Federal and local authorities are investigating a severed gas line at the home of U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother, discovered the day after Tea Party activists posted the address online so opponents could “drop by” and “express their thanks” for Perriello’s vote in favor of health care reform.
The gas line to the home’s propane tank was slashed, according to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The one thing I’m not clear on is the exact position of the line between things that are constitutional rights and things that liberals brought on themselves. Presumably, if a Representative is shot or assaulted, that will be the fault of the same liberals who caused the death of George Tiller. We also know that spitting on representatives and taunting Parkinson’s sufferers is a constitutional right. So I’m guessing that cutting your Congressman’s brother’s gas lines is probably constitutionally protected as well.
geg6
Collateral damage.
Including the man’s wife and four kids.
That is all.
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill
Not that this isn’t horrific, but Tim F. already hit it.
David in NY
Is that the link you wanted? I think it belongs down below.
aimai
Don’t guess! Be sure by joining the Republican Party today! Every membership comes with a conscience back guarantee.
aimai
David in NY
@Woodrow “asim” Jarvis Hill:
Also, the pace of posting is getting a little frenzied here.
geg6
By the way, Steny Hoyer is PISSED.
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/03/hoyer-violent-rhetoric-surrounding-health-debate-is-unacceptable.php
Methinks Michelle Bachman and that asshole from Iowa are laying low today.
DougJ
@David in NY:
Thanks! I fixed it.
danimal
You libtards get upset over the silliest things. Spitting on congressmen and arranging “accidents” are practically traditions in a country that began with a tea party. A little tar and feathering keeps up the revolutionary spirit. Lighten up, a little collateral damage is regrettable, but not the end of the world.
/teabagger
Keith G
I would think probably not. While I ardently hope no one gets hurt, I am hopeful that independents absorb what is going on, what is at stake, and where the lines are drawn,
With a quiet, yet authoritative voice, we need to made sure that the Republicans own this misbehavior. “We” being everyone from those in the West Wing to me.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Gas lines cut, windows smashed, and wingnut senators shutting down all senate committee action. And Mitch Mcconnell just said on the senate floor, that out of the goodness of their hearts, the GOP is giving democrats one last chance to do the right thing and let wingnuts stop the reconciliation bill and save themselves cause there will be hell to pay. (my paraphrase) — big of them./wingnut
The Apple Dumpling Revolution is on.
RSA
We’ll shortly hear from a long list of conservative libertarians that such violations of property rights are not to be tolerated.
freelancer
@danimal:
So close, but your flaw was your lack of shitty grammar and also, no typos.
Joseph Nobles
Free speech. By cutting your gas line, I’m expressing my extreme displeasure in something your brother did.
gregw
I have seen somewhere this morning that this gas line was the short one that goes from the gas tank to the barbecue grill, ie not very dangerous. Not to excuse the obvious trespassing but I sure would like to clarify if this was a main line that not only could have killed the people at the address but neighbors as well. Any one know for sure?
General Egali Tarian Stuck
no compaints from me, cause before DougJ came aboard, we would have hours long thread post blackouts while Cole was passed out on the couch from drowning his sorrows in a bowl of Hola Fruita.
jl
We have to hope that most of the populaton will not put up with this, and that the GOP will either alienate the majority of the population even further, or will stop their dangerous and immoral nonsense.
The GOP is a wounded beast. From what we see now, looks like that they were as unprepared for unforeseen events (such as the Democrats acting like halfway responsible and resolute grown-ups for once) as the Democrats were after they lost the 60th Senate seat.
If the GOP has no plan B in the case that their plan A of complete obstruction and total-Obama-KO-take-down does not work, and it looks like they do not, then that may help in the midterms.
Problem is how many innocent people will get hurt in the meantime.
freelancer
@RSA:
It’s not property if we’re now a sociali$t country and all possessions are collectively shared by the people. Wingnut cut his own gas line.
JP
The title of the piece is “Put the Fear of Something Into Them”
http://pajamasmedia.com/vodkapundit/2010/03/24/put-the-fear-of-something-into-them/
I wonder if they hold their bloggers to the same standards as their commenters? (See comment rule #4)
YellowJournalism
@gregw: The BBQ grill line? So they’re not only dangerous, but stupid as well.
