November 08, 2004

ELECTION DEATH CULT?

Genuine or not, this is the most disturbing reaction to the US election yet:

A few of us, including my wife, are going to commit suicide. If you plan to do the same, do it with us. Together we can make a statement:

ANYONE ELSE WANT TO CONTEMPLATE SUICIDE WITH US?

Sadly, someone's already gone a step beyond contemplation:

A 25-year-old university worker from Georgia shot and killed himself at ground zero Saturday morning, authorities said.

The man, Andrew Veal, of Athens, Ga., was found atop the structure housing the 1 and 9 subway lines after a hotel worker spotted what he believed was somebody sleeping inside the site around 8 a.m., said Steve Coleman, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A shotgun was found near the body, Coleman said. No suicide note was found, he said.

Veal apparently was distraught over President Bush's re-election, Newsday reported Saturday on its Web site edition, citing an unnamed police source. The newspaper also said the man was a registered Democrat who opposed the war in Iraq.

Reader Alan Wesson sent a note a few weeks ago on a similar matter. This is published with his permission:

I am a Brit, and in 1988 my wife's cousin, who was an avid Guardian reader, committed suicide by climbing a high-tension power pylon and grabbing hold of the cable. He did it because he had become depressed and despairing at what he had been led to believe was the utter inevitability of nuclear war against Russia (if you were a Guardian reader then, that was the scare they were selling - basically they purvey scares. Then it was WW3, now it's environmental doom, and their more credulous readers - i.e. most of them - buy the line).

My wife's cousin certainly bought all the crap about WW3 being inevitable, and he could stand it no longer. Barely two years later the Berlin Wall came down; shortly after that the threat was history. Unfortunately, so was he.

The Guardian's 'thing' now is that the Americans are causing planetary meltdown by their fuel and power consumption (I don't know what they think we run *our* power stations and transport systems on), and their readership is now worked up into a lather because they think the only way to save the world from Global Warming is to vote for Kerry (like *that's* going to make any difference!). This is utter tosh (Clinton didn't restrict SUV sales or sign Kyoto either), but it does give them something to worry about, and it certainly helps boost sales of their poisonous rag.

It also explains their readership’s urgent mission to 'save Americans from themselves'. Personally, I hold them at least in part responsible for my cousin-in-law's death, and I regard their irresponsible scaremongering as malign in the extreme.

Does media demonising of Bush amount to irresponsible scaremongering? Possibly, given the response to his re-election. Meanwhile, more depression is reported in Fort Worth and Hollywood.

UPDATE. Not everybody is depressed:

Freedom lovers should rejoice for the victory of their guide. I congratulate Americans - and Iraqis - for the re-election of this courageous leader. We were as happy as his supporters for this victory. All Iraqis were Republicans on election day. We are confident he will finish the job and wipe out terrorists from the region during the next four years.
Ahmed, Iraqi in Australia

Posted by Tim Blair at November 8, 2004 01:08 PM
Comments

"The Gurus of What's In Wonder if They're Out of Touch"
!
?
(dopes)...

Posted by: guinsPen at November 8, 2004 at 01:17 PM

It's natures way,Charles Darwin would have understood.

Posted by: PeterUK at November 8, 2004 at 01:24 PM

Yep, the thinnng of herd.

Posted by: debbie at November 8, 2004 at 01:33 PM

John Edwards, ambulance chaser extraordinaire, can solve the budget deficit by suing the MSM for inducing toxic, polluted and untested news into the airwaves causing widespread depression among Edward's voting base thereby suppressing the 2008 vote.

Posted by: perfectsense at November 8, 2004 at 01:35 PM

Thats right! It's all the Guardians fault.

It's not that these people obviously have severe mental problems that have not been recognised, it's all the pesky UK paper fault.

Posted by: Andy at November 8, 2004 at 01:39 PM

It distresses me how goddamn hypersensitive people have become in my country.

Jesus. It's an election. You voted. You did your part, some of you did even more than your part. And you lost.

Accept it and move on, you pussies.

I mean, for 12 months all I heard from that crew was about how they were going to "fight" (the most overused word in politics).

