Posted Without Comment.

From the Turner Report, courtesy of Runesmith.

I liken election campaigns to white water rafting. Things appear calm, then bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Then calm again. Basically, you need to be ready for anything. The other day I met a man at an event. His name is Sammy. I liked him instantly. He’s a quiet man, Sammy is. Humble in fact. But with the heart of a lion He works in a convenience store in Hamilton. He told me he was over at the La Rose parking down on Bronte Street in Milton. He saw a van all taped up with Lisa’s signs. So he came to see me and said “They next time I pull into that parking lot, the people will know …… Garth Turner will be on the side of my van.” Sammy and I laughed. “You are a brave man!” I joked. The smile on Sammy’s face turned serious. I come from Pakistan he told me, via Vancouver. I know about life. I know about fear. I know about freedom. So Sammy and I went back into the campaign office and found us a roll of packing tape. We turned his unassuming vehicle into a Garth mobile. Arterials on the sides, lawn sign on the back, literature in the window. “I work in Hamilton” Sammy said. And as his chest puffed out in pride, he told me “Everyone will know from Halton to Hamilton, who I’m voting for!

That was yesterday.

Today I learned from a third party that Sammy’s van has been vandalized. Spray painted over the Garth Turner arterials with obscenities. This third party has also informed me that Sammy will not be moved. His van continues to wear those arterials, obscenities and all, a symbol of Sammy’s defiance.

Sammy will not be moved.

My heart is full.