Does he need money to replace the windows? I'd gladly donate a little to the fund.

JP

Man, smashing the windows of this man's car only proved his point even further! That is kind of funny! :)

I'll donate to help him fix the windows too if he needs it.

All the more reason we need voices of reason on both sides of the political spectrum. MLK and Dick Gregory were anti-war, but would have discouraged violence on the part of their supporters/sympathizers.

Hey, isn't smashing windows an expression of free speech? Ambra, I'm reporting you to the ACLU for this blatant repression of some liberal's rights.

A local Democrat headquarters was vandalized and torched... TWICE... in Louisiana...

http://www.acadiananow.com/news/html/2B5BBF65-30EC-409C-9F0B-1AF1F921B32C.shtml

I also heard that shots were fired into a Republican headquarters in Tennessee...

So clearly there are thugs on BOTH sides...

Couple points:

(1)The vast, vast majority of liberals, conservatives, Republicans, Democrats, etc. can respectfully disagree with one another without violence... we should all "vociferously" condemn violence on both sides of the political spectrum.

(2) "Lovelyness of Liberals"? Ambra, if I said the torching of the Democrat headquarters was an example of the "Compassion of Conservatives", you would rightly condemn the connection... you can't extrapolate the horrendous behavior of a relatively few onto the majority... which is what you did when you took this incident and made some claim that it is somehow representative of liberals.

jab: My unscientific observation is that this sort of thing is much more common among liberals. For what that's worth.

Figure this one out: A guy calling into a radio program last week said he had a magnetic flag on the back of his car -- no other political stickers of any kind. He came back to his car after going into a store and found the flag ripped up and stuck to his door with a note saying "NO WAR IN IRAQ!"

I beg to differ w/ insomni's estimate, though I preface by saying all political violence/vandalism is wrong, and minimize's one's stand. There are likely more church-bombings, cross-burnings, gay-beatings,clinic bombings and harassment of innocent minorities from those who would consdier themseleves right-leaning than left. That isn't to slight the viewpoints in question, but it may be that some who oppose, say, the death penalty, racism, or gender bias, or U.S. occupation in Viet Nam or Iraq, oppose (random) violence on general principle.

Jab, Bijan, hear! hear! I wasn't going to comment on this, hoping someone else could make the points without all the sputtering that I would undoubtedly do.

FWIW, I'll bet Ambra agrees with youse completely, anyhow. She just idly pokin a beehive. She in tha mood to be startin somethin.

Apparently, inserting my note about the presence of lunacy on both "sides" wasn't enough for those who feel the need to "show" me how Republicans are worse than Democrats. Really folks, that's not what this is about.

I think the more overwhelming reality here is that uncouth Liberal behavior is far more accepted and encouraged than the opposite. Ann Coulter spends a great deal in the first chapter of "Slander" illustrating this rather clearly.

Speaking of Ann, boy did the make-over team get a hold of her! She looks wayyyy better on her latest book cover.

Jab: To your second point, you only reinforced what I was trying to display by posting this. Liberals have done exactly what you cautioned me not to do. They've applied the sum of the ignorant to the whole.

The point is not with what "side" disrespect happens more frquently, but the lop-sided attention that gets paid to displays such as the above. In Seattle, if a Conservative did the same thing, it'd be on the news.

Ann Coulter!?! You are using Ann Coulter as a reference!?!?
!Aye carumba! That blows me away... and you have the nerve to complain about the lack of objectivity/distortions of Michael Moore (in previous threads)???? Pleeeaassse.

Ann Coulter is a goddess. Strident,witty,full of back handed comments,and hot pee-pee and vinegar,but a goddess none the less.

Hmm yeah and that sure looks like a rich Republican fatcat if I ever saw one. That car was made in what, 1985?

In Seattle, if a Conservative did the same thing, it'd be on the news.

Has someone been convicted Ambra? And let's make a distinction between "uncouth" behaviour and violence, shall we? "Uncouth" could be as simple as Rush Limbaugh and that's out there on the dilly daily.

~memer
p.s. who's doing all this "accepting" of uncouthity anyway? how do you know?

I'm the one who's windshield and side window was smashed by the Kerry fanatic near Green Lake. Many thanks to those who've offered to contribute to its replacement. I knew what I was getting into when I posted my signs in a neighborhood that keeps reelecting "Bagdad Jim" McDermott to Congress.

If you like to see some good come out of this attack, feel free to go to Swiftvets.com and make a donation. You can also view some of the best campaign ads I've ever seen.

I've used this bad news as a reason to talk to some Seattle-area Democratic leaders, including the communications director for the Kerry campaign in the state. I wanted to make the point that what was done to my car is a perfectly logical response to the outrageous things Kerry and Gore have been saying about Bush and the 2000 election. Instead, I discovered that the nuttiness extends all the way through the Democratic party.

