| christian grantham | |||
| Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD. | |||
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January 25, 2005
Follow up to one story in a regrettably huge thread of 2004 campaign violence and thuggery (sadly, mostly at the hands of Democrats). No matter what side of the isle you are on, this type of behavior is typical only of the most ignorant and intellectually bankrupt. There is absolutely no room for this type behavior in American politics.
The sons of a first-term congresswoman and Milwaukee's former acting mayor were among five Democratic activists charged Monday with slashing the tires of vans rented by Republicans to drive voters and monitors to the polls on Election Day.Sowande Omokunde, son of Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis., and Michael Pratt, the son of former Milwaukee acting mayor Marvin Pratt, were charged with criminal damage to property, a felony that carries a maximum punishment of 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The activists - all employees of the John Kerry campaign - are accused of flattening the tires on 25 vehicles rented by the state Republican Party to get out the vote and deliver poll watchers Nov. 2.
[Lawmaker's Son Charged in Tire-Slashing - AP - 01-25-05]
filed under: Campaign Madness
November 02, 2004
Republican lawyers can no longer defend the rights of voters by intimidating native American voters in South Dakota. Not to worry, Republican lawyers in Ohio have swarmed predominately black precints by the thousands to defend America from black voters and their Democratic defenders.
Republican poll workers in Lake Andes were intimidating Native American voters on Monday, a federal judge ruled early today.Republicans may not write down license plate numbers or follow Native Americans from polling places during today's election, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol ruled in a temporary restraining order.
[Judge orders GOP to halt poll tactics - Argus Leader - 11-02-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
, Polls
November 02, 2004
The most ignorant among Democrats and Republicans are already demonstrating their complete lack of class and respect today.
The tires of at least 30 cars and vans rented by the Republican Party to carry voters to the polls were slashed, Milwaukee police said this morning. The discovery was made at 6:30 a.m., said Sgt. Mark Wroblewski.Meanwhile, Milwaukee police were called to a John Kerry campaign office, 633 S. Hawley Road, at 5:40 a.m. because at least two people were blocking the parking lot exit, preventing Kerry supporters from leaving the parking lot and screaming and spitting on cars, said Sgt. Willie Murphy. The officers removed the disruptive people but no arrests were made, he said.
[Slashed tires and spitting - Journal Sentinel - 11-02-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
November 01, 2004
A group of Christians with Vigil For Civility are vowing to go on a hunger strike if lawyers stall the results of the 2004 elections. Andrew Deal quotes Jesus as saying, "man cannot live on bread alone." But if you don't want to die, you might want to read something better than Vigil For Civility's fasting guide which urges hunger strikers to fight "whiny stomach syndrome" with prayer.
New resolve comes to Vigil organizer Andrew Deal to continue fast until President is decided."I feel this is the only way to get the attention of the government and the people on this subject", said Deal. "Civility in this situation is not going to happen accidentally. The people are going to have to demand it, I think. My commitment to this may just bring the proper kind of attention to the issue."
Emails have been sent to media personalities with this new subject line. All Vigil participants are encouraged to contact the media as well to alert them regarding the new stakes. Individual members are all here for sake of conscience, and can update their AOV as they see fit, and are only encouraged to message Andrew with their opinions regarding his impending decision.
[Hunger Strike for Civility if Legal Battles Overshadow Voters Choice - Vigil For Civility - 10-29-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
November 01, 2004
Why spend four years trying to improve the rights of voters when you can hire thousands of lawyers for one day to challenge the rights of Democratic voters in a broke system?
In Ohio alone, more than 3,000 Republican lawyers were set to challenge the rights of voters, until a U.S. District Judge said no.
The judge was asked to stop more than 3,000 Republicans who are planning to monitor polling places and challenge voters.U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott found that the presence of challengers inexperienced in the electoral process would impede voting.
She ruled that application of Ohio's statute allowing challengers at polling places is unconstitutional.
[Judge Rules Polling Place Challengers Unconstitutional - AP - 11-01-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 31, 2004
On November 2, which team of lawyers stands a greater chance of inciting a rising tide of passions?
- A) Republican lawyers challenging the rights of voters
- B) Democratic lawyers defending the rights of voters
Seltzer told police he was exercising "political expression" when he aimed his car at Harris and campaign supporters as they stood at a busy intersection. He swerved onto the sidewalk; no one was hurt.
