Threats and Democrats and James T. Harris

Watching and reading the media, one would think that the nation is about to erupt in a tsunami of violence directed at the Democrats for ignoring the will of the American people on health care reform.

That's not reality.

Are there loons? Yes. Do threats to anyone's safety need to be investigated? Yes.

Is it fair to relate the actions of the handful of nutcases behaving badly to the vast majority of Americans in opposition to Obama, the Democrats, and their takeover of our health care system?

Of course not.

From Politico:

A coffin was placed on a Missouri Democrat’s lawn, another in a string of incidents against lawmakers after their vote Sunday on a health care overhaul.

Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) had a coffin placed “near his home,” a spokesman said Wednesday evening.

This came after Rep. Tom Perriello’s (D-Va.) brother’s gas lines were cut, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) received death threats and Rules Committee Chairwoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) received a message saying snipers were being deployed to kill children of those who voted for health care overhaul.

Several other Democrats have had threats leveled against them, prompting a closed-door briefing of Democratic members by the FBI, Capitol Police and the House Sergeant at Arms.

We know there are a lot of wackos out there.

It's horrible when people in the public eye are threatened with violence and receive hate mail, but that does happen.

It's nothing new and it's not unusual.

Here's an example: James T. Harris.

During the 2008 campaign, James T. Harris was thrust into the national spotlight after he spoke out at a McCain-Palin town hall meeting in Waukesha, October 9, 2008.

In an interview with Charlie Sykes, Harris talked about his experience.

Here's an excerpt:

CHARLIE SYKES: When you first started doing this, you and I talked, I said, 'Hey, one of the things you're going to have to get used to is you get a lot of hate mail...' Well, in the last 24 hours, James, we went from theoretical to real.

JAMES T. HARRIS: Charlie Sykes, I was up till 3:30 in the morning. It was like watching an accident, a train wreck. I couldn't... the volume... hundreds and hundreds of e-mail coming in, some of the most hateful, vile stuff I have ever read directed at me. There are people out there that are wishing that I and my family were dead.

SYKES: And they said that?

HARRIS: Yes, Charlie. As a matter of fact, Charlie, I'm thinking about writing a book called, The Day I Met Senator McCain. And all I'm going to do is talk about, in the first part, how this whole thing set up, have my question there, and then I'm going to just post every single one of the e-mails that I got. And right now, it's running about 8 or 9 to 1 vile versus someone who says, 'Thank you.'

So Harris was attacked and threatened for simply speaking at a town hall meeting. People actually contacted him to say they wished he and his family were dead.

Harris didn't accept a bribe or cut a sleazy deal or sell his vote in the House of Representatives. He didn't cast a Yes vote to lay the foundation for socialized medicine in the U.S. He just talked.

For that, he was attacked and threatened by tons of people.

If Harris, a private citizen and not an elected official, got that sort of reaction for saying a few sentences at a town hall meeting, it's not surprising that people would respond to Democrats, public servants, in the same ugly manner.

It's disgraceful that people make threats like that.

It was disgraceful that people threatened the life of Joe "the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, too.

McKay Hatch started a "No Cussing Club" when he was 15, and his life was threatened because of it.

The club now boosts more than 20,000 members.

But not everyone supports his cause.

The pro-cussing crowd has sent false pizza deliveries to his house along with pornographic magazine subscriptions. Hatch says his phone rings all the time and his email inbox is overflowing with profane hate messages.

He and his family drew the line when the death threats started coming in over the Internet. They promptly contacted police, who confirm an investigation is underway.

The teen's father says one death threat in particular crossed the line.

"I was at the hospital with my wife, we were visiting family, and some guy had called on my cell phone said, 'I know you you're gone, you're not there, and I'm in front of your house and I'm going to kill your family," McKay's father Brent Hatch said.

Hatch says police arrived within 30 seconds since they were already on alert because of the situation.

Detectives are examining the threatening emails, said South Pasadena police Capt. Richard Kowaltschuk, adding, "If someone threatens your life that is a violation of the law, whether it's done verbally or over the Internet."

McKay Hatch said:

Since January 4, we've received now over 60,000 e-mails of people, you know, saying, 'If you don't stop this, I know where you live, I'm gonna come kill you.' At first, you know, it was really scary, but then I kind of realized these are bullies and I don't want to let these bullies win. Since we got the FBI involved and my attorney, Kelly Crabb, involved, you know, it's not as scary. I'm not gonna let these bullies win.

How sick is that?

These examples illustrate that the Democrats are not experiencing something unique.

It's really horrible for people to be targeted by thugs.

Without question, anyone threatening or harassing a Democrat for voting to pass the extremely unpopular health care bill needs to be held accountable. Such behavior is unacceptable.

Right now, however, it appears that Democrats are using alleged threats to their safety to score political points. They're issuing statements and seizing on the situation in an attempt to discredit the Tea Party movement as a whole. They're accusing Republicans and conservatives of wrongdoing when they really don't know the perpetrators.

As Rahm Emanuel said, "Never let a serious crisis go to waste."

They're making the most out of any threats they've received. It seems to be an orchestrated effort on the part of the Democrats, which is very unseemly.

Investigations into reported threats and incidents are underway. Again, any threats should be taken very seriously. Those responsible should be held accountable for their lawlessness.

The problem is the media make it seem like anyone against what the Democrats did are dangerous and planning to turn violent.

That's not fair. Don't blame the opposition for the actions of a relative few.

Democrats should fear a backlash for ignoring the will of the people, but not in the form of threats to their lives or well-being. The backlash should come at the ballot box in November, not via violence. Period.

Carl Cameron provides some excellent perspective on the threat allegations. He's very fair and balanced in his analysis.

Video.