This one is more of a mixed bag than some of your other examples.
http://www.tcpalm.com/tcp/
local_..._3283258,00.htm
VERO BEACH — A Vero Beach man charged with pointing a gun at a critic during a political demonstration on Monday was released from jail on his own recognizance Tuesday after police found a loaded pistol in his car.
I have nothing to add to the list, but I want to point out that creating fake voter registrations isn't really comparable to destroying valid ones.
First, the former is much less likely to influence the election. Fraudulent registrations are generally easy to catch, and the type of fake registrations I heard about -- false names and adresses -- aren't going to result in illegal voting anyway since the registrations will be undeliverable. Destroying valid registrations, on the other hand, generally destroys people's ability to vote in this election.
Second, the piecework nature of these operations -- workers are often paid per signature or registration -- means that individuals have a purely apolitical motivation for producing fake registrations. It's hard to imagine someone destroying valid registrations for any but political reasons.
I know you're really only interested in Republican thuggery, but I thought others might be interested in this:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/
arc...042harris1.html
All over the Right, I get a sense of shock and surprise that Democrats aren't simply folding or whining about Republican tactics. Some of them seem genuinely hurt, as though their place in line had been taken by an impolite ruffian.
Well, tough shit. We played nice in the last election, WAY too nice, thinking that surely Bush would feel the need to hew to a centerist path, because that's what a civic minded Democrat would've done in the same position. I feel sorry for the first Republican that tries bullying a Democrat this time around. You're going to see reed thin schoolteachers (who normally spend their free time in yogic meditation) transform into full-on warriors. You had better pay attention to the flame in her eyes when she tells you to BACK OFF because your flag waving fascism isn't going to stop *anyone* from excercising their right to vote this time. And the very first time you try to challenge a person of color because you figure they're voting Democratic, well chum, you're gonna find out that *every* Democrat is a person of color, and if you challenge them, you're challenging me!
Republicans are angry by nature, so much so that they've come to assume that that's their domain, a place where Democrats may not tread! *IN YOUR FRIKKIN DREAMS, PAL*. Mind you, if you manage to keep your cool, we'll be as nice as a person can get.... after all, we're removing that ridiculous clown from power so that he can be sent to the Hague in chains, and just the thought of that puts a cheerful smile on our faces. If, however, you should take some kind of inappropriate action that interferes with the vote in *any way*...... well, no sane person would want to be in your shoes pal, particularly when you've been "restrained" by a crowd of old retirees, as they wait for the cops to take you away.
Yep, the Republicans are getting more irritable with every passing day. They know that they're going down and they are the poorest of poor losers. Tough shit. You're gonna watch Kerry win, and you're gonna like it!
Arson at an anti-war presentation at Penn State University main campus (last graf):
http://www.collegian.psu.edu/arc...-03dnews-
07.asp
I was there when it happened. As far as I know it was never investigated, and no one was ever charged with anything. This was not a small fire -- it deserved a story on its own, but for whatever reason the Collegian decided not to cover it, save for the mention in that story. There were a few letters to the editor about it. FWIW, Penn State University Park is the same town as State College, PA, mentioned higher up in David's article.
I'd add kicking protestors on the ground at the Republican Convention in NY, and the hairpulling incident as well.
Watched ABC tonight (they show it on BBC24) and they discussed voter scaring techniques. What I thought was interesting, was they said: "you have to be really smart to vote this time. Oh, yes, you have to prepare real well and train and importantly don't let yourself be intimidated by people that might want to stop you from voting"
this is scary. If I hear this, it makes me think, I don't want to vote, if I might be intimidated, I might not understand the voting machine, how could I trust a helper. I don't want to vote.
this is so scary.
Sorry for this rant and the OT. (I couldn't anyway and my wife already voted...)
If Bevan really couldn't find incidents of Republican preelection dirty tricks and intimidation, he really really needs a course in internet searching.
I spotted the "payment in crack cocaine" story when it first came out last week, and had an immediate intuition that the story was a fake, a plant. I ran the item on newsfare.com with the following comment:
------------
Dirty Deeds or a Dirty Trick?
This little tale - told by a sheriff and involving the NAACP, voter registration fraud, payments made in crack cocaine, and Mary Poppins - sounds just a little bit too perfect for the reality-based world. Okay, truth is stranger than fiction, but Karl Rove's world is even stranger than truth.