And you're dealt a setback. If you're in the military, or business, you survive by looking back at what caused the loss and determining to fix it. But shit, if someone doesn't buy your widget, it's unsound to say "Dumb shits just didn't understand that my widget is better".

Man.

As for Hollywood: We like you OK. Some of us feel like we have no choice in the filtering out the more disgusting things you churn out but really, if you'd just shut up and make your movies and tv and music, most of us will buy it. Even though we know you have a deep abiding loathing of us consumers. See, we can usually separate the political from the aesthetic. And we loves us some big ass explosions too.

In other words: Shut up and look pretty. That's your job and you're REALLY REALLY good at it. Politics? Well, let's just say that my vote was sealed the night JFK partied with Whoopi in NYC earlier this year.

Dumbasses.

Posted by: Steve in Houston at November 8, 2004 at 01:48 PM

So long as they don't commit suicide Gaza-Style, they are probably contributing something to the American gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Posted by: David at November 8, 2004 at 01:56 PM

Tim, when I saw the html coding over Fort Worth while discussing Post-Bush Victory Depression, I thought for sure you were linking to a Molly Ivins column (though Molly's probable mood at the Star-Telegram since last Tuesday may have stimulated the idea for this story in the first place).

Posted by: John at November 8, 2004 at 02:04 PM

wow Tim, so cool to quote an Iraqi in Australia. I guess them Iraqis in Australia love us despite throwing so many Iraqi refugees into detention for years. How dare they try to save their families coming to Australia. But when one of them says he loves John Howard (and this has got to be the same guy) then he's an instant hero for you.

Maybe you should mail him a print out of your ever so charming comments of compassion last time the Iraqi refugees lost the plot on Nauru and sowed their lips together.

One minute you are laughing at the misfortune of desperate Iraqis - next you are there best friend ever as you vote to bomb them.

Make up your mind Tim. Are you their friend or enemy?

Posted by: why at November 8, 2004 at 02:06 PM

Jesus, I hope this is a joke:

A few of us, including my wife, are going to commit suicide.

This is plain sad and stupid. Steve in Houston said it best:

It's an election. You voted. You did your part, some of you did even more than your part. And you lost.

Accept it and move on, you pussies.

If it isn't a (sick) joke, either someone is contemplating suicide, or is trying to manipulate people by pretending there are fools who would do this. Either way, it pisses me off.

So, in spite of my earlier comments on suicide, I'm going to say this to the original author of this post: "Lead, follow, or get out of the way".

If you can't live with a simple election (i.e., you didn't get your own way), yeah, get out of the way. Permanently. Throw a tantrum by eating a bullet or swallowing poison.

But if this is your attempt to gain attention and sympathy for your oh-so-sad plight, it ain't working with me. My sympathy meter for whining lefties just pegged out. Your death would be Darwinism in action, and damned appropriate right now.

If this is a joke or some sort of leftoid spin, you just blew your wad, pal. 'Cause if someone else commits suicide as a result this, you're responsible, and I hope you are relegated to the Seventh Circle Of Hell.

Sorry folks, but this ends my rant.

Posted by: The Real JeffS at November 8, 2004 at 02:14 PM

Okay, "why", you are obviously a silly little troll. I refuse to let you come on this thread and fling childish insults and stupid argumentative posts about. Welcome to the Community of the Banned.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at November 8, 2004 at 02:24 PM

Cleanse the Gene Pool!

Posted by: Richard Blaine at November 8, 2004 at 02:24 PM

Here's an idea for you "why" - perhaps the guy Tim quotes was a genuine refugee who was in danger of being killed by Saddam or his thugs, and who went through the process of applying for asylum. Perhaps, unlike those on Nauru, he was not just an economic migrant.
Perhaps, when he was in a safe, secure place in Australia waiting for his application to be processed, he was so relieved to be free from the threat of death that he did not 'sew his lips together'. Perhaps the Nauru guys realised that they were not in any real danger in Iraq, but thought that if they screamed and made a fuss, people like you would insist that they should be shown to the front of the queue, no questions asked.

