Calif. man arrested over calls to Pelosi By Pete Williams Justice correspondent
The FBI has arrested a California man accused of making harassing and obscene phone calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her support for the recently passed health care bill.
FBI spokesman Joseph Schadler identified the man as Gregory Lee Giusti, 48, of San Francisco. He was arrested at his home shortly after noon Wednesday.
While the charges are under seal, a federal official said he will be charged with violating a federal law against making calls "to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any person at the called number or who receives the communications."
The charge carries a maximum two-year sentence.
Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that the suspect made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, as well as to her husband's business office. They say he recited her home address and said if she wanted to see it again, she should not support the health care overhaul bill that since has been enacted. ...
You neglected to include this part of the MSNBC article you linked to:
Giusti has been in trouble previously for making threats. In 2004, he pleaded no contest in San Mateo County, just south of San Francisco, to a felony charge of making criminal threats and was sentenced to a year in jail and three years of supervised probation.
The 2004 arrest occurred on a commuter train after Giusti was kicked off for not paying his fare, Steve Wagstaffe, chief deputy district attorney for San Mateo County, said. Giusti became enraged, started screaming and threatened to kill the conductor, who called in the sheriff, Wagstaffe said.
So, rather than some sort of "tea partier" or "militia" member (the alleged topics of you thread, remember) it appears what we have here is a distrubed individual with a history of making threats, going back four years before the tea party or Sarah Palin were allegedly whipping up anti-Democrat fervor.
The Hutaree militia and the rising risk of far-right violence.
The guy sounds like he's one of the far right crazies to me.
Your initial comment on this thread was as follows:
Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
If you want to do crap like crosshairs on political leaders you have that right but I also have the right to judge such actions.
It followed your posting, apparently approvingly, of an editorial that stated
Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
The vitriolic, anti-government hate speech that is spewed on talk radio every day -- and, quite regularly, at Tea Party rallies -- is calibrated not to inform but to incite.
So, clearly, your intent with this topic was to argue that Palin, talk radio and the tea parties were inciting violence.
And, of course, we all know that you've since been made to look like a fool by the fact that the DNC did the same sort of map as Palin.
So now you're citing a threat made against Pelosi by a clearly disturbed individual with a history of threats unrelated to politics and trying to tie it to your initial thesis. And leaving the individual's history out even though it was originally in the article you linked to.
Man charged with threatening Wash. senator Sen. Patty Murray was target of menacing calls over health bill vote By Pete Williams Justice correspondent NBC News updated 4:22 p.m. CT, Tues., April 6, 2010
Federal prosecutors have charged a Washington state man, Charles Alan Wilson, with repeatedly making threatening calls to Sen. Patty Murray's Seattle office, threatening to kill her because of her support for the health care bill.
FBI agents say they arrested Wilson after getting telephone records and calling him to confirm that his voice matched the one left on voicemail in Sen. Murray's office.
The investigation began in late March, after the health care bill was passed, when a staff member notified the FBI that a man who'd been calling the Seattle office for months, leaving messages after hours, had begun making overt threats to kill her.
In one message, according to court documents, he said, "I hope you realize, there's a target on your back now. There are many people out there who want you dead. ... Kill the ----ing senator. I'll donate the lead." In another, he describes himself as "a senior citizen on Social Security and Medicare" and says, "I want to thank you so much, very, very much, for signing my death warrant."
FBI agents checked the office phone records against the times the voicemails were received, leading to Wilson's number in Selah, Washington. As an additional check, an agent posing as a volunteer from a fictitious group opposed to the bill, Patients United Now, called Wilson on April 1 and talked to him for 14 minutes. He said he "hated" the new law and that he had repeatedly called Sen. Murray's office to complain, referring to her with a phrase, "sneaker shoes Murray," also often used on the voicemails.
The FBI also determined that Wilson, 64, has a handgun registered to him and a valid concealed weapons permit.
He has been charged with threatening a federal official, a felony carrying a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. ...
From the MSNBC story you just linked to (and cut from your post):
Both Republicans and Democrats have been the targets of violent threats. A man who had used a Web video to announce his intention to kill Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., was arrested on March 29. Cantor, a top House Republican leader, opposed the health care bill.
In one message, according to court documents, he said, "I hope you realize, there's a target on your back now.
