Tea Party Speaker: Hang Patty Murray

A tea party gathering in Asotin County, Washington turned more than a bit ugly on Saturday when a featured speaker actually called for the hanging of Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash), the fourth ranking Democrat in the Senate and a vulnerable re-election candidate.

"How many of you have watched the movie Lonesome Dove?," asked an unidentified female speaker from the podium. "What happened to Jake when he ran with the wrong crowd? What happened to Jake when he ran with the wrong crowd. He got hung. And that's what I want to do with Patty Murray."

The event, which about 500 people attended, was organized by Lewis and Clark Tea Party Patriots, a group that (somewhat appropriately) advocates "Freedom of speech" as a cherished principle.

That a sanctioned speaker called for a hanging of an elected official, however, seriously pushes the boundaries of First Amendment freedom. And it's yet one more example of how the Tea Party movement is a double-edged sword for the mainstream political officials who seek to harness its energy.

Comments

[terratoph]

05:10 PM on 04/06/2010

Seemingly a good band! Wouldn't hire them for a used bag 'o tea!

[derived]

12:32 PM on 02/28/2010

Hmm. This sounds eerily similar to the Fatwa against Salman Rushdie.

[seattleclcok]

03:43 PM on 02/22/2010

Tea Party void of facts and full of fear - http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-6639-Seattle-Democrat-Examiner~y2010m2d22-Tea-Party-family-values-group-thinks-hanging-a-Senator-is-funny

[BigSlick674]

04:43 AM on 02/19/2010

She admits to saying it but denies it was wrong to say.

I think she needs some reminders.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100219/ap_on_re_us/us_tea_party_hang_senator

"What happened to Jake when he ran with the wrong crowd?" Capps asked. "He got hung. And that's what I want to do with Patty Murray."

The crowd erupted in laughter. Organizers estimated about 500 people attended the event.

Capps, who initially denied to The Associated Press that she was the speaker, said Thursday night that the rest of the statement was that she wanted to "hang Patty Murray, by vote."

She contended the television news report edited out part of her statement. But KLEW news director Greg Meyer told The Lewiston Tribune newspaper that the unedited footage from the rally contains no statement from Capps about hanging Murray with votes.

Earlier Thursday, Murray's campaign manager said the comments were unproductive.

Carol Albert said Murray shares the frustrations of many people at the slow pace of the economy and partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C.

"But positions like that taken by the Tea Party spokesperson have never solved a problem," Albert said in a statement. "What people want right now is for people to come together to find solutions, not more rhetoric that drives us apart."

[Dee Dee Tip]

10:51 AM on 02/19/2010

The comment listed above is true...to the fact that the VOTE was the subject. And hanging with the VOTE was also mentioned. Several people have wrote to the Lewiston Tribune and told them that. The girl who did the shot edited the video piece to sell to the media.
Clarkston WA.

[GetAbike]

12:50 PM on 02/19/2010

Instead of being wishy-washy, try defending your true feelings.
Say what you think. I will defend your right to do so- just keep talking.
But puleeease- don't try to blame it on some conspiracy to make you look bad- I am sure you don't need anybody's help.

[dukeuch]

04:53 PM on 04/06/2010

Yeahhhh, that's why she originally and disengeniously denied she was the speaker at all, because she was saying "vote her out", "Exactly like they did in Lonesome Dove."

Please, drinking and typing don't mix.

[BigSlick674]

04:40 AM on 02/19/2010

Well, she admitted saying it, but is still in denial that it was wrong to say.

Typical TeaBagger.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100219/ap_on_re_us/us_tea_party_hang_senator

An organizer of a weekend "tea party" gathering in eastern Washington said Thursday she was the speaker who drew applause from the crowd by calling for one of the state's Democratic U.S. senators to be hanged.

Capps' comment Saturday at the Lewis & Clark Tea Party Patriots meeting at the county fairgrounds in Asotin, Wash., were captured by television station KLEW of Lewiston, Idaho. While speaking to the crowd from the podium, Capps said Murray should suffer the same fate as the character Jake in the western "Lonesome Dove."

"What happened to Jake when he ran with the wrong crowd?" Capps asked. "He got hung. And that's what I want to do with Patty Murray."

The crowd erupted in laughter. Organizers estimated about 500 people attended the event.

Capps, who initially denied to The Associated Press that she was the speaker, said Thursday night that the rest of the statement was that she wanted to "hang Patty Murray, by vote."

She contended the television news report edited out part of her statement. But KLEW news director Greg Meyer told The Lewiston Tribune newspaper that the unedited footage from the rally contains no statement from Capps about hanging Murray with votes.