David in NY
Right! Just a harmless form of petitioning for redress of grievances! /talkradio
geg6
@gregw:
They are being quite closed mouth with the details. I’ve been trying to find out, but can’t. And TPM has been all over this, but can’t get the details either.
I think I understand why they might want to keep the details out of the press right now. At least, until they arrest the mother fucking teabagging terrorist who did it.
danimal
@freelancer: Apparently, I save my typos for my serious posts.
When someone dies from this crap, I hope the Democratic leadership is willing to call it like it is (terrorism) and that they clearly identify the culprits. The GOP whips up their crazies, then hides behind plausible deniability when they get out of hand. The only reason their deniability is plausible is because the Dems and the MSM continue the charade. These are the acts of domestic, right-wing terrorists.
dmsilev
I like how the asshole blogger/teabagger who incited this went from “Oh well, collateral damage” to being “shocked” that anyone would actually do something.
So much for having the courage of ones convictions, such as they are.
-dms
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill
@General Egali Tarian Stuck: AMEN, Brother. A-MEN.
David in NY
@gregw:
I knew someone whose propane tank (big one for stove etc.) was overfilled. Stuff is heavier than air and flows downhill. Went into the basement window, the dryer pilot light or switch or something lit it, he and his whole house blew up. Partial upside was that his wife and two children were out at the time.
I don’t know if a grill tank would do that, but I wouldn’t want to find out, either.
MikeJ
@gregw:
Local media says:
http://www.wset.com/news/stories/0310/719066.html
Rick Taylor
__
I’d thought that spitting on representatives was reprehensible, but understandable if they’d recently passed health care reform. You’re right, this is confusing.
freelancer
@General Egali Tarian Stuck:
Thank heavens he got the rug to go on the rug, y’know, for evidence.
MikeJ
@dmsilev: The teabagger’s companion runs a website suggesting sending a rope to the country’s first black president and any congresspeople you dislike:
http://www.myspace.com/sendarope
g
New to posting here, but to fill between the lines — in many rural areas that do not have municipal gas service, a house will have a large-ish propane tank (125 gal or so) outside the house with a line (a copper pipe, actually) leading in to the house to supply the stove, range, maybe a water heater. This has the potential for doing damage, but not to the point of blowing up the whole house, let alone the neighborhood.
Don’t know the facts in this case, but it sounds like it could be it.
The Moar You Know
The left really needs to reconsider the Vietnam-era commitment it made to non-violence. You wouldn’t be seeing this kind of behavior by wingtards and their overlords in Congress if they thought they’d be getting some payback for it.
Menzies
I’ve started an ActBlue page to contribute to Congresspeople who’ve had their offices vandalized or received serious amounts of death threats.
Here, and if you know of anyone else, let me know and I’ll add them to the list.
gregw
MikeJ
Thanks for the find. It still seems curious to me.
I used to be an insurance adjuster and had a claim where one of those small propane tanks blew up. I couldn’t believe how much damage it caused, it even caught the neighboring house on fire about 20 yards away. Nobody was hurt which was incredibly fortunate.
David in NY
@The Moar You Know:
I disagree. They’d love a fight. They can’t think, so it’s all they know.
r€nato
I may be going out on a limb here, but not very far: these are probably folks who are also pro-torture or pro-it’s-not-really-torture-wink-wink.
And they’re so against their fellow Americans having affordable access to medical care that they’ll resort to terrorism.
And they call themselves Christians, too.
Woodrow "asim" Jarvis Hill
@The Moar You Know:
It’s really not possible for me to disagree more.
Some — not all, but too damn many — of these folks would love a shootout in the streets. Look at how they fetishize Waco! They’re chomping at the bit for an excuse to let off some of those rounds they’ve got stuck up their ass so they can stop being so fuckin’ consitpated.
Just like our actions in Iraq, shooting them just risks radicalizing even more folks, risks “proving their point.” That’s a risk we must avoid.
gelfling545
Unfortunately, the fact they are both violent and inept (wrong house, guys) makes them doubly dangerous.
