The ACLU is following up on the complaint of the Bellevue Community College students who were barred from last week's Obama/Cantwell rally at BCC for wearing Mike McGavick T-shirts.
Meanwhile, somebody uprooted my Mike McGavick yard sign again last night
UPDATE: Some commenters are questioning whether the wind fell my sign. It's possible, but I think unlikely. Unfortunately, I don't have before and after pictures to illustrate this. I also have another yard sign, for Stephen Johnson, which was placed next to the McGavick sign. Both signs have heavy wood stakes and I hammered them both pretty firmly into the ground. The Johnson sign was still standing, but twisted around its axis. The angles of the two displaced signs did not suggest that they were both blown over, but that both were intentionally yanked.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at October 30, 2006 01:47 PM | Email This/sarcasm
Posted by: Obi-Wan on October 30, 2006 02:04 PMIf someone was serious about their hatred of your McGavick sign they would at least have bothered to steal the sign rather than politely uprooting it.
Posted by: Cato on October 30, 2006 02:15 PMMeh. Forgive me if I find this no more offensive or significant than Bush's people throwing opponents out of his rally in 2004.
These are political rallies; why should either side let in people whose agenda is clearly to disrupt the event?
Posted by: ScottM on October 30, 2006 02:31 PMYou will be able to tell who did it by the bandages, gauze and bloodstains. Posted by: ouch! on October 30, 2006 02:32 PM
But, it's all good. In an intolerant society, the voice of dissent might actually be a deafening silence. There are a loft of conservatives that will show up and quietly vote next Tuesday. That will be the real wake up call for the left, and a result that they won't be able to reverse through vandalism.
Posted by: Jeff B. on October 30, 2006 02:45 PMDoor opens: Hmm, do I know any middle-aged women with long frizzy gray hair and no makeup? Some sort of Andes Mountains knit cap? Large round-lensed wire frame glasses in need of repair? Birkenstocks over multi-colored striped socks? Dirty polar fleece vest sporting buttons such as "Free Tibet" and other noteworthy causes? An aroma of patchouli oil mixed with burnt cannabis? Nope; no one I know.
She: "Hello, I'm here to ask you to vote for Maria."
Me: "You're too late; I already voted."
She: "How did you vote?"
Me: "What were the results of your last mammogram?"
She: "THAT'S PERSONAL!"
Me: Just a wink and a smile as the door closes.
As for uprooted signs.....that's pretty subtle. When they other signs speared through the center, have been burned to a nub, or have obscenities spray painted on them.....that's a seriously angry person. You've got very polite vandals here.
Posted by: Matty on October 30, 2006 03:02 PMMy signs have been stolen (democratic signs), your sign has been knocked down. Really - it just says that there are alot of immature people out there.
Every election this pained outrage is manufactured - it doesn't say anything inherent either side.
Posted by: jb on October 30, 2006 03:42 PMHow do you know it was 'our side' that supposedly keyed your car? Could've been a NaderNut, or a Greenie, or Socialist Worker's Party supporter (oh, wait, not one of them since they have the same beliefs as Kerry).
Nice try.
Posted by: Concerned Citizen on October 30, 2006 03:54 PMThey stopped dropping in after that.
Posted by: GS on October 30, 2006 04:18 PMI do have to say there is much more anecdotal evidence of the loony left doing the more vandalism oriented thing - keying cars, breaking windows (actually, that's not anecdotal, there were people arrested in the last cycle for this), spray painting (again, not anecdotal, has been happening in OR this cycle), replacing stickers, slashing tires (not anecdotal either, prominent D children in the midwest are in jail for this one). You just don't see this on the right as much. Most times (talk show hosts excluded) there's not the same propensity to argue and "speak truth to anyone who will listen to ranting"
Posted by: Yo yo on October 30, 2006 04:24 PM...unless Stefan lives across the street from a Democrat. That would explain the extremely localized high winds.
Posted by: sro on October 30, 2006 04:39 PMThose high winds must be selective though - they have picked up all the Reichert signs I usually see on my way to work, but left the Darcy and Maria signs alone. And anybody who has seen those signs knows that they are little sails waiting to be pushed by the wind.
Posted by: Cato, Schmato on October 30, 2006 04:43 PMSpeak for yourself...
Posted by: alphabet soup on October 30, 2006 05:37 PMOMG, CALL THE POLICE, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, THE HORROR, THE ATROCITY, THE VIOLENCE, THE HORROR!!!
This can't be America. Posted by: Banshee on October 30, 2006 05:50 PM
You don't want to get into a contest of who can show more anecdotal evidence of vandalism and mayhem against a particular party. There's way that will show this is much more common from the left. Does it happen on the right? Sure, but it's a lot less common and a lot less intense. The left is the party of incivility. Dissent is patriotic you claim! Want to see some video of your fellow travelers in San Francisco? It's not pretty.
Posted by: Jeff B. on October 30, 2006 05:52 PM[1] I have had at least 5 of my ''YES on I-933'' signs destroyed, torn down, or stolen (and yes: They were in legal and proper locations).
[2] Stefan's photo of his knocked-over McGavick sign shows the ''standard stake method'', that almost all the big campaigns use. While it takes an extra minute or so and is marginally more expensive, at least for weather-proofing campaign signs (but not, of course, radical-leftie proofing):
-a- Pound in the 1 stake with sign attached.
