12:59 pm August 12, 2009, by Jay
The FBI has begun to investigate the large swastika drawn onto the office sign of U.S. Rep. David Scott in Smyrna. And apparently, there’s a chance the culprit was caught on a security camera, since the property is part of a bank building.
Both the left and right are blaming each other for the vandalism, and given the state of debate in this country, either explanation is plausible. At this point I wouldn’t say they’re EQUALLY plausible — the simpler explanation is usually the best explanation, and that would point to a perp who was angry at Scott, rather than someone who was trying to generate sympathy for him.
Maybe that security camera can tell us more.
Either way, this is a helluva way to run a democracy.
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62 comments Add your comment
I Report/ I Am The Mob (-: You Whine )-:
August 12th, 2009
1:01 pm
bookman- You demonize the right everyday on this blog.
What else did you expect?
And how exactly will we tell the political persuasion of this perp from a camera picture, well, if he’s dressed in a pink tutu, I guess we’ll know it was a lib.
RW-(the original)
August 12th, 2009
1:08 pm
My bet is it was the work of a vandal. How’s that for getting to the simpler explanation?
Get Real
August 12th, 2009
1:08 pm
Judging from the first two comments, nothing else needs to be said. Book ‘em Danno.
I Report/ I Am The Mob (-: You Whine )-:
August 12th, 2009
1:11 pm
Those ignorant, right-wing, Bible-thumping rednecks are ruining the party.-bookman 8/5/09
I’m just curious, does the left wing consider itself the sole arbiter of defamation?
Or what?
jconservative
August 12th, 2009
1:11 pm
I still say whether it was done by a “perp” angry at Scott or one of Scott’s own followers, David Scott is the winner. Look at all the air time being given for his position. Every time he is on TV he talks up the public option.
Trying to stop the public option is going to be hard enough. Some brain dead drawing a swastika does not help my side.
Get Real
August 12th, 2009
1:12 pm
Where was Gandalf at that night?
Scooter
August 12th, 2009
1:14 pm
Dang, doesn’t the FBI have better things to do than investigate a simple
case of graffiti?
USinUK
August 12th, 2009
1:14 pm
since I don’t feel like scrolling through the last couple of days, I’ll just ask the class … which brain trust was it that said Hawkings was only saved because he had lots of dosh???
because, to you, I say … WRONG YET AGAIN!!
Hawking himself had this to say to his…concerned supporters…at Investor’s: “I wouldn’t be alive today if it weren’t for the NHS. I have received a large amount of high quality treatment without which I would not have survived.”
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/08/hawking-ironically-my-death-panel-saved-my-life.php?ref=fpa
mm
August 12th, 2009
1:15 pm
I guess if he is toothless and carrying a gun and bible he’s a neocon.
USinUK
August 12th, 2009
1:16 pm
“I’m just curious, does the left wing consider itself the sole arbiter of defamation?”
whiner, you seem to be conveniently forgetting that the person who said the original bible-thumper-ruining-the-party quote was, in fact, a republican.
nice try. but … FAIL.
USinUK
August 12th, 2009
1:17 pm
and with that … I’m a-heading home …
have a good night!!
Finn McCool
August 12th, 2009
1:18 pm
And who, pray tell, is the Foundation for a Drug-Free World? Why look, 15 seconds of searching (dear God, is there anything Google can’t do?) reveals it’s none other than … those wacky Scientologists. What a shock.
(By the way, I find I absolutely adore the unicorns ‘n’ bunnies utopia implied in the phrase “a drug-free world.” Sort of like saying “a dust-free desert,” or “a salt-free ocean” or “an adultery-free Republican party.” It’s like they let an oversheltered child come up with their name. “Partnership for No More Icky Things Like, Ever”).
http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/
Mrs. Godzilla
August 12th, 2009
1:18 pm
USinUK
It came from an op-ed in Investors Business Daily…..
It popped at at TPM like this:
Once you thoroughly unfasten yourself from reality, truly all things are possible.
AJC columnist Jay Bookman noticed that in the latest Investors Business Daily editorial about how the ‘death panel’ will condemn all handicapped or disabled people to death on some horrid wind-swept mountain, the editors note that …
People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn’t have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.
Needless to say, Hawking, who is recognized as one of the great theoretical physicists of the 20th and 21st century, was born in the UK and has lived his entire life there.
Cool, eh?
USinUK
August 12th, 2009
1:20 pm
Mrs. G –
yes, the original quote came from Investors Daily … but some of the wingnut braintrust here were saying the same thing – that Hawkings didn’t use the NHS, that he’s rich, blahblahblah …
either way, I think Hawkings’s rebuttal pretty much nips THAT in the bud!
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 12th, 2009
1:22 pm
Well, you can’t even have a little fun anymore without somebody getting up in arms about it. It was probly just a couple good old boys out to get a rise out of this Scott, like we done back in the day when we would burn a cross on some uppity N__’s yard. They made that against the law and now I reckon they’ll stick whoever sprayed the crooked cross on the sign in jail for awhile. This country done lost its sense of humor.