[Dee Dee Tip]

10:55 AM on 02/19/2010

This also is wrong...NO APPLAUSE was drawn from the crowd! YOU just want to believe the fabrication. Also there were about 600 people there and alot left because it was standing room only. People do not like what has been happing for the last 20 yrs. And you need to realize you will suffer in 2012 for what you now believe in.
I wish you all would grow up and stop believing everything that is blogged
clarkston Wa

[GetAbike]

11:43 AM on 02/19/2010

It is not a matter of what is blogged- I watched KLEW last night and there it was- a bunch of necks enjoying at her comment- having a good time.
So if I shouldn't believe the broadcast, i should believe you?
I suppose you don't believe we didn't walk on the moon, eh?

[Zonie]

01:04 AM on 02/19/2010

I am going to check out their website....here it is...

http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/

First impression.... ?

Here is a simple question.Do you agree that abortion should be an issue decided by the states, not the federal government, because the Tea Party Movement is for less government interference in our lives...

?????

[Zonie]

01:09 AM on 02/19/2010

btw....I copied and pasted the last paragraph from their site....

I found people of color on the site.

Maybe we need to look at this ourselves and figure out what is going on....whether they are nuts or just being smeared.....awful suspicious that both dominate parties have thrown darts....

They ARE a threat to them.

But I still have no opinion....I don't know what they are about yet.....I don't know that they do....first impression is....I don't think they do.....but....I won't make a judgement based on what the mainstream says....

[CynAnne]

12:22 AM on 02/19/2010

Keith nailed the teabaggers the other night, with his "Special Comment" segment (link here): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#35413662 ...the wingnutters fire-storm of indignant, pseudo-pious fury in response has been trumpeted by their compatriots, but they STILL CAN'T rebut or refute his point - WHERE are all the different-colored people at these teabagger jamborees...? O_o

[Zonie]

12:57 AM on 02/19/2010

Here's the problem with that.....WHERE....doesn't tell you WHY they aren't there.

I don't know....do they stop others from attending? Do they threaten them? Are their interests different? What is it?

Don't ask me....but asking where they are....doesn't explain WHY they aren't there.....

It could be....and I assume this is unlikely....but....maybe they are afraid of them for one reason or another....I mean they aren't burning crosses.....but what is it? They aren't engaged in the same issues.....something.....

OR....the most unlikely of all....but possible....some folks of color....just don't like some white people?

BUT....here is the trick.....unless they incorporate ALL Americans into a cohesive group with comprehensive solutions and benefit for all....and representation that is across the board........including the poor, folks of all color...etc....the party is history.

BUT........BOTH MAINSTREAM PARTIES WILL STOP AT NOTHING TO KEEP THEM FROM DOING IT. It is not in the interest of the status quo and the current TWO dominating mainstream parties to make it a threesome. And the msm is going to likely back the status quo....

Would be fantastic if an honest to goodness decent third party emerged that did all of the above....but it's going to take folks like you to not destroy the ambitions of those with just as much right to speak out and have themselves represented as you.
What those folks need is a REAL LEADER . They have none.

[CynAnne]

01:28 AM on 02/19/2010

Did you watch the segment, Zonie? Keith asked the teabaggers those very same questions you just posed, which were (condensed and paraphrased for brevity): "Why, do you suppose, there aren't these different-hued people among you? Is it because they don't want the same things as you - representation and to be heard?" - Keith also had a follow-up comment on Wednesday: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#35450228 ...please feel free to watch either (or both) of them, and see if Keith didn't ask the same questions as you...and he still hasn't gotten an actual answer from them...

[Zonie]

11:27 PM on 02/18/2010

http://www.lairdwilcox.com/news/hoaxerproject.html

I see some of these traits in quite a few dems, repubs and tea........right and left. And....not to point fingers....I see it here.....

Extremism, fanaticism of any leaning is potentially harmful and can be dangerous.....

They shouldn't have the stage.

[GetAbike]

09:20 PM on 02/18/2010

Ok, Patty Murray released a statement that is conciliatory and magnanimous, which basically indicated that she does not fear for her life. Props to her.
Contrary to all the hysteria, the woman making the "threats" did not do anything that rises to the level of high crimes against officials.
Sorry, but Ya gotta chill cuz there are bigger threats from the right than this.
LET THEM TALK!
and keep talking- ask them questions about their hateful attitudes.
They will reveal and marginalize themselves.

[ranchero42]

10:09 PM on 02/18/2010

Please tell me you don't think these Tea-bots are somehow justified in using threatening language because they felt threatened by the Left?

