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The Mormon owners of a Mexican cafe in Denver say that they have gotten death threats, hate calls and fake orders after refusing to allow Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney to make campaign stop at their restaurant.

"One person who called said, 'Watch your back. We know where live and we're going after you,'" Oscar Aguirre, the son of the owners of Rosa Linda Mexican Cafe, told KMGH New Media Producer Wayne Harrison. "We just didn't want our business used as a campaign stop."

Aguirre explained that callers had been misinformed that the restaurant had refused to serve Romney.

"It was presented to us that [Romney] wanted to do a political stump here," he told the station. "[He wanted to] talk about our small business [and] because we share our religious views with the candidate and are Latinos it would be great for him to do a campaign stop."

"We did say 'no' because we are not Republicans, nor are we Democrats. We will welcome any sitting President of the United States. But, we did not want to be a campaign stop."

The Mexican Cafe has also been flooded with fake orders and canceled reservations, according to Aguirre.

"Two people ordered $150 worth of food for lunch to be picked up today. They called later and said, 'Oh, you're the one who doesn't want Romney in your business' and they canceled their orders, even though the food had been prepared," he recalled.

Aguirre said that the trouble began after an article published by Denver Westword earlier this week reported that their mother had refused the Romney campaign's offer because "religion and politics don't mix."

"Since this article came out we have been getting hate emails, from people across the country, people sending us death threats and people calling us telling us we are racist... that they hope we go out of business," Aguirre wrote in a letter on Wednesday. "If we do go out of business our Annual Thanksgiving Feast to the needy would end. Last year we fed 5500 meals, this year we may serve above 6000 meals."

"Please let the American public know that we are not racist or bigots. We are just a working family wanting to help our community and our country by serving those in need," he added.

"PLEASE STOP THE HATE!!"

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From C-SPAN's in Depth on Book TV, author and documentary maker Michael Moore recalls his account of speaking out against the invasion of Iraq during the 2003 Academy Awards and the subsequent death threats he received, egged on by right wing radio and the likes of Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck for the year or two following the speech.

You can watch the entire three hour interview at C-SPAN's web site here.

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Boy, this is getting ugly. Rachel Maddow talked with Eugene Robinson about the voter suppression and intimidation tactics coming from this group the King Street Patriots last night. Here's more on the latest turn of events from TPM Muckraker.

Voter Registration Group Targeted By TX Tea Party Group Received Threats:

A group trying to register voters in Houston received threats and emails containing racist slurs after being targeted by a local tea party group accusing it of "voter fraud."

In emails obtained by TPM, the group Houston Votes was accused of being "a bunch of white guilt ridden assholes, NIGGERS and greasy mexican spics," "fraudulent Marxist pigs," and "American hating A-holes."

"We received a couple of threats and several harassing e-mails," Maureen Haver of Houston Voters told TPMMuckraker. "There have been several efforts, I think, just trying to race-bait and stir racial tension and part of that I think is just based on what we've received in messaging from them."

"It's really had a chilling effect on our office," said Haver, adding that one of the e-mails was reported to the FBI.

You can read the emails at TPM's site. They're not safe for work.

As Digby noted:

And lest we think this is just some unaffiliated cranks:

King Street Patriots leader Catherine Engelbrecht even went as far to as to accuse the group of being the headquarters of the New Black Panther Party.

The good news is that the Tea partiers don't have a racist bone in their bodies. Just ask them They'll tell you so. (It's just the "bad ones" they don't like.)

And from TPM:

True The Vote also put together a video raising the threat of voter fraud which features soaring music. "Think it can't happen in your town? Think again!" reads one message. "Our elections are being manipulated. By the RADICAL LEFT," the video says.

The video originally featured a doctored photo of an African-American voter holding a poorly photoshopped sign -- featuring Comic Sans font -- that read "I only got to vote once." That part of the video has since been edited out.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) --Accused man's mom blames Fox News for behavior:

Gregory Giusti's 83-year-old mother had not heard that her son had been arrested, but she told ABC7 he has a history of mental problems. She does not think he would be capable of carrying out the threat; he has never owned a gun, and she blames Fox News for getting her son worked up.

Giusti was arrested Wednesday afternoon for threatening Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi over recent healthcare legislation.

"Greg frequently gets in with a group of people that have really radical ideas and that are not consistent with myself or the rest of the family, which gets him into problems," Eleanor Giusti said. "I say Fox News, or all of those that are really radical, and he, that's where he comes from."

Giusti, 48, has a long history of encounters with law enforcement. Read on...

Who would have guessed it? Think ClusterFox will send Bill-O's stalker producer Griffy out to harass her about why she's being so mean to them? My guess is they'll ignore it just like Tom Coburn defending Pelosi. Haven't seen any push back on that one yet either.

h/t Media Matters

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Following their reporting on the death threats and acts of vandalism being received by members of Congress, Rick Sanchez and Jessica Yellin both agree that it would be somehow politically dangerous for Democrats to say that the Republican party owns this mess if they don't come out forcefully and denounce it. Yeah right. So let me get this straight. If the Democrats dare to point out that the Republicans are helping to incite these Tea party protesters and stoking the violence instead of denouncing it, now you clowns just gave yourselves an excuse pretend all things are equal and this is just playing politics?

Rick Sanchez and Jessica Yellin apparently couldn't be bothered with pointing out how many Repubican politicians were attending these rallies and how they are courting the Tea Party movement for political gain.

