The Assassin That Might Have Been

On many occasions you have heard me rail against teabaggers, rabid right pundits and GOP leaders for their hate speech and threats of violence.  I have said that, although to them it may be only political rhetoric, there are deranged folks out there hanging on every word they say, who are likely to translate their speech into action.  Here is an example of one such person:

Following a pipe bomb explosion Monday night, police and federal law enforcement officials are trying to figure why a Center Avenue man turned his apartment into a bomb factory.

Police said no charges have been filed against Mark Campano, 56. Police found 30 completed pipe bombs in his apartment along with components to make more, plus 17 guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.

Campano is in an Akron hospital with injuries received when one of the bombs exploded.

As police and federal authorities puzzle over Campano’s past and what he planned to do with the bombs, a former neighbor said Campano often railed against the government.

Barbara Vachon lived next door to Campano at the Center Park Place Apartments for several years and said he was a big reason she moved.

"He was always trying to get me and another neighbor to listen to anti-government tapes and watch anti-government videos," said Vachon. "I would never watch them. He was some kind of radical, and he didn’t believe in the government."

She said there were other warnings.

"There were a few times I heard minor explosions from outside the apartment building, and he would scream that he had hurt himself," she said. "I never knew what he was up to."

Vachon said Campano seemed to be most active at night.

"There was a steady stream of creepy visitors going in and out of his apartment," she said.

The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms is also investigating the case.

"We don’t know what his intention was, but what he had in that apartment could cause real damage," said Cuyahoga Falls Sgt. Gary Merton Jr. "We expected to find a meth lab after we heard about the explosion, but our guys were surprised at what they found."… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Cleveland.com>

Now, I’m not saying that this fellow is a Republican.  Nor am I saying that he is a teabagger, although he does seem to share their values.  I am saying only that he is a nut-case, and that when people like him hear the kind of rhetoric the GOP Reich with their Faux Noise and teabagger minions have been spewing, they do thinks like making pipe bombs.  Fortunately, this one shared not only teabagger values, but also teabagger IQ, and consequently, he blew himself up before he could have put whatever plot he might have had into action.