Redstate

There is absolutely NO defense of such vile and disgusting behavior.  

You should alert the authorities and have the guy prosecuted.

the "tolerant" left.

As I said on another thread, imagine if you had said something like "screw 'em"

fully.

... that markos hasn't recieved his fair of threats?

please.

this is disgusting behavior by terrible people, and if it were confined to only one ideology... wouldn't that be nice.

Let's face it, people like this don't belong in ANY of our ideologies, and they are not sincere in having any principles at all... but take cover under the philosophical work of far more thoughtful and respectable humans.

There are some disturbed people out there on both the left and right.

Those kind of comments should never be tolerated from anyone left or right.  Having been on the recieving end of that kind of hatefulness, I know what a sick feeling it can leave -- especially when you think of your family being around to catch some of the slime from these callers.

Any legal action you can take to stop these bozos is okay by me.

I wish is was us vs. them.

I have much more in common with any civil person on this earth than with anyone that would pen such letters, make such calls, or frankly, even the petty tactic of bugging you at work.

If we all want some form of civil society, then the priority is first to keep it civil, then to shape it further.

That first one is a cut and paste job, I've seen it before.

You should alert the authorities though understand that these people are cowards and that this sort of thing (email and phone harassment) is to be expected.

I agree.

This sort of threat, while you must not really take it seriously (don't let it rattle you)... must in fact be taken seriously.

I assume that without this advice you have or will contact authorities about these threats... so I'm really just posting to agree that you should.  

It's odd really, how anonymous people feel on the net, but they are not.  I think blowback from this sort of message is the only way to educate people as to their responsibilities to their fellow citizen's when it comes to harassment.

That's not what I was getting at, I'm sure markos has received his (undeserved as well) share.

the moonbats can be mad if they want, they can rant and rave all they want, but calling your home, and calling your wife, and leaving threatening messages is beyond wrong.  

Apparantly the moonbats thinks this is appropiate behavior.

"Apparantly the moonbats thinks this is appropiate behavior. "

from the same people who thought it was appropriate to shoot into Bush/Cheney HQs around the country, slash tires of vans in Wisconsin

Completely disgusting.  

I have no interest in the current outrage du jour, but people who go the effort to say such things are vile and disgusting.  If this isn't a criminal offense it should be.

Just for the record I want everyone to know that I am in fact NOT the Bill Cosby. Please do not harass him for silly things I may say.

on occasion.

Publish the vile e-mail I receive from Wingnuts.

I have been clear on this. It is detestable.

But certainly not a left phenomenon.

You receive it now, perhaps for the first time in bulk.

I have received it every day since I posted to the Front Page of dailykos.

Is nothing new for most of us. It's the telephone stalking thing that puts it over the top.

Do you get that, too?

innappropriate.

It's bad enough if people want to vent to a public email address... but really, this is pathetic.

Of course Armando is right that this is not a matter of any one ideology promoting this... this is a matter of the fact that all our houses are in decay, and such people invest the timbers of each of our oh so glorious political houses.

You two are smarter than me and don't have your info as online as I do.

The far right and far left are filled with nutjobs who have nothing better to do.  It's a shame really.

Or used to, it's died down lately.

With that caveat, I don't care if you have it in hundred-mile long flaming letters burning visibly on the moon. Armando's little comment struck me as a little too kiss-offish. The human trash that is doing this to you is making me seriously reconsider my aversion to involuntary human experimentation.

talking to his wife.

Sorry but I would freak out majorly if some moonbat called me at home and threatened me.

But like I said, I've come slowly to the conclusion that the mass of the Left is human filth. Congratulations, guys: A conclusion I've fitfully but determinedly resisted now seems undeniable.

it's a sign of a very disturbed person.

People that disturbed, when they tell me what they "believe"... I don't believe them.

is an Internet phenomenon.  It's astounding how uncivil people can act when they're hiding behind anonymity, and how tough they can talk when they know they can't be punched in the nose as a result.

As for those who forget to hide behind anonymity, like the fellow who Michelle Malkin "got fired," they deserve it, and it's a shame there can't be similar consequences for the anonymous threatmongers too.

