Obama to Supporters: “Get in Their Face”; One Supporter Responds: “Mind if I Use My Knife?”; Update: Hoax

Update, 10/24/08: Ashley Todd’s story was a complete fabrication. I’ll leave the post up, but I’m turning off comments because I can’t spend all day forwarding death threats against Ashley to the authorities. If you have something you need to get off your chest, use the contact form.

Update, 10/25/08: More on this racist cretin’s politics, including her participation in the Ron Paul campaign.  I was inclined to believe she was a self-absorbed loser looking for attention, but the Ron Paul connection screams nutjob.  At least she’s not a real McCain supporter.

**********

Remember when Barack Obama told his supporters that they should seek out independents and Republicans “to argue with them and get in their face”? Well, at least one Obama supporter has reportedly taken that battle cry quite literally. Via Drudge comes this terrifying story of a young McCain volunteer named Ashley Todd who was savagely attacked for her political allegiances:

Pittsburgh Police are investigating a report by a campaign staffer for John McCain that she was mugged and the letter B was cut into her face following a robbery in Bloomfield last night.

Police say the 20-year-old woman, who is from Texas, reported that the attack occurred around 9 p.m. after she withdrew $60 from an ATM at Liberty Avenue and Pearl Street.

She said a man armed with a knife demanded her money. She gave it to him and began walking toward her car, which has McCain stickers.

Although the robber had moved away from her, he became agitated when he saw her car, punched her in the back of the head, pushed her to the ground and carved a B into her face, she reported.

Fox News reports that John McCain called Ashley this afternoon, and the Obama campaign extended their thoughts as well. KDKA says Sarah Palin also called the victim.

The right side of the blogosphere is already rife with suspicion that this brutal attack could be a hoax and that it has “a Tawana Brawley feel.” Some find it suspect that the incident occurred outside the range of ATM surveillance cameras and suspicious that the victim refused medical treatment at the scene. Other skeptics point to the fact that a photograph of the woman shows a backwards “B” carved into her face, as though she used a mirror to mutilate herself.

Others are inclined to believe the report and think it’s unlikely a woman would intentionally scar herself that way. Rob Taylor reminds us it ain’t easy to blacken your own eyes. HillBuzz is demanding that Obama condemn the actions of his follower and Gateway Pundit is horrified.

My thoughts go out to Ashley Todd, and I hope this incident doesn’t deter her from continuing to be involved in the political process.

But here’s my big picture take: It doesn’t matter whether Ashley was genuinely attacked for her political beliefs. What counts is that the story seems entirely plausible, and that’s scary. It’s entirely believable that an Obama supporter would viciously maim a McCain volunteer because we expect that behavior from people who delight in smearing the minor children of politicians.

Even if Ashley’s story proves to be completely false, ask yourself whether you believe it could happen. Do you want to vote with people you expect to physically attack their political opposites, or against them?

Update: Michelle Malkin also calls b.s. I still say the veracity of Ashley Todd’s story is neither here nor there. It’s the notion that vicious behavior from one of Obama’s enraged followers isn’t at all shocking that should give you pause.

Published by Jenn Q. Public on October 23, 2008 at 6:20 pm

Filed Under Election 2008, Liberal Absurdity, Misogyny

Comments

51 Responses to “Obama to Supporters: “Get in Their Face”; One Supporter Responds: “Mind if I Use My Knife?”; Update: Hoax”

  1. Jenn Q. Public on October 24th, 2008 3:38 pm

    Actually, Brian, Ronald Reagan’s fiscal policies were the most successful of the 20th century. He was responsible for the largest peacetime economic boom in our country’s history, he lowered taxes, increased federal government revenues, increased median income levels, and created more than 34 million jobs. Everyone benefited, not just the rich. We now we have the advantage of distance and hindsight that will allow us to revisit and replicate the Reagan boom.

    I was a young kid during the Reagan years so I didn’t learn about his policies until much later, and if you’ve discounted them because he was a Republican, they’re really worth a second look.

    But look, either McCain or Obama is going to be president in a few short months and we will see firsthand whether their economic policies are good for the country.

    Everyone: thank you for the comments. I am finding it difficult to keep up with the moderation queue (and the deletion of threats and other vitriol that detracts from civil discourse) so I am disabling comments for the time being.