Yesterday morning I posted about the string of violent threats and assaults by Republicans in Washington state, suggesting that it might represent a pattern, and wondering how the fear and anger that is driving the Teahadists might potentially escalate. To which one commenter responded:

A handful of incidents in one state do not a trend make.

Okay… how about a Rand Paul supporter stomping on the head of a MoveOn protester outside last night’s Senate debate in Kentucky? Does that fit the pattern? Huh?

Or are we going to continue to comfort ourselves with the fiction that these are all just random incidents, totally unrelated to the violent rhetoric the Republicans and their surrogates are using to incite their base?

Perhaps my years of hosting comment threads inhabited by some of the most vile, hateful trolls on the Internet have colored my perception of politics, but it’s time my fellow progressives wake up to the fact that there are folks out there who viciously hate us… and who are just itching for the opportunity to do something about it. See, they don’t just think we are wrong; they think we are dangerous. Dangerous enough to warrant a head-stomping… or worse.

Violent words fuel violent actions. So don’t be surprised to see more political violence like what we saw in Kentucky last night.

94 replies on “I’m just sayin’…”

  1. The right wing is so willfully blind that it’s going to take another Oklahoma City Bombing before the propagandists at Fox & Co tone down their rhetoric. Then again, even that might not do it – the epistemic closure on the right has gotten much worse since the early 90s. If there is another OCB type incident and we DON’T see a significant amount of toning down, that’ll be our sign to start stocking for the apocalypse, because we’ll know that America is headed for a Second Civil War.

  4. Holy fucking shit, that lady should feel lucky to be alive. The look on that old guy’s face dude, he’s out for fucking blood. If he’s not already in a jail cell, or at least sweating balls running from the police, he deserves to be. The guy holding her down? These people are sick, disgusting and deserve way more than just jail. These are the people who should get their right to vote stripped away just like the people who smoke pot. I know a moveon supporter probably shouldn’t be trying to protest in such a large group of violent people, but in her defense I’m sure the worst she thought was being led away. Curb stomp? Jesus fucking christ people, it’s just politics, go live in a fucking bunker if you think you need to curb stomp liberals, there’s absolutely no hope for people like that. Please, please, please, please, please prove me wrong.

  5. I don’t know, can you really call a long string of violent actions by Tea Party types that sync up perfectly with their rhetoric a pattern? Call me when you have two geographically-distant shark attacks or three people being killed by an esoteric disease.

  7. So the brownshirts these days aren’t wearing the brownshirts. Oh wait, the right wing in this country is nothing like the Nazi’s, that’s the fantasy we keep telling ourselves right? Yeah, right….

  8. Convictions create convicts.

    Once you live with an absolutely correct model, anyone who is a threat—according to the model, or to your confidence in it—_deserves_ to be stomped.

    And, anyway, anything which can’t be proven by sceptical observation and reason must be proved by force.

  10. @6 Joe Stack was a LEFT WINGER. Obviously you don’t know jack shit about him except that he committed terrorism against the IRS.

    Seems to me like those people thought she might be trying to assassinate Rand Paul, so they acted to protect him. She was wearing a disguise and she was trying to “present” something to Rand Paul.

    What a stupid woman.

  11. See… everybody… look at #10. That will be the right’s reaction the next time there’s another terrorist attack from one of their own. They’ll blame the left, no matter what the facts, and perhaps even seek retribution. And if their politicians are in control, they’ll use this attack from the right as an excuse to crack down on and repress the left.

    Read your history. That’s how this shit goes down.

    Like I wrote, these aren’t just acts of violence, they are acts of politics.

  12. @11 – “They’ll blame the left, no matter what the facts”

    You mean besides the fact that Joe Horn was a leftist?

    You mean besides the fact that the woman in the video was wearing a wig and acting suspiciously?

    You would probably defend the behavior of Squeaky Fromme too.

  13. I am not going to watch that video – just the front image makes me cringe.

    I love the word teahadist! I am going to use it. Great coinage!

    @10 – And everytime a disguised person tries to present me with anything I have my friends stomp their heads. It’s quite a bit of fun especially on Halloween. Not. Idiot. There is NO EXCUSE to stomp on someones head. Unless they tried to stomp on yours first. Also maybe if they take your bag of Halloween candy. Damn teahadists!

  15. Yeah, 12. If you want to live in a society where we delegate force to the COPS, then you don’t resort to false arrest and assault to deal with supposedly suspicious people (also, Randy has his own fucking security–he doesn’t need brownshirt goons for that).

