Do we need any more proof now of how perilous the American political “debate” slipperly slope is becoming?
Albemarle County fire marshals and the FBI have confirmed that the gas line cut at Congressman Tom Perriello’s brother’s house was cut intentional.
The vandalism was discovered by the Perriellos, who returned to the home in Peacock Hill near Ivy, smelled gas and then discovered that the supply hose connecting a gas tank to a grill had been cut.
Investigators believe the leaking gas could have posed a danger had there been an ignition source nearby.
Perriello says, “People who are doing these things that are clearly outside the law. As my very conservative attorney general said, these people need to be prosecuted, not brought into the campaign room.”
Leaders from both parties are condemning the threats and vandalism members of Congress have experienced since the passage of the controversial health care overhaul over the weekend.
As indeed they should. Now it people at political rallies and talk show hosts can attempt to refrain political debate so that every issue isn’t described in life and death terms, it’ll be a start. Because cutting someone’s gas line is potentially framing it in death terms…
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.