On behalf of The Confluence I would like to extend our congratulations to the Blogstalker Online Forum for passing the epic milestone of 10,000 comments.
Our pathetic little blog has been around three times longer and has only managed 358,000+ comments and 6,800,000+ hits. In our defense the BOF is a spin-off from an award-winning blog that was established way back in September 2007, while The Confluence was only created in January 2008.
I am ashamed and bow to the superior abilities of people who devote their lives to stalking other blogs.
The above video was posted on YouTube by Mike Ditto:
Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO), a first-term Congressman I like very much, held a townhall meeting on health care today outside a King Soopers grocery store in Brighton, CO, which is about 1/2 hour northeast of Denver.
Some of the signs these protesters carry are just nuts. Like, “Jesus is My Single Payer” and “Seniors, Get Your Death Pill here” (photos from Complete Colorado, whose coverage of the event is here.)
To his credit, Rep. Perlmutter actually sat down and listened to folks discuss health care.
Mike Ditto (Progress Now, former online communications director for Mark Udall and many others and former TalkLeft webmaster) had his car vandalized .
I wasn’t there and I don’t know Mike Ditto – I never even heard of him before today – but I have a problem with this story. First and foremost is the assumption that this vandalism was caused by “teabaggers.”
From the facts available we are told that Ditto attended this outdoor townhall in the parking lot of a supermarket near Denver. The event was held in the day time and based on the photo was attended by approximately 200-300 people. There were some people protesting but no indication that the event was rowdy. At least one photo shows a police officer was present during the event.
The event ended and Ditto says he went inside the store to get a drink and when he came back outside he saw his car was vandalized. He videotaped the damage which includes broken side mirrors as well as dents on the doors, side panels and hood. He also points out that there was a flyer for a health care reform event held four weeks earlier visible in the back seat.
Ditto does not mention any witnesses not does he say he witnessed the vandalism taking place. There is also no mention of where his vehicle was parked in relation to the event. There is no mention of whether a police report was made.
We are asked to believe that one or more “teabaggers” either spotted the flyer or recognized Ditto and committed the vandalism because he is a supporter of the current health care reform bill. I don’t think the evidence supports that allegation by a preponderance of evidence let alone beyond a reasonable doubt.
If you were on a civil jury and were asked to find the tea partiers liable for the damages to Ditto’s car, you would have to agree that the evidence showed that it was more likely than not that the damage was caused by them. At a criminal trial you would have to say it was caused by them beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Confluence 