  17. Most of the Conservative response to this event seems to be, “they thought she was a terrorist and that’s why they did that.”

    Which flies in the face of all reason as Fox has been working very hard to make sure we all understand that ONLY Muslims can be terrorists.

    I is confused.

  19. @ 16 – you want to be a wimpy libtard that doesn’t take responsibility for your own security and safety, go right ahead. When seconds count, the cops are only minutes away!

  22. @12 If all it takes to appear to be an assassin or terrorist is a wig, then what would have been the appropriate reaction to the dozen or so people openly carrying guns near an Obama Rally held at a school in Arizona? I mean, if a blond wig looks suspicious, what about a AR-15?

  23. “Watching this tape makes me wish I had been there almost as badly as I wish I was there when right-wingers shut down the vote counts in Florida…..”

    LOL – Internet Tough Guy!

  24. 24
    @12 If all it takes to appear to be an assassin or terrorist is a wig, then what would have been the appropriate reaction to the dozen or so people openly carrying guns near an Obama Rally held at a school in Arizona? I mean, if a blond wig looks suspicious, what about a AR-15?
    ————

    Please provide a link to prove that what you claim is true.

  25. ohbalto @18,

    Which kinda proves my point, as does Naive White Guy’s defense of the assault. These people tackled a young woman and stomped on her head because they genuinely fear that a costumed MoveOn activist is a real and present threat to the lives of and safety of them and their candidates. They honestly believe that they are acting in self defense. And this mass psychosis is going to end up costing lives.

  26. It loathes me to stick up for lunatics and I never, ever condemn violence, but this woman approached Ron Paul in what sounds like an aggressive way in order to give him “an award” and was wearing a disguise (crazy wig). The guys wrestling her to the ground are shouting “get the police, get the police.” Putting a foot on her head (not “stomping,” as reported) was unnecessary, but I’m inclined to think they were trying to save the day, not attack an opponent for no reason whatsoever.

    I’m as liberal as they come, and I think the teabaggers are complete lunatics, but there’s no need to sensationalize this incident.

  30. 20-but seconds didn’t count moron–and no, that’s not fucking “wimpy,” troll. yeah, I know what things like society and history are probably queer shit to you but I like them fine thank you.

    Please answer 24’s question. Shouldn’t she have the same right as Teabaggers to have an open carry firearm and dress funny and act like a loon within the lawful vicinity of Mr. Paul?

    I am all for arming liberals at this point.

  32. @32 – that guy with the AR-15 sure doesn’t fit the stereotype of the white racist teabagger, does he?

    @33 – was the black guy with the AR-15 acting “loony”, trying to approach Obama at all? Was he trying to give Obama something? Was he anywhere near Obama at all? Was he wearing a disguise? No, No No, and No.

  33. The biggest difference between the left & right is this: If you meet up w/ the worst leftist, they’ll waste your time, talk your ear off, project blame & generally be a royal pain in the ass. If you meet up w/ the worst of the right, they’ll kill you & expect to be awarded a medal. In spite of their flaws, I’ll go w/ the people who won’t kill me.

    And note to all: NWLSP is a well-established troll. No one is so ignorant as the willfully-ignorant. Facts, logic, appeals for decency will fall on deaf ears. (Seriously, because Joe Stack wasn’t in lock-step w/ all the right-wing demands, suddenly he’s “left wing.” lol)

  34. @28, the man who put his foot on her head clearly thrusts his foot down on her after putting his foot on her. Ive held things down with my feet, it doesn’t require a kick. He’s not simply pinning her down, he is stomping. they show it twice, watch it again.

    These people have declared themselves militia, judge and jury, it is a strategy designed to terrorize any opposition. Violent rhetoric, involving lynching and shooting references are being made by the leaders of one side only and clearly lends implies approval of violence.

  35. @29 I really hope you don’t actually consider yourself a real journalist. Shouldn’t you be writing about Richert’s (sp?) brain damage?

  36. the teahadis will all crawl back in the woodwork once Boehner the Orange is SOTH. the plutocrats will have no more use for them & their ‘insurgency’ will lose its financial backing. poof, they’ll go back to smoking meth and collecting disability checks.

  37. “NWLSP is a well-established troll.”