Dreggas
I heard Stupak was getting some really nasty threats along with a few others. If you think it’s bad now wait until they start talking about immigration.
maus
@30
I don’t think calling them on a bluff for a second civil war would help this current atmosphere pushing towards domestic terrorism any.
bemused
I’m imagining if a former candidate for vice prez, a Dem, had a twitter that said RELOAD directing to facebook map with crosshairs & Dem legislators ignored the whole thing. Then I imagine the reaction from republicans.
Robin G
The GOP won’t be quite so happy with this when their snarling pet turns on them. If a single Republican congressperson thinks he/she is somehow about the purity test fray, may I recommend they go read up on the last guy who rode the mobs into power.
matt
@gregw:
This is correct, cutting the bbq gasline would have one of two things happen:
1. If the valve was already open, it would have just dispersed all the gas in the tank fairly quickly and harmlessly.
2. If it was closed, the second you turned it out you would absolutely notice it because it would be loud as hell and very obvious.
Essentially a harmless act, but a horrible one nonetheless.
Violet
@Robin G:
Indeed. Excellent comparison.
Dreggas
Tea Partiers burn pictures of Rep Carnahan, leave coffin in front of house
freelancer
Just say NO to Sociali$m.
AhabTRuler
Assuming, of course, that this is a small, grill-only tank (don’t know the weight, 25#??).
Mike in NC
Remember: “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice!”
Thus waterboarding isn’t torture; it’s like a harmless fraternity prank. Also.
GordonGuano
I have to wonder if there isn’t some moderate “third way” of dealing with this. Sending money to reps who have their windows broken is all well and good, but it seems to me that turning the other cheek is just bailing out a sinking lifeboat, if a boon to glaziers. With times as tough as they are, I would rather my money went towards campaigning against the jerkwads who incite these bottom-feeders instead of replacing an endless succession of windows. At the other end of the scale, putting a load of buckshot into a would-be brick-hurler smacks of overkill and is reminescent of wingnut gun-nut paranoid fantasies about defending their homes from (oddly, always dark-skinned) intruders, not to mention escalating the problem.
So I was thinking of perhaps taking a cue from Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash as well as Inglourious Basterds and branding their foreheads with a teabag so everyone knows to spit in their food at restaurants and otherwise make their lives miserable. Only thing is, I fear they would take it as a mark of pride, and would start branding themselves and even their children. So the teabag-branding idea is out.
However, I couldn’t see them ever adopting say, a nutsack brand.
freelancer
@Mike in NC:
Fixt.
liberty60
Oh, but not to fear- not all wingnuts are advocating violence; Shikha Dalmia, a Glibertarian over at Forbes Magazine advocates they adopt a Gandhi-esque stance of nonviolent civil disobedience.
Because you know, that really is the essence of the Mahatma’s teaching; making sure that poor people can still have their lifesaving health insurance cut off because they get sick.
(and wtf- thats twice in one day I have seen a winger invoke Gandhi; how persecuted they must be!)
AhabTRuler
@AhabTRuler: And while yes, such an explosion can be challanging to engineer purposefully, as always, it’s more the intent than the execution of the act.
Mnemosyne
@Robin G:
I’m still trying to get over the little detail of them guillotining him face-up so he could watch the blade as it descended on him.
Yikes.
AhabTRuler
@liberty60: WTF? When the paramedics come for me I will go limp? Isn’t the medical community kin of, I dunno, prepared for non-responsive customers?
Keith G
@matt:
Essentially a harmless act, but a horrible one nonetheless.
burnspbesq
@gregw:
“I have seen somewhere this morning that this gas line was the short one that goes from the gas tank to the barbecue grill, ie not very dangerous.”
If you think that’s “not very dangerous,” you must not own a gas barbecue. Nobody ever checks the integrity of that line, and if you’re distracted you might miss the smell of gas. Then, light a match or push the ignitor button and … KABLOOEY. The explosion might not kill anyone, but it will put them in the burn unit for sure.
liberty60
Sllightly off-topic, but a shout-out to Glenzilla, who wrote yesterday criticizing the Canadian government’s speech-crime official who wrote a threatening letter to Ann Coulter.
It takes some pretty strong Constitution-adoration to defend the free speech rights of someone like her, so I really was impressed.