The people that say Scott done it hisself remind me of the old story of finding one of Those People drownded in a pond in Alabama with about 50 lbs. of chain wrapped around him. When they pulled him out, a sheriff said, “Ain’t that just like a durn N__? Steal more chain than he can swim with?
Have a good p.m. everybody.
Taxpayer
August 12th, 2009
1:23 pm
You demonize the right everyday on this blog.
Examples please. Is it through the use of the words Gog and Magog to justify an invasion. Is it by claiming that your side is doing God’s work or claiming that the opposition is do the work of the devil. Come on, show us what you got.
George American
August 12th, 2009
1:24 pm
THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT THE PERP WILL BE A SCOTT SUPPORTER – PROBABLY AL SHARPTON OR ONE OF HIS LACKEYS. THE HAIR-DO IN THE VIDEO WILL NAIL HIM.
moonbat betty
August 12th, 2009
1:26 pm
Obama should hold a press conference today to let the world know what he thinks happened.
Maybe he could invite the perp over for some cold beers tonight.
Question
August 12th, 2009
1:28 pm
Simply a smokescreen to cover Scott’s ranting and raving during his townhall meeting where he likely didn’t want to be confused with the facts….
Joey
August 12th, 2009
1:28 pm
If the person who did this is opposed to National Healthcare, he is so stupid that he should lose the privilege to vote.
If the person who did this supports National Healthcare, he is a true Democrat Patriot. A Progressive man of the People. A H&C Hero.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
August 12th, 2009
1:29 pm
The perp is a nut job – two issue guy hates the coloured and loves The nazis\ron paul – neither mainstream liberal or conservative – yet the liberal media will paint the perp as a conservative – this will get a lot of press, but the media won’t take a moment to write about the nascent enemies of the state list (which see fishy email saga) maintained by Comrade Obumbler and his liberal Schutzetaffel – that’s the true terror, Jay – not some nut with a can of spray paint
Scooter
August 12th, 2009
1:35 pm
Wyld, he will painted as a racist too!
Joey
August 12th, 2009
1:36 pm
Taxpayer:
Are you seriously writing that you have seen no examples of Jay demonizing the Right in his Commentaries?
Or are you just saying he does not do at least one each day?
I Report/ I Am The Mob (-: You Whine )-:
August 12th, 2009
1:42 pm
whiner, you seem to be conveniently forgetting that the person who said the original bible-thumper-ruining-the-party quote was, in fact, a republican.
BSinUK- Yes, I know, and bookman hid behind her.
Say, didn’t you just tell us the Paglia is not a democrat even though she voted democrat and now you are telling us Parker is a Republican even though she voted democrat?
Are you spinning in circles or what?
TGT
August 12th, 2009
1:44 pm
By Bill Sammon today:
News outlets that are focusing on the incendiary rhetoric of conservatives outside President Obama’s town hall meeting Tuesday ignored the incendiary rhetoric — and even violence — of liberals outside an appearance by former President George W. Bush in 2002.
When Bush visited Portland, Ore., for a fundraiser, protesters stalked his motorcade, assailed his limousine and stoned a car containing his advisers. Chanting “Bush is a terrorist!”, the demonstrators bullied passers-by, including gay softball players and a wheelchair-bound grandfather with multiple sclerosis.
One protester even brandished a sign that seemed to advocate Bush’s assassination. The man held a large photo of Bush that had been doctored to show a gun barrel pressed against his temple.
“BUSH: WANTED, DEAD OR ALIVE,” read the placard, which had an X over the word “ALIVE.”
Another poster showed Bush’s face with the words: “F— YOU, MOTHERF—ER!”
A third sign urged motorists to “HONK IF YOU HATE BUSH.” A fourth declared: “CHRISTIAN FASCISM,” with a swastika in place of the letter S in each word.
Read more here.
Finn McCool
August 12th, 2009
1:45 pm
I’m not a Republican but I registered as one to vote against the Christian Coalition guy in the Republican primary a few years back.
Does that make me a Republican?
GOP is gone
August 12th, 2009
1:45 pm
If he has a paunch and wears wing tips, Byll did it.
david wayne osedach
August 12th, 2009
1:49 pm
Those ubiquitous security cameras pay off! Here in San Diego they have them in all the buses and trolleys as well as the stops and stations.
lovelyliz
August 12th, 2009
1:58 pm
Security camera may solve swastika question
Yeah right.
Like a state official of Hawaii presenting an official copy of President Obama’s birth certificate was going to “prove” that he had been born in the USA and that our legal and rightful president is in fact a black man.
lovelyliz
August 12th, 2009
2:01 pm
And there’s nothing anyone can do to convince these folks. You could hand them, in person, the original birth certificate and have a video of Obama emerging from the womb with Don Ho singing in the background … and they still wouldn’t believe it.
