Thursday, October 06, 2005

Hate Mail

"Holy Bible King James- Thou Shall Not Kill
Koran Sacred Book of Islam- Thou Shall Kill
Which one would you believe?"


I got my first hate mail yesterday.

I don't mean a moonbat comment on my blog, or a nasty note in my email inbox. I mean a mailed letter, delivered to the door of the house where my family lives.


"Goonsburg, former member left wing radical ACLU
Stop your complaining at least we made it close" (with accompanying crude drawing of SCOTUS)


There are no threats in it. Except for my name (which was made fun of) and address on the envelope, there's nothing in it specific to me or about me. There are sixteen pages of ranting, some hand-written, some type-written and some copied out of books and pamphlets. All of it is photocopied. Some is even outdated, since it mentions Justice O'Connor.


"They continue to push the ERA
And talk of disarming the USA
They lie about the police
And accuse them of police brutality
And as you all know
They're letting the criminals go
To increase crime and terror in the streets
And they don't want you to own any Bibles or Guns"


My first reaction was panic. I called my husband at work, who kindly offered to come home, but I declined as that wouldn't have done any good. I emailed a few fellow lefty bloggers to inquire, but I was the only one of us who got the letter.


"Same sex marriage will destroy this nation forever. Then we have America's war on children abortion on demand. This is God's message when does life begin."


I have a Corzine sign in my yard. I have a bumper sticker on my car. I have this blog. I wrote a letter recently to the local newspaper. I wear my political affiliations on my sleeve. I'm still wondering which was the spark for this.


"Don't eat white bread white bread make you dead sooner- White bread in original color is gray it's dyed to make it white so it looks more appealing almost all the vitamins are taken out- what they do to dye it is bad for you"


Since very single page is photocopied so I doubt I'm the only recipient. The envelope is hand-canceled and required extra postage, so that means someone took it to the post office. Did they make the trip just for me? Should I be flattered or scared?


"They want you interdependant on other countries
As they plan to move you into the European Union
Their destroying the American dollar"


I haven't read it all. I don't intend to read it, either. Much of it is incoherent.


"Stop buying them-evil of your two newspapers
in Trenton- paper tigers The anti-American global government Trenton Times is controlled as is the New York Times Which now owns the Boston Globe and Washington Post The Trentonian is left wing thunder on the right They are assaulting your children running prostitution ads in back of their paper- greed and pushing gay sex- you do not have to stand for it- victory"


So, what am I going to do?

First, I'm calling the police. I don't know if they'll care, since there are no threats to me, but it's worth the phone call- especially if I'm not the only one in the area who got one.

Second, I'm not taking down my Corzine sign. I'm finding a Panter and Morgan sign and putting it up as soon as possible. I might put another bumper sticker on the car. I'll continue to blog as long as someone reads it. I'll write letters to the editor as often as I feel necessary. I'm going to continue to wear my political affiliations on my sleeve. I'll be as loud as I damn well want, as long as I need to be.

Third, I'm going to wash my hands because I just touched the hate-filled, foul thing. Then I'm going to check the locks on the doors, again.

10 comments:

Sluggo said...

I can only tell you what the cops will probably tell you. Dirty little people sit in dirty little rooms writing dirty little letters because that's all that they can do. It's wildly unlikely that someone who could write that crap could present a physical threat to anyone as they live in a world of fear and panic. There's anger as well, of course, but that they direct upon themselves.

I'd like to show some solidarity with you, but I ain't putting up no Corzine sign.

Sharon GR said...

I appreciate the feeling of solidarity, even if you don't agree with the politics.

Rob S. said...

Holy shizzle, Sharon.

I'd say, most likely, it's the letter to the newspaper that sparked it. I don't know why that's my hunch, exactly -- other than we got soem whacked out letters at the paper I worked for way back when -- but if they saw your Corzine sign, they would have had your address and not your name. And people who read your blog would be a lot more lkely to send you a crank email. Especially since, in this case, it was spam harrasment. (And if someone had checked municipal records to get your name -- well, how many of them have your name wrong is one permutation or other, anyway?)

I do agree with Sluggo that this particular fruitcake is most likely harmless. If you ever need us, though -- you know we've got your back.

I hope they trace this idiot.

Jeri said...

I don't have any advice or perspective, but I thought I'd shoot you a "That sucks! What an asshole!" anyway. It sounds like a frightening and enraging experience. I'm sorry it happened to such a nice person.

Sharon GR said...

Thanks, guys.

No, I didn't keep a copy of it. I thought about it for a couple seconds but I can't imagine why I'd need to see it again. After a few brief glances, many of which were excerpted in this blogpost here, I didn't read it.

If someone has an opinion differing from mine and wants to explain it in reasonable terms, I'm more than willing to listen. As a matter of fact, I'll seek it out- there are a few right-wing blogs I read regularly because they're well written and it's important to understand both sides of an issue. This wasn't reasonable, it was threatening. It wasn't an explanation of an opinion, it was a cowardly moonbat shreiking at me from the shadows. I won't listen to that.

"Just in case" was what I was thinking, too, when I called the police. I was a bit surprised at how seriously they took it, and glad of it. I mostly called them in case others had gotten it too so there was a record. In case it ever happens to anyone else, REPORT IT! (Also, try not to get your fingerprints on it.)

Janet said...

That's some scary stuff. And to think, some of us complain about anonymous comments left on our blogs!

Anonymous said...

If you're worried about security, hide some cans of pepper spray around the house, where you can get at them quickly - maybe in vases on high shelves. Also, you can get little First Alert instrusion alarms for about $2.50 a pop. They stick to whatever you want - door frames, windows, outdoor gates, anything - and they can be set to chime or scream. If you're really worried you could get a shotgun - you don't need much training to use one and the mere sight of the thing will cause most intruders to turn and run in the other direction.

By going to the trouble of finding out your real name and sending you a creepy letter, he's trying to intimidate you. He probably isn't dangerous, but it couldn't hurt to take some precautions.

Anonymous said...

All decent people (democrat, republican, whatever) should be revolted by this kind of crap.

Whoever did this to you is a waste of oxygen.

Tata said...

It's a good thing you're 6'5" and a black belt in three martial arts, and your husband drives an army surplus tank! Don't worry, Lovey, I have complete confidence in your ability to kick the ass attached to any brain this feeble.

Anonymous said...

I've worked in politics for 10 years and have gotten letters like this from time to time (now I get weird e-mails). I learned from a former employer (who is a very powerful State Senator) to create a "nut file" (yes, it was actually filed under "N"). You never know when you would need these sort of missives again. They made for interesting reading when things got slow around the office.