The poisonous atmosphere promoted by talk radio, Fox News Channel, and many Republican spokesmen has now led not just to verbal epithets and spitting and angry telephone and email messages, but also to real death threats that have caused the FBI to arrest a man in Washington State for endangering the life of Senator Patty Murray!
Also, Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has given information to the FBI about direct threats against her, and she faced Tea Party activists who attempted a disruption of a Town Hall meeting in Broward County.
And the vile, vicious, threatening email against African American Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, one of the heroes of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, also are an alarm bell that the opposition to health care, which has spewed forth propaganda and lies for a year now, MUST cease and desist, as the danger of violence has reached a new stage that demands responsibility by politicians and media!
What will finally convince these right wingers that they are sowing the seeds of bloodshed and violence? 🙁 Will it take the assassination of politicians to silence these characters, who only care about their own enrichment and advancement, and not the good of the nation? 🙁
As has been stated before, enough is enough! Let’s promote what unites us, instead of what divides us! 🙁
Just an observation:
Years ago I accessed the .pdf file of the Patriot Act from Law.com. I’m not sure if the website still lets you do that, but to do this day I remember the Patriot Act’s definition of a terrorist/terrorist organization. It’s shameful to say this, but the Tea Party activists and other offenders already fit the definitions described in the document, and according to the act they’re already capable of being arrested and dealt with in the same manner that we treat captured Al Queda members.
Of course, it’s doubtful that any form of the media has used the “T” word on these people if they haven’t already, but if they were suddenly all branded as such, there’s a good chance all these death threats and hateful actions might actually die off rather quickly just for fear of being compared that way.
Bella, you are exactly correct. I printed out the pdf and still have it. Had these same actions by the T party and the militas taken place during the Bush presidency…according to the Patriot act..they would have been arrested and jailed long ago. Why is the right wing ignoring this? Have you read the newest bill authored by McCain and Lieberman which would allow indefinate dentenion of Americans without trial? S.3081 – Enemy Belligerent, Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010 ” This is truly a scary piece of legislation.