Wilding: 3. Slang The act or practice of going about in a group threatening, robbing, or attacking others
Over the past couple of days, shots were fired in the air and a window was shot out at Rep. Cantor’s offices in Richmond. A gas line was cut at the home of Rep. Perriello’s brother near Charlottesville. The address had mistakenly been posted on an ultra- conservative website out of Lynchburg. The wrong someone thought it was the congressman’s address. A substantial number of congressmen and women have had really nasty, threatening phone calls left for them.
These incidents have stirred up Americans even further as the health care debate rages on and even after the passing of that legislation on Sunday. The cable shows are full of accusations and political rhetoric. Republicans are blaming the Democrats and the Democrats are blaming the Republicans. There are racial overtones on top of the political ones.
We are all Americans. At the end of the day, no matter how much Chris Matthews or Glenn Beck we listen to, we are still Americans. We are going to have to shut down those feelings that talk show hosts and blogs stir up in us or we are going to become a very sick society. It just isn’t healthy. No one knows who is doing nasty things to politicians. Like the kid who trashed the homes and stores in Gainesville around the election in 2008, some of this vandalism could be some jerks who don’t even know a health care bill passed. It is sort of like burning sofas and trash cans after a basketball game, when you don’t go to either school.
This isn’t the first time Americans have been in a frothing rage. Our history is peppered with incidences of great political divide. Our friend Wolverine addressed some of it today on the first thread about the Perriello’s gas line. As usual, his is a worthwhile read. My concern now is that that the rancor is spilling over onto the blog. It has been building up for a few weeks now. Some people have chosen to leave. Each exit has been different, I might add. I respect the choices made. We aren’t the roach motel. A nd Censored put it quite well, people on blogs come and go. And they can come back again.
Elena and I need to refresh everyone’s mind about who we are and our politics. We are 2 pro-choice independent moderates. We consider ourselves centrist. I have been various places in my life politically. I expect the parties have changed more than I have. I have voted for Republicans and for Democrats, depending mostly on what was most important to me at the time. I voted for Ronald Reagan. I am not an adoring fan, but at the time, he filled the bill better than the other guy. I have also voted for the great political pariah. (you get to figure it out) My Republican voting declined when the Christian Coalition started infusing itself in politics. I like my church and state on separate plates, please.
We are not conservatives. We don’t think from a conservative point of view. Our world view is not coming from that spot. Don’t come here expecting it. It won’t be there. Different people have different swords they are willing to fall on. Isn’t America wonderful that we can do that. Different folks will feel passion about different issues.
Now you know where we are coming from. We have attempted to have a blog where discussion is possible without people being attacked for their beliefs. We have attempted to put up topics that contemporary Americans are talking about. We look for state, local and national articles of political interest as well as other types of interest. Not everything is about politics.
I am asking everyone on the blog to turn the volume down. HCR has taken on a life of its own it seems and it seems to have great mood-altering powers. If you feel so much anger that you can’t think straight, perhaps a blog break is in order. Please, let’s give other people a break. Let’s not read something in to everything anyone says. I really don’t want a blog that has to be moderated. I would probably just take it down first. Too much work. There really needs to be some detente here.
Meanwhile, thanks to Chris and Allison for bringing a community concern to the blog and for all the leg work they have done digging out the facts. 4 schools within a mile or so of each other does seem excessive. Let’s find out more.
Amen. You do a good job. I, for one, like the tone here. And I don’t mind heated debate. Even squirrels can be fun. But, things can get out of hand. Thanks.
4 schools within a mile. Same grade level? I’ve got the same thing in my neighborhood. I’ve got at least 4 public elementary schools within 2-3 miles of each other.
Moon, please check your email. Sent you something. Thanks.
Thanks Cargo.
I hope everyone will visit your blog. It is on our blog roll. So you can link right into it from here.
UCV
United Conservatives of Virginia
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/
It is an attractive blog and they don’t bite when you log on. *I* didn’t even get bitten. Of course, I agreed with the post. It was about the WWII vet who wasn’t allowed to fly his flag in his yard because of HOA rules.
Cargo, please post those 2 websites, in particular the one you wrote. I will read your Courtland tomorrow and give it some thought and discuss it off-blog with you. Things are a little touchy right now.