-b- Pound in a separate free stake at the other end of the sign.
-c- Use staple gun to put in 4-5 HALF-INCH staples (not shorter), to secure what was the free stake to the sign.
After doing above, the end product will take several times the wind speed of single-stake-on-one-end signs.
Posted by: Methow Ken on October 30, 2006 07:07 PMI doubt that a "bad" somebody would wanna kill Cantwell or Burner. You dem's could spin around a square rock, I swear.
I think when the PRESIDENT is involved the security is a bit tighter. Even when clinton visited, they screened people 5 blocks from where he was speaking for petes sakes.
But hey, just keep thinking that burner and cantwell are important.
I voted just the opposite.
Posted by: ChrisN on October 30, 2006 08:26 PMand jb, it happens on both sides. BUT THE THEFTS AND STEALING AND VANDALISM HAPPENS MUCH MORE ON REPUBLICAN SIGNS. I've heard several discussions about this and all agree on that. The Dems who vandalized my signs would even come by and knock over my very large Bush-Cheney sign. I put it back up. Then they cut it in 1/2 and threw the pieces into nearby bushes. I taped it back together and put it back up. Then they cut it up into even more pieces. I taped it again. Then they must've brought a large vehicle and they took the whole thing. I was simply aghast at the brazen-ness of these democrats. Do they really think this much vandalism and theft is okay? In '96 up here on the plateau, my signs would be stolen within a 1/2 hour of going up. Repeatedly. It was amazing. Dems do this kind of thing MUCH MORE.
Posted by: Michele on October 30, 2006 08:41 PMI even remember a few (eventually) honest democrats who went on John Carlson's showi in 2004. They had gone on a big vandalism spree and did a bunch of damage in a short time to a whole bunch of the really big Bush-Cheney signs. They actually began to feel guilty, so they called up the republican HQ and admitted it. they ended up spending an entire afternoon helping an old republican guy go around and repair the signs. Posted by: Michele on October 30, 2006 08:46 PM
Amazingly, no problems since.
LEFTIST PINHEADED KLOWNS are cowards.
Posted by: Mr. Cynical on October 30, 2006 09:30 PM
And remember y'all, don't get mad, go work on GOTV efforts. Anything. Very effective 'response' to all this interference from the left.
Posted by: Michele on October 30, 2006 10:22 PMJoshua was running for state representative (Republican), and I joined his campaign to help distribute flyers and plant campaign signs. I covered lots of miles, using a map to show where I had placed signs. The map was intended to make it easier to recover the signs after the campaign was over.
Some of Joshua's signs I placed in North King County (among other places). On the way to work a day or so later I noticed a number of Joshua's signs were knocked over in that same area in North King County. I thought, hey, probably school kids. However, it soon became apparent to me over the next few days that someone was systematically uprooting, breaking, tearing, or otherwise damaging Joshua's signs.
As I soon found out, this sabotage was not limited to one small area, but was fairly widespread. I soon began making the rounds, a couple of times a week, to check on signs at various locations where I had placed them (as well as signs other volunteers had placed for Joshua), and would sometimes find sites where Joshua's signs were the only ones damaged; democratic candidates sign's were strangely untouched (I don't remember who the opposition was), although there were a few instances where all candidates signs were damaged (I repaired the signs for all candidates at at least one of these instances).
Soon, I had a regular portable sign repair shop in the back of my pickup truck, with staple gun, small nails, and pieces of scrap sign wood material, which I used in my periodic "maintenance" of Joshua's signs.
After a couple of weeks, the sign damage decreased in frequency to just a few isolated incidents.
I had assumed at that time that there was an individual or political group that disliked what Joshua stood for, and said individual/group were bent on unfairly squelching political discourse. I hesitate to point fingers, but I always suspected people like the anarchists, or some such radical group were responsible.
I have no proof either way, since I never caught anyone red handed, so readers may draw their own conclusions.
Posted by: Marty on October 30, 2006 11:39 PMFinally the exasperated owner of the sign(s) put up a new one. It said WOULD THE "PARTY OF PEACE" PLEASE RETURN OUR SIGN?
They didn't, of course, but I smiled every time I drove past.
I don't much care what political party is least or most responsible for sign vandalism. It's a minority of party members, and a minority that represents the very worst part of politics.
But I'm not going to judge an entire political movement based on these scum.
Posted by: Alcon Nighthawk on October 31, 2006 01:50 AMI didn't say I did that, nor condoned it. I said it was wrong. What I also said was that the loony left resorts to this on occasion, and there are even criminal complaints to prove it!
I have been tempted in the past, especially with the more obnoxious vehicle plastered with bumper stickers. I have never done anything about that temptation though. Because I, as a Republican, would never stoop to the tactics of the left.
And a shout out to Mike Hart @ 34 - I guess you haven't seen the 1st Amendment violations by Cant-do-well at BCC this week? Talk about hand picked. This was so egregious that even the ACLU agreed with the McGavick supporters!
Posted by: Yo yo on October 31, 2006 01:00 PMPosted by Bill Cruchon at October 31, 2006 12:20 PM
Cantwell's mom probably is voting for McGavick...after reading that her daughter was lettin' OLD Dotzauer poke her in the whiskers a week before his wedding!!!
Perhaps Maria has forgotten her "good home schooling"??? She is a real SLUT!!
Happy Halloween!! Posted by: Bill Cruchon on October 31, 2006 02:15 PM