I worry about the safety of all the dem candidates. I worry about the

[cali]

safety of the dem nominee, and I worry about the safety of any dem President.

The Hillary Clinton campaign office situtation certainly brought this to the forefront, but this is not the first time this has crossed my mind. I remember when Obama got Secret Service protection because of threats. It's my opinion that Edwards should also be provided with Secret Service.

This situation in NH brings into stark relief the danger these people are in. I know that the person in NH has a long standing hx of mental illness, but the free floating hate on the right is so prevailant and the hate radio and sites like Free Republic shovel so much fuel into the haters, that I can't help but fear that more people will go over the edge.

I hope the NH mess ends safely for all- including the deranged man who perpetrated this.

[The Magistrate]

1. You Do Well To Worry, Ma'am

The right has systematically whipped up this kind of psychotic rage among its marginalized adherents....

[Andromeda]

31. It's not just the right, Magistrate.

the fringe left is pretty good at whipping up hate too.

[Andromeda]

33. Remember the anthrax scare?

http://www.unitedjustice.com/anthrax-letters.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/10/16/wanth16.xml

This was no joke.

[K Gardner]

2. I worry, too. We all should be worried. K&R n/t

[Ninga]

I feel very sad this has happened. So much that is wonderful about our open society has been

fractured.

I remember when you could get very near the White House, and visit the congressional buildings, museums, and other public buildings without being searched.

I hate this, and I feel very sorry for the wonderful people who are volunteering in her office, they didn't sign on for this...that's for sure.

[Ninga]

8. I hate to say this, but the M$M is NO help at all. In the old days, without the 24/7 overwrought

coverage, the incident would have been covered in the next news cycle....and most likely, if this person is mentally ill, and does not have a real bomb, then it would have been reported with context, and without interviewing 12 people and having people call in, etc, etc, etc.

Now, in our culture of fear, people will create bugaboo reasons to not visit a local campaign office.....can we say the M$M is partly to blame???????

[sufrommich]

11. The MSM (Fox in particular) is hugely to blame for making

talking heads out of nut cases who would have been stuck barking madly on a street corner had they not been given legitimacy on so called serious News programs.

[Ninga]

17. well said.

[Ninga]

3. self delete

[Virginia Dare]

4. Agreed, it's a very worrisome time....

the right wing hate machine fosters this type of violence.

[MADem]

5. This fellow is what the cops are calling an EDP--Emotionally Disturbed Person.

Apparently, he went to the hardware store today, bought some crap, taped it together, and told his kid to watch the news today (I am watching NH tv, which is better than the national crap).

I don't think this guy has any thing that goes boom, except maybe the demons in his head.

It does, however, give people with capability 'ideas.'

[Warpy]

6. Of course he is, but if any good is to come out of this

it has to be the publication of who gave him the idea to attack a "liberal."

Hate has to be outed for what it is and it has to be identified as a dangerous thing when it is on the public airwaves and going unanswered.

[MADem]

10. Well, it's too soon to assume he "hates" -- way too soon.

It's also too soon to suggest that his disordered mind considers this an "attack."

He may have gone to the office before, and asked the staff to call Clinton, and they laughed him off ("That Kooky Larry, he came into the office and wanted me to call...The SENATOR!! Bwhaahahahaha!!!").

It could be he's seen the commercial, running in regular rotation, that shows a guy talking about how Clinton got help for his son, who would have died had she not intervened. Maybe he wants to talk to Clinton, too! Maybe to 'get the chip out of his head that the gubmint put in there'...or something!!

He wants to TALK to Clinton. He hasn't said anything yet about doing her harm....

The swat team is farting around now with a bunch of small portable barrels. The reporter is within eyesight of the building. Everyone is CALM--clearly the cops don't think the device is real.

Apparently, this guy is "known" to the police...who knows, maybe he's looking for a "suicide by cop" opportunity (dummy--you don't pull that in a place where everyone takes one look at you, rolls their eyes, and goes "Eh, there's Crazy Larry, at it again...he's kookoo, but harmless...").

These cops are awfully relaxed. And I don't think they're "unprofessional" either--it's the staties doing the heavy lifting.

[sufrommich]

14. It would be something if it turns out

he came to Clinton HQ wanting "help" from her.

[MADem]

18. He's drunk, too. Maybe he wants Clinton to save his marriage--his wife is divorcing his crazy ass.

He's been drinking for three days.

[Warpy]

20. Uh, anybody who goes into an office with even a fake bomb

and a real gun has HARM on his mind.

Again, if any good is to come of this, we need to know just what gave him the permission to do this.

[frogmarch]

7. I too hope the NH mess ends safely for all

and that there aren't any copy cats.

[MADem]

13. The "copy cats" bit is the worrisome part. I think this guy in NH is just

a bit crazy and grandiose. He bought the shit that is his "bomb" at the hardware store today. He's well known to police, they've had dealings with him before. He told his son to watch the news today.

