One anonymous caller to the office of Louise Slaughter, D-New York, left no doubt about his intentions. He threatened that “snipers” would kill the children of anyone who voted for the bill.

The messages to Bart Stupak, D-Michigan, were even more graphic. The anti-abortion congressman who voted for the health-care bill, was called a “bastard and a baby-killer,” a “baby-murdering scumbag” and warned he would die “either by the hand of man or by the hand of God.”

All this comes days after protesters hurled racial and anti-gay epithets at Democrats on their way to the pivotal vote and, in one case, spit on a congressman.

Since Sunday's vote in the House of Representatives to pass health-care reform, at least 10 Democrats — who voted for the bill— have requested police protection due to threats made against them and their families.

Threats and acts of vandalism against Democratic members of Congress who voted for health-care reform caused condemnation Thursday, with members of both parties alleging that others are inciting violence, not doing enough to stop people from stirring up such behavior or making too much of the threats.

Democrats contend the fiery rhetoric used by Republicans after the passage of the $940-billion health-care bill is to blame.

Republican Party leaders say they have publicly condemned these actions, adding that whatever evidence exists for coordination of these efforts, it doesn't point to the GOP. Indeed, they say, the party cannot be held accountable for the behavior of every person who shares its opposition to the health-care reform bill.

But some observers here say that Republicans do bear responsibility for fostering the conditions that pushed some people over the edge. The strategy they have adopted in their attempt to defeat health-care reform at all costs, and the tactics they have employed to do so, have fed the paranoia of a group of people.

Democrats point to a Facebook posting by Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential nominee, where she included a map that placed crosshair targets over the districts of Democrats vulnerable in the November congressional mid-term elections.

"Don't retreat. Instead, RELOAD," she wrote.

Republicans said it was clear Palin was referring to political retaliation as opposed to violence.

John Boehner, the Republican minority leader, called passage of the bill "Armageddon," and said fellow Ohio representative Steve Driehaus "may be a dead man" because of his vote for health care and wouldn't be able to go out in public in his home city, Cincinnati.

Boehner later told Driehaus he meant his political career would be dead.

But even in doing so, he couldn't resist saying: "I know many Americans are angry over this health-care bill, and that Washington Democrats just aren't listening. But, as I've said, violence and threats are unacceptable. That's not the American way. We need to take that anger and channel it into positive change. Call your congressman, go out and register people to vote, go volunteer on a political campaign, and make a donation.”

"It all makes me ill," said Leonard Zeskind, president of the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights, told reporters.

Racial and political violence is often the culmination of an "escalating situation" that begins with verbal or written threats, then moves to vandalism and then turns to actual harm against other people, said Zeskind, who has researched the history and evolution of white supremacist groups.

Eric Cantor, R-Va., the House minority whip, accused Democrats Thursday of "fanning the flames" of the violence by using it as a partisan attack. He said Republicans have been threatened and that Republican offices, including his, have been vandalized as well.

“Security threats against members of Congress are not a partisan issue, and they should never be treated that way," Cantor said at a Capitol Hill news conference. "To use such threats as political weapons is reprehensible."