Erick, I believe the front-page posts here have been absolutely contemptible, but that does not come close to justifying threats of this sort.  I hope you have the wherewithal to shrug it off, because there's not much else to do.  And I hope you don't succumb to the temptation of believing that being opposed by inarticulate loonies means you must be right, because you and Armando can't both be right.

And I should not have. It is of a different magnitude on the phone.

My apologies.

Erick's a friend, and this leaves me somewhere between enraged and murderous.

the internet is just one of many venues when this inner nature comes to light.

the day to day occurance is all the things that get said behind people's backs.

But now you can talk behind someone's back to their face.

It can't be a comfortable contortion.

Ideally, they would be found and prosecuted.

While there are extremists with poor judgemnt on both sides, the cult of personal attack has been embraced by the left, ignited by Al Gore's despicable behavior in Florida and encouraged by Howard Dean's rhetoric as leader of the democratic party. In that the leadership of the left has already adopted a vitriolic level of rhetoric, we should not be surprised that their followers have built from there.

That's f'd up.  Sorry you are going through that.

 But, as on the last thread, I want to point out, calling this woman names has done nothing but hurt discourse in America.  Respond to WHAT SHE IS SAYING, don't call her names.  Name calling just brings out the nutcases.

Again, these are psychopaths writing you, who should be locked up.  Not at all widely representative of the left.  

mk

was all love and sweetness?

honestly... I have no problem identifying this from left or right or middle... is that too much to ask?

Anyone that thinks such tactics are vile should not waste one minute trying to say it's mostly the other side, and start trying to put a stop to it...  I mean do we really want to malign those that oppose our ideas but who do not stoop to such tactics... do we really want to say it's a part of their nature when clearly their nature is better than that?

Wouldn't it be better to take it straight to the individuals for whom civil discourse is impossible, and complain to them?

"Wouldn't it be better to take it straight to the individuals for whom civil discourse is impossible, and complain to them?"

Start here:   http://www.democrats.org/

that's amazing... if you have traced these emails to there... I fully support you revealing that information.

This is terrible for the Democratic Party to make such threats!  Act now!

You took my comment and said, "yes, directly to the people not producing this language!"  right then.

you disagree with me, fine.

Is that her comments in total paint a picture of someone who is unhinged, mentally imbalanced, and logically inconsistent, blaming someone convenient for her son's death instead of thinking coherently.

Consider the Jawa Report here

Am I emotional? Yes, my first born was murdered. Am I angry? Yes, he was killed for lies and for a PNAC Neo-Con agenda to benefit Israel. My son joined the Army to protect America, not Israel. Am I stupid? No, I know full-well that my son, my family, this nation, and this world were betrayed by a George Bush who was influenced by the neo-con PNAC agenda after 9/11.

"It was the unstated threat. Iraq wasn't going to attack America or nuke America. But Iraq was a threat -- to Israel. That was the real threat and had been for fifteen years. But for the US government this was the threat that couldn't speak its name. Europe doesn't care much about that threat. And the US government didn't think they should lean too much on it, because going to war to protect Israel wouldn't be popular."

"We're not letting them intimidate us. If we get killed out here, know that

the Secret Service killed us."

Take the last first. Who here seriously believes the Secret Service would kill Cindy Sheehan?

The statement itself is frankly, insane.

Take the first statement. Who here believes that the "evil Jooooooossssss" used their mind-control rays to launch the Iraq War? It is also logically inconsistent with her views in other comments that the War was launched for "oil" variously or "the cancer of American Imperialism."

This first statement is frankly, insane.

Take the second statement. That Iraq possessed Nukes with which they threatened Israel. Which is inconsistent with the No WMD statements the Left and Dems have made, please note that absent any WMDs the threat posed to Israel by Iraq is ZERO.

So overall the statements Cindy Sheehan has made are totally insane in and of themselves (the Secret Service plots to kill her); or together with other statements logically inconsistent. She's variously called the Iraq War an evil Jewish plot, making Israel safe from Iraqi WMDs, American Imperialism, or all about oil.

The picture these statements paint to me is one of a seriously disturbed person, who needs a lot of help, therapy, and perhaps medication. Certainly not being trotted out in front of cameras.