To everybody reading this, I hereby invite you to read two posts. They are based upon recent threads concerning the current brouhaha of threats, alleged violence, actual violence, etc.
The first one is by Erick Erickson at RedState: http://www.redstate.com/erick/2010/03/25/if-king-george-will-not-listen/
a mainstream conservative viewpoint. Make sure you read some of the comments.
Now, I was going to write a post on my blog or RedState detailing the history of political violence, who’s done what to whom, etc. Well, his took the air from my sails and so I wrote a comment on his post which I then moved to my diary.
My posts can be found at my site, United Conservatives of Virginia: http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2010/03/appropriate-and-inappropriate-violence.html
Please scroll around and feel welcome. ConcreteBob, my co-blogger does not bite. Much.
Or it can be found at RedState: http://www.redstate.com/cargosquid/
Neither site has many comments under my posts. Please feel encouraged to let me know what you think about both my post and Erick’s in the comments. If its ok with Moon, here also, but, I don’t want to use her bandwith for comments about my blog. RedState does not get many liberal commenters so I am interested in your thoughts.
Thank you Moon and Elena.
And thanks to the readers.
As I always say to visitors, come on by and sit. I’ll get you a beer…..
I strongly agree that we need more civility in our political discourse. It’s a shame that some individuals on both sides of the political divide are resorting to law-breaking and criminal acts to further their causes. This isn’t Afghanistan. We’re better than that.
Looks like the bullet that Cantor was talking about had nothing to do with politics.
Bullet that hit Cantor office was randomly fired
The Associated Press
Published: March 25, 2010
RICHMOND — A bullet that hit a window in Republican U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor’s office building was fired randomly into the air, police said Thursday.
Cantor announced at a Capitol Hill news conference Thursday that a shot had been fired into his Richmond campaign office.
In addressing reporters, he denounced threats and vandalism against Democrats who passed sweeping health care reform legislation that has angered conservatives, but accused senior Democrats of inciting retribution against Republicans.
“It is reckless to use these incidents as media vehicles for political gain,“ Cantor told reporters.
Cantor said he receives threats because he is Jewish and because he is the second-ranking Republican in the House, then disclosed a recent direct threat and the shooting.
“A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week, and I’ve received threatening e-mails,“ Cantor said. He refused to release details, however, saying it would only encourage more threats, and refused to take questions.
Later Thursday, however, Richmond police said in a news release that the bullet had been fired into the air around 1 a.m. Tuesday. It finished its random arc back to earth at a sharp downward trajectory, breaking a window pane on the bottom floor of the two-story brick building where Cantor’s campaign leases the top floor
http://www2.godanriver.com/gdr/news/state_regional/article/bullet_that_hit_cantor_office_was_randomly_fired/19378/
@Starryflights
I don’t know. Sounds too coincidental to me.
@cargosquid
Cargo, do you really use money to throw cookouts at Walter Reed? I’d be interested in hearing more about that…and the BBQ sauce thing you have on your blog.
@Posting As Pinko
Actually, Concretebob is the expert on that. He has helped coordinate the cookouts and its his sauce. Be warned. He’s hard core, anti-communist, former Marine. You may not like his opinions. He is a very good guy.
Military supporters show up every Friday night at Walter Reed to support the troops. They were originally Free Republic people reacting to Code Pink’s “support” of the troops by protesting with fake coffins outside the gate. When Bob went to renew the permits for the other three corners (our presence quickly grew), he discovered that Code Pink had let their permit expire. The next Friday, he was there with his Marine Corps flag and a banner: “Under new management”. The bus leaving Walter Reed for dinner, with the vets, stopped and turned on the interior lights to show the cheering vets.
He is very active in troop support. Here is the post about the cookout:
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2010/01/cooking-with-wounded-and-soldiers.html
@cargosquid
I assure you, I am not a communist LOL! I am playing off what I was called by some other people who hate my guts : )
I will check it out. I was thinking of donating a bit (I am active in Adopt-a-Platoon through Rotary Community Corps) but I want to know more about it and make sure I know where the money is going.
I’m not that familiar with Code Pink, so I guess I will learn. The coffin thing sounds a bit over the top.
