The fabric of American society frays further

It's now moved from simple vandalism to potentially life-threatening violence:

The slashing of a gas line at the home of U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello’s brother’s house was a “deliberate act of vandalism” that “could have posed a danger,” Albemarle County officials said today.

On Monday, two conservative Tea Party activists posted the home’s address on the Internet, believing it belonged to the congressman. They urged others to “drop by” the house to “express their thanks” for Perriello’s vote in favor of health care reform.

A day later, Perriello’s brother’s family smelled gas and found that someone had severed a supply hose connecting a liquid petroleum tank to burners on a portable gas grill. The grill was on a deck adjacent to a screened-in porch on the back of the house.

“Investigators believe that this was a deliberate act of vandalism and that the supply hose was intentionally cut,” a statement from Albemarle County said. “While there was no immediate threat to the residence and its occupants, investigators believe the leaking gas could have posed a danger had there been an ignition source nearby.”

The slashing of the propane line was discovered the same day that someone sent the home a “threatening” letter addressed to Rep. Perriello.

From here, via Blaque. And it seems the other side is starting to shoot back... literally:

Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 Republican in the House, said at a news conference today that someone had fired a bullet through the window of his campaign office this week.

Source, via arthur_sc_king in a comment to another Blaque post. It's only a matter of time before lives are lost, and what then? Maybe it will knock some sense into people, but it could just as easily escalate things further.