the ones who are going to have the bear the burden of increased taxes," Sere told The Roanoke Times. "What you're seeing is a frustration among his constituents who believe he's not listening to them."
• Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)
  
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  Fox News host Greta Van Susteren asked Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) yesterday about his “response” to the news that Stupak and others had been “threatened or intimidated.” Hatch immediately responded, “People are upset and really angry, and they’re tired of people making promises and not living up to them,” and only after additional questioning by Van Susteren, finally replied, “I think people have to quit doing things like that."
• Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
  
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  Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) condemned the “inappropriate behavior,” but blamed Democrats for “fanning these flames.” “I’m a bit concerned about how it’s been handled around here in a public way because I think it just tends to fan the flames,” he told The Hill.

Not all of these are explicit endorsements, but the intent is clear to anyone but the most deluded observer -- every one of these individuals either sympathizes with these terrorists, or wants to appear to be aligned with them to further their own political ambitions.

Folks, the pattern here is unequivocal. What has until now been a dangerous undercurrent of far-right zealotry against a fairly-elected Democratic President and congressional majority has turned into an all-out terrorist assault on government -- an assault that is being actively encouraged, supported, and in some cases explicitly endorsed by the highest levels of Republican leadership. GOP politicians, in attempt to achieve political gain by aligning themselves with the Tea Party crowd and its populist anger, are trying to milk these reactionary dead-enders for their votes, but in so doing, are emboldening them to take vent their frustration in ways that are going to get someone (or many someones) hurt or killed.

Now, everyone remembers all those left-wing protestors threatening the lives of and destroying the property of Republican legislators who voted for the Bush tax cuts and the Iraq War resolution, right?

Yeah, me neither.

Wars were started under false pretenses. Income was redistributed from have-nots and have-a-littles to the have-almost-everything-but-still-want-mores. Civil liberties were routinely denied. And all the left-wing did was carry a few signs, screamed some obscenities, and (oh noes!) called the President a liar.

But, after only a year of Obama's "socialist" and "totalitarian" agenda, the right-wing is ready to bring back the magic of the militia movement -- this time, with support of the Republican party. All because of the "tyranny" of voters electing Democrats to the Congress and Presidency.

I hope this rage fizzles out soon, but there's definitely something frightening happening on the far-right, and it needs to be taken seriously.

For anyone interested in more about this, Rachel Maddow has had some very eye-opening reports on this trend over the last couple of days.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#36010598

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#36027892

Were there death threats after Roe vs Wade?

Peter

I dunno -- certainly there's been PLENTY of anti-abortion violence with clinic bombings and murders of doctors who perform abortions -- but I'm not aware of whether there was violent or threatening reaction in response to the ruling itself in 1973.

Anyway, in the hour or so since I originally posted, two more for the scoreboard, so I'll update my post. The white powder incident is under "intimidation" for now -- if it turns out to be a legitimate dangerous substance, I'll move it into the "violence" column.

Jeez, and I thought Nick Griffin was a twat.

Also, congrats on the complexity of that post, it must've taken you a while!

Hi,

While I don't agree (quite opposed actually), with the violence and intimidation that has occurred, I think neither the House or Congress represented the people's wishes.

People have a right to be upset, but should express it in other means available (repeal the law(s), challenge by court, next time votes, impeachment, caucuses, - you know, within the law and with civility, - etc).

I would expect to see many Democrat incumbents and those Republican incumbents who stood by and watched (while providing no leadership) to be replaced in their next election.

There was way too much back-room dealing, cool plane rides, exclusive finance opportunities, and flat-out lies, that seriously compromised the vote.


One sad thing I heard was that those who didn't "arrange" these deals for their states "were not doing their job". Sad, crooked, and greedy (definitely not the nation's best interest at heart), commentary indeed.

Ross

Legislation is often compared to making sausage, because of the ugly things you need to do to arrive at a finished product. But here's the thing: people find sausage to be tasty, and eat a lot of it.

In the last four years, Democrats won large congressional majorities and the Presidency campaigning on health-care reform. Obama made it a centerpiece of his campaign. How exactly did the legislators not represent peoples' wishes?



Our system has a lot of quirks and problems, but I think the carping about earmarks and special deals for certain states is a bit overdone. The Ben Nelson deal for Nebraska was one instance where I think the outrage was justified, and as it turns out, that was yanked from the bill by the Senate last night in the reconciliation fixes (the House made the Senate promise to do this before they'd sign the bill in the first place.)

The fact is, legislators *should* be looking out for the interests of their constituents. They have a larger responsibility to do what's right for the country, but as a resident of Pennsylvania, I don't have a right to vote Ben Nelson of Nebraska out of his Senate seat because he tried to take money that could have gone to my state. So, I expect him to be accountable to his constituents, not me.

I think the point at which it becomes harmful is not primarily based on how much money is involved, but how it's done. Nelson basically realized he was the one and only swing vote in the Senate, and took the bill hostage until he got what he wanted. Instead of an open debate on whether Nebraska needed more funding, he basically extorted his way to an earmark. That's not something we need in our legislation. But, aside from instances like this, I have no problem with an honest and open debate on whether state X or district Y deserves more funding.

There's one essential point to note here. These attacks are against sitting members of Congress. The Capitol Police and the Secret Service take this sort of thing seriously. I have no idea what they're doing about it, but you have to imagine that an awful lot of these activists are going to find themselves in jail for a long time.

You're absolutely right that Republicans are pandering to the Tea Party wingnuts. The #1 question is the extent to which this will help or hurt the Republicans at the polls in November. This violent Tea Party behavior may well turn off centrists who don't see themselves associating with everything the Tea Party, and by proxy, the Republican Party, has come to stand for. It's unclear whether the Democrats will be able to effectively capitalize on this.

Hi,

I disagree with the comment about winning the Presidency for only the Health Care Change platform. The country wanted change and Obama was built up as the the Rock-Star to provide it. The Republican candidate was not a good challenge to the Democratic hype machine. Change just for "change" as we see it now, isn't all its cracked up to be. Don't get me wrong, there were problems with the prior administration.

Just look at what has happened with the deficit (I know some of that spending was required for the greedy bugger financial institutions, auto industry, insurance companies, etc - hopefully those individuals which have hurt so many will be dealt-with properly now and in the after-life), but spending is and will continue to be out of control with the self serving "back-door deals". When is enough really enough - when do they stop and work for the good of the country?

This "self supporting - not" Health Care bill will affect the deficit as we continue to borrow for its support in the future. The reserve they build up for 4 years is not going to a trust, it would be very tempting for anyone to use it at will, it's not protected. I fear for our children's and grand-children's financial future which affects their quality of life.


The people committing the acts of violence should be in jail. There are other ways the get people's attention and be heard.


Be sure to vote, it a right and a privilage.

Ross