(Oh no. My cat is puking again. Yuck.)
pinko, Code Pink is/are/was/were the women who dressed up, usually something pink, and had outbreaks during congressional hearings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g3MfVrZ4jA
Apparently they did parades too. I always thought they were sort of like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. (trying to hold back a smile)
After viewing the video, I have to ask myself…what is wrong with everyone. The other video I looked at had a cop throwing one of these women down after nailing her with a baton.
I wish I hadn’t seen it. I have never ever supported code pink. I hate when they disrupt congressional hearings. Now I have to support their right to exist.
I wish I hadn’t seen it. Why do Americans think they have the right to touch other people and to get in their faces? These women had repeated A & B’s on them during the 4 minutes of the film. This is the very violence that some are decrying today and the very violence Cargosquid eloquently wrote about in the links. No different. People didn’t like their politics. So what.
Nothing pisses off a person like turning your back on them.
Posting,
Apparently your cat has heard of Code Pink.
Stop! I am hysterical. I thought the same thing but held back. Then my screen got the coke bath!
I hate to have to defend those I do not like. it is one of my pet peeves…(again, that rascally cat)
Hee hee. Glad to help!
I remember that. I was right down the block. I saw a couple of people that I remember seeing. I was about half a block away. My personal feelings are that Code Pink, in other years, would have been considered traitors, as would ANSWER. My other personal feelings, well……….never mind.
Code Pink has a history of provocation. And some people fell for it. This was at the height of the anti-war protests. Code Pink, the year before had vandalized the Navy Memorial and the Capitol steps. They sent over $500,000 to the citizens of Fallujah in 2004. You know, the insurgents. They routinely disparaged our armed forces and vets. People were angry. Its not just about not liking their politics. I don’t like the politics of many people. But they don’t actively try to subvert the war effort and help the enemy. Code Pink money bought weapons that killed our own soldiers and Marines. They consider our armed forces to be war criminals. They and ANSWER advocate the fragging of officers and desertion.
I don’t remember what their banner said. The angry people touching them made the mistake of falling for the provocations. While satisfying at the time, its better to just make fun of them. LOUDLY. (I love bull horns.)
That said, the phrase “fighting words” means something. And words can push people to extremes. And Code Pink uses them so that they can play the victim. Do that enough, and someone might make you a victim. Sometimes, it IS the speaker’s fault that they get hit. Now the hitter has to take the responsibility for what they get too….
The irony of that other video was that it was at the DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION. That protester, from what I can see, has a case for police brutality. Wish I knew the context of the over-reaction of the cops. I seem to remember that the Denver police really had no clue about crowd control.
Turning your backs on Code Pink doesn’t work. They are playing for the cameras, not you. In the context of marches, the person that shouts loudest or gets the best camera time wins. And if you can make the other side look bad….BONUS!
I will say this, the media did a very poor job of exposing them. I know they were around for the entire Bush administration, and I didn’t know they were sending money to Falluja..or however you spell it. I didn’t exactly live in a cave during that time, although I wasn’t quite as plugged in to the news as I am now for much of it.
I honestly thought they were just your more than antimated anti-war protestors. I still don’t think people have the right to put their hands on them, although I understand why the temptation might be overwhelming at times.
I agree with you about the violence. So if no one is looking at them, since most of us don’t have eyes in our tails, why isn’t a collective back-turning a good idea?
@cargosquid
Thanks for clarifying. They sound like jerks…and yes, when they bought guns, terrorists.
Anytime money is sent to an enemy, I see that as being a traitor. I don’t care who it is.
Many people have not and will not ever forgive Jane Fonda. Mr. Howler is one of said people. He refuses to watch a movie with her in it. He also worked for a company with her ex, Tom Hayden on the board. He hated him too.
Wanna hear something funny? My US/VA history teacher in HS was a Vietnam Vet. He had two bumper stickers on his blackboard:
“I’m not Fonda Hanoi Jane”
“Vietnam Vets are not Fonda Jane”
I can still clearly see those stickers nearly 18 years later. Today if he had those posted on his blackboard, he’d surely be fired.
Whoops! I must have thought that I recognized people. I remember an altercation at that very crossing, but it was not at that march. I was at the 9/11 counter protest that September. Maybe those people that I recognized were also at my rally. I was in the Sandbox (actually on a 4 day R&R in Qatar) during the rally. That is also the week of my very first blog post.