[Man in Rep. Harris car incident detained - Seattle Post Intelligencer - 10-27-04]Fort Lewis College student Mark O'Donnell said he was showing people his College Republicans sweat shirt, which said "Work for us now ... or work for us later," when Maria Spero kicked him in the leg at an off-campus restaurant.
[Colo. Teacher Sorry for Kicking Student - AP - 10-30-04]Lanny Phillips had a similarly sized John Kerry sign hanging from his house near 39th Street and Knox Road. He said vandals shot his dog with paintballs, climbed onto his roof, and cut the sign down and took it away.
[Vandals turn vicious in election sign thefts - Ahwatukee Foothills News - 10-30-04]A chunk of concrete was tossed through the glass door at 5610 Scotts Valley Drive, knocking down a life-size cardboard poster of President Bush, some time after volunteers locked up at 8 p.m. Friday.
[Vandals strike at GOP office, Yes on J business - Santa Cruz Sentinel - 10-26-04]Wentz said she was ''centimeters away'' from slicing her finger on one of five rusty razor blades taped Saturday to a Kerry-Edwards sign someone put in her Alburtis yard. Meanwhile, the sign she had purchased to support Kerry was stolen.
[Sign thefts a bipartisan problem - Morning Call - 10-30-04]Shanna Black was driving on Interstate 8 with a Bush-Cheney sticker on her car when she noticed a car coming up fast. The driver pulled alongside and held up a sign that included an obscenity about President Bush. Black's 8-year-old daughter was in the car.
[Campaign passions polarizing partisans - Union Tribune - 10-27-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 28, 2004
It's sad when cute people engage in criminal behavior. Research shows they are more likely to succeed on their good looks than they are criminal activity. Steven is a young Marine who was mad that his girlfriend was voting for John Kerry, so he roughed her up a bit.
He dragged Silveira into the house kicking and screaming, a police report said. Neighbor Lisa Belout was watching television, heard the commotion and called 911.Inside, Soper threw Silveira to the floor, spit in her face and bit her cheek, she said, pointing to the brown bruise on the left side of her face.
"He went and got a knife and put the knife in my hand and said, `Kill me because if you vote for Kerry I'm going to die anyway,'" she said while standing outside her home, which has a Kerry/Edwards campaign sign in the yard.
[West Boynton man allegedly threatens to kill girlfriend for backing Kerry - Sun Sentinel - 10-28-04]
filed under: "W" is For Wackos
, Campaign Madness
October 27, 2004
Using the methods of extrapolation from SAT and other test scores that the New York Times relies on to compare the intelligence of George Bush and John Kerry, I can declare that, if the three of us were in a room, George Bush would get the median score:
To Bush-bashers, it may be the most infuriating revelation yet from the military records of the two presidential candidates: the young George W. Bush probably had a higher I.Q. than did the young John Kerry.That, at least, is the conclusion of Steve Sailer, a conservative columnist at the Web magazine Vdare.com and a veteran student of presidential I.Q.'s. During the last presidential campaign Mr. Sailer estimated from Mr. Bush's SAT score (1206) that his I.Q. was in the mid-120's, about 10 points lower than Al Gore's.
Mr. Kerry's SAT score is not known, but now Mr. Sailer has done a comparison of the intelligence tests in the candidates' military records. They are not formal I.Q. tests, but Mr. Sailer says they are similar enough to make reasonable extrapolations.
Mr. Bush's score on the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test at age 22 again suggests that his I.Q was the mid-120's, putting Mr. Bush in about the 95th percentile of the population, according to Mr. Sailer. Mr. Kerry's I.Q. was about 120, in the 91st percentile, according to Mr. Sailer's extrapolation of his score at age 22 on the Navy Officer Qualification Test.
Linda Gottfredson, an I.Q. expert at the University of Delaware, called it a creditable analysis said she was not surprised at the results or that so many people had assumed that Mr. Kerry was smarter. "People will often be misled into thinking someone is brighter if he says something complicated they can't understand," Professor Gottfredson said.
Of course, with John Kerry, it isn't the words I have trouble understanding, it is the coherency of what he's saying...
Care To Compare the IQ of Your Presidential Candidates? [So Cal Law Blog]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 26, 2004
Several years ago, California's State Senator Sheila Kuehl (D - Santa Monica) struggled to pass legislation that would ban the harassment of gay and lesbian students in public schools.