------------
Obviously my intuition proves nothing, but isn't that story just too perfect? Do you really believe the NAACP would pass out out business cards to people with whom they were conspiring to organize vote fraud? Do you think someone trying to achieve some goal - any goal - would pay someone in crack cocaine? Think about the implications. "Well, I just happened to have some extra crack lying around, and..." ? And then someone writes "Mickey Mouse"? Good propaganda, but not plausible history.
Possibly my own experiences are atypical, but with regards to your statement that it's difficult to say who's worse with regards to campaign sign thefts, I've been volunteering at the Kerry HQ in Portland, OR since June, and in that time we had literally *thousands* of sign thefts reported.
I know this because my computer was right beside the window from which we sold and replaced signs and other campaign merchandise.
Now, as I said, it's possible that there have been thousands of Bush/Cheney signs stolen in Portland. But I doubt it, first because there I've never seen that many, and second because every last one of those I've seen or been made aware of has stayed in place. Given the scale of the sign thefts and the sheer number of people that had to come back in three, four, or five times to get their signs replaced, it's impossible for me to believe that this kind of behavior was not orchestrated by the Bush/Cheney campaign or a supporting organization. That it's out of proportion to anything being done by Kerry supporters seems beyond doubt.
Is it on the same level as the felonies you list? Obviously not. But it's still a pattern of thuggery and illegal behavior that obviously benefits the right wing, and to claim that Republicans or their supporters aren't responsible for it would be ludicrous.
-Alec in PDX
Agreed about the Bush rally loyalty oaths.
Actually, one of the scarier precedents in this campaign has been the exclusion of protesters from Bush appearances by the Secret Service. That's taking those "SS" initials a little too literally for comfort.
1. Making as if to run down Katherine Harris is a serious crime and is being treated as such.
2. David, I don't think the Ohio case (Staton charged with forging voter registrations in exchange for crack cocaine) is strictly anecdotal. Ms. Pitts has admitted to the act I have been distressed that neither the Toledo Blade nor the NAACP have had any further comment.
3. On the stolen sign thing, I would point out that there are two classes of signs. One is on public property. Those are usually there illegally and if so can be removed by anyone. But removing signs on private property is a crime. I do think there is more frequent sign theft from private property by Republicans.
may I mention the last minute moving of polling places by republican officials in the midwest? I've forgotten exactly where tho.
I would love for a fair election and a clear winner, whoever that is. I would love nothing more than to go on with my life on Novemer 3rd. However, I simply can not and will not trust the right.
They took (or had handed, or appointed... however you want to say it) one election they didn't win. Sadly, I firmly believe I great deal of this administration is pure evil, and seeks only to further the goals and wants of the very rich and powerful.
As for every single thing Bush says regarding his plans for the next four years, I can't help but think 'really? Then why didn't you do that in the last four years?' The country and the entire world would be better off putting this administration behind us ASAP.
For that, I vote Democrat.
You could add, under the category of campaign HQ attacks: this article from the Toledo Blade. The headline has mysteriously changed to "Police: Democratic office break-in not political". Awful funny how people who were stealing computers for cash forgot to take the petty cash, or any of the more expensive PCs - just the ones with sensitive Dem Party information...
this is an artcile abuot the breakin too...
Posted on Wed, Oct. 27, 2004
Bush supporter charged with battery of girlfriend over Kerry vote
Associated Press
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - An 18-year-old supporter of President Bush became so angry that his girlfriend was considering voting for John Kerry and was breaking up with him that he imprisoned her in his home, deputies said.
Steven Soper of Lake Worth was charged with aggravated battery, false imprisonment and resisting arrest without violence. He was being held at the Palm Beach County Jail without bond until a mental health assessment is completed.
Soper began pushing and shoving 18-year-old Stacey Silviera Tuesday night when she came to his house to return some of his personal items, deputies said.
"I kill you," he said, according to the arrest report. "You want (to) live to see the election?"
He held her with a screwdriver and a shard from a broken pot while a deputy tried to separate them, said Paul Miller, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
The girlfriend broke free and the deputy used a Taser on Soper.
Meanwhile, in Vero Beach, an anti-Kerry demonstrator was charged with felony aggravated assault with a gun Monday after an Kerry supporter said he pointed the gun at his head.
Michael Garone, 52, of Vero Beach, was released from jail Tuesday on his on recognizance.