All of my other info in the previous post is accurate though. No wonder I don’t remember their banner……
The March rally was the first one that ANSWER and Code Pink was countered. And they were in shock. 30,000 vets showed up because ANSWER was planning to vandalise the Vietnam War memorial. They lined the ENTIRE ROUTE. BOTH sides. Of course, no media showed that. I saw camera angles that cut out the sidewalks of the route….
That trip down memory lane…..wow.
For those that are interested, here are some pics that show the protest from OUR side:
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/03/gathering-of-eagles-mcdonalds-after.html
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/03/gathering-of-eagles-mcdonalds-after_18.html
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/03/gathering-of-eagles-for-cargosquid.html
(what they posted after my first post thanking all of the troop supporters. That Flag guy was at the September rally too.)
Post not taking. Am cutting it into two parts.
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/03/gathering-of-eagles-07-video.html
http://unitedconservatives.blogspot.com/2007/03/gathering-of-eagles-mcdonalds-after_19.html
(In this one, by coblogger, ConcreteBob, was part of group that prevented a bunch of the ANSWER marchers from deviating from the march and try and get to Arlington. The cops prevented them from entering the Pentagon. Some of the marchers retreated to an area outside the view of the vets and the cops and attempted to burn a flag. VEeeery brave…..not.)
Posting, Btw, what’s wrong with your cat? Is it ok or just being a cat?
@Moon-howler
Because the cameras NEVER turn THEIR backs. To the media, lack of protest equals mainstream support.
Besides, its more fun to point and giggle…..
How come no one ever exposed them for being traitorous instead of just merely PITAS?
@pinko
Hairballs? Cats puke a lot. i would tell you what mine used to do but then you would have to join your cat….in a puke-fest.
Have you tried the indoor grass kits? My cats – Neo, Cypher and Trinity – eat the grass and it tends to cut down on the puking. This new kit I bought doesn’t even have to be watered – has some sort of moisture crystal that activates and waters the grass. Neat stuff and just a few bucks.
Moon, Gathering of Eagles, Protest Warrior, etc publicizes all of the info that they find. The media doesn’t care. Its not news. Of course, there’s no paper trail on who actually got the money. But $500 K went to Fallujah in 2005.
Sorry, just double checked. It was $600,000. And Congressman Waxman helped.
http://97.74.65.51/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=10017
Cindy Sheehan helped too. Remember her son was killed by these guys.
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/cindy-600k-for-fallujah-nothing-for-katrina
Are you starting to understand that there might be some rage simmering under all of those peaceful, non political people. They see this and can’t do anything. They see the powers that be assist with things like this. And they can’t do anything. They see…well you get the picture.
Personally, I’m surprised that nothing…..untoward….has happened yet. To anybody. Its either a credit to American Forbearance or a symptom of their apathy…..
Just passing through, Moon, on my way to trying to research a guy who lived in the 17th century. Glad to see this thread, I am. Agree with you 100%. Saw a news item which said the FBI was investigating multiple threats against both Democratic and Republican congressmen because of the health care reform debate. Also saw one which said that the old ballplayer, Sen. Jim Bunning, got death threats when he was holding up the unemployment extension bill on the issue of how to pay for it without raising the deficit and debt. No wonder he was a little surprised and pissed off when he opened that private Senate elevator door and found it occupied by unauthorized reporters! All this craziness has got to stop.
Indeed it does, Wolverine. Glad you stopped by and good luck with the 17th century guy!
Too bad caller ID won’t trip some of these meatheads up.
I enjoyed the video although some of the partisan posters made me ill at ease. I also think people have the right to protest wars they don’t like. And we don’t like wars for different reasons. And I also have the right to intensely dislike war protestors.
I am delighted to see that the Vietnam Veterans have finally seized the day and that it is now in vogue to be a Vietnam War vet. I find it disturbing to see them as older men…men in my mind’s eye I view as men my father’s age. I am a contemporary of many of them so you can see where this is going.
I was very much a supporter of the Vietnam War at the time it was happening. I supported it afterwards. I have never cried so hard as when I saw those POWs disembarking when they were released. I think John McCain was in that batch of POWs.
