The story of a Vancouver couple, Frank and Karen Wastradowski, who had racist graffiti keyed into their car after placing a Barack Obama yard sign in their yard, has drawn a full article from The Columbian.
The graffiti has generated an outcry among several community leaders, who set up a fund this week to defray Wastradowski’s cleanup expenses. Several officials, including Tim Probst, a candidate for representative for the 17th District, have pledged monetary support.
“If someone scratches ‘white power’ on a car, it’s important that we send a message as a whole that our community doesn’t accept racism,” Probst said.
Chris Bassett, the former vice chairman of the Clark County Democratic Party, started the fund after reading media reports on the incident. Outraged, he decided to do something. So he sent e-mails to other political activists, including Probst, seeking contributions.
Bassett said the fund isn’t intended to be a partisan statement (although all those involved are Democrats), but a stance against those who threaten freedom of speech and perpetuate racism.
“Obviously, there is an element in Clark County that feels it’s OK to do these things,” Bassett said. “(The Wastradowskis) were just expressing themselves,” and the vandals were trying to intimidate them into silence. “And that’s very troubling.”
It’s easy to be cynical in this day and age, and I’m probably as cynical as one can get, but the response that has been formulated to this cowardly little bit of vandalism is motivated by a sincere desire to show that normal people don’t find this sort of stuff acceptable. Plus there’s no good reason this couple should bear the financial cost of removing hate graffiti from their sedan for supporting the nominee of a major party, or any candidate for that matter.
I don’t want to invade the Wastradowski’s privacy any more than it has been already, but I’ve heard from several people, including a couple of elected officials, that they are well-respected members of the community. (And let’s remember, before anyone starts claiming that the response to this is motivated only by partisanship, that Frank Wastradowski used to be the campaign treasurer for former state Sen. Don Carlson, R-Vancouver.)
Normal people consider it their Constitutional right to pick and choose whom to support, and they really shouldn’t have to worry about costly repairs to their property for simply putting a placard in their yard.
An account called the “Victims of Racial Vandalism Fund” has been set up at IQ Credit Union in Clark County. You can find their locations here. At this writing we are waiting for the Pay Pal account to go live, and I will update as soon as I receive word it’s working.
UPDATE– Click on the Pay Pal button below if you wish to donate to the “Victims of Racial Vandalism Fund.” Be sure to hit “update total” at Pay Pal if you are paying by credit card (rather than logging in) so that you don’t have to keep re-doing it, like I did. The Pay Pal account’s email address is called “ccagainstvandalism” as I guess it had to be a shorter name.
And I know a lot of folks might be kind of tapped out because it’s an election year (not to mention the tough economy) so rest assured small donations very much matter in this case. It will show how many folks want to register their disgust with this kind of petty and hateful action. Wouldn’t it be great if 50 or 100 people threw in five or ten bucks?
Our plan at this point is any funds that might be raised in excess of that needed to help get the Wastradowski’s on the road without a racism-mobile will be kept in the fund until after the election and then donated to a charity agreed to by the Wastradowski’s. This is an ad-hoc group, so it’s not like we’re having board meetings or anything.
Here’s the Pay Pal button:
It’s good to know that everyone’s sending a clear message about how our communities respond to this.
I will also admit that I am curious about the guy who had the side of his house spraypainted with anti-Bush sentiment. While I am no fan of Bush, did anyone offer to repair the damage to his house when it was done?
First of all anti-Bush is nowhere near close to WHITE POWER so stop deflecting.
Secondly – no surprise that the right wingers don’t appear to be interested in helping solve this problem since they are not part of the effort to restore the victim. We can only assume the republicans there are racists as well.
deflecting? No, I was honestly curious. The two situations are not the same, but I can see the connection.
While I try to follow Seattle area media, I was not aware of the 2004 graffiti in Shoreline, and wrong is wrong.
Maybe, just maybe, if people will stop and think a little bit they’ll realize that vandalism is not an appropriate political response.
