Wisconsin man blasts TV with shotgun to protest Bristol Palin's lackluster dance skills

A 67-year-old man in rural Wisconsin grabbed his shotgun and blasted his TV after witnessing Bristol Palin's dance performance on "Dancing with the Stars." Everyone's a critic. The shooting resulted in an all-night SWAT team standoff. (Submitterator, thanks theatrechik77)

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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Jim

YEAH! You tell’em Shotgun Guy! Frickin tea-party! There’s no way Bristol Palin…

what’s that… you’re a dedicated public servant who suffers from bi-polar disorder and are having serious financial troubles and could have easily gotten yourself and/or your wife killed during the resulting standoff?

… and the media attention from all this is only adding to the stress of the incident and the charges you might face?

oh. well that’s just really sad.

hope things get better for you.

http://www.wxow.com/Global/story.asp?S=13534548
Cowicide

In a better world, the SWAT team would have busted in, seen what he was doing and then finished the TV off for him.
Anonymous

Read an interview with Tommy Chong a few years ago. He is actually quite an accomplished ballroom dancer. He said his agent expressed interest in getting him on the show.

The Dancing With The Stars producer/creator reacted angrily: “I don’t want that old hippie on my show!”

So instead for “stars” we get the likes of Bristol Palin and Tom DeLay.

Broadcast television shows like this are carefully rearranging the culture, so no one under 45 has ever heard of Tommy Smothers (or hears his political views). Instead we are fed a steady diet of Marie Osmond.
irksome

Refudiate and reload!
Anonymous

As an American citizen should be your right (and even your duty) to shoot the TV. They should really save the SWAT teams for more important tasks like the marihuana raids and shooting the family dogs.
Sweetcarovan

Fair enough
nanuq

Something tells me the Tea Party crowd won’t be so approving of this guy exercising his Second Amendment rights.
Anonymous

Hey, he just did what we all want to do.
braininavat

If I was a lawyer I’d represent this man pro bono!
‘According to court documents, 67-year-old Steven Cowan became enraged while watching Palin dance on Monday evening. He felt Palin was not a good dancer.’
MrJM

Shootin’ yer tee-vee ain’t no crime.

He also threatened his wife with the gun.
Anonymous

I feel the same way after I see a Palin on the tellamavision…
ed fizzisky

friend of mine’s dad, killed his tv with an arrow from across the room. 40 years ago.
EH

the f-ing politics!
bobhughes

I shot tha tay-vay