    This is a stereotypical libtarded term that means: “everything this guy posts is terrible, even if it is true and we are unable to prove him wrong. We have to ignore him because he uses facts to back up what he says, and we have no way to combat that except by using curse words and ignoring him.”

  39. @28 et. al. — Where was Paul’s security detail? Why didn’t they handle this alleged threat in a professional manner, instead of letting the rabble throw people to the ground?

  40. @36 – “(Seriously, because Joe Stack wasn’t in lock-step w/ all the right-wing demands, suddenly he’s “left wing.” lol) “

    —-

    Let’s just take a looky and see what Mr. Stack himself had to say. In fact, it reads a lot like your shit, Goldy! :

    http://www.businessinsider.com/joseph-an…

    “Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years)”
    …
    “Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies.”
    …
    “In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy.”
    …
    “midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities)”
    …
    ” Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY!”
    …
    “this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.”
    …
    “
    I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.”
    …
    “The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government.”
    …
    “It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants.”
    …
    AND HERE IS HOW STACK CLOSES HIS MANIFESTO:

    “The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

    The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.”

    ————–

    CASE CLOSED. JOE STACK WAS A LEFTIST.

  41. Look where his foot was. He wasn’t trying to stomp her head, he was planning to snap her neck. Then somebody pointed out to him that he was on camera.

  42. NWLSP is a shining, glorious example of the uber-brave modern right. Full of macho bravado, but frightened of everything they see – there’s a new terror around every corner!! That woman’s got a wig, a sign, and a piece of paper! Get her! She’s dangerous!!

    This is politics – people show up in costumes at every event. People approach candidates acting weird AT EVERY EVENT. Suck it up, you bunch of pussies.

  43. @ Naive White Libtarded – I think you skipped over my initial question, what is the appropriate way to deal with a protester carrying AR-15 if the suitable way to deal with a protester with a wig is to put your foot on their head?

    I can answer some of your questions, Chris Broughton (“the black guy with the AR-15”), does not seem to fit all the stereotypes of “white racist teabagger” but what relevance does that have? He was, however, about a block away from the President, and according to wikipedia (sorry, look for a better source if you like), that AR-15 has an average range of 547 yards. Just a day before he showed up he was praying with his preacher for “Obama to melt like a snail tonight” for being a “socialist devil, murderer, infanticide.” (http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0909/…). He later said that he personally prays for Obama to “to die and go to hell.”

    Keeping all that in mind, how should Chris Broughton, or the other gun carrying protesters have been dealt with?

  44. @Mr. X @ 46

    I wonder what has been happening around town lately? Hmmmmmmm…

    http://seattlecrime.com/2010/10/25/fatal…

    posted 10/25/10 05:27 PM | updated 10/25/10 05:27 PM

    Fatal International District Shooting Sparked By Baby Mama Drama

    By Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

    A man suspected of fatally shooting another man in the International District over the weekend told police he was involved in a dispute with the victim after the victim accused him of sleeping with his “baby’s mama.”

    According to police records, officers on patrol near 12th and Jackson heard gunfire around 2:40am Saturday morning, and saw a vehicle leaving the area.

    Police stopped the vehicle, but the passenger fled. Officers later located the man—identified in police records as Pierce Alfonso Dubois, 27—running out of “The Jungle” at 10th and Dearborn, and arrested him. Police also arrested the driver of the vehicle, but later released him.

    Gang detectives interviewed Dubois, who told police the victim “had accused Dubois of sleeping with the victim’s ‘baby’s mama,” SPD records say.

    Police records note Dubois had blood on his clothing at the time of his arrest.

    When police interviewed the driver of the vehicle stopped near the scene of the shooting, he told officers he had been with Dubois earlier in the evening, “clubbing in West Seattle,” when Dubois said he needed to find the victim in the Central District.

    The two men located the victim, and Dubois got out of the car and got into a fight. Dubois then came back to the car, went back to the victim, and opened fire, police records say.

    Dubois has not yet been charged for the shooting, but is being held on $1 million bail in the King County Jail.

  45. Never forget that the Second Amendment was put in the US Constitution by Liberals to help us defend against the attacks from Conservatives.

    Lock and load.

    Lock and load.

  49. @47. Was he actively threatening anyone? No. Was he brandishing his rifle? No.

    If he threatened Obama or anyone else, or if he brandished his weapon, then he should have been arrested and prosecuted. I agree the guy sounds like a nut to me (I’m an athiest) but he did not actually threaten anyone and he did nothing illegal.

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