Officials in one Orange County-district decided they disagreed with that ban and refused to re-write their local policies, at the risk of losing their state funding:
For months, Helena Rutkowski, Judy Ahrens and Blossie Marquez stood together. At meeting after meeting, the three Westminster School District trustees sat stone-faced and unmoved as they endured a seemingly endless barrage of anger hurled by parents and teachers infuriated over their stance against a state antidiscrimination law.Tension mounted as the three fired the district's longtime lawyer in order to hire one aligned with their conservative beliefs, and all but dared state officials to withhold millions in funding. And even when, at the last minute, the three backed down, the saga did not end...
Angry parents and teachers launched a recall petition drive against Ahrens and Marquez. They ignored Rutkowski, because her term was coming to a close this year.
The petition drive failed. And now, opponents of that board majority say the only way to break it up is to unseat Rutkowski, who is running for reelection.
The Westminster district, which serves 10,000 students from kindergarten through sixth grade, erupted in turmoil last winter when the three trustees refused to rewrite district policies to adhere to the state law that protects gays, transsexuals and others from discrimination on campuses. Citing Christian beliefs, the three said the law's wording immorally allowed people to define their own gender and would open the door to cross-dressing teachers and Peeping Tom students. The three eventually relented but still plan to sue the state over the gender definition.
Although behind the Orange Curtain, Westminster is unique in The O.C. because of its large Vietnamese immigrant population, which would explain why the Christian conservatives have taken to calling the teachers' unions "communists." Let's be realistic...teachers' unions are not communists; they are greedy.
Trustee's Stance on Gender Law Targets Her for Ouster [LAT]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 25, 2004
The Stonewall Democratoc Club in the Coachella Valley (that's Palm Springs to you and me) and its Chairman George Zander are under fire for a recent email sent by their chairman last week trying to drive a wedge between the gay community and local leaders, reading:
"Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley are our home turf! Our home court! Make these whiny, weasly (sic) b-----ds stand up and take notice! WE ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS S--T ANYMORE! We control Palm Springs City Council...We effectively control the Cathedral City City Council (re-elect Greg Pettis!!!!!"
The email message, targeting moderate GOP Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, ended up in the email accounts of her teenage children. Garcia, seeking re-election, was one of four Republican Assembly Members to vote for SB 1234 (Kuehl) at the urging of the Log Cabin Club of California, a hate-crimes bill signed by Governor Schwarzenegger this September.
Stonewall Democrats e-mail crosses line from politics to hate [Desert Sun]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 24, 2004
I'm very happy to hear at least one Democrat speaking to the campaign madness & rise of election tensions and what is the proper way to channel those passions.
"Don't turn it into angry acts or angry words," Gore said at one stop during a tour of mostly black churches. He also urged worshippers to take advantage of a state law that permits voting before Election Day, Nov. 2."Early voting is a good idea," he said. "You want to give them plenty of time to count all the votes."
Polls show Florida's 27 electoral votes are up for grabs again this year with the race closely divided between President Bush and Democratic challenger Sen. John Kerry. Gore lost the White House by 537 votes in the state after the U.S. Supreme Court voted to stop ballot recounts in several Florida counties.
"Turn all of that energy and all of these feelings into a nonstop effort between now and the time the polls close at 7 p.m. on November 2," Gore said.
[Gore Urges Angry Black Floridians to Vote - AP - 10-24-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 24, 2004
VOTER SUPPRESSION: If your campaign is looking for a firm whose name is synonymous with credibility and Christian values, call Sproul & Associates!
Nathan Sproul's firm, Arizona-based Sproul & Associates, made a quick $500,000 from the Republican National Committee this year. Sproul, the former head of Arizona's Christian Coalition, headed a multi-state voter registration effort called Voters Outreach of America which is currently being investigated in two states for fraud.
SPROUL STANDS FOR: Substitute teacher Adam Banse wanted a summer job with flexible hours, so he signed up to knock on doors in suburban Minneapolis and register people to vote. He quit after two hours. "They said if you bring back a bunch of Democratic cards, you'll be fired," Banse contends. "At that point, I said, `Whoa. Something's wrong here.'"
[GOP Voter Drive Accused of Tossing Cards - AP - 10-23-04]Russell, who was paid $8.50 an hour to register voters, said he was fired last month after protesting his supervisors' destruction of Democratic forms. "I didn't think it was right to register Republicans when there are others out there that should also be allowed the opportunity to register," Russell said Wednesday. A supervisor "right in front of me was tearing up the Democratic registration forms."
[Voter fraud alleged - Las Vegas Review-Journal - 10-14-04]She says she worked for less than two weeks as a voter registrar for the state Republican Party. She and others walked neighborhoods to sign up voters, but only Republican voters. She says her supervisors at the party, two women named Monica and Drea, told the employees what they should do with any registrations they received from Democrats. "Just do whatever you want to with it. Dispose of it or bring it back here and we will dispose of it," Parker said.