I wonder, as I always do when leftie d***heads talk about the 'refugee crisis' whether Jews fleeing Germany or the Baltic States in the 30s would have been relieved to be out of Germany, even if they were in a 'secure' environment whlst applications were being processed, or whether they would have sewn their lips together and demanded to be allowed in directly.

Mind you, no self-respecting leftie would allow any Jew with an Israeli passport into the country anyway ....

Posted by: Andrew at November 8, 2004 at 02:28 PM

Why bother talking to 'why'? He's a juvenile fuckwit, boring, banned, forget him.

As for lefties topping themselves because they lose an election, frankly I'd rather spend my store of human sympathy on kids who have cancer, people dieing in the Sudan and the vast host of other innocents suffering from bad fortune that's no fault of their own.

The guy who shot himself is a fucking moron, my sympathies to his parents and friends who will now have to suffer the grief inflicted apon them by this self-satisfied little melodramatic fuck.

Christ, what an idiot.

Posted by: Amos at November 8, 2004 at 02:52 PM

Speaking of Hollywood, Roger L. Simon's blog has some interesting information on how they really voted in Beverly Hills. Guess they have one or two capitalists living there, after all.

Posted by: ahem at November 8, 2004 at 02:58 PM

Killjoys- how can we Death Beasts hunt them for sport if lefties croak themselves?

Posted by: Habib at November 8, 2004 at 03:18 PM

"why", fool, we love it when suitable migrants and genuine refugees express allegiance to our country and leadership. We hate it when illegal immigrants (whose status has not yet been determined because they ditched their travel docs) think we are a soft touch and pull all number of stunts to prove it.
Whats not to understand?

ps why (tellmeall@tim.com), hiding behind anon. email means you cant solemnly inform your elightened comrades of your new 'victim' status.
You know, after being subjected to the massive RWDB hate mail campaign that we wage against the detractors in spleenville comments who are stupid enough to supply a real email adress. Hell, i'd do it all day if i could.

Posted by: max power at November 8, 2004 at 03:20 PM

Few of these silly bastards ever keep their promises to leave the country, engage in armed rebellion, or kill themselves. Hardly worth bothering about.

Posted by: Neuroto at November 8, 2004 at 03:34 PM

The meter has yet to be invented that can measure how little sympathy I have for the suicidal tendency guy. A lttle chlorine in the gene pool wouildn't hurt right now. Maybe the anarcho-losers in Seattle will sign up. One can only hope.

Posted by: Tommy Shanks at November 8, 2004 at 03:37 PM

What worries me is- if these idiots are talking of suicide now, how long will it be before they are talking of wrapping themselves in explosives and getting onto a bus?

Posted by: Wilbur at November 8, 2004 at 03:44 PM

The thought of contemplating suicide with a bunch of people is really depressing, enough to make you want to...

And having to wade through the Guardian, if it doesnt bore you to death first.......

Makes you wonder, 'why'....

Posted by: rog at November 8, 2004 at 03:59 PM

Leftie self-involvement taken to pathetic new depths.

I wonder if this idiot's wife is actually aware of his plans, or if he is planning a little surprise for her when she gets home one night...

Posted by: Oreb at November 8, 2004 at 04:31 PM

Ahmed's position isn't very nuanced.

"We are confident he will finish the job and wipe out terrorists from the region during the next four years."


Posted by: chuck at November 8, 2004 at 04:35 PM

Just to show you that I'm a heartless, cold, cruel, red-necked DEATHBEAST that doesn't give a damn about this (alleged) suicidal fuckwit, I give you this link. Listen to the entire thing... (I lifted it from...dammit I cannot remember WHERE I lifted it from!)

http://www.newsfly.org/media/afterelection.htm

Posted by: Maranna at November 8, 2004 at 04:53 PM

Welcome to the Community of the Banned.

Oh yeah Andrea -- that's my new tooltip for Twisted Spinster in my blogroll.

Posted by: Floyd McWilliams at November 8, 2004 at 06:13 PM

It seems that the left beloved "Iraqi insurgeants" are not Iraqi at all but illegal imports from surrounding Arab countries.
A bunch of foreign jihadist imported thugs,looters and murderers.
Had the liberation of france occured today, the Us, english and Australian troops would have been called an "army of occupation by the left and its minions of dhimified liberal journos.