Well, there's nothing to this then. As we all know, targets aren't in any way able to be linked with violence.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
... Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that the suspect made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, as well as to her husband's business office. They say he recited her home address and said if she wanted to see it again, she should not support the health care overhaul bill that since has been enacted. ...
whomod content User some RKMB'ers are Obsessed with Black People Hmmm? 5000+ posts 7 seconds ago Reading a post Forum: Politics and Current Events Thread: The Hutaree militia and the rising risk of far-right violence
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
I understand why Doc has to go the fake quote route.
You have no sense of humor.
Besides, it wasn't a fake quote. It was a real one. It was just selectively edited much like the articles you post.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
I understand why Doc has to go the fake quote route.
Where did he post a fake quote?
On 04/07/10 10:48 PM you posted the following verbatim (emphasis added):
Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man
Quote:
Man charged with threatening Wash. senator Sen. Patty Murray was target of menacing calls over health bill vote By Pete Williams Justice correspondent NBC News updated 4:22 p.m. CT, Tues., April 6, 2010
Federal prosecutors have charged a Washington state man, Charles Alan Wilson, with repeatedly making threatening calls to Sen. Patty Murray's Seattle office, threatening to kill her because of her support for the health care bill.
FBI agents say they arrested Wilson after getting telephone records and calling him to confirm that his voice matched the one left on voicemail in Sen. Murray's office.
The investigation began in late March, after the health care bill was passed, when a staff member notified the FBI that a man who'd been calling the Seattle office for months, leaving messages after hours, had begun making overt threats to kill her.
In one message, according to court documents, he said, "I hope you realize, there's a target on your back now. There are many people out there who want you dead. ... Kill the ----ing senator. I'll donate the lead." In another, he describes himself as "a senior citizen on Social Security and Medicare" and says, "I want to thank you so much, very, very much, for signing my death warrant."
FBI agents checked the office phone records against the times the voicemails were received, leading to Wilson's number in Selah, Washington. As an additional check, an agent posing as a volunteer from a fictitious group opposed to the bill, Patients United Now, called Wilson on April 1 and talked to him for 14 minutes. He said he "hated" the new law and that he had repeatedly called Sen. Murray's office to complain, referring to her with a phrase, "sneaker shoes Murray," also often used on the voicemails.
The FBI also determined that Wilson, 64, has a handgun registered to him and a valid concealed weapons permit.
He has been charged with threatening a federal official, a felony carrying a maximum penalty of ten years in prison. ...
Doc was, and rightly so, pointing out the irony of you posting this article after you all but insisted that a target didn't connotate violence the way that "crosshairs" supposedly did.
For example:
Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man 04/02/10 07:53 PM
A target isn't the same thing as a crosshairs. All you did was find the closest thing you could to a crosshairs and declare it the same. It's not....
Originally Posted By: Matter-eater Man 04/04/10 10:11 PM
I think you can "target" somebody without a gun being involved.
Here you go, M E M, more evidence that conservatives are violent right-wing haters:
Oh wow. Wait a minute... those are DEMOCRATS throwing eggs at a Tea Party bus.
And then when the cops came by to see who unlawfully threw eggs, the Dems tried to blame it on the REPUBLICANS who were present. And the Republicans proved they were innocent by playing back the videotaped event for the cops to see it was THE DEMOCRATS who lied and actually threw the eggs.
Liberals who bemoan discrimination, intolerance, restraint of Constitutional freedoms, and promotion of hatred toward various abberant minorities, have absolutely no problem with discriminating against, being intolerant of, restricting Constitutional freedoms of, and directing hate-filled scapegoat rhetoric against conservatives.
EXACTLY what they accuse Republicans/conservatives of doing, is EXACTLY what liberals/Democrats do themselves, to those who oppose their beliefs.
Here's the same Nevada Tea party rally, where conservative Andrew Breitbart is threatened just for standing there and exercising his free speech rights, by those models of democracy and peaceful demonstration, the Democrats:
The guy with the mustache (who threatened Breitbart) also misdirected a Tea Party bus away from the rally, and gloatingly bragged about it. He was later revealed to be a member of a local electricians' union, a brownshirt tool of the Democrats.
And here's the same white-mustached union thug, ranting about class warfare and how rich people are going to pay!
