Yours Truly, Angry Mob

I beg your pardon/I didn't mean you/I take the blame/don't stand accused/to you my love and apologies--Jesse Johnson

To any of my friends who might read this and think that I'm referring to any of them, please refer to the quote above. Now, on with the column.

Enough already. You lost. Learn acceptance and move on.

It was bad enough calling John Lewis a "ni**er," and Barney Frank a "fa**ot," while also spitting on another congressional democrat. No, that wasn't enough. They had to follow up with acts of vandalism and death threats.

The week after the health care bill was passed, several congressional democrats reported a variety of threats to the F.B.I.

--Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-NY came to work and found a window in her district office shattered by a brick. On her voice mail was a hate filled diatribe referencing "snipers."

--Rep. Bart Stupak, D-MI found similar threats on his voice mail as well. One caller suggested that Stupak will spend the rest of his days "looking over his fucking shoulder."

--However, the most egregious report relates to Tom Perriello, D-VA. A mentally challenged blogger named Mike Troxel from Lynchburg, VA posted what he believed to be Troxel's home address on his site with the suggestion to "drop by...and express...thanks regarding his vote for health care." As it turned out, it wasn't the Representative's house at all, it was his brother's. A brother who came home one evening last week to find his gas line cut. Troxel, who claims affiliation with the "Tea Party" movement has thus far refused to remove the address from his blog, stating that he still believes it's the Representative's house.

Which is hardly the damn point. This dangerous, backward ass fool is playing with someone's life. He is stoking angry fires that are burning deep in the hearts of those opposed to health care reform. And he seems to be saying, "Hey, if someone does something to somebody, well, all I did was post an address."

Look, it's more than fair to oppose this legislation (I have my own problems with it), and it's certainly acceptable to protest the bill. Hell, I've got no problem with people raising their voices about it and taking their case to the streets. However, once you cross over to death threats and property damage, you're pretty much a terrorist. What aim might you have other than to terrorize if you are engaged in these activities?

Of course, I know that not all "Tea Party" members are vandals or criminals, but I also don't think the number of bad elements within their ranks is that small. At least, it certainly doesn't feel that way right now. When you look at the rallies on television, the signs held up in the crowds aren't just full of anger and opposition, they are full of hate. It's one thing to call Obama a socialist, but a Nazi? Or how about the signs that depict him in "Joker" make-up? Or those that question where he was born? This is pretty nasty stuff.

Now, several "Tea Party" representatives have decried this most recent behavior, as have members of the Republican leadership such as House Minority Leader, John Boehner from Ohio. Which is fine, but also a bit late.

Republicans in Washington have clearly tried to harness the anger of the disaffected in an effort to galvanize new voters with an eye toward the mid-term elections. Several Republicans in congress have left open the suggestion that Obama is a secret Muslim, a Kenyan, and a socialist. They have encouraged "birthers," "deathers," and all manner of the willfully uninformed to support their party.

Much of this began during the 2008 election when the half-term Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin was chosen by John McCain as his presidential running mate. Palin, the pageant queen of the willfully uninformed, accused Obama of "palling around with terrorists" because he knew a Chicago Professor (William Ayers) who was once tried for terrorist activities. Nevermind that Obama's rather tenuous (at best) ties to Ayers were decades after he had been tried for his alleged crimes, Palin was not going to let pesky things like facts get in her way. Considering all the difficulty she seems to have remembering anything significant without writing it on her hand, I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

However, this behavior is dangerous. This effort to appeal to the knuckle dragging, flat Earth crowd has no good end. Not only is it not good for our country, it's not even good for Republicans. Sure, they may get some short term gains in November from this crowd, but can anyone really imagine any long term benefit coming from aligning yourself with extremists?

The sad thing is, it didn't end with the 2008 election. Just last week, Palin had a map of cross hairs targeting the districts of vulnerable democrats on her Facebook page. Cross hairs! Boehner referred to one Democrat who voted for the health care bill as a "dead man walking." Not to mention Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-TX who called pro-life democrat, Bart Stupak, a "baby killer" on the house floor while Stupak was explaining his support for the bill. Maybe some people think this shit is funny, but I think it's irresponsible at minimum and dangerous at worst.

Of course, I'm well aware that right wingers aren't the only crazies out there. History is full of leftist types who often channeled their anger in destructive ways. Lee Harvey Oswald and the Black Panthers come to mind. There was even a left wing nut-job group called "truthers" who insisted that George W. Bush had something to do with planning the 9/11 attacks. They are no better, and I've got no use for them either. But that's not who we're dealing with now. And when Republican members of congress try to gin up these protesters by waving flags and cheering them on as if they're at a pep rally, well, quite frankly it's beneath them. Or at least it should be.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in free speech and peaceable assembly. I fully support the right of anyone to raise their voice in dissent. That right is an essential part of our history, and one of the truly great things about our country. But free speech doesn't mean screaming "fire" when there is none, and peaceable assembly shouldn't include epithets and projectile saliva. And it damn sure shouldn't lead to bricks through windows, death threats, and cut gas lines.

I don't know, maybe I'm not being fair here. I suppose that's possible. But I really don't think so. Sometimes, there aren't two sides to a story. Sometimes there is no "on the other hand." This I believe is one of those times.

These people who are out to terrorize democratically elected officials should be institutionalized in either a mental facility of their choice or a penitentiary of the court system's choosing. Or, they could just do the most simple and most American thing of all: Take all that anger and frustration into the ballot box with them and VOTE.

Sumo-Pop
March 24, 2010