Lawn Wars

A short time ago, on a lawn not too far away......

Instapundit is doing sneaky reporting regarding the vandalization of Bush campaign offices. He's starting to look like Dan Rather. Present only the facts that make your case. Ignore evidence to the contrary. Sound familiar? Why vandalize the truth?

Help me Obi-wan Kenobi!

Smash isn't helping, either.

It's a polarization of both sides causing the vandalism.

Before everybody goes off on the usual "Liberals are the Anti-Christ!" tangent again, we might want to consider at least a meager attempt in objectivity.

Don't read just the stories that confirm the conclusions you have already made.

A quick Google search easily brings up plenty of articles about Kerry/Edwards offices being vandalized, and signs being stolen off lawns. Here are just two of them but there are plenty more to choose from.

There are additional stories at the bottom of the page. Attacks on campaign offices, etc.

The fact is that with the country so strongly divided this kind of behavior is inevitable. Now of course the assumption people will take away from Instapundits & Smash's blogs is that it's just the Liberals that are doing this.

Perhaps we wouldn't be so polarized if pundits would stop pouring gasoline into fires? Because sooner or later, BOOM!

From Pensacola FL:

Officials: Hundreds of John Kerry yard signs stolen in Pensacola

Hundreds of yard signs supporting Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry have been stolen and vandalized in this heavily Republican region known as "Bush Country," officials said, prompting some Kerry supporters to hang signs from trees to deter burglars. About 350 signs have been stolen, according to Panhandle for Kerry organizers, which met with Pensacola police Monday. The group has distributed nearly 3,400 signs. Police said they would increase patrols and Panhandle for Kerry members planned to conduct neighborhood watches, said the group’s chairman, Jerry Holt. "We have the availability, the funds and the will to replace every sign when we find out it’s missing," he said. Pensacola resident Anne Bennett lost four Kerry signs from her front yard before putting out a homemade sign that read "Nice people don’t steal or vandalize." She hung her latest sign from a pine tree limb 15 feet in the air. "It’s like you don’t have a right to participate in the public debate unless you are in the majority, and that is not one of the principles on which our country was founded," she said. Northwest Florida is a Bible Belt region filled with military bases, veterans and Republican voters. In 2000, President George W. Bush beat Democrat Al Gore by better than a 2-1 margin. Those caught stealing signs could be charged with petty theft or criminal mischief, said Bonnie Jones, Escambia County supervisor of elections. Holt said he doesn’t believe the thieves were affiliated with the local Republican Party.

From Albuquerque:

Vandals Take Kerry Signs

"The Associated Press WHITE ROCK— Campaign signs for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and running mate John Edwards have been vandalized in parts of Los Alamos County or replaced with signs for President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Some 40 Kerry-Edwards signs have been lost in the past four weeks, Los Alamos County Democratic Party chairman Abram Jacobson said. But he said an outbreak of vandalism Friday night and early Saturday morning was much more planned. Craig and Barbara Eberhart were among those hit. "It's a misrepresentation of what we believe in" to replace the Democrats' signs with Republican ones, Barbara Eberhart said. The vandals even stapled a Bush sign to her wooden fence. "I called the police and the FBI," Craig Eberhart said. "It's not the cost but what they're doing to my rights." The vandalism infringes on freedom of speech and expression, he said. League of Women Voters board member Rebecca Shankland accompanied Jacobson on Monday as an observer on a tour of White Rock homes where political signs were destroyed. She said the vandals were prepared since they came out with Bush signs and staple guns. "Political dialogue is the essence of democracy. Without it we are lost," Shankland said. "I am here because the league is taking this very seriously. We would be just as upset if this had happened on the other side." Signs for local Democratic candidates were left alone, Jacobson said. County Republican Party chairwoman JoAnn Johnson denounced the vandalism. "If I find out who is responsible, I will let them know this is not the Republican way," she said in a telephone call from New York City, where the National Republican Convention is under way. Homeowner Jo Starling said she was outraged by the replacement of her Kerry-Edwards sign with one from the other side. "This was adults," she said. "They knew what to do. They had their signs and waited until the cover of darkness to do their meanness."

More stories:

Lafayette, Louisiana
Vandals target local Democrats’ office for second time

Grand Rapids, Michigan
Vandals smash window at Grand Rapids HQ of Kerry campaign

Tennessee
Bush, Kerry signs can vanish as fast as they pop up

Comments

[Mark L.]

So remind me again how many times someone has taken shots at a Democratic HQ. So far, Republican HQs in both WV and TN have been subject to fusilades of bullets.

Not of, course that I would suggest that there is no difference between shooting up a campaign HQ and, say . . . stealing a yard sign. I mean wrong is just wrong, right? The magnitude is unimportant, I guess.

Especially for the party of gun control.

[Gryph]

"Especially for the party of gun control."

So obviously the people who shot up the Republican office weren't Democrats. ;-)

And BTW, if you follow those links in the post you will find that one of the Democrat's offices was set on fire. A bit worse than just breaking a window.

[Mark L]

Oops, my bad. *Eveeryone* knows Democrats don't know how to use firearms. (Look at Kerry's ideas about safe practices at his firarms photo ops.) Musta been *REPUBLICANS* that shot up the Republican HQs!! Ya think?