One King County Democrat tried to tell me that, although a million blacks had been kept from voting in 2000 by brutal intimidation, there was nothing the party could in the legal arena to expose and prosecute. That's absurd. In most heavily black areas where the intimidation was presumably the greatest, the Democrats run the government. They don't need Bush's permission to run investigations. They do, however need evidence, and that they do not have. History is repeating itself. All their ranting without sense reminds me of George Wallace and the 1960s Alabama where I grew up.

But as a writer I feel the greatest blame falls on a 'mainstream;' media that is no longer serving as a referee, but pulling out all the stops to get Kerry elected. 2004 may be prove to be an election in which a few hundred people in key media positions determine the outcome. But if it is, it will be the last such election. Kerry as president will utterly discredit his media advocates.

--Mike Perry, Inkling blog , Seattle

mem,needless,unprovoked violent behavior is uncouth. that would include breaking a window out of a car,because of a sign in that window. Limbaugh may be a few things,but uncouth he is not. The folks who refuse to condemn or will only condemn the behavior,if it's being carried out by people on the other side of the aisle. Now that's uncouth and hypocritical to boot.

Sorry about your ride Mike. I oppose all vandalism. As for the election, I hope the "few hundred people" who determine the outcome don't all work for Sinclair Broadcasting, the co. that refused to air the installment of "Nightline" dedicated to the (fallen)troops.

And Bijan, I similarly hope that none of them work for CBS, ABC, NBC or PBS, those broadcasting behemoths who have refused to air balanced coverage for 30 years.

at the end of the day, if i were news editor, i'd figure none of those "uncouth" misdemeanors listed trump a clinic bombing or abortion doctor assasination. sensational acts of violence always get rehashed a bit more'n other events. but that's just me.

Ambra, i cock an eyebrow at your 'correspondent' esp re why on earth he would want to put something so blatantly provocative in his car (i mean, are you looking for a fight or a rise in your insurance?), but whatever the reason, i don't this actually proves anything. if you know him personally, i'd advise you to advise him to try something a little less confrontational.

I love how being confrontational is only permissible for some and not others. Why doesn't a person have a right to be confrontational?

The conflicting ideas of perceived "truth" is bound to cause confrontation. If you ask me, conservatives could stand to learn a tad about real confrontation.

As far as the sign is concerned, yeah you're always going to open yourself up for juvenile behavior when you attack a people group. *Sigh* reason #45683459 I'm not a Republican. Still, the way I looked at it, he was just laying out the facts of the general philosophy of the Dem platform. Suggesting they kill babies, yeah that's confrontational and somewhat removed. But as a whole do Dems not push more than anyone else in this country, legislation that would support a woman's right to do so? By default they are ultimately supporting such behavior and in some way or another, there's gonna be accountability attached there.

As there will also for those who just stood around and let them do it with saying anything.

Do signs like that produce the most constructive fruit? Probably not, but I'm not one to say. What I do know is that I'd take that any day over these silent Republicans who "avoid" talking about certain issues for fear of what others may think. That much I know.

And memer get off your fence-straddler defenses please. Why not just admit this one isolated incident is wrong? Is there really a need to re-hash all the 'ands' 'ifs' and 'buts'?

hey now, it's taken me a number of years to get comfy on the fence. it's taken a long time to learn to manage the balance (that said, i do still lean ;-), so i've got too much invested to leave this position now. i know there's a lot of pressure to fall one way or the other, but i'm defiantly fence-y.

ok, now, sure, i'm not for silly violence or vandalism. whoever did it (if they ever get caught) should pay the fine or whatever. so there.

now if this was a post illustrating how Newton's 3rd Law applies in the practical flesh-n-blood world, i'd be right in there with ya. but i don't think it was. so i'm "counterbalancing" you ;-)

you just get away with more crap cuz you're a cute as heck li'l peck o wood ;-)

whatever memer.

See, This is exactly why I bought a Bush/Cheney '04 bumper sticker sized magnet for the back of my car.

I live in an area repleat with Democrats, and would not leave my car out in the open for them to prey on. No kidding.

Well I also bought the magnet because my wife is for Kerry. She doesn't really want a bumper sticker.

More on the same; when Clinton had his issues, I had a big "Impeach Clinton" sign in my back window. People gave me the meanest attitudes and hand gestures as I drove along. I don't get that same feedback with the B/C'04 magnet. This leads me to think that the Black sentiments agains GWB are negative, but not frenzied. I hope I am correct.

4 more years!

Byron I agree. Most definitely not frenzied (thank Goodness). But in general, I don't think we tend to get frenzied about much of anything. Although the Rodney King riots were a bit disappointing...he

Byron what city do you live in?