The Milwaukee-area Election Day tire slashing defendents went on trial today, accused of slashing the tires of twenty-five vehicles being rented by the Wisconsin Republican Party to get out the vote. The crime carries a penalty of $10,000 per defendant and 3 1/2 years in jail.
Hooliganism has no place in American elections. Hopefully the courts will agree and make an example out of these five activists for damaging the property of others. It's too bad that they couldn't express their political views without destroying stuff.
Political violence should be a thing of the past, but it reared its ugly head in 2004. How many political election offices were damaged across the country? How many were burned? Shot at? Ransacked? It seemed like many areas reported problems.
How many houses and private vehicles were damaged because Bush's or Kerry's name were on the yard signs in front of those houses or on the bumpers of those vehicles? For that matter, how many yard signs were stolen?
Stupid people do stupid things, and using violence to convince someone that that the aggressor is right is a sign of serious immaturity. It's too bad we can't put people like that into an incubator for a few years and then take them out when they're done growing up mentally. They ought to learn to use that space between their ears for rational thought and communicating political discourse instead of acting like idiots.
Violence does nothing to further the democratic process.
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