Not so much now. Hind sight is 20/20. Part of me feels that 60,000 young men died for no effen reason at all. They died for some miscalculation in policy. It makes me angry. Some were my classmates and friends being used as political pawns and duped into thinking that they were protecting America. I think of that every time I have a pedicure as a matter of fact. Nothing brings out reflections about war like having a son also.
Yet I still puff up when I hear a few unmistakable songs from that era:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH4-tOqLH94
I bought it hook line and sinker…
Cindy Sheehan had a little more standing than some others.
I do believe it is very acceptable to protest war. First amendment and all. And some of our wars have needed a protestor or 2, IMHO. It is all in how you do it.
Our politicians make the wars, not the men and women who fight them. Anyone who protests on someone who is the worker bee rather than the decision maker is lower than dirt in my world.
@marinm
Thanks! I will have to try that.
Meanwhile, the Health Care bill has become law!
At last: Final health care measure heads to Obama
In Iowa on Thursday to trumpet the benefits of the legislation, Obama said, “We made a promise. That promise has been kept.”
“From this day forward, all of the cynics, all the naysayers — they’re going to have to confront the reality of what this reform is and what it isn’t,” the president said. “They’ll have to finally acknowledge this isn’t a government takeover of our health care system.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100326/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul
Today was a great day for our nation!
@Starryflights
In one way, I agree with you. It has galvanized so many people across the political spectrum that don’t want govt control of our bodies and reminds us how dangerous tyranny can be.
Starry,
He is right. Its not about health care. Its about wealth redistribution. So says Senator Baucus.
Its about control of the American people. How much more control do you support?
They’ve bought the 2/3 of the auto industry.
They are directly controlling the financial markets.
They are controlling the banks and want to increase that control with a new bill.
They control all school loans.
They control the health insurance industry, though that takes place in 4 years.
They want to control the energy industry.
They want the FCC to control the internet and bring back the Fairness Doctrine.
Many would love to control or ban all firearms.
So, Ms. Happy? What next? What else can they improve? What does the history of the government tell you that they can improve?
Just one thing….What are you going to do when the government collapses because we can’t afford to spend this money any longer and no one will buy our debt? Go ahead. Have your “free” health care. The insurance industry will collapse under these rules and then the government will have to “save” us again. Obama has stated that the goal is single payer, government run health care.
Have a laugh about it while you can.
Look! A squirrel.
Or Mr. Happy….no one knows….
I am going to choose to think that it is merely a bridge between schips and medicare.
I am not much for thinking that someone is out to get me. I am headed in the direction of medicare anyway and I pay out of pocket for insurance so what the hell. If I don’t like what I am seeing with medicare, I will continue to pay out of pocket. It isn’t all that much more expensive.
I am trying to get over voting for causes and voting for my own pocket needs.
For those interested here is a more detailed argument for why the current HC bill is unconstitutional.
http://www.tooconservative.com/?p=6808
http://www.tooconservative.com/?p=6831
Its in 2 parts.
Moon, if this goes into effect, you won’t be able to pay out of pocket. And Medicare will be broke…….er.
That isn’t how I understand it. re paying out of pocket. I pay into a plan with my former employer. It is not cobra. There are too many rumors floating about. You keep your own plan if you want. I am not worried about it at all.
As for medicare….perhaps that fund shouldn’t have been raided so much over the years. Medicare’s woes are not the work of the health care legislation.
I believe that the Civil War stamped out most states’ rights. Nothing was done to fill the void. The federal government filled in the empty space. Blame Lincoln.
We are too large of a country to simply live in a patchwork of different laws. Back in the day when it took at least a day to get out of Virginia, that worked. Local government worked best.
Now we can be standing at the mouth of where the Columbia River dumps into the Pacific Ocean (one of the most dangerous spots in the world, as a matter of fact) the same day we left Virginia. I can get a message to my friends who live near there in a matter of seconds, not days, weeks, months or years. Lewis and Clark, those great leaders of the Corp of Discovery, would not recognize the lands they traversed. (That venture was a miracle at best.)
We cannot run our lives totally in a frame work that was created for late 19th century men and women. I don’t feel the bill is any more illegal than having an air force or marine corp.
Doggone, take a little break and you come back to find a discussion of hairballs and cat puke. Does all that have some kind of secret political connotation that I missed? ( I’d put a smiley face here but I somehow lost all of them somewhere.)