[Voter Fraud Allegations Headed to Court - KLAS-TV - 10-14-04]
Sproul's deception began raising eyebrows in Arizona when the company attempted to set up voter registrations in public libraries by using the name of a legitimate non-partisan group, America Votes. The legitimate non-partisan group had no knowledge that Voters Outreach of America was falsely using their name and is currently pursuing legal action against Sproul & Associates.
BEARING FALSE WITNESS: A local librarian checking on a company’s request to set up a voter registration booth in the library discovered the company was not affiliated with a non-partisan national group as it claimed. Sproul & Associates, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., phoned and mailed the library in September, saying it had been hired by America Votes.
[Librarian bares possible voter registration dodge - Mail Tribune - 09-21-04]
also read: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE FAKE AMERICA VOTES AND NATHAN SPROUL.
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 23, 2004
Follow the Campaign Madness thread for a growing prelude to civil unrest. Republicans are in the process of documenting unlawful activity while Democrats seem to look the other way. Why is this happening in America?
As a result, with early voting taking place in busy public places like City Halls and libraries, voters are voicing complaints of being blocked by political mobs, or being singled out for their political views. Others say they have been grabbed, screamed at and cursed by political partisans of all stripes.
[Early voting brings cries of bullying - Sun-Sentinel - 10-23-04]Cincinnati detectives are working to determine who broke into the local headquarters of the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign Friday. A front window of the office on Seventh Street was smashed in. The thieves reached in, opened the door, and took $300 out of a metal petty cash box, police said.
[Police investigate break-in at Bush campaign office - Cincinnati Enquirer - 10-23-04]Rocks crashed through the windows of a Bush campaign office while it was vacant Wednesday night. Republican campaign workers said vandals hit their office in southeast Portland, filling the large front windows full of holes.
[Windows Smashed At Bush Campaign Headquarters - KOIN-TV - 10-21-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 20, 2004
13 days to go, and the stories never end.
Nerves are fraying at the edges, and there are still two weeks before Election Day. The emotion of this politically charged presidential election got the best of some people. People who came out to see the anti-Kerry film, "Stolen Honor" were already upset that management of the Baederwood Theater cancelled the showing after threats of civil disturbances. Ultimately the anger reached a higher level when Bush supporters clashed with Kerry supporters.
[Anti-Kerry Film Showing Canceled - WPVI-TV - 10-19-04]Maria Comella, director of communications for Bush/Cheney, confirmed that the theft and defacing of signs is a statewide issue. It’s not just homes. Campaign offices are a special target, with a rock through the window of the Laconia office and a live bullet lodged in the door of the Littleton headquarters. Signs have been torn down in Nashua and vandalized with box-cutters in Derry.
[Missing campaign signs signal statewide trend - Exeter News Letter - 10-19-04]In Missouri, the theft of signs supporting Kerry and his running mate, North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, is so pervasive that the Cole County Democratic Party in the state capital of Jefferson City this week issued a $1,000 reward to help catch the perpetrators.
[Political Yard Sign Wars Wage as Election Nears - Reuters - 10-20-04]Police say vandals are targeting campaign signs. Monday night, vandals tagged three blocks of Bush-Cheney signs along Jadwin Avenue in Richland with black spray paint. Police say they also ripped some signs apart.
[Vandals Hitting Campaign Signs - KVEW-TV - 10-20-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 19, 2004
CAMPAIGN HIGHS: An NAACP volunteer has a unique method of registering people to vote. She paid a guy with crack cocaine to register people to vote.
Sheriff Westrick said that Pitts, 41, of Toledo, admitted she gave Mr. Staton crack cocaine in lieu of cash for supplying her with completed voter registration forms. The sheriff declined to say how much crack cocaine Pitts supplied Mr. Staton, or to say whether Pitts knew that the forms Mr. Staton gave her were falsified.
[Voter fraud case traced to Defiance County registrations volunteer - Toledo Blade - 10-19-04]
CAMPAIGN LOWS: Republicans must not like the fact that in most states, newly registered voters are overwhelmingly Democrat. There's only two ways to fix that problem.
In an affidavit filed with the lawsuit, Russell said he was told to ask prospective voters, "Who would you vote for in the next election?" He said he was told to register only those who supported President Bush."I personally witnessed my supervisor at VOA, together with her personal assistant, destroy completed registration forms that VOA employees had collected,'' said Russell. "All of the destroyed registration forms were for registrants who indicated their party preference as 'Democrat.'"