Veterans were protesting against Kerry a street corner when Trevor Pickering drove up and said "Go Kerry," according to an arrest affidavit.
Pickering argued with the protesters and he got out of the car and knocked a sign out of a supporter's hand.
"That's when (Garone) walked up to my car and stuck a gun to my head," Pickering said. "I said 'I'm sorry' and 'Please don't kill me,' drove away and called the cops."
Garone admitted he had a gun in his car, but denied pointing it at anyone. It wasn't clear whether Garone is a veteran.
That's slightly different from the Orlando Sun-Sentinel's version.
"WEST BOYNTON -- When an 18-year-old couldn't convince his girlfriend that George W. Bush was the right choice for president, he became enraged, put a screwdriver to her throat and threatened to kill her, sheriff's officials said.
"You won't live to see the next election," Steven Soper told Stacey Silveira on Tuesday night as the two fought inside his gray, two-story home west of Boynton Beach, according to a police report."
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news...-home-
headlines
The sign-theft problem has been ongoing at the Bellngham, WA campaign office, too. I'm there every week, and have also seen people coming in for their third and fourth replacement.
I don't know if the local Reeps are having similar problems with Bush signs, but I've seen a couple of big ones around town that were embellished with unflattering commentary regarding their candidate.
The Whatcom sheriff told us to get a bunch of Sharpie pens, and mark every sign (back or post) with the sign owner's street address. This connects the owner to the sign -- so if it turns up, say, in the back of a pickup at 2 am, or in someone's garage, it's much easier to prosecute that person for theft.
Since he told us this three weeks ago, we've been careful about marking every sign that leaves the office. As a result, we've seen a real slowdown in sign thefts. Here, as elsewhere, the prospect of holding the goons accountable seems to make all the difference in their behavior.
Goons do tend to be cowards, when you get right down to their core.
There appears to have been some sort of police-crowd interaction today in Saginaw, WI, but it isn't clear exactly what happened. Local media covarage:
http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/news/
102804_NW_r2_pres_protestors.html
A (somewhat confused) first hand account of the event:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/28/124452/
57
Bush's speech at the event (no discussion of protest):
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/10/
20041028-2.html
This at Daily Kos (black voter misinformation and intimidation) in Milwaukee.
In Ohio, another example, as reported by WKYC:
PAINESVILLE -- It is an outright case of election fraud in Lake County.
The phony letter says newly registered voters signed up by the Kerry or Capri Cafaro campaigns or the NAACP, their registrations are illegal and they will not be able to vote.
OK, I heard the first example of yard sign theft by a Dem on Olbermann, a woman named Fabiola Armitage who had stolen dozens of yard signs. Unfortunately, as with too much on cable, one can't confirm the veracity of the story through wire service.
But I heard it.
A few weeks ago I was in Issaqua Washington and a Policeman came into the Demo HQ with a cut up Kerry sign. He asked if it was ours and stated the man (who was wearing a suit and drove a nice car) who did this was in jail on some charge. After filing a complaint and he went through booking I believe the fine was close to $250. He had told the policeman that he was cutting up Kerry/Edwards signs "because they made him mad" I bet spending a few hours in jail made him even madder.
At least one got what he deserved.
Ohhhhh.....soooo sweet.
Thanks, Ben.
False accusation of rape when caught stealing signs:
As neighbors called the Sheriff's Department, Nolan said, he chased the man, caught up to him near Vulcan and Encinitas Boulevard, grabbed his arm, then tackled him and "sat on him until the police got there."
The suspect, whom the sheriff's report identified as Jessie Irvin Mathews, 22, of Vista, initially told deputies that Nolan had "jumped him and tried to rape him" for no apparent reason, Nolan said.
Source: the San Diego Union-Tribune
Don't know if you got this already, but here's one from the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/
A10812-2004Oct29.html), via a link from Value Judgment (http://www.valuejudgment.org/archives/
000901.html):
"At 6:30 a.m. Oct. 19 I was awakened by my daughter's screams. She had found quarts of blood, dozens of turkey feet and an array of innards at our front door. And our homemade sign was gone."
I noticed the 'Special Olympics' story/picture you referenced. For information this looks to be derived from an image that often appears in places like Fark.com, where the original title is usual top caption is 'Arguing on the Internet' rather than anything about the election, so it probably didn't take very long for someone to make up this new version.
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