1 This is beginning to bother me, especially the union organized mobs. The fact that those forcing takeovers of Bush/Cheney HQ's think they are doing good things has to be the worst. I'd wager the whole time they think that they are promoting free speech and not surpressing it. Strange black-is-white up-is-down world. Nothing like this in my neck of the woods yet, and my Bush/Cheney sign in my window has not been messed with. And a few apartments over there is a John/John sticker in someones window that has also not been messed with. Same with my GF who has rather Large sign in her front window as well.

2 It's really unfortunate when idiots do things like this, and it ends up being really bad for the campaign in the long run. (Who wants to vote for someone who attracts criminals.) On the other hand, the Bush campaign requires those attending his rallies to sign a loyalty pledge, and uses the secret service to keep those who don't support the president out. Hardly 1st Am. defender there. No, the two are not directly comparable. The difference, though, is that the latter is not an act of Bush supporters, but of the administration itself. I don't particularly like either candidate, but I have to say that I think the greatest threat today is balkanization: conservatives and liberals seem increasingly unwilling to talk civilly with one another, and that's just bad for the country.

3 Alex, I agree with you about the balkanization. I thought of your comment when I read this article today though: Only One Campaign...