{"id":15027,"date":"2010-03-25T09:03:57","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T15:03:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=15027"},"modified":"2010-03-25T13:08:53","modified_gmt":"2010-03-25T19:08:53","slug":"violent-acts-and-threats-are-unacceptable-and-un-american","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2010\/03\/violent-acts-and-threats-are-unacceptable-and-un-american\/","title":{"rendered":"Violence is unacceptable – and un-American"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The U.S. Capitol building (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

There are constructive ways to combat the actions of Congress that aren\u2019t violent. Don\u2019t cut gas lines and threaten to assassinate children.<\/h4>\n

Many conservatives threw a fit<\/a> a year ago when a Homeland Security report<\/a> expressed concern about the possibility of violence from right-wing extremists in America.<\/p>\n

But look at what\u2019s happening in the wake of the enacting of historic health-care legislation. A coffin was placed on the lawn in front of the home of Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo., yesterday. And it gets much worse than that. From Politico<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis came after Rep. Tom Perriello\u2019s (D-Va.) brother\u2019s gas lines were cut<\/a>, 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<\/a> of those who voted for health care overhaul.<\/p>\n

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.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At least 10 House Democrats have reported \u201cdeath threats or incidents of harassment or vandalism at their district offices over the past week,\u201d the Washington Post<\/a> is reporting. Bricks have been thrown through windows<\/a>. Calls for the president\u2019s assassination have gone out on Twitter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Heath Haussamen<\/p><\/div>\n

The violent acts and threats against the president and members of Congress who supported health-care reform legislation are not only unacceptable \u2013 they\u2019re simply un-American.<\/p>\n

We are a nation of fierce independence, and I know many who believe the health-care bill threatens that. But we\u2019re also a nation of laws. The bill was approved through a Democratic process that started with the election of a Democratic majority in the House and Senate and of a Democratic president.<\/p>\n

The pendulum swings. It\u2019s been doing that since our nation was founded. It should be no surprise to anyone that Democrats would try to pass reform many conservatives don\u2019t like, just like the previous administration succeeded in securing the approval of legislation that\u2019s abhorrent to many, such as the Patriot Act<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018Heaven forbid, someone will get hurt\u2019<\/h3>\n

I don\u2019t like that, because of the Patriot Act, my bank had to give extra scrutiny several years ago to my application for a home loan, including checking my name against a list of known or suspected terrorists. I personally think that\u2019s an inappropriate intrusion by Big Brother into a private transaction between me and a bank.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m not about to threaten to kill my member of Congress who voted for it, or even think about actually carrying out an act of violence. Instead, our system of government gives us several ways to challenge the actions of Congress. In fact, I just exercised one \u2013 my right to tell Congress I don\u2019t like that provision in the Patriot Act.<\/p>\n

There are constructive ways to combat the actions of Congress that aren\u2019t violent. Don\u2019t cut gas lines and threaten to assassinate children.<\/p>\n

Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., was quoted by Politico<\/a> as saying he knows several House Democrats who have told their spouses to live out of their home districts while the members are in D.C.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this doesn\u2019t get under control in short time, heaven forbid, someone will get hurt,\u201d Hare was quoted as saying. \u201cMy wife is home alone, and I\u2019m worried for her. I am about to have my first grandchild. I don\u2019t want to have to be worried.\u201d<\/p>\n

Republicans should condemn violence<\/h3>\n

As I have written<\/a>, I share the sentiment of many who are concerned about the financial plague that threatens our nation: Our debt and deficit. I still suspect that we\u2019re not yet on the road to recovery. I worry that our bailouts will be as successful as tossing money into a black hole.<\/p>\n

And yet, there are arguments on both sides about whether the health-care bill will help or hurt the nation\u2019s financial health. I personally don\u2019t know. It\u2019s complicated.<\/p>\n

What I do know is that, like it or not, the bill was approved through the deliberative process that starts with elections, works its way through Congress and ends with the president\u2019s signature. And I know there are lawful ways for those who don\u2019t like that to act:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Lobby for legislation that would repeal the bill.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Work for candidates in the upcoming election who would repeal the bill.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Challenge the bill in court.<\/p>\n

America is too polarized. Hysteria runs rampant. Extremism is on the rise. Every Republican member of and candidate for Congress should combat the hysteria today by releasing a statement condemning these violent acts and threats.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the House minority leader has already done that<\/a>. Republican congressional candidates in New Mexico should immediately follow his lead.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, Democratic members who supported the bill should be very, very careful. This is a dangerous time.<\/p>\n

Haussamen bio<\/a> \u2502 Commentary archives<\/a> \u2502 Feed<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every Republican member of and candidate for Congress should condemn the violent acts and threats against the president and members of Congress who supported health-care reform. And Democratic members who supported the bill should be very, very careful.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,10],"tags":[117,116],"class_list":["post-15027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-haussamen-columns","tag-health-care","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15027\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}