The True Definition of Cowardice

As a result of voting for the recently passed health care bill, certain Democrats have been experiencing scary, dangerous and irresponsible reactions for their support of the legislation. Vandals broke windows at the local offices of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY). Slaughter also reported that an individual contacted her office last week and promised to "send snipers to kill the children of the members who voted yes". Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) has received voice mail messages containing violent threats such as "You're dead", "We know where you live" and "We’ll get you". Rep. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) was forced to change his personal cell phone number after Gary Emineth, Chairman of the Republican Party of North Dakota, provided that number and the contact information for Pomeroy's office in Washington, D.C. to delegates and a television audience as Emineth spoke at the state Republican convention. And if those stories aren't frightening enough, here are three more that will surely make you scratch your head.

First on the list is right wing blogger (and resident nutjob) Mike Vanderboegh who posted these comments on his web site: "If you wish to send a message that [Nancy] Pelosi and her party cannot fail to hear, break their windows. Break them NOW. Break them and run to break again. Break them under cover of night. Break them in broad daylight. Break them and await arrest in willful, principled civil disobedience. Break them with rocks. Break them with slingshots. Break them with baseball bats. But BREAK THEM. The time has come to take your life, your liberty and that of your children and grandchildren into your own two hands and ACT. It is, after all, more humane than shooting them in self defense." While he receives private health insurance through his wife's employer, Vanderboegh ironically is unemployed and currently receives monthly disability checks for his supposed congestive heart failure, diabetes and hypertension. Since he rants uncontrollably against the new health care bill, I wonder if he will stop accepting those checks from the evil socialist federal government. I doubt it--most cowards wouldn't.

The second incident involved Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-OH) and the Committee to Rethink Reform. The organization used a photo of Driehaus and his two young daughters in a newspaper ad urging him to vote against any health care reform bill which included federal funding for abortion. (Of course, this despicable action is completely hypocritical. While the organization wants to protect unborn children, they don't seem to have an issue with putting Driehaus's daughters in harm's way by publishing their faces in "The Cincinnati Enquirer".) But the most offensive aspect of this entire situation may be multiple statements from Rep. John Boehner (R-OH). During an interview last week with the National Review Online, Boehner declared that, if Driehaus voted for the health care bill (which he eventually did), Driehaus "may be a dead man. He can’t go home to the west side of Cincinnati." However, on Thursday at his weekly news conference at the United States Capitol, Boehner claimed that "I've said countless times that it's possible to disagree without being disagreeable". Really? Boehner, in an cowardly effort to deflect attention away from his remarks regarding Driehaus, also had this to say: "No one saw this quote until Congressman Driehaus and other people made an issue of it."

The last event, which occurred in my state of Virginia, is truly gutless and clearly the most infuriating of the three. In an apparent attempt to foster the Lynchburg Tea Party's "mutual commitment of respect and understanding", tea bagger Michael Troxel posted the home address of Rep. Thomas Perriello (D-VA) on his blog "just in case any of his friends and neighbors want to drop by and say hi and express their thanks regarding his vote for health care". Troxel also uttered that he was promoting such behavior because nothing communicates your stance better than "a good face to face chat. It has a much more personal touch to it." With that being said, due to the fact that he is not only a coward but also an idiot as well, Troxel failed miserably at putting his Bachelor's degree in Print Journalism from Liberty University (the educational institution founded by Jerry Falwell), as well as his experience as a staff member of the university's newspaper, to good use. Why? Because Troxel, instead of posting Perriello's home address, actually published the home address of Perriello's brother Bo. Honest mistake, right? Maybe. (Although I'm still not sure which half baked web site Troxel used to obtain the incorrect information. I'm also not sure if Troxel has ever uncovered the Perriello's actual address.) However, the problem with Troxel's error is that Bo lives with his wife and four children under the age of eight at that address. As if that wasn't enough, both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local authorities started an investigation after a severed propane line was discovered on Bo's property. I'm sure it was just a coincidence--that sort of thing happens all of the time.

There are a couple of side notes on the Perriello/Troxel story. After Troxel posted the address, Nigel Coleman, the organizer of the Danville Tea Party, did the right thing by avoiding due diligence altogether and verifying if the information was correct. Coleman instead decided to just cut and paste the address and then posted it on his Facebook page. At the same time, when he was informed about Troxel's fantastic investigative skills, Coleman's response was more than typical (but cowardly nonetheless): "Do you mean I posted his brother's address on my Facebook? Oh well, collateral damage." When Coleman was informed of the severed propane line, Coleman was "shocked" and "almost speechless" but also uncertain if this event was related to the posting of the home's address.

Last but not least, Kurt Feigel, a blogger and one of Troxel's local colleagues, justified Troxel's actions in an interview with POLITICO.com: "We should be protesting on his front lawn. He betrayed his district." Of course, Feigel is the same coward who operates the SendARope channel on YouTube on which he, among other things, encourages others to threateningly send ropes to politicians with which they disagree.