Sounds like a noncompliant bipolar to me...

The worry is, that someone who actually can build a working bomb will try to pull the same shit elsewhere--it's going to make interaction with communities by campaign offices more problematic.

[sufrommich]

9. I am so sick of hate mongers given a free pass.

Regardless of the Clinton situation. We've lost the ability to disagree without venom in this country,it started with hate radio and will probably not let up until someone has to die for it.Ann Coulter is just a nasty exaggeration of what passes for discourse among us.It's depressing as hell and it's spreading beyond political boundaries.

[Bitwit1234]

12. Who can you blame??

I just sent an email to MoveOn.org...of which I am a member. The recent statement from Campbell Brown at CNN set me on fire. She called MoveON insurgents. So if I am a member, then that makes me an insurgent. She sure as hell can't prove it. I asked MoveOn to put me in touch with a lawyer who would send a letter to her AND CNN and tell them I along with the other members of MoveOn are sick and damn tired of the republican MSM calling us names, traitors, treasonist and then like brown "insurgents".

The only thing to start to do is go after them and make it stick. She did not say she had any proof, she did not say it was an opinion. She called MoveOn out and out insurgents. And as far as I am concerned, I am going to monitor all these MSM types and start filing suits. Any MoveOn members out there with me.

[SNAKE MAN]

25. I am with ya 100%

How dare they talk like that and accuse us of being insurgents!!!! We would never call them repugs a name like that!!!!

[Andromeda]

32. Yeah, damn it!

They need to know that calling political action groups insurgents just isn't appropriate. I picture people waving around weapons and threatening people insurgents. Not people participating in peaceful protest marches.

Tell her to go to Afganistan or Iraq---then she'll see insurgents.

[AtomicKitten]

15. Obama has had Service Service protection for awhile.

When he was here in SF, the massive line of people was getting cranky waiting to go through the security checkpoint, so ultimately Obama told them to stand down and let the audience fill up the venue. Scary times.

[cali]

16. yes, I know. I noted that in the OP. Glad as hell he does. n/t

[AtomicKitten]

19. this might be of interest:

San Francisco Chronicle
Obama supporters frustrated by long wait to see their man
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/16/MNP7TDB7F.DTL

John Wildermuth, Chronicle Staff Writer

Friday, November 16, 2007

Some supporters of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama were grumbling Thursday after they stood in line for more than two hours outside the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium on Wednesday night and still didn't get in to the Illinois senator's raucous campaign rally.

* snip *

At 6:30 p.m., when the doors opened for the event, the queue outside looked like a summertime line at Disneyland. Thousands of people waited, mostly patiently, in a line that wrapped around the building, then crossed Polk Street.

* snip *

The bottleneck was a security system that included just four metal detectors for a crowd the campaign estimated at 6,000 people. One by one, people would empty their pockets, walk through the detectors and be screened again with handheld magnometers if the metal detectors buzzed.

* snip *

When the senator arrived in San Francisco from a Peninsula fundraising event about 8:30 p.m., the arena was only about a quarter filled, with section after section of vacant seats in the balcony. But by about 8:45 p.m., the Secret Service took down the metal detectors and let the crowd stream in unchecked.

* it's the UNCHECKED part that has me worried. I hope people are more patient on the campaign trail and allow time for these most important security measures.

[blm]

21. I remember when a few Dems had to wear bullet-proof vests during their investigative work

especially since corrupt factions within the CIA were being investigated.

[bullwinkle428]

22. I shook John Edwards' hand last night at an appearance -

I was thinking in the back of my mind that I felt nervous for him, as he currently has no Secret Service protection, and knowing the kind of nuts that are out there. :scared:

[H2O Man]

23. I agree.

I do not know that the "suspect" has a "long standing hx of mental illness," because I am only watching this on tv. But the safety concerns are real.

[niyad]

24. I worry for all of them, and I worry for KO--a LOT

[KoKo]

26. Most of the best of Dems have been assassinated by folks with "mental difficulties."

And two Repugs...St. Ronnie and George Wallace. But the bulk were Dems.

And there's that "Anthrax thingy."

But, we know that FEAR is used to control us. One would think Dems in Power might have figured out what the deal was quite a few decades back...but then...folks say that we just don't have "the votes" to do anything. :eyes:

[mrreowwr_kittty]

27. Actually Wallace was a Dem. The quintessential Dixiecrat. nt.

[KoKo]

28. He switched parties....so he's an either/or......

:D...but yes...those Dixiecrats are always "either/or."

[mrreowwr_kittty]

29. He never went GOP, probably his one and only redeeming feature. nt.

[AZ Criminal JD]

30. Ford was shot at twice

and Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley were all Republicans.