An elected official is threatening to press charges against a constituent who sent her a tea bag. Toby Ann Stavisky, the Democratic New York State Senator from Queens (NY-16th Senate District), has threatened Michael Chimenti, an ordinary guy who lives in her district, writes a lot of letters to the editor of the New York Daily News, and who sent her a tea bag to protest profligate government spending.

Michael Chimenti writes:

NY State Senator Toby Stavisky (16th District) is threatening to press charges against me for sending her a tea bag.

The Albany police said because there was an “unknown” substance in the letter, it becomes a federal offense under the laws passed after 9/11, even though it was clearly a tea bag with a letter in it marked “TEA PARTY”.

Buffalo, New York tea party organizer Allen Coniglio commented via email:

That is a bogus charge and, of course, will be dismissed. It is protected political speech, and only an idiot would construe it as anything but. Please tell Ms. Stavisky to get a life.

These people don’t get that it is just for reasons such as her childish behavior that we the people are so disgusted that we want to throw them all out of office. These people act like thin-skinned thugs and enforcers, using their office to bring the power of the state down on ordinary citizens who, perhaps caught up in the fever of the moment, are doing nothing more than trying to make a political point. Clearly, the guy should not have sent the teabag, but, lighten up, senator (small “s” intentional). The tyrant never understands that the more they attempt to repress the people, the more the opposition to their bullying tactics will increase. We will continue the fight, senator, and we will prevail in the end. Thank you for reminding us of what we have to do and why we are doing it.

This is just another example in which the Democratic incumbents, instead of governing wisely for all of their constituents, become shills for their political party. Staviski could have been a stateswoman. She could have responded with a polite letter to Chimenti outlining the pros and cons of the issues, and her reasons for taking the opposite position to her constituent. But no. She responded like a partisan political hack, the epitome of all that is wrong with the American political process today. Shame on her!

This is the first case of attempted intimidation that we have learned about, although we were expecting exactly this response to the tea bag mailings. Doubtless there will be more strong-arm tactics against the patriotic citizens, as the fall-out from the FBI surveillance of the tea parties and the Rightwing Extremism Threat Assessment plays out. We’ll keep you posted … until they come for us.

UPDATE: We received a report that the Albany police department was involved, and that they locked down and quarantined Staviski’s office until the “substance” was “verified.” The police contacted Mr. Chimenti on Monday morning and informed him that the senator could press federal charges. In his letter he had included three phone numbers where he could be reached — home, work, and cell.

Hardly a suspicious terrorist! If I had been running that office, I would have made a cup of tea and sent a thank-you letter. It is much better to build bridges than to create a bogus emergency, especially wasting the policemen’s time and the citizens’ tax dollars.