Did you all see Lauren Valle's letter to Tim Profitt?

[BootinUp]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/lauren-valle-not-offering-her-stomper-an-apology-as-he-asked.php

Mr. Profitt, You have asked that I apologize to you. Perhaps this is not the apology that you are looking for, but I do have some things to say.
I have been called a progressive, a liberal, a professional agitator. You have been called a conservative, a Republican, a member of the Tea Party movement. Fundamentally and most importantly, you and I are both human beings. We are also both American citizens. These two facts, to me, are far more meaningful than the multitude of labels that we carry. And if these two facts are true then it means we are on the same team.

I have not been for one moment angry with you and your actions. Instead I feel thoroughly devastated. It is evident that your physical assault on me is symptomatic of the crisis that this country is struggling through. And it seems that I will heal from my injuries long before this country can work through our separation. Only when we decide let go of our hate, our violence and our aggression will we be able to communicate to each other about the issues that divide us. Right now, we are not communicating, we are stomping on each other. No one can ever win, no one can ever be heard, with violence.

You and I, as fellow citizens, and we, as a country, have a choice. Either we choose to continue the cycle of inflicting violence upon each other, screaming at each other, insulting each other and putting one another down or we and find a way to sit down and start listening to each other. We'll see how far we get. We are all viciously and vociferously feeding a fire that will only burn us down together. We must reach inside ourselves and make space for each other. We must forgive each other. We must believe in our capacity for transformation. The moment we choose compassion and reconciliation is the moment that we will begin to move toward freedom. There is no other way.

I believe that you should be held accountable for your actions but I also recognize the incredibly negative impact that the consequences must be having on your life, and I wish you all the best as you yourself heal from this. Violence hurts everyone.

-----------------------------------------

Very well said Lauren. :)

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Way to take the high road, sister!!

:hug: to Lauren

[AsahinaKimi]

2. saw it on Huffington Post

She was awesome.

[blondeatlast]

3. Could not have been said any better. I'm a better person for reading that. k/r/nt

[cyr330]

4. I disagree completely

with the statement, "We are stomping on each other." That is categorically NOT true. I don't EVER see Progressives talking about or treating Repigs in such a violent, disrepectful manner. In fact, do any of you ever recall hearing a progressive politician calling any member of the Tea Party or the Repig Party a Nazi, a reactionary, a murderer, a terrorist, or anti-American? I didn't think so. . . This notion that we all have to take responsibility for being "partisan" is just a load of bullshit. It will only lead us to continue getting killed in elections and other places. Progressives' problems are not that they fight too much and are too partisan, it's more that they shrink from the good fight and don't know when to pull a knife out and just stab the motherfuckers. This missive is too much of an olive branch and decidedly gives progressives too much credit for causing the fight in the first place.

[BootinUp]

6. I think since she was the one stomped

her pov is worth considering. I agree with your observations, but not with your conclusion. She is setting an example that is very hard to follow, but she has company from some great men and women in history that were faced with violence or persecution.

[cyr330]

9. She said,

"We are stomping on EACH OTHER." I stand by my conclusions, but I don't disrespect her, because, as you said, she does share a high minded sensibility with many great people in history.

I just think that we need to remember the fight against the Nazis in the 40's. We're only going to win if we fight for total and complete victory over those thugs. We won't win by standing back from the fight and allowing them to punch us around. We've already tried that again and again and again and again, and it does NOT work. In fact, I would venture to say that it is demoralizing for the progressive base to not get a delicious PUNCH in from time to time.

[BootinUp]

10. Certainly we cannot stop fighting or allow

ourselves to be silenced. (Notice that the word fighting does not necessarily mean physically).

[cyr330]

11. Oh, I AGREE

Fighting those thugs DOES NOT have to be physical. We, of course, don't expect Obama to take off his tie and roll up his sleeves and just fucking sucker punch that Boehner whore, but wouldn't it be "interesting" if he did? :)

[BootinUp]

12. a phrase comes to mind

"There are times..."

;)

[CTyankee]

17. You are right: we must be vigilant against attacks. NEVER AGAIN.

Good slogan to have...

[immoderate]

7. I'm leaning your way. Lauren's response was high minded...

And might be the best way to deal rhetorically, but I wouldn't want that POS to think he was being treated nicely. That will just reinforce his brutality.

--imm

[The Uncola]

21. I agree with you 1000%.

These bastards won't stop their violence by shaming them with words. She's not angry??? Well, she sure as f**k oughta be. Like bullies everywhere, the one message they DO understand, is when they get their ass kicked worse than those they victimize. These are criminals, NOT rational human beings.

[arcane1]

5. Methinks it exceeds his reading level n/t

[JoePhilly]

8. Her outreach to him is far more "Christian" than his out reach, via foot, was to her.

I suspect that irony will escape him.

He assaulted her, and expected her to apologize to him for "making him do it".

Personally, I hope the courts recognize that, not only did her assult her, but that he violated her 1st amendment right to free speech.

I'm an agnostic, but that guy's behavior causes me to hope there is both a God and a Hell.

[malaise]

13. Only one side is inflicting violence

I find this sentence confusing.

"Either we choose to continue the cycle of inflicting violence upon each other..."

[BootinUp]

16. I am a little hesitant to agree, certainly most all of it is from one side nt

[opihimoimoi]

14. She shoulda served him a notice to sue at the same time

[spanone]

15. k&r

[Major Hogwash]

18. Interesting response. I'm impressed.

I feel like sending him a Brett Favre-type text message my own self.

[MilesColtrane]

19. While I appreciate her sentiment, those people don't do "Kumbaya".

Appealing to their better nature is useless.

[tomp]

20. "...we are stomping on each other..."??????

i appreciate her kind approach, but that statement is just not right, as it totally plays into the "both sides do it" meme.

[glitch]

24. Very strange and totally unnecessary -- the high road does not require the false equivalence.

And she said it twice, for emphasis.

[seabeyond]

22. too many big words. he isgoing to shit. very interesting and good for her

i am glad she was able to say this out loud. i hope media grab holds and plays this. i dont watch media. hope du puts up what happens with this.

[Erose999]

23. Will Ms. Valle be pressing charges? I shudder to think what will happen if the 'baggers see this act

go unpunished. You can't appeal to the reason and better nature of unreasonable, heartless people. You can't back down from a bully like Tim Profitt. The only way to handle guys like that is to kick them square in the nuts.

Tim Profitt is getting an olive branch when he should be getting a hickory switch.