[GOP-paid firm faces voter-fraud charge - Mercury News - 10-14-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 14, 2004
People are so desperate to catch the free speech thugs tearing down political signs, they're hiding in the bushes to catch them.
It only took three hours. At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, a 25-year-old Mercer Island man walked to a grassy area along the 6700 block of Island Crest Way and began to pull up Bush signs installed by the two men, police said.The amateur detectives burst out of the woods and confronted the man, who was apologetic. The men detained him until police arrived. The man was arrested and released on suspicion of third-degree theft, a misdemeanor, said Mercer Island police Sgt. Lance Davenport.
[Men save signs for Bush in stakeout - Seattle Times - 10-14-04]
also read: Blogs For Bush
filed under: Campaign Madness
, Free Speech
October 12, 2004
After yet another break-in to a Washington State Bush/Cheney headquarters, both parties are starting to comment on the rising tensions.
Racicot said there needs to be a "national discussion about this." He said he does not blame Democratic groups for the incidents.Jano Cabrera, communications director of the Democratic National Committee, said "tempers do appear to be flaring on both sides."
[Second break-in hits a Bush office in state - Seattle Times - 10-12-04]
Racicot's call for a "national discussion" comes a day after the Bush/Cheney '04 campaign launched an 800# to gather reports of voter intimidation. Why wouldn't the RNC prefer this discussion over a discussion of President Bush's record over the past four years?
An unprecedented level of voter intimidation, vandalism, uncivil disobedience and violence is occuring leading up to the 2004 Presidential elections, and the RNC is framing the "discussion."
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 11, 2004
In response to the more recent stories of uncivil disobedience (10-06-04 | 10-05-04) by the AFL-CIO, Bush/Cheney '04 has established a hotline to report voter intimidation.
Bush-Cheney '04 has created a hotline for victims of voter intimidation to report what happened. The hotline, 1-888-303-7125, will begin operation at 11:00 a.m. today. [Letter on Voter Intimidation to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney - Bush/Cheney '04 - 10-11-04]
If you have no idea where this is going, you aren't alone. The Kerry/Edwards Campaign doesn't seem to, either.
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 11, 2004
In a letter to FCC Chairman Michael Powell, 18 members of Congress have expressed concerns over Sinclair's airing of an anti-Kerry documentary.
Addionally, while there is some indication that Senator Kerry may be invited to a panel discussion following the airing of this "program" in order to satisfy fairness regulations, it seems clear to us that any invitation would be merely a transparent attempt to circumvent the fine print of the law and proceed with this partisan plan. Equal time rules exist for a purpose - to prevent the airing of one-sided political content without equal response time given to the opposing view or candidate. In this case, it is impossible to imagine how the equal time rules would be satisfied if this plan is allowed to go forward.
[Letter to FCC's Michael Powell - Media Matters - 10-09-04 - (pdf)]
Rather than reactively complain and picket the stations, as some bloggers suggest, why doesn't the Kerry Campaign proactively offer their own documentary to Sinclair to satisfy expected equal time rules? In the spirit of Justice Brandeis's "more speech" remedy, Sinclair ought to be on the defense explaining their predictable rejection.
also read: Blogs For Bush, SimianBrain
filed under: Campaign Madness
, Free Speech
, Media
October 11, 2004
Some of my liberal colleagues aren't happy with Sinclair's airing of an anti-Kerry documentary, and they're already asking people to organize pickets and file complaints with the FCC.
Bloggers could link up with local media law attorneys of like mind in each of these Sinclair affiliate towns to gather informal objections and formal petitions challenging the renewal of these Sinclair licenses, which would then be forwarded to the FCC for inclusion in the station's renewal file at least one month prior to the license expiration date for consideration at the time of the upcoming license renewals this year and in 2005-2007.
[How To Deal With Sinclair Broadcast Group's Attempt To Play Kingmaker - LeftCoaster - 10-11-04]It's not a 'fairness' or a free speech issue. It's a massive and quite public case of election and campaign finance fraud. It's the sort of thing that, if it happens, will put the legitimacy of the entire election into doubt.
[Too generous - Talking Points - 10-11-04]
The only thing missing is what to complain about. There aren't rules against airing this kind of stuff as long as you offer equal time. Sinclair has offered Kerry equal time, and the Kerry Campaign foolishly declined. The complaints to the FCC might as well be against the excercise of free speech in America.