Sure, yard signs will always get torn down and someday I’d hope we could have a more sensible law in this state, like making signs go in YARDS instead of every darn public right of way. But once people cross the line into attacking people’s homes and cars, we all need to state that it’s unacceptable.
re 3: This would have been a perfect opportunity for Republicans to help their own — but, then this poor, Republican victim would have lost a unique opportunity to stand on his own two feet and accept some personal responsibility for the anti-Bush graffitti that someone sprayed on his wall.
Good going, Bananapoem!
Fuck racism.
Confession: I have to admit that I’ve seen a few right-wing bumper stickers on cars that caused me to briefly think about removing them with the front end of my own car. It’s not the “Bush 2004” or “McCain 2008” ones which get me going, but the ones which tell outright lies about the Democrats that have me seeing red. But it was just a passing thought, which I managed to suppress, and continue to do so.
@ 7 ~ give it time RHP6033. Spend more time on Goldy’s little hate site here and you too will be unable to resist the urge to succumb to “liberal fascism” through such childish actions. Anyone incensed over a freakin’ bumpersticker (which most of you would admit is about ratio of 5:1 Pro-Democrat/Liberal in this area) needs:
A) a psychiatrist
B) anger counseling and
C)A life.
Jonah Goldberg’s book is a good place to start to see the intolerance and irrationality that leftists exhibit on a regular basis.
@ 1 – Don’t expect Goldy to report the instances when intolerant lefties promote their brand of hate upon the property of a Vietnam veteran like Ken Potts whose only crime was to have a Bush/Cheney 2004 placard on his private residence. It doesn’t fit Goldstein’s agenda.
Potts’ story was not an isolated instance but a continued harassment with resulting vandalism to his property on multiple occasions intended to “shut up” or shout down any opposing view that the fascists felt did not fit their narrow view of acceptable behavior. This is becoming a very tired and often used tactic by the Liberal fascists as evidenced by ‘code pink’ blocking access to recruiting offices and conservative speakers invited onto college campuses getting shouted down or pied by some punks who’ll decide which kind of free speech is tolerated at a school of supposed ‘higher’ learning.
Fascism indeed exists, fed and propulgated by the modern liberal mindset. Posts in response to this one will no doubt serve as further proof of this trend.
Finally Puddylick/Rick D and I agree – fascism does exist – only republican asslicks like Puddy apparently can’t read a dictionary. They don’t even know what the fucking word means. If they did, they’d realize it describes the republican party.
And there’s no need to report on republicans who slash their own tires in faux outrage in an attempt to make the patriots in the Democratic party look bad.
Lastly, the types of juvenile vandalism that takes place at the hands of infantile republican cowards like Rick D./Puddylick is one thing – but to carve WHITE POWER into a car that’s a new level of sickness – even for Puddy/Rick Ds’ jackbooted pals.
@There is NO connection – NONE between committing a hate crime – a felony in Washington and carving WHITE POWER into a car and a bunch of kids spray painting the words BUSH SUCKS on the side of a barn with some spray paint. NONE.
It’s so fucking utterly silly to suggest same that one can only assume you’re another republican pretending to be a Democrat. Ain’t gonna work here pal.
Oh yeah – and Bush really does suck!
@ 9 and 10 – Thanks for proving my point…and so quickly!
..and the repeated vandalism was done to his house, not some barn. The words “BUSH NAZIS” written in huge, black letters across the house viewable from the busy intersection. It would appear your brand of “hate” crime begins and ends with a particular political affiliation….welcome to the world of liberal fascism.
re 8: The entire premise of Goldberg’s book is preposterous. Fascism is a phenomenon of the Right. Communism, of the Left.
But, if we are to believe Goldberg, both Fascism AND Communism are creatures of the Left. What are Goldberg’s intellectual credentials, anyway?
