"You'll never live to see the election."

That's not just the sentence I recite hopefully to myself every morning. It's what 18-year-old Marine recruit Steven Scott Soper, of Lake Worth, Fla. told his girlfriend when she announced she was leaving him and voting for John Kerry. With my green Vulcan blood, I know little of the human heart, but I'm guessing the leaving him part had more to do with Soper's reaction than the voting for John Kerry part. Then again, a boy's first vote is always his most passionate. In any event, Soper, who is (or was) scheduled to join the USMC once he completes his GED, attempted a little early Florida vote suppression, holding girlfriend Stacey Silheira (who describes herself as "not especially political") hostage with a screwdriver and threatening to stab her in the neck. Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies, expressing a clear preference for the Democrat, tasered Soper into submission.

Which leaves only one question: Why are the media ignoring the Kerry supporters who threaten to kill their girlfriends?

Brief story (courtesy of Drudge), here. Better story (including the portentous lead: "Steven Soper liked his girlfriend, but authorities say he liked President Bush more.") here.

Comments

Akria MacKenzie | October 28, 2004, 11:26am | #

I said it once, I'll say it again: No matter whose side wins this Tuesday, the losers going to be VERY pissed (and that's putting it mildly) for the next four years.

Of course, incidents like this could all be rare, are just over-inflated media hype, and that Democrats and Republicans are really more than happy to live together. At least, that's what I tell myelf when I see another Bush/Kerry-eats-newborn-babies-for-brunch attack ad on the TV.

Will Allen | October 28, 2004, 12:18pm | #

Everybody knows Democrats prefer automobiles as weapons.

David Rollins | October 28, 2004, 12:34pm | #

Kinda puts a new spin on the "Vote or Die" message.

This would have been a better story had he used an assault weapon. Where's Stephen Glass when you need him?

Mo | October 28, 2004, 1:07pm | #

Now you see the violence inherent in the system.

digamma | October 28, 2004, 1:25pm | #

Why does anyone bother voting at all in Palm Beach County anymore?

Brian Cook | October 28, 2004, 2:30pm | #

wait, he threatened to stab her with a... screwdriver? um. wouldn't that just be mildly annoying?

B.P. | October 28, 2004, 2:36pm | #

4 out of 5 prison-yard murderers agree that a screwdriver is the way to get the job done.

Jorge Arbusto | October 28, 2004, 3:10pm | #

Killing with a screwdriver is hard work!

PapayaSF | October 28, 2004, 3:53pm | #

Finally, some balance! I was wondering why all the election-related violence seemed to be Democrat-on-Republican.

Laura Bush | October 28, 2004, 4:35pm | #

Oh, I don't know, Will Allen--don't forget about little ol' me! Tee hee!

mike | October 28, 2004, 8:02pm | #

He must be a compassionate conservative. If he were a neocon he would have had her tortured instead of endorsing a death penalty.

Torquemada | October 28, 2004, 8:36pm | #

"I'm guessing the leaving him part had more to do with Soper's reaction than the voting for John Kerry part."

According to the article, the break-up was on Soper's initiative. Of course, the article could be wrong.

Did the victim try to get away by promising to vote for Bush? After all, it's a secret ballot, isn't it?

Torquemada | October 28, 2004, 8:43pm | #

The hypocritical liberal media! They are happy to cover a story about a Republican terrorizing his Democratic girlfriend, but they won't cover the . . . uh, let's see . . . I got it! They won't cover how Kerry's Senate colleague, Ted Kennedy, drowned a woman in 1969. At least the Democrat in the Florida story survived unharmed.

And what about Bill Clinton? Yeah, that's it, the liberal media is covering this Florida incident to cover up for Bill Clinton's, uh, bad things.

In short, Democrats are evil. Thank you very much.

BS | October 28, 2004, 10:31pm | #

You are onto it, Torque. Thank God for the unbiased folks at reason - otherwise we'd never hear anything negative about the evil Rethuglikkkans - those Thurston Howell III-like plutocrats dominate the media with that Fox news channel, and Instapundit. It's amazing anybody else gets a word in edgewise.

Mad Mother | October 29, 2004, 8:53am | #

I think everyone is missing an important point here. The MAN assaulted a woman with a screwdriver! This unregulated trafficking of screwdrivers must stop. I was at Walmart the other day and saw screwdrivers out in plain view with the other items, and, get this, CHILDREN CAN BUY THEM!

We need to stop this madness. Congress must ACT NOW to BAN assault screwdrivers over 3 inches.

joe | October 29, 2004, 12:28pm | #

Laura, don't bother your beautiful mind worrying about such things.

Stevo Threadkiller | October 29, 2004, 5:27pm | #

Not only that, Mad Mother, but the fact that this male chose to use a traditionally male-oriented device called a SCREWdriver as a weapon to politically disempower a womyn speaks volumes about the phallocentric sexual violence of oppression that is inherent in the patriarchal rape-culture.