Hyman said Sinclair has invited Kerry to appear on a discussion program after the broadcast, but Kerry's campaign has declined. The invitation to Kerry could help Sinclair satisfy federal requirements to provide "equal time" to candidates in an election.
[Sinclair Stations to Air Anti-Kerry Documentary - Washington Post - 10-11-04]
Kerry should have offered his own 42 minute video and forced Sinclair to air it or reject it. The proactive offer would place Sinclair on the offense on the issue of "equal time" while complaints to the FCC on "equal time" move forward.
The blogosphere's hunger for a public lynching and attention grabbing pickets is a perfect storm of mob mentality, political passions, and the most advanced tool for fluffing the ego.
Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.
[Extraordinary Popular Delusions And The Madness Of Crowds - Charles MacKay - 1841]
also read: Atrios, DailyKos, SoonerThought, ArchPundit
filed under: Campaign Madness
, Free Speech
, Media
October 09, 2004
Most readers here will note way too many reports from across the country of assualts, unlawful detention, and uncivil disobedience leading up to the 2004 Presidential elections. Sadly, there is also an unusual amount of vandalism on the increase as the elections draw near. Here is yet more.
WIDESPREAD: A search of archived press reports nationwide indicated a significantly higher number of reports during the past few months compared with the same periods during the 2000 and 1996 presidential elections.
[Political vandals, thieves out in force - Washington Times - 10-09-04]ALASKA: Burney said she believes all four windows at the Republican campaigns' headquarters were broken by a slingshot, noting that a ball bearing--commonly used as slingshot ammunition--was found in the office Friday morning. While the first window was cracked but not broken through, the latter three had holes punched in them by the shot.
[Vandals break windows at campaign office - News Miner - 10-09-04]
OHIO: Two men who tore down a Bush-Cheney sign and urinated on it were caught on videotape by Summit County Republican officials early Friday morning. The videotape shows the men sneaking into the yard of a West Market Street home and bending the sign to the ground. The men struggled to rip the sign out of the ground by shaking it and pulling it but couldn't get it off the posts, so they knocked it down. Sounds heard on the tape suggest the men urinated on the sign. They were white males, about 30 to 35 years old, well-dressed and well-groomed. They parked across the street in what police think was a foreign car, a Toyota or Honda.
[Men videotaped vandalizing sign - Beacon - 10-09-04]ILLINOIS: Vandals sprayed paint on a sign outside the headquarters of the Madison County Republican Central Committee, the latest in a series of incidents involving thefts or vandalism of GOP campaign signs around the area, party officials said Friday.
[GOP office sign damaged by vandals - Telegraph - 10-09-04]COLORADO: On Saturday, vandals beat down an outdoor metal sign at Larimer County Democratic headquarters, 555 S. Howes St., and sprayed a fire extinguisher in an adjacent office. The sign was valued at $1,000, said Paul Schnaitter, campaign manager for House District 53 Rep. Angie Paccione. In the wake of the vandalism and other incidents, Larimer County Democrats have urged Republicans to "call off their attack dogs."
[Thieves target political yard signs - Coloradoan - 10-09-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 06, 2004
Yesterday, you might recall my post about AFL-CIO thugs storming an Orlando Bush/Cheney headquarters in Orlando, FL. It turns out they also did it in Milwaukee, WI, too. Demonstrators ignored specific requests by AFL-CIO rally organizers across the country for peaceful protests. Passions on both sides continue to grow leading up to the November 2nd Presidential elections.
More than 50 demonstrators supporting Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry stormed a Republican campaign office in West Allis at mid-day today, trespassing, creating a disturbance through the use of a bullhorn in the office and then refusing to leave when asked.
[PRO-KERRY FORCES INVADE GOP VICTORY CENTER - RPW - 10-05-04]
also read: Powerline
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 05, 2004
Political tensions rise. Mobs of AFL-CIO members are caught on video storming Bush/Cheney campaign headquarters. (watch the video)
A group of protestors stormed and then ransacked a Bush-Cheney headquarters building in Orlando, Fla., Tuesday, according to Local 6 News.Local 6 News reported that several people from the group of 100 Orlando protestors face possible assault charges after the group forced their way inside the Republican headquarters office.
While in the building, some of the protestors drew horns and a mustache on a poster of President George W. Bush and poured piles of letters in the office, according to the report.
