I could not have said it better myself:
This behavior by Congressional Republicans (childish) and certain Tea Party elements (criminally dangerous) will cost the GOP in 2010.
By now, you have heard that 10 Democratic members of Congress have had their lives threatened since the passage of health insurance reform. One member from Virginia, Tom Perriello, had his brothers’ home vandalized in such a way, at the express direction of a teabagger blogger coward named Mike Troxel, that could have lead to an explosion, fire, or worse… death. This teabagger terrorist listed the address of the brother of the Congressman on his blog and told his readers that they should “drop by” and provide “a personal touch” in expressing their opposition to the new health care law. And being a teabagger, and thus by definition being ignorant and stupid, Troxel posted the wrong address, thinking that he was in fact posting the address of the Congressman himself. By the grace of God, no one was hurt and the only property damage was a cut gas line.
You know, calling Congressman horrible racial and bigoted names is one thing. That only proves them to be racists and bigots, but it really does not harm people, except their feelings. It is a horrible consequence to free speech that we must live by in order to enjoy the greater freedom of free speech. But directing or threatening violence to those you disagree with politically is not free speech. It not only should be a crime, but it is a crime.
And this Troxel bastard and the as of yet unidentified vandals should be arrested. And to put the fear of God in them and those like them, they should be charged with Attempted Murder, and should they be convicted, they should receive the maximum penalty under the federal or state laws (this could be a state crime or a federal one).
And before Hube or other right wingers bring up my infamous “Round them up” remarks from September 2008, it should be noted that I would have been just as culpable if some deranged liberal had followed my direction and shot a Republican. I was engaging then in the type of hyperbole we saw often during that election year, to our (hopefully) mutual disappointment. But the level of hyperbole embraced by the teabaggers now has left the realm of hyperbole, especially when you actually call up Congressman and threaten their lives, and the lives of their children, directly. It stops being hyperbole when you post specific addresses. It stops being hyperbole when you take action and vandalize property and hurt people.
So I give the utmost credit to Dave Burris for recognizing the same thing, and for calling out his own party and ideological brethren for it. And I agree that the Republican Party is going to pay for their actions with a disappointing showing at the ballot box. Sure they may still win 15 to 20 seats, but they all expect a complete takeover of Congress by such margins that will make complete repeal of health insurance reform not only possible but probable. When that doesn’t happen, I fear the even more violent and hyperbolic reaction from the right. We often say that the hate can’t get much worse…. but it can.