Taxpayer
August 12th, 2009
2:02 pm
Taxpayer:
Are you seriously writing that you have seen no examples of Jay demonizing the Right in his Commentaries?
Or are you just saying he does not do at least one each day?
I cannot recall a single example of Jay “demonizing” another.
Normal
August 12th, 2009
2:06 pm
Get Real
August 12th, 2009
1:12 pm
Where was Gandalf at that night?
Shaving his legs…
Mrs. Godzilla
August 12th, 2009
2:06 pm
Taxpayer
I looked up demonize just to be sure….but I can’t say I remember
Jay ever suggesting righties had cloven hoofs or horns.
Course I do miss some days…..
Tom
August 12th, 2009
2:08 pm
This is nothing more than typical behavior from the weak apostles of hate who make up the Republiscum Cult. No more – no less.
RealityKing
August 12th, 2009
2:13 pm
People who support massive increases in government influnce shouldn’t be surprised when they’re compared to Hitler.
Normal
August 12th, 2009
2:14 pm
SCOOTER: To answer your earlier question. The swastika is a symbol of hate because of Germany’s “final” solution toward Jews. The FBI investigates hate crimes, not grafitti. If this dude was captured on camera doing this, then it won’t matter what side of the political fence he came from. He will be prosecuted for a hate crime.
Taxpayer
August 12th, 2009
2:16 pm
I looked up demonize just to be sure….but I can’t say I remember
Jay ever suggesting righties had cloven hoofs or horns.
Or, in the broader sense, even comparing someone to Hitler. Not that I have not seen some folks compare others to Hitler though.
redneck recluse
August 12th, 2009
2:17 pm
Catch this conspiracy…..
” The communist dictator Hugo Chavez way back in 2004 purchased the Sequoia software that runs our voting machines and the mainstream media won’t report any of it — not even Fox because Saudi Arabia bought a percentage of Fox in 2007. ”
No, you go find it yourself.
I won’t tell, you go find it.
stands for decibels
August 12th, 2009
2:17 pm
TGT, don’t you think it’s kind of odd that Bill Sammon doesn’t have a link to the story describing all these inflammatory signs and nasty behavior?
I mean, he’s “vice president of news and the Washington managing editor of FOX News Channel.” Presumably he has Interwebs on his computer.
My first reaction to this was, “2002…ok, probably late 2002, after the mid-terms, after the GOP have run their ads against the likes of Max Cleland, and Bush is trying to enlist support for the Iraq War Resolution?
Funny how Sammon doesn’t mention any of that. Maybe it’s because we’d then have to compare the respective topics of protest? And come to some informed conclusions?
stands for decibels
August 12th, 2009
2:21 pm
Not that I have not seen some folks compare others to Hitler though.
Well yes. In 2004 Moveon.org caught all kinds of deserved grief for briefly posting a submitted-by-a-reader anti-Bush campaign ad that used Nazi imagery to defame the President.
Notice I say “deserved.” They never should have put it online. That kind of stupidity deserves to be condemned.
Scooter
August 12th, 2009
2:22 pm
Normal,now I see. That’s a serious crime. I wouldn’t want to be in that guy’s shoes if he gets caught!Whew!
ty webb
August 12th, 2009
2:27 pm
Hate crime? what if it was someone on Scott’s side of the debate? is it still considered a hate crime? if their intent was to make it look like a real “hater” committed the act, then the perp did not have any hate as a motivation for said crime. Such is the problem with so called “hate crimes”.
Normal
August 12th, 2009
2:28 pm
George American
August 12th, 2009
1:24 pm
GEORGE: I bet you wish you had hair…
Mrs. Godzilla
August 12th, 2009
2:29 pm
ty webb
don’t be silly! it’s a hate crime whoever painted it.
no wiggle room for either side.
Normal
August 12th, 2009
2:32 pm
ty webb
August 12th, 2009
2:27 pm
Try wearing a swastika in Germany….It’ll get you 10 years as a hate crime.
Joey
August 12th, 2009
2:33 pm
Taxpayer:
Any of those comparisions of others to Hitler come from Progressives or Democrats or Liberals?
ty webb
August 12th, 2009
2:33 pm
Mrs. G,
Hate crimes deal with intent/motivation for a crime, right?
ty webb
August 12th, 2009
2:36 pm
Come on. I’m not condoning the vandalism. I think it’s stupid if done by either side.
Joey
August 12th, 2009
2:39 pm
Taxpayer:
One definition of demonize is: Characterize as evil, cruel or inhuman.
Are you certain that you cannot recall and instant where Jay has characterized the Right as evil or cruel?
Taxpayer
August 12th, 2009
2:49 pm
Taxpayer:
Any of those comparisions of others to Hitler come from Progressives or Democrats or Liberals?
I believe dB has already answered that one by example.