[Protestors Ransack Bush/Cheney Headquarters In Orlando - WKMG-TV - 10-05-04]
also read: Power Line
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 05, 2004
The 2004 Campaign Madness grows more and more tense as the Presidential election nears.
An unknown gunman fired several shots into the Bearden, Tenn., Bush-Cheney campaign office Tuesday, WBIR-TV in Knoxville reported.According to Knoxville police officers on the scene, it is believed that the two separate shots were fired from a car sometime between 6:30 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. One shot shattered the glass in one front door and the other cracked the glass in another of the front doors.
There were no witnesses to the shooting. A customer at a nearby dry cleaning store noticed shattered glass on the sidewalk in front of the headquarters and called police.
[Shots fired at Bush Tenn. headquarters - UPI - 10-05-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 04, 2004
Not a day goes by without news stories about immature idiots vandalizing people's property.
Vandals have been destroying Bush and Coors signs posted on private property throughout Eagle County, prompting one landowner, Magnus Linholm, to offer a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of vandals who chainsawed through Republican signs on his property. [Political sign vandalism angers locals - Post Independent - 10-03-04]"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.
[Vandals target GOP campaign signs - Rapid City Journal - 10-02-04]Napa County Republicans are becoming more and more frustrated over vandalism that has wreaked havoc on their largest and most expensive political signs along Napa County highways and thoroughfares.
"I've worked in the county since 1974 and I've never seen it this bad," said Diane Holliday, Republican Central Committee Chairman. "We have one month to go and if we don't have any supplies it's just going to make (the Democrats) that much stronger."
[Caltrans removes campaign signs north of St. Helena - Napa Valley Register - 10-03-04]"I've been working in politics for different campaigns since I was 14, and in 30 years I've never seen anything on this level before," Hawker said. "It's much more than a high school prank. Something is going on."
[Campaign-sign thefts called worse than during previous elections - Kalamazoo Gazette - 10-04-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 03, 2004
Unbelievable. Check out some other findings of a growing list of instances where the United States Secret Service appears to be systematically infringing on the Constitutional rights of American citizens. These actions often involve local law enforcement who claim they were acting on behalf of Secret Service requests.
Sadly, when local jurisdictions later review the actions of the police, arrests and detentions requested by the Secret Service are ruled unlawful. Why is the United States Secret Service engaging in this unlawfully thuggish behavior?
Three other Racine residents, however, had a different opinion after the Secret Service ejected them from the rally for wearing T-shirts with the word "liar" on them.Keith Rosenberg, Michael Goebel and James Bremner said they signed the required pledge stating they supported Bush. They said they did not put on the protesting shirts until Bush appeared on stage to speak.
"But we weren't there to start a riot," Bremner said, adding the intent of their actions was "handing it to [Bush] because the guy is a blatant liar."
[Protests follow Bush on Wis. campaign trail - Daily Cardinal - 09-27-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 02, 2004
Jerry Rubin must have forgotten how many calories it's going to take him on November 2 to vote. While he and his hippie friends are shitting soup into dixie cups, the rest of us will be participating in American democracy.
"I know Ralph Nader and I don't think he's doing the right thing," Rubin said Saturday. He said the consumer advocate's campaign is dividing the progressive political movement.
[Activist Holds Anti-Nader Hunger Strike - AP - 10-02-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 02, 2004
I don't know why some bloggers are claiming a "hilarious victory for the blogosphere" for hijacking a Bush/Cheney '04 post debate conference call. I'm disappointed Atrios posted the access information.
Mehlman apologized to the Bush supporters listening and acknowledge that the call had obviously attracted some Democrats. We had, essentially, hijacked their own spin distribution and thrown it in the GOP's face. A small, yet hilarious victory for the blogosphere.
[Curly Tales of War Pigs - 10-01-04]
also read: Political Wire
filed under: Campaign Madness
October 01, 2004
I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that the Washington state Bush Campaign Headquarters was broken into or the smarmy partisan suspicion by Chris Vance that it must have been a Democrat. Take a look at Vance's politically niave notion that "liberals radicals" are out of control. Either Vance doesn't read very much, or he knows something he hasn't shared with the police.
State Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance called it a "Watergate-style break in" and said he suspects Democrats are behind it."If you're just some burglar looking for computers to sell to buy drugs you take every laptop in the office maybe," he said. "But they knew exactly whose computers to get. They got the executive director's computer and the get-out-the-vote director's computer."
Vance said the break in follows reports of vandalized Bush campaign signs and what he said were telephone calls to voters alleging Bush would reinstate a military draft if re-elected.
