The peaceful left

Romney signs defaced with excrement in Virginia

A conservative radio host based in central Virginia, has posted a video on his website of a GOP office with its window smashed in, expletive-laced rants presumably delivered at Republicans, and Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan signs torn down, defaced and smeared with what appears to be human excrement.

The clip (prefaced with a warning of "extremely graphic content") on the "Schilling Show" blog, written by radio host Rob Schilling, begins with President Obama on the campaign trail telling attendees to "argue with them and get in their face," a phrase he used in 2008 to encourage his supporters to talk to friends and neighbors about voting and accurately delivering his message, whether they were Republican or independent.

The clip then shifts to an expletive-laced rant labeled "Actual phone call received at Albemarle County, Virginia GOP Headquarters — September 11, 2012."

It goes on to show a man tearing down yard signs at an Americans For Prosperity event in Charlottesville while screaming obscenities, then a montage of Republican political signs that have been defaced — in one case with excrement — and Nazi imagery plastered onto an AFP sign.

The video ends with the words "Don't let Democrats, vandals, thieves, oppressors, intimidators, and tyrants silence you … Remember, NOVEMBER IS COMING."

Virginia is a critical battleground state, with the Charlottesville and Albemarle area — where the video was filmed — essentially the only Democratic stronghold in the state's expansive southside 5th Congressional district.

Sign wars are a traditional part of campaigning, and operatives use all sorts of tactics to try to put up as many signs as they can, and to protect their signs from vandalism by angry opponents.