Posted by: davo at November 8, 2004 at 06:31 PM

> Welcome to the Community of the Banned.

Oh Andrea, you are so powerful!!!!

Please delete this post and ban me immediately [rest of the childish obscenities snipped. Wish granted by the way -- IP address 193.191.141.65 from Brussels has been duly banned.]

Posted by: Jerry Hawk at November 8, 2004 at 06:36 PM

> Welcome to the Community of the Banned.

Oh Andrea, you are so powerful!!!!

Please delete this post and ban me immediately [rest of the childish obscenities snipped. Wish granted by the way -- IP address 193.191.141.65 from Brussels has been duly banned.]

Posted by: Steve Vulture at November 8, 2004 at 06:38 PM

Update: Apparently, the Andrew Neal story has another revelation: he had a fiance....and a girlfriend......

Washington Post article here.

Posted by: sean at November 8, 2004 at 06:55 PM

It's not such a bad thing, it thins the idiots out. Perhaps the Grauniad is doing us a favour.

Posted by: os at November 8, 2004 at 07:15 PM

Sean
washington post requires registration with the uberstaffel.
can u post juicy bits please ?

Posted by: davo at November 8, 2004 at 07:48 PM

Hoo boy, the moonbats are out in force tonight.

Jerry Hawk, you will doubtless get your wish, and be banned. This is no real loss, judging by your contribution to civil discourse here.

A blog is PRIVATE PROPERTY. It is owned. It is paid for by the owner. We are guests whom the owner permits to post commentary - and we have to follow his rules. If you do not like it, start your own blog. If a stranger walked on to your property, and said to you "...what an ugly and hopeless cunt you are.", how long would you let them stay?

I certainly note that post deletion and banning is rife at DU and Kos, etc. Again, they have that right, it is their property. If they ban persons who vary even the least from the groupthink there, then blatantly offensive comments here deserve a similar fate.

MarkL
Canberra

Posted by: MarkL at November 8, 2004 at 08:25 PM

All people of goodwill must agree that this week we have seen the failure of the democratic process in an all too painful way.

One candidate brought sophistication, nuance, a learned analysis of history and a new vision, only to be rejected by the voters who have instead installed the mediocre.

I refer of course to the fact that Courtney was just voted out of Australian Idol.

Posted by: Secret Squirrel at November 8, 2004 at 08:29 PM

disturbing?

no

Posted by: ilibcc at November 8, 2004 at 08:30 PM

All people of goodwill must agree that this week we have seen the failure of the democratic process in an all too painful way.

One candidate brought sophistication, nuance, a learned analysis of history and a new vision, only to be rejected by the voters who have instead installed the mediocre, the predictable, a group of cynical populists.

I refer of course to the fact that Courtney Murphy was just voted out of Australian Idol.

Posted by: Secret Squirrel at November 8, 2004 at 08:31 PM

When the iraqi and afghan reffos were coming on boats there were people who suggested here in western australia that these people should stay at home and fight like men.
Lets hope that ahmed has the courage of his convictions and joins the noble Iraqi army or police and fights for freedom.

Posted by: marklatham at November 8, 2004 at 08:43 PM

I am so stupid and impatient that I kept pressing the "post" button like a monkey on crack pressing that little lever!

[Message altered and fake url removed by the Management.

Posted by: marklatham at November 8, 2004 at 08:44 PM

Another argument in favour of the Gun Lobby.

Posted by: Blindside at November 8, 2004 at 09:01 PM

Hey Marky, all the Iraqis here are on TPVs, so when the insurgency has been quelled they will be heading home- no doubt there'll still be a few Syrians, Egyptians, Sudanese, Iranians, Jordanians and Lebanese for them to croak.

As should be the case with all refugees- it is a temporary, not a permament state.

Posted by: Habib at November 8, 2004 at 09:04 PM

Heard on the news that an Anti Nuclear Activist got squished by a train in France. Well that's two less Oxygen thieves on the planet to worry about.