Sanchez followed this segment with a nice "fair and balanced" piece asking whether Ann Coulter used hate speech or not, as if there's any question.

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It's too bad Rachel Maddow isn't on MSNBC a bit earlier in the evening. There is not another show on cable television doing the type of reporting and muckraking she is night after night and some of the best interviews as well--tonight's interview with Frank Schaeffer being no exception. Rachel reports on the lastest round of attacks coming from the religious right against President Obama, this time with the use of Psalm 109:8 as reported by the Christian Science Monitor.

Biblical anti-Obama slogan: Use of Psalm 109:8 funny or sinister?

There’s a new slogan making its way onto car bumpers and across the Internet. It reads simply: “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”

A nice sentiment?

Maybe not.

The psalm reads, “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.”

Presidential criticism through witty slogans is nothing new. Bumper stickers, t-shirts, and hats with “1/20/09” commemorated President Bush’s last day in office.

But the verse immediately following the psalm referenced is a bit more ominous: “Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow.”

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Here's Rachel's take.

MADDOW: And then there's this, a Biblical quote making the rounds in anti-Obama circles, as reported this week in The Christian Science Monitor: Pray For President Obama - Psalm 109 Verse 8. What's Psalm 109:8? Well, it reads 'Let His Days Be Few, And Let Another Take His Office.' Let his days be few. Uh, it's followed immediately by another verse: 'Let His Children Be Fatherless, And His Wife A Widow.'

And don't forget, that sentiment is now being merchandized on bumper stickers, on mouse pads, on teddy bears, on aprons, framed tiles - those are nice - keepsake boxes, T-shirts. Let his days be few, ha, ha, on a teddy bear. Is anybody else creeped out by this?

Frank Schaeffer joined Rachel to weigh in. Video and transcript below the fold.

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August 29 2009 CNN

(Heather): Well, it looks like the Secret Service has paid someone a visit. Good. That's the least they should be doing.

SANCHEZ: All right. Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. This is a conversation. It is not a speech. And it is your turn to get involved.

It is my duty as a journalist to make you aware of a deeply disturbing trend taking that is taking place in our country and how it ironically folds into yet another story that I shared with you just last week.

A CNN source with very close to the U.S. Secret Service confirmed to me today that threats on the life of the president of the United States have now risen by as much as 400 percent since his inauguration, 400 percent death threats against Barack Obama -- quote -- "in this environment" go far beyond anything the Secret Service has seen with any other president.

Now, I need to have you keep in mind today as we add details to this story of what we're going to share with you here. I want to take you back 11 days ago, when Mr. Obama visited Phoenix, Arizona. Do you remember this man? He's one of a dozen or so people who carried guns to that presidential event that we have been checking on.

You may remember that we heard him say on camera that he is prepared to resort to forceful resistance against the Obama administration. Now, today, I want to tell you about the church that that man attends. And, in particular, I am going to play for you parts of the sermon that were delivered from the pulpit on the very day before the president arrived in Phoenix, Arizona.

This is important. This, my friends, I believe you will agree, is chilling.

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Tom Coburn tried to rationalize the threats of violence and the anger at these town hall protests on Meet the Press today and was called out by Rachel Maddow for it. Dick Armey chimed in as well and tried to say that MoveOn.org was just as bad for running an ad comparing Bush to Hitler. As Rachel points out, they never ran that ad, not that it stopped Dick Armey from trying to say it again a bit later in the show. Coburn's statement was far enough over the top that even David Gregory refuted him.

MR. GREGORY: All right. But let’s talk about the tone of the debate. There have been death threats against members of Congress, there are Nazi references to members of Congress and to the president. Here are some of the images. The president being called a Nazi, his reform effort being called Nazi-like, referring to Nazi Germany, members of Congress being called the same. And then there was this image this week outside of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a town hall event that the president had, this man with a gun strapped to his leg held that sign, “It is time to water the tree of liberty.” It was a reference to that famous Thomas Jefferson quote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” That has become a motto for violence against the government. Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, had that very quote on his shirt the day of the bombing of the Murrah building when 168 people were killed.

Senator Coburn, you are from Oklahoma. When this element comes out in larger numbers because of this debate, what, what troubles you about that?

SEN. TOM COBURN (R-OK): Well, I’m, I’m troubled anytime when we, we stop having confidence in, in our government. But we’ve earned it. You know, this debate isn’t about health care. Health care’s the symptom. The debate is an uncontrolled federal government that’s going to run--50 percent of everything we’re spending this year we’re borrowing from the next generation. You...

MR. GREGORY: That’s—but wait, hold on, I want to stop you there. I’m talking about the tone. I am talking about violence against the government. That’s what this is synonymous with.

SEN. COBURN: The, the—but the tone is based on fear of loss of control of their own government. What, what is the genesis behind people going to such extreme statements? What is it? We, we have lost the confidence, to a certain degree, and it’s much worse than when Tom was the, the, the leader of the Senate. We have, we have raised the question of whether or not we’re legitimately thinking about the American people and their long-term best interests. And that’s the question. The, the mail volume of all the senators didn’t go up based on the healthcare debate, the mail volume went up when we started spending away our future indiscriminately. And that’s not Republican or Democrat, that has been a problem for years. But it’s exacerbated now that we’re in the kind of financial situation and economic situation.

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