He doesn’t have any:
“On page 2, for instance, Goldberg admits that he doesn’t really know how to define fascism and that ‘not even the professionals have figured out what exactly fascism is.’ But as anyone who’s followed Goldberg’s career can tell you, lacking knowledge on any given subject in no way impedes him from writing over 400 pages on it.”
http://www.alternet.org/story/72960/
And his next book is going to be about the inhuman horrors of post WW I Europe under the iron heel of the League of Nations.
Gimme a break, you political hodad.
@11 “welcome to the world of liberal fascism”
Fascist dolt. Why is it that America’s right-wing fascists are so damned ashamed of their fascist beliefs? Your constant denial, troll, is tiresome, as is your spewing of hate toward America.
Only the sith deal in absolutes, ByeBye. And your suppositions about my political leanings don’t aggravate me in the least, mostly because I don’t think most people here care what you think.
You’re still a poor representative of liberals and humans.
@14 take your post and reverse it and you’ve perfectly grasped my opinion of you. And if I catch you here again pretending to be a Dem I will out you just like I did in this thread.
@11 Puddylick/Rick D even if your scenario is true and we all know it is not – that would NOT amount to a hate crime in Washington – NEXT!
@15- Beautifully executed “I know you are but what am I?” defense. There may be hope for you yet, little one.
But, Bananapoem: You fail to grasp the point. YOU and your fellow Bushistas could have helped the poor soul who had his house graffitied. But you Chose NOT to help him.
Instead, you come here implying that Democrats should not only help their own, but yours, as well.
In short: You are a self-absorbed idiot — and I hate you for it.
Happy?
@17 Republicans are easily identified by their incessant whining. If it whines, it’s a Republican.
Dick R @ 8 wrote:
“Pro-Democrat/Liberal in this area) needs:
A) a psychiatrist
B) anger counseling and
C)A life.”
Uh-huh, yeah sure. You wanna tell us about the right wing troll fuck who went on a shooting rampage at a Unitarian Church because of their Liberal agenda. Oh, and because he couldn’t find a job in this wonderful Republican created economy.
Wanna explain all the murders and blowing up of buildings at abortion clinics.
Wanna explain the assassination of a judge on Queen Anne Hill who 2nd Amendment fucks didn’t like.
Wanna explain the 21 year old gay college student in Montana who was beaten to death.
Yeah, all those HATE crimes committed by Liberals, right?
You’re so pathetic. What a chump you are. You are one of bin Laden’s useful idiots.
You truly are on the side of the terrorists, but you’re so blinded by your nationalism built upon layer after layer of lies and right wing propaganda being fed to you from the White House via Fox News, that it’s down right unpatriotic.
Grow up.
I guess it’s tough for you Republicans watching your Reagan Revolution go down the proverbial toilet.
How hard it must be to go against every principle you ever espoused to hold near and dear to your heart about the “rule of law” when Clinton lied to a grand jury, but have to defend Bush destroying the principles of the rule of law, the Great Writ, the economy, our military, losing the War on Terror, and the Constitution.
John McCain is becoming desperate. If he doesn’t stop the Obama freight train before the Olympics he’s toast. Two weeks of Olympic coverage, then Obama announcing his VP pick, and the Democratic convention before a crowd that will be 100,000+ inside and outside the stadium, there will be NO stopping Obama.
You guys should take out your guns, load them, take the safety off, put the business end in your mouth, close your eyes, dream of 1980 and the “good ol’ days” and slowly, slowly, squeeze the trigger until you and Ronnie are eating Jelly Beans together with Satan.
Good luck chumps.
@11
Pick one or the other, you can’t be both liberal and fascist.
Rick @ 8: Are you REALLY trying to recommend Goldberg’s piece of fiction as recommended reading material? I’ve seen that guy trying to defend his work on TV, and it was laughable.
He obviously hasn’t done ANY serious study of the Nazi movement. If he had, he would have understood that the Nazis promised ALL THINGS to EVERYBODY (except the Jews), even if they contradicted one another. It was kind of like a smorgasborg – they just laid it all out in the hopes that enough people would find SOMETHING they liked, and latch onto it.