There IS a tradition of grief-stricken Parents pushing for reform, they typically take non-partisan measures such as Drunk Driving efforts (MADD); the Three Strikes Law in California (Mark Klaas); or Child Abduction Notification and Amber Alerts (John Walsh). They understand that partisan bickering solves nothing and push measures designed to reform the system.

Cindy Sheehan's own words and the rabid responses by Dems indicate there is HUGE problem with the Democratic Party ... large portions of it simply are insane, hate America, and have a massive anti-semitism problem. Sadly when not IF the next mass casualty terrorist attack happens (and the Able Danger stuff plays out) the Dems will complete their march off the Cliff into loony peacenik idiocy when bin Laden is slaughtering Americans at home and Abroad.

Am I emotional? Yes, my first born was murdered.

Yes--by the same bunch of ex-Baathist thugs who her new Super Best Friend Michael Moore compared to the Minutemen.  Either she's so unbalanced that she can't see the insanity in this, or she's willingly sold her soul to indulge her hatred of GWB.  Neither option is particularly flattering to Ms. Sheehan or worthy of the memory of her son.

That's insane.  You might want to consider switching your home phone number and keeping the new one unpublished.

It's too bad that some people can't keep their outrage in proper perspective.  When you write something and post it publically, your words are fair game for attack.  Your physical wellbeing is not.

I have had this happen to me before, and moderately worse. Irony of ironies, it happened because I was criticizing intelligent design theory...and yes, I am a Republican.

In my own experience, the level to which anonymous attackers were able to penetrate my offline life was a bit of a shock, and I spent a few days being alarmed by strange cars parking in front of my house, and made sure not to leave my wife alone at home.

What I offer you, and only because I needed it at the time and thought you might, is that these people are cowards, and so if you catch yourself fearing more aggressive, real-life tactics, just take a deep breath and disregard. This cheap e-thuggery is the limit of their daring.

Whether it comes from the left, or the right, the fact is that irrational, unglued wacko comments like this are a loss to both sides of the issues. It distracts and is a waste of time. I am sorry you have to deal with it.

If the left cannot stay focused, and debate the issues with logic and intellect, then the right is left without a check and diversity on ideas. The same goes for the right. I would hope that instead of reducing the discussion to meaningless personal attacks, both sides would help each other stay on topic.

Mind you, I am not saying I need the left to affirm or confirm my core beliefs. Nor do I ask for unethical, immoral values to be imparted in order to increase my diversity of ideas. What I am saying is that intelligent discourse is valuable. When wackos go of the range like that, it makes other's look bad and reduces the discussion.

Thankfully, as I was able to note, there are plenty on both sides of the political spectrum that quickly disavow this sort of behavior. Thankfully most are willing to restore civility, when it has been interrupted, and do not endorse such "freedom of speech."

While I agree that they are cowards, and usually do not go beyond anonymous hyperbole, one should still exercise a degree of caution in dealing with them.

In another life a few decades back, I was involved in pushing for normalization of relations with Vietnam, which I viewed as the decent and honorable thing to do.  Others disagreed.  I would get a steady stream of phone calls; the ones to my home went straight into an answering machine attached to the line with the listed number.  Sometimes they would penetrate the filters at the office (receptionist and then secretary) by pretending to be someone else.

The comments were predictable: commie pinko, etc., with an occasional threat to "shoot your a**, which I always blew off with "Make the first shot count, you won't get a second."

Then I got the phone call on the unlisted line at home threatening my kids, with enough factual information to make it clear that the caller had been observing them while they walked to school.

Law enforcement involved, phone traps set up, all kinds of precautions taken; nothing ever happened, and no follow up phone calls.  No apprehensions.

So yes, blow them off, ridicule them, whatever, but do be aware that there are nuts out there who will rachet it up if you taunt them, and plan for it.

His disingenuous coming here and aoplogizing to Erick for the harassment - disgusting.

Why?

I went to Dkurse to read his update. It said Erick had retracted the "whore" comment.

Got that? Erick commented that Sheehan was a whore. Not a media whore, mark you. A whore. Two totally different expressions. He lied about what Erick said.

Armando's a loser, just like all 16 candidates Dkurse has got behind. But hey, keep posting there. DKurse is great for the GOP. It shows the world the hate-sodden, profanity-ridden potty-mouthed loons that constitute the Democratic base.

This is infuriating, and it's also scary.

