Partisans Behaving Badly

Today, Michelle Malkin brings us a collection of stories about Kerry-Edwards supporters causing mayhem and destruction. For the record, no matter which side of the aisle you favor, I am opposed to people breaking the law and causing injury or destruction of property in the name of partisan protest.

Her stories include a group of AFL-CIO protesters storming a Bush/Cheney office in Florida. They apparently drew graffiti on a poster of Bush and dumped some letters on the floor. This sort of behavior doesn't help anyone's cause. There are also stories of shots being fired into another Bush office, a Democrat punching a Republican, and some incidents of Bush/Cheney signs being burned.

Unfortunately, Michelle really needs to start reading the stories she links to before trumpeting them as proof of a violent liberal conspiracy. Take a good look at those links and read the entire articles. They aren't that long.

First we have the storming of the Florida office. The office was open, and the people weren't really trespassing at the time they entered. They should *not* have defaced the poster, but the letters they "dumped" were all intended for that office and opposed changes in overtime regulations. It is also worth noting that the injuries sustained in this incident were to the protesters except for one GOP volunteer who's injuries were described as "minor." They should have stayed outside to protest, but this was hardly the storming of the Bastille.

The story of the windows being shot out of another office is certainly disturbing, but the article states multiple times that neither the police nor the office workers have any idea of who the shooter was. No suspects. Yes, it could have been a partisan liberal. It also could have been an angry ex-wife of somebody who worked there or a drunken maniac who thought it was the office of Bozo the Clown. Malkin, however, doesn't let little details like that slow her down, and just lumps it into her collection as fact that it was a Democrat who did it. Why bother with a trial?

The punching story is one where there is a clear cut case of illegal activity. The Democrat in that report definitely threw the first punch at the Republican. Violence is not the answer to any problem, he deserves to be prosecuted for that, and apparently he is. However, as is so often the case, there's a lot more to that story than meets the eye if you only read Malkin's description. The attacker first punched a cardboard poster of George W. Bush. The "victim" in this case followed him out into the street and began loudly berating him. And after the attacker threw the first punch, the "victim" punched him multiple times in return, knocked him to the ground and continued to kick the man in the ribs while he lay on the ground until police arrived on the scene. Malkin, of course, mentions none of that.

The sign burning story is, again, just like the shooting story. It was a criminal act of vandalism and the perpetrator should be punished. Unfortunately, just as in the other story, neither the police nor the victim have the slightest idea who set fire to the sign. Malkin convicts local liberals without a trial. The same story also reports that local Democrats cars have had their tires slashed by people who were apparently bothered by the Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers on them. No mention of that in Malkin's report.

One other item of note in Michelle's recent offerings is worthy of mention. In her review of the debate coverage, Michelle takes Wonkette to task and berates her for comparing Vice President Cheney to the Stay Puff Marshmallow man. Fair enough - I can respect anyone's opinion that holders of national office are due at least a minimal amount of respect regardless of how we feel about them. The problem is, she makes this accusation and attack on Wonkette in the same post (and this is the title, mind you) where she endorses and echoes another person's description of Senator John Edwards as "a dog yapping at a grown-up's heels."

Can you spell "IRONY", Michelle? I didn't think so.

Edit: More on this at Dean's World. Dean invites people to send him any instances of Republicans behaving this way. Where to start? The woman dragged out of the Bush rally by her hair? The woman at the RNC who was held down on the ground and kicked repeatedly? There are pictures online for all of them. I'm a bit too busy to send them to Dean just now, but feel free.

EDIT: In the interest of "fair and blanced" editorial coverage, a post has been added of some Republicans behaving badly. It's only fair to give equal time to both parties. This was at the request of Dean at Dean's World.