I'm so confused, all these peaceful Democrats standing around weren't embarassed at all by what this guy said, and actually agreed with him and thought he made a great statement. You'd almost think that... ALL of these Democrats present have a hatred of rich people, embrace class warfare, and approve of any underhanded tactics (threats, egg-throwing, misdirection) that advance their cause, while undermining the right to assembly and free speech of the Tea Party members.
I must be indoctrinated by right wing hate. It all seems so obvious to me...
by Matt Kibbe The Left is escalating their attacks against Republicans, conservatives and the Tea Party movement. The movement that the Left and the media have laughed off for over a year now as a radical fringe of racists, bigots, homophobes, and domestic terrorists has come to pose a serious threat to the entitlement establishment and to the agenda that the Democrats promised their base. Now, they’re lashing out. They’re fabricating stories which are later disavowed. There is talk of infiltrating upcoming events. Attacks on organizations and individuals have increased.
To provide an example, the FreedomWorks office recently received this postcard in the mail (offensive language):
The return address listed Kim Hendren. Kim Hendren is a Republican in the Arkansas state legislature who is running for US Senate in 2010. To state the obvious, it would bring stupid to a new level to send something like this on an open postcard and list your name and address – especially if you were running for office. After we received a second installment of the hate-filled postcards, the FreedomWorks staff did some digging. We contacted Kim Hernden’s office and questioned him about it, and he filled us in on the smear campaigns against him. He’s been on the receiving end of relentless political attacks throughout his campaign, and was honestly not surprised that someone had taken to writing hate-speech in his name.
The attacks on the good people that are showing up are being used to change the subject. This is race baiting in reverse, and it needs to stop. The Democratic machine has smeared the Tea Party from the very beginning, saying that these people aren’t real and are driven by race and hate. Nancy Pelosi even went as far as suggesting that they were Nazis. These tactics are damaging to the fabric that holds us all together as a country.
So how do we fight back? Retaliation is not the answer. Going toe to toe with those who seek to destroy you rarely proves beneficial. This is our opportunity as a movement and as lovers of liberty to rise above it and come out on top. Show up at your local events and remember why you’re there.
Originally Posted By: Moscow Central Committee, 1943
Members and front organizations must continually embarass, discredit and degrade our critics.When obstructionists become too irritating, label them as fascist, or Nazi, or anti-Semitic... The association will, after enough repetition, become 'fact' in the public mind.
And by the way, tactics of slander and misdirection are basic tenets of Saul Alinsky's Rules For Radicals in advancing the liberal agenda.
Of which Barack Obama is a student of.
And Hilary Clinton wrote her masters thesis on Alinsky. More than that, Hillary Clinton met Alinsky and almost took a job working for him, and regularly corresponded with him while he was writing his book Rules For Radicals, on how to use deception to advance a leftist agenda.
But I'm sure that most liberal Democrats reject these tactics. It just seems like they all embrace these tactics of intimidation, slander and sabotage of their political opposition. Yeah, it just seems that way...
Mom: Son who threatened Pelosi got radical ideas from Fox News By Raw Story Thursday, April 8th, 2010 -- 9:55 am
It may not be a story you'll hear about if you watch America's "fair and balanced" news network.
In an interview on a California ABC News affiliate, the mother of a man arrested for threatening House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) blamed Fox News for exacerbating her son's mental illness, saying it encouraged his behavior.
"Greg frequently gets in with a group of people that have really radical ideas and that are not consistent with myself or the rest of the family, which gets him into problems," the 83-year-old mother of the accused man, Eleanor Giusti, said. "I say Fox News, or all of those that are really radical, and he, that's where he comes from." ...
Giusti [is] also the subject of a lawsuit by a San Francisco church which alleges he has engaged in a "campaign of harassment" of church members, and has been convicted of petty theft and welfare fraud.
So...are you next going to claim that Fox news encouraged him to commit petty theft, welfare fraud and anti-church harassment?
Because none of those sound like "right wing" ideas. Especially harassing a church.
Let's face it. This guy's mom is "blaming" Fox news the same way that some other guy's mom "blames" video games, horror movies, Scorcese movies or "Catcher in the Rye" for her son's mental illness/criminal behavior.
It was just selectively edited much like the articles you post.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet."