Threatened they may feel; but that is understandable because this Church of the Barely Rerformed Ku Klux Klan can see the beginning of the end of their way of life.

The right to practice prejudice and teach it to your children has become an extremely unwise life choice.

As it should be. The Revised Code of (the State of) Washington clearly states that if you FEEL threatened it follows you HAVE BEEN threatened.

Patty said that is not the case at this time. So be it. Doesn't mean forget and how many true Christians are around to forgive?

[GetAbike]

10:42 PM on 02/18/2010

How did you construe anything i said to be "these Tea-bots are somehow justified " ?
good grief.
because i said it is not a high crime, does not mean it is justified.
To be more specific:
A person is guilty of a crime of the third degree if he/she threatens to kill another with the purpose to put him in imminent fear of death under circumstances reasonably causing the victim to believe the immediacy of the threat and the likelihood that it will be carried out."

So what that means to me is.... If I am not afraid, the threat is not a crime.
Patty is not afraid- and you should not be either.

[Zonie]

10:32 PM on 02/18/2010

YES! I have said that for years....restricting speach drives folks underground and e won't know who the crackpots are!

[GetAbike]

10:33 PM on 02/18/2010

Ya, personally, i'd like to know who they are.

[carlosgriffin]

09:18 PM on 02/18/2010

None of this comes even close to Rahm Emanuels threat of death to people he did not like using a knife to make his point.

[huff po fan]

07:24 PM on 02/18/2010

Poor Republicans. They got hooked up with the fascists, racists, bigots and crazies years ago and lost their party. I am a social liberal but free market conservative. I could never become involved with these goof balls.

[Friction57]

07:19 PM on 02/18/2010

With the right’s never ending rabble-rousing things like this comment and that tax loon in the Austin airplane will keep growing in numbers, this is the outcome we have said to be expected of these guys filling the uneducated trusting minority with incendiary lies.

Patty, I’m in WA let know and I’ll through a fund raiser for you just as soon as you sign the letter for the Public Option

[Khirad]

09:01 PM on 02/18/2010

this should give her the message, I would hope, that those that oppose it aren't interested in compromise.

[carlosgriffin]

09:21 PM on 02/18/2010

I read every single word of the crazy guys manifesto, and there is nothing in it that indicates he was a righty, or a lefty. You are casting blame where it does not belong and you are playing fast and loose with your insinuations.

[Khirad]

10:36 PM on 02/18/2010

Anti-tax movement is more right-wing, generally.

[chappelforpres]

07:16 PM on 02/18/2010

Looked up Asotin County WA.

Asotin County - WA : Located on the southeast corner of WA on the OR and ID border. Total Population 21,000. Total Workforce 10,000. Public workforce 3,500. Median age 40 years. Race - 96% White 2% Native American 1% Hispanic. County growth rate - 4/10 %.

Bunch of nervous, scarred blue hairs (all of whom might soon require Medicare) joining together for a Tea Party. An ultra-conservative rural community where, hysterically, about 40% of the jobs are attributable to the government with an added 10% in health and social services. Might as well be South Dakota! Thanks again FOX.

[ranchero42]

07:21 PM on 02/18/2010

The numbers may well above 40%. Farmer-Teabaggers ain't likely to give up their subsidies.

Suckling off the public teat wouldn't be a polite Tea-Party Patriot topic.

No wonder they're "patriotic" (and conveniently memory-challenged).

[Khirad]

08:49 PM on 02/18/2010

It's the Clarkston-Lewiston county. Meaning, it has 'Idahoan' tendencies, though not completely.

[chicagogal11]

06:18 PM on 02/18/2010

Was she arrested?

[ranchero42]

08:30 PM on 02/18/2010

Why bother? Typical teabagger; caged up inside her own head.

[GetAbike]

09:24 PM on 02/18/2010

Hi Chicago,
no she wasn't- no reason to. She's just a bitter old bag.
Everybody- Don't be afraid. There are bigger battles to come.

[Matt Osborne]

05:47 PM on 02/18/2010

Excuse me, but this is not just eliminationist rhetoric -- it's horrible English. A person isn't "hung," they are HANGED.

[pointyheadprodigy]

07:01 PM on 02/18/2010

Well, John Holmes was hung, but that is a completely different storyline. TeaKluxKlanners are teaKluxKlanners for a reason, not necessarily a coherent one though.

[Matt Osborne]

08:51 PM on 02/18/2010

"not necessarily a coherent one though."

BOY HOWDY.