I posted this in Great debates if anyone is interested.
Miller defends handcuffing of reporter.
Joe Miller, the Republican Senate nominee in Alaska, has defended a decision made by his private security guards to detain and handcuff a reporter at a public meeting on Sunday. Miller accused Tony Hopfinger, the editor of the website Alaska Dispatch, of harassing him and following him into a bathroom while trying to get an interview. In an interview on Fox News, Miller dismissed charges that the guards violated Hopfinger’s First Amendment rights.
Joe Miller: “Well, I have been the most transparent, most successful candidate of the three. That town hall meeting was full of people with questions and we answered them. So, if anybody is going to talk about the First Amendment, we are huge proponents of it and we like to have the free exchange of ideas and that is what happened up until this guy just starting crossing the line.”
Private security guards working for the firm Drop Zone handcuffed Hopfinger, and detained him in a hallway of the school for 25 minutes until police arrived and ordered his release. Private security guards also tried to prevent two other reporters from filming the detention but a reporter from the Anchorage Daily News briefly spoke with Hopfinger.
Tony Hopfinger: At that point they took me down here.
Reporter: Who is they?
Tony Hopfinger: All of these guys and they handcuffed me and then they called the police.
Reporter: How did they get the handcuffs on? How did you let them handcuff you? They used force?
Tony Hopfinger: They used force to put me in handcuffs.
The Anchorage Daily News has also revealed that two of the private security guards who detained the reporter were active-duty soldiers moonlighting for the security firm.
Looks like the hits just keep on comin’ for old Joe–looks like he might have some ‘splainin’ to do to the IRS as well. I love it that he’s paying himself 50-100K per year rent on an office with an assessed value of about 25K in order to get out of paying Social Security payroll taxes. Seriously, are there any laws these Tea Party fuckers think apply to them? They’re all about making laws to force the rest of us to toe their retarded party line but they themselves? Not so much.
SmartAleq:
Looks like the hits just keep on comin’ for old Joe–looks like he might have some ‘splainin’ to do to the IRS as well. I love it that he’s paying himself 50-100K per year rent on an office with an assessed value of about 25K in order to get out of paying Social Security payroll taxes. Seriously, are there any laws these Tea Party fuckers think apply to them? They’re all about making laws to force the rest of us to toe their retarded party line but they themselves? Not so much.
Sounds pretty fascist to me. The important thing, however, is that he’s not a Socialist.
-Joe
Aw, dammit, I done screwed up my Teabagger Bingo card, shit. Anybody got another one?
Chefguy
October 21, 2010, 3:18pm
67
Apparently, even Alaska’s Republicans have had enough of this guy.
I don’t see it that way, though I wish it were so. I see it as one partisan sub-group within the party wants Miller to play ball with the press. They’re not even disowning him.
The Republican party as an institution is apparently not behind this.
Chefguy
October 22, 2010, 12:19am
69
Boyo_Jim:
I don’t see it that way, though I wish it were so. I see it as one partisan sub-group within the party wants Miller to play ball with the press. They’re not even disowning him.
The Republican party as an institution is apparently not behind this.
Well, give them a couple of weeks.
The tea baggers don’t answer questions because they don’t have any answers. At least ones that non tea baggers will accept. better to let people think you are a little crazy, than opening your mouth and removing all doubt.
Chefguy
October 24, 2010, 3:18pm
71
An Alaska judge has ordered the North Star Borough to release Joe Miller’s documents to the public. He’s given them enough time to appeal to the Alaska Supremes and allowed some redacting, though.
Knowing the truth is important…but let’s edit it, first? Must be some of that national security stuff. They are on the Commie Border after all.
-Joe
Chefguy
October 24, 2010, 5:46pm
73
I would hope that it’s information like SSN and other private info that others have no right to see. Otherwise, what’s the point?
Chefguy
October 24, 2010, 7:07pm
74
Another reporter bounced from a Miller event. And this one hadn’t even asked a question.
Probably had some sort of Commie/Socialist Lenin beard. Not a rugged manly beard like Miller/Palin.
-Joe
They had it on good authority that she was going to ask Miller a “gotcha” question.
Like “what is your favorite color?”
Chefguy
October 25, 2010, 3:33pm
77
Even Ben Stein hates this guy.
Other “gotcha” questions for Miller:
Are your guards going to beat me?
Jeez . . . If Miller wