John Cleese: Europe and terrorism, Gabby Was Right, Palin Is Wrong

From: Robert Greenfield

----- Original Message -----
From: Rep. Alan Grayson
To: rlgreenfield1@verizon.net
Sent: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 10:51 AM
Subject: Gabby Was Right, Palin Is Wrong


Dear Rl,

When I opened my web browser yesterday, at yahoo.com, there was Sarah Palin,
smiling at me.
"Oh, God," I said to myself, "what has she done now?"

The headline was "Palin Defends 'Blood Libel'". That's interesting, I
thought. What else might Palin be defending? Cannibalism, maybe?

Well, it turned out to be a report on Palin's disjointed remarks on Sean
Hannity's show, regarding the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. I then
watched the report. Let me summarize it for you:

Palin: I am so misunderstood.
Hannity: I am so misunderstood.
Palin: I am so misunderstood.

But there was one person who seemed to understand Sarah Palin quite well.
Gabby Giffords, herself, during the health care debate. Discussing threats
against Democratic Members of Congress. After the door to her office was
shattered. This is what Gabby said:
"You know, for example, we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, but the thing
is the way that she has depicted it is the crosshairs of a gun-sight over
our district. When people do that, they've got to realize that there are
consequences to that action."

And here is Palin's blithe response, on Hannity's show: "That map wasn't an
original graphic."

What is that remark supposed to be, Sarah? An exculpanation?

Even before I heard earlier Palin's whining about "misguided
finger-pointing" and "irresponsible statements from people who are

apportioning blame," I thought about this:
Palin came to my district, and told her people to "take me out."
Palin told people again and again, "don't retreat, reload."

The day before the health care vote, one of my five-year-old twins received
a telephone death threat intended for me.

A right-wing commentator offered anyone $100 to punch me in the nose.
We received so many threats of violence from teabaggers that we started a
file.

And the day before Gabby was shot, I received a postcard saying "you better
get some personal protection. You could very well be getting your ass kicked
soon."

Cause and effect. As Gabby put it, "there are consequences."
Of course, I wasn't the only target of these threats.

Gabby's tea party opponent held fundraisers in which he invited contributors
to fire an automatic weapon.

Democrat Debbie Wasserman-Schultz's opponent conducted target practice on
her initials.

Democrat Ron Klein's opponent told his supporters to make sure that Klein
was "afraid to leave his house."

Democrat Frank Kratovil was hung in effigy.

Democrat Tom Perriello was burned in effigy. And the gas line to his brother's
house was cut.

Democrat Emanuel Cleaver – a minister – was spat on.

Democrat Russ Carnahan had a coffin left at his home.

I could go on, but you get the point. Cause and effect. "There are
consequences."

And the Republicans? The shot supposedly fired at Republican Eric Cantor's
office was quickly exposed as a hoax.

As I observed on MSNBC last week, there has been a stream of violence and
threats of violence by the right wing against Democrats. Gabby warned
against it, and then became a terrible victim of it. Palin has instigated
it, and then tried to pretend that it doesn't exist.

What do I think? I think that Gabby said it best: "We can't stand for this."
We have to stand against it.

Courage,
Alan Grayson

***
 

From: Judith Hansen

Sent: Saturday, January 15, 2011 12:06 AM

Subject: nationalities?

Worth a scroll down.....  From the BBC - Read by John Cleese.   ANNOUNCEMENT    The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent terrorist  threats and have therefore raised their security level from Miffed"  to "Peeved."    Soon, though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated"  or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since  the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies nearly ran out. Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last  time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588,  when threatened by the Spanish Armada.     The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's  get the Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the  reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.    The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by > a recent fire that destroyed France's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.     Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to "Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain:  "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."    The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to "Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."    Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only  threat they are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.    The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new  Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.    Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" > to "She'll be alright, Mate." Three more escalation levels remain:  "Crikey,!" "I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.