"To me there is some scary stuff going on from liberal radicals whose Bush hatred is out of control," Vance said.
[Bush's state headquarters for re-election burglarized - Seattle Times - 10-01-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
September 22, 2004
Remember the Gold Star Mother arrested while speaking to reporters? The Secret Service isn't happy with threatening comments she previously made about the President.
In portions of an interview posted online in May on the Web site Counterpunch.org, Niederer said she wanted to "rip the president's head off" and "shoot him in the groined area."The comments caught the attention of a Secret Service analyst and are under review, Special Agent Tony Colgary told The Times of Trenton for Wednesday's editions. It is a federal crime to threaten to kill the president.
[Secret Service Reviews Comments By Dead Soldier's Mom - AP via WNBC-TV - 09-22-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
September 22, 2004
The most common criminal behavior during the Presidential elections is destruction of property by emotionally immature political vandals.
When Jay Soldner woke up Monday morning, he was met with what was either mindless vandalism or someone's political statement. After stepping out of his home on the 400 block of South 14th Street, Soldner found that two signs supporting President Bush's re-election had been vandalized. "They were not taken — they were removed, torn up and dropped in place," Soldner said.
[Political signs damaged - LaCrosse Tribune - 09-21-04]Vandals set fire to signs and wrote pro-President Bush messages on the front of Lafayette’s Democratic Party Headquarters, the second time the office was hit by vandals. The remnants of a small fire fueled with John Kerry/John Edwards campaign signs remained on the front steps of the headquarters at 310 Buchanan St. in downtown Lafayette on Thursday morning.
[Vandals target local Democrats’ office for second time - Advertiser - 09-17-04]Political vandals are on the loose in Nashville with several reports of Bush and Kerry presidential campaign yard signs and bumper stickers being defaced and stolen, campaign officials reported. Retiree Elizabeth Queener said three Kerry-Edwards signs were swiped from her West Meade yard, even after she slathered one with honey after one sign disappeared.
[Bush, Kerry signs can vanish as fast as they pop up - Tennessean - 09-09-04]The destruction of Kerry-Edwards yard signs late Friday night and early Saturday morning incited the ire of Democratic Party Chair Abram Jacobson. "I started getting calls from homeowners who found their signs torn down overnight," Jacobson said. "We've had extensive damage and destruction. This vandalism has occurred all over the county during the last four weeks - we've lost 40 signs - but Friday night's outbreak is a much more vectored and planned thing."
[Kerry yard signs destroyed - Los Alamos Monitor - 09-22-04]
filed under: Campaign Madness
September 21, 2004
You might remember me mentioning the young Republican at the Republican National Convention caught on video stomping a female protester on the convention floor.
He was then identified by pajama wearing bloggers as Scott Robinson, a junior at University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. According to blogger Will Bunch, who does an excellent job with this story, Robinson denies he's the person on the video, despite many friends positively identifying him.
Today we learn the assualted protester is Clare Martin, 26, of Berkeley, Calif, who is now considering filing charges against the attacker.
The female protester who was kicked at the Republican Youth Convention in New York is considering taking legal action against her attacker. While the attacker was unidentified when the footage was shot, several Penn students have since identified him as Wharton junior Scott Robinson, based on a digital file of a video circulating on the Internet.
[Assaulted protester considering legal action - Daily Pennsylvanian - 09-21-04]
Is this the same Scott Robinson who wrote in the Campus Philly dismissing deplorable "mob-style street politics?" Robinson gives snooty hypocrite thugs a real run for their money.
A little over a week ago, I hosted a Party for President Bush at my summer apartment in Falls Church, Virginia. I was more than happy with the resounding turn-out and the energetic support that was accorded President Bush’s re-election by the packed picnic-area of college-aged, DC interns and people from the surrounding community. That night was grass roots at its finest, minus the angry and debilitating, empty-rhetoric of mob-style street politics. Fifty-plus of the President’s strongest supporters were out in full force in a rousing demonstration of Republican solidarity.
[Dem Con 2004 - Campus Philly - Scott Robinson - 08-04]
Is this the same Scott Robinson who describes liberals as lacking couth? Once Robinson figures out how to resist being overcome with "mob mentality," he should write a book.
"...many people wouldn't believe some of the radical tactics that many of these maniacs employ. When the mob mentality sweeps over them, they are so full of hatred and a wreckless disregard for truth, reason, and couth."
[Sick of Radical Protestors? - Scott Robinson - 07-30-04]
also read: Atrios
filed under: Campaign Madness