Can anyone name a single winger who would defend Michael Moore like that?
Chris do Cavaco
@The Moar You Know:
The left really needs to reconsider the Vietnam-era commitment it made to non-violence
Bnut
Gas grill=dangerous. My dad almost lost his eyesight when the gas regulator or other such device malfunctioned.
Man o man, would I love to see some ‘baggers try to hit Dem offices in largely trafficked urban settings. I work in the same Brooklyn building as ACORN (I work for a progressive third party), and one day last month a couple of nuts showed up with signs and rhymes. My bro Luke and I were having a smoke out front when (I can only guess because we were the only white people in a very AA area) started chatting us up about their loony BS. One of them said he would love to get in the building, so I told him “Of course! As soon as you get past 2 Marine Corps combat vets.” We gave the evil eye, they returned it, but STFU pretty quick. All talk.
Robin G
@Mnemosyne: Once the ugly mob turns out you, they’re pretty merciless. (For some reason, I’m picturing Scar with the hyenas at the end of The Lion King…)
Bubblegum Tate
Stoopit libs! Don’t you know that all of these incidents are lies?
Keith G
@Keith G: fywp
The Populist
GOP = Pro life? Increasingly, I doubt that.
These guys think they know what socialism MEANS yet they keep looking dumb. S o c i a l i s m means the government would have taken over, lock stock and barrel, the insurance companies. They keep talking about collectivism taking root YET isn’t that a sign of society as a whole? When we give charity, that is collectivism. When we go see a movie, that is collectivism. Group outings, rallies: Collectivism.
If they are so worried about the dreaded s word, I hope they plan on giving back their social security check, medicare, tax refund, etc.
The Populist
He calls bs until somebody is critically injured or dies. They call BS because they have no heart or soul.
Bubblegum Tate
@The Populist:
Even if somebody is critically injured or dies, he’ll still call BS. He’ll say it was a “false flag operation” or some such bullshit. He will do absolutely anything to avoid dealing with reality.
Ash Can
@liberty60: It wasn’t a Canadian government official, it was the provost of U of Ottawa. It wasn’t a threatening letter, it was a letter of encouragement that she do her homework on what Canadian law did and did not permit in the way of inflammatory speech, so as to avoid prosecution. And yes, good on Glenzilla to stick up for the rights of someone like her, but if the law of the country in question doesn’t recognize hate speech as a right in the first place, it’s sort of an exercise in futility, isn’t it?
Hob
@The Moar You Know: Indeed that worked out really fucking well in, say, 1930s Germany. Soon as the Reds showed up to a few street fights, they shut those brownshirts right down and won the people’s love.
Hob
@The Moar You Know: And my response to that is kind of knee-jerk, but deeply felt, because what you said doesn’t really make me think of historical analogies or political theory – it makes me instantly think of all the young-ish radical-minded guys I’ve known who would love to hear a call to arms like that. And the ones I’m thinking of are pretty much the same type of people who became the worst of the posturing Weatherman crew back in the day. They’re self-righteous thoughtless assholes who are more interested in their own shared mythology than in people’s lives, and I don’t trust them, and I don’t want them using things I believe in as an excuse to go fuck up whatever or whomever is handy. I realize you don’t think you’re addressing those people, but they’re the ones you’ll get.
Calouste
@Mnemosyne:
Robespierre tried to kill himself with a gun a few days before but only succeeded in shattering his jaw. It might have been impractical to guillotine him the usual way due to that.
Honus
@Ash Can: well, Ann is a lawyer, educated at Michigan, I believe, so she should know at least a little about Canandian law.
asiangrrlMN
@Hob: I agree. Deliberate malicious violence brings out the worst elements from the woodwork. Most reasonable people (and by that, I mean mostly non-Republicans) want nothing to do with escalating violence for many reasons, not the least being you can’t put that genie back in the bottle once you let it out. People who are drawn to violence will find excuse for it, no matter the cause. I really don’t want to give anyone that kind of ammo (pun semi-intended).
@Ash Can: And, I agree with you as well. It would behoove us in America to remember that not all countries have the same laws we do. That’s kinda the point of having different countries.
As for these asshats, it is, indeed, going to get worse before it gets better.