Further, a serious scholar of the Nazi movement would understand the differences between the multitude of political parties in Weimar Germany, especially the Social Democrats (whom Hitler dispatched as soon as he came into power).
If you seriously study the Nazi movement, you have to know something of the Thule Society, the Freikorps, and that the Nazi movement never generated a consisted philosophical base. The more you try to make sense of it, the more you realize that it is riddled in contradictions and inconsistencies. In short, Nazi philosphy was “we know who we like, and we know who we don’t like, and we’ll make up a reason to support those prejudices if we have to, but don’t try to pin us down an further”.
Similar to the Nazi attempts at creating a philosophical basis, Goldberg knows who he likes (neo-conservative Republicans), and he knows who he doesn’t like (Democrats, liberals, and environmentalists), and he tries to set up duel straw men – inaccurate depictions of the Nazis and the liberal/Democrat/environmentalists, in order to show that they somehow look similar to each other. To do so, of course, he has to pick and choose from facts or mere speculation which is convenient for his intended purpose, and to ignore evidence which contradicts him.
Goldberg could have just as easily chosen the same method of “study” to equate Nazism with the Olympic movement – after all, both advocated physical fitness and athletic competition, and didn’t the Nazis put on a splendid Olympic games in 1936?????
Or perhaps goldberg could equate Nazism with “Motherhood & Applie Pie”, since the Nazis preached that women’s highest duty to the German nation was to remain at home to make more German babies and to raise them to be good Nazis? See how silly it all gets to be?????
@19 GBS
Are you claiming that there are no “hate crimes” (now there’s an oxymoron that only a pc drunk lib could love), ever, that have been committed by libs?
Just out of curiousity, tell me something. I was in the army when RR was elected the first time. I didn’t know anyone serving who advocated for Jimmah Catah. I can’t imagine your time in service was much different. So what made you a lib?
@19 Burning shit what’s at issue is the racist right carving WHITE POWER into an Obama supporter’s car. That’s what this thread is about – and since you have not used this space to decry this activity – I suspect you highly endorse it.
And it is criminal activity – while I know you think republicans should be immune from ANY prosecution – you won’t be.
@3 too late bitch – everyone now recognizes you. Others have participated in your outing. Go get a new screen name and try again. We’ll spot you no matter what.
Nice work Joh. The Paypal might have been a little harder for you to set up, but it sure makes it easier to donate.
Definitely liked the idea of excess funds going to a charity of THEIR choice. Nice touch!
GBS @ 19
ending with these ironic words in the same post…
Wow GBS! Thanks for illustrating my point @ 8 precisely. Liberal Fascism has never had a better friend than Goldy’s hate site. You’re a fine example of the kind of intolerant leftist groupthinker I had in mind when I posted it.
Bravo, my friend!!
Puddylicker/Rick D again proves that he’s just sucking Lush Flimbaugh’s limp dick and vomiting back whatever the asshole radio talk show host says….
The fucks don’t even know what the Goddamn word fascism means. When you are so inbred and so fucking stoooooopid as to use a word like this and CLEARLY have no idea whatsoever it means – you show why you’re stupid enough to vote “GOP.”
Get a clue bitch – at least buy a fucking dictionary.
Oh and Puddy – your wife still says hi!
This is my first visit to this site and my last.
I enjoy legitimate political discourse. I love contrasting my honestly held beliefs with those of people with whom I disagree. The 1st Amendment is not placed that way by accident. We come to adult compromise in this country by honest respectfully stated opinions openly stated in the public sphere. “I may disagree with everything you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it,” as the man said.
This is a sick abuse of that right. You have an opportunity on this far left blog to demonstrate to visitors who hold other opinions your intelligence and much vaunted liberal tolerance. Instead you use vulgarity, profanity and abuse in lieu of legitimate argument about legitimate issues.
Congratulations, your intolerant non-arguments have convinced this moderate that the far left really doesn’t represent American values.
Jody,
This is not a far left blog and you will not be missed. Hope that helps. Take care.