Behold the netroots: Socialist shock troops ready to violently protect right-thinking mothers whose children died for the fatherland.

Thinks like this make me very glad for the Second Amendment.  Defense of one's home is no joke.

and Bush has provided the perfect target to her anger.  Her anger has made her the perfect banner for the anti war groups to carry, and it is in their best interest to keep her angry.

Political smears have a long tradition in US politics. Just read some of the broadsheets from the time of the founding fathers.

What is different now is that the creation of a rapid communication infrastructure means that a certain group can not only get its message out quicker, but can get it retransmitted via its supporters into more venues than ever before.

The so-called "echo machine".

While both sides are guilty of taking pot shots at people in the news it seems that the right has been a bit more visibly using this tactic since the rise of the Gingrich revolution.

We had the Clinton affair as the prototype for everything that followed.

Just in the past few years (a random selection):

Paul O'Neill (Bush's Treasury Secretary - "unhinged")

Richard Clarke (Arms Control)

Paul Craig Roberts (Heritage Foundation Taxation Policy)

Joseph Wilson

Valierie Plame Wilson

and now

Cindy Sheehan

This is part of the standard arsenal of political debate which substitutes catch phrases and character assassination for discussions of the issues. These get continued use since they are effective in raising people's ire quickly and without requiring them to invest much intellectual energy.

As long as political discourse is conducted via sound bites this doesn't seem likely to change.

If one doesn't like Cindy Sheehan's position on Iraq policy then point out what's wrong with it.

If you start slinging mud don't be surprised at what comes back. Something about glass houses, I think...

You offer very little value here. So here's your one bite:

Comparing saying nasty things about public personalities, including perhaps our dear Erick, might be slightly different from making threats on his home line.

Cogitate on that before your next venture into Conservatives in the Mist.

Who are these people?  

You've got my complete support, Erick.  

Several years ago, in DC, a school administrator used the word "niggardly" in a report. There was huge outcry from the Jessie Jackson side of the spectrum, but the guy stuck to his report, and insisted that the word "niggardly" was quite different in meaning from what they were thinking it meant. Eventually the flap died down, as folks went and looked in a dictionary.

Makes you wonder sometimes, why the left seems to claim they have all the brains.

I will say, the term "Media Whore" is certainly derogatory, at best, and that the use of such a term was bound to bring strong reaction. Perhaps a softer phase would have been more appropriate as the recipient in this context, is no doubt deserving of sympathy.

posting with a pseudonym is ok and should not be dismissed as "cowardice"

It's terrifying to think of your family being targeted by unstable people because of something you wrote. Unfortunately, bloggers are now attracting the same sort of harassment that law enforcement officers, journalists, celebrities and politicians have had to put up with for decades.

It takes courage to stand up and state one's beliefs, and then have to defend those beliefs against all comers.

The right to free speech and discussion belongs to every citizen, but harassment, personal attacks and threats are not. And if someone is moved to violent behavior because of something they read, they clearly have serious issues that existed long before those words were written.

My only other thought is that some words evoke ugly images. They can stand out in a sentence and take on a life of their own.

And have searched for words to fully describe my disgust. Still haven't found them.

What's also lost in all this is that Erick had the decency to retract-in-part his original post (I've also respectfully suggest that you avoid the temptation to retract that retraction.*)

*As anyone can tell from my prior comments, I didn't care much for Erick's or Leon's original posts; although I agree with them that Ms. Sheehan's "proposals" -- such as they are -- are wrongheaded and foolish.

right now if you already haven't.  Dont mess around with this type of stuff.

What a bunch of dirtbags.  I don't agree with you, but there's no excuse for this type of harrasment.

The Phone call should never of happend (Dont List Your Number) Bad behavior, yes. Criminal, no. I would not even bother responding to the Email. You offer an opinion and there will be someone who is not going to like it. The extream measure they took in the email to "wish" harm upon you, should bring some perverse pleasure to you. It made them angry, thier response should make you smile. It is vial and disgusting, but no physical harm right? No visits in the middle of the night? No threat directed, just a prayer from some poor soul who's chain got yanked a little too hard for Him/Her to accept? I dont care what folks say, as long as they dont slander or physically bring harm to me or my family.

Dont sweat it, just hate them back.