Let me set the scene: Republican Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick (PA-08) was in his district on Thursday, doing general Congressmen stuff: in this particular case, he was making an appearance at a local high school [political] science club. Basic, not-particularly-[partisan]-political constituent outreach, in other words. Rep. Fitzpatrick was off doing the unglamorous civics thing, which is a large part of any Representative’s job.
But apparently the progressive PAC American Bridge feels that it’s their job to break into high schools while they’re in session and then go stalk Congressmen:
According to a source on the Fitzpatrick campaign, American Bridge sent a tracker who identified himself as “Jordan” uninvited into the school. That tracker was able to enter and trespass but a Fitzpatrick staffer politely turned him away. The campaign notified the school of the security breach. Most public schools do not allow unidentified individuals into school buildings without signing in, and there is no evidence that the American Bridge trackers ever attempted to sign in.
American Bridge, according to the source, then attempted to break a second tracker into the school. The source says that a teacher approached the second tracker, asked for identification, and then requested school security to watch the doors.
If this story is true, then what should have happened is that the two ‘trackers’ should have been arrested and American Bridge should be eventually subject to a restraining order against further trespassing on school property in the pursuit of their ‘duties.’ It is almost criminally insane to have and follow a policy that assumes that people automatically have permission to go into school buildings without even signing in and then follow invited guests around. I say this as a father of two kids: if this had happened in either of the two schools that my kids go to, I would be livid. I can’t follow my kids into the school buildings without signing in, and the teachers all know me.
Again: if this story is true, then American Bridge PAC has a very bad, and very litigation-friendly, flaw in its training methodology. I suggest that they fix it, before the American criminal justice system fixes it for them.
Moe Lane
PS: I invite progressives to argue that they have a right to invade high schools without permission, in order to stalk candidates. I invite them to argue that at the top of their lungs.
Just pointing out, this is one of those rare occasions where zero-tolerance thinking works to our advantage .. the school *cannot* demand signatures from everyone, then ignore this offense .. if they do, they open themselves to lawsuits.
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Mew
I’m thinking that it’s long past the time we start fighting as dirty as they do. The next time this happens, get names, get their pictures taken and have them uploaded to Twitter and Facebook before the Congressman’s meeting is over with. Start identifying who they are with and start asking questions of them.
Quick addendum: Within 24 hours of them being named, broadcast who their employers are and provide contact information to see if they approve of their employees stalking people in schools.
I agree with these suggested actions, but I see no reason to consider it “fighting dirty”. When did telling the truth become “fighting dirty”? Is that what our political system has become? SMDH
The average establishment Republican (And sadly, quite a few Conservative types) would clutch their hearts and berate me for “being cruel”, “sinking to their level” and “ceding the moral high ground.”
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I’ll leave it to your imagination what my opinion of such people are and the worth I place on their opinions. I like Moe and prefer to keep my postings here relatively civil.