Posted by: Dog at November 8, 2004 at 09:40 PM

Tim
Can you provide an email address for the Guardian editors or comment section so that readers of your blog like me can email an appropriate response to their psycotically deranged leftist rot.
It want change anything but it will make us feel a whole lot better, thanks in advance

Posted by: klein at November 8, 2004 at 10:40 PM

I hope Lefties understand that psychologists only advise this option in the case of being really, really distraught.

Posted by: DrZin at November 8, 2004 at 11:04 PM

Davo, go to Google, paste the URL for the WaPo story into the search bar, and do a search. You'll get a link to the article, which, if you click it, takes you to the story without the need for registration.

Short version: Guy had a fiancee from Iowa *and* a local girlfriend. He went on a spending spree in NYC with his girlfriend's credit card (nice guy!) before applying for a Darwin Award.

Posted by: Rick C at November 8, 2004 at 11:32 PM

The suicide was mentally ill, as I suspect many of the Bush haters are.
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/250714p-214638c.html

Posted by: Latino at November 9, 2004 at 12:54 AM

Anyone who kills himself over an election result is really not worth even worrying about...

To the rest of the numbnuts contemplating it...be my guest.

Posted by: Andrew Ian Dodge at November 9, 2004 at 01:00 AM

>Genuine or not, this is the most disturbing reaction to the US election yet

Why? They just confirm that many (most?) liberals are deranged in one way or another. If they do commit suicide, the mental health in the US population will be improved.

Posted by: odin at November 9, 2004 at 01:05 AM

Klein — Once again, The Guardian Mailing List I'm sure the address you need is in it.

Posted by: richard mcenroe at November 9, 2004 at 01:20 AM

Interestingly, the WaPo article snipped out the following section from the NY Daily News article...guess they didn't consider it important or something:

Police from the Port Authority, which controls the 16-acre site, found Veal's car nearby and are reconstructing his movements, spokesman Steve Coleman said.

Among their concerns: How did a shotgun-toting man slip unnoticed into the guarded area - a solemn tourist destination that is also a major rail hub with entrances to Hudson River PATH tunnels?

Posted by: PW at November 9, 2004 at 01:44 AM
"Clinton didn't restrict SUV sales or sign Kyoto either"

Right about the SUVs, wrong about Kyoto.

He did sign Kyoto but never sent it to the Senate for ratification. Because the Senate had already voted 95-0 (5 absent or abstaining) against even considering the Kyoto.

Posted by: Uncle Bill at November 9, 2004 at 07:03 AM

yeah,
i agree steve.
what's killing yourself going to prove?
They've got a vote, they live in a democracy same as all of us. despair doesn't work and is no excuse.

Posted by: Darren at November 9, 2004 at 10:53 AM

All people of goodwill must agree

The instictivly Stalinist Left in all it's glory. Must agree or what, fuckface?

that this week we have seen the failure of the democratic process in an all too painful way

When your guy gets elected it's a triumph of the people, when the other guy wins its a painful failure of democracy. You imbeciles are beyond parody, and your arrogance and contempt for the voting public will garantee you another "painful flailure of democracy" in '08. In fact, "painful failure" is a phrase you might want to start getting used to.

Enjoy the political wilderness, you ignorant socialist dolt.

Posted by: Amos at November 9, 2004 at 12:40 PM

Errm, Amos, you might want to re-read Secret Squirrel's comment.

Posted by: PW at November 9, 2004 at 03:57 PM

Alan Wesson's story brought back the terrible memory of the man in, I think, California who tried to block a military train out of sympathy for the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and seeing his legs lost. No wisecracks on this one, please.

Posted by: Christopher Davis at November 10, 2004 at 08:06 AM

"No wisecracks on this one, please."

If you didn't want wisecracks maybe you shouldn't have brought it up here. Or are you a troll? Tell you what: why don't you go off in a righteous huff now and spare people the effort of working through your drama.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at November 10, 2004 at 11:46 AM

Big deal- I'm legless most days by seven PM. This wally does it once and we're supposed to take notice.

Posted by: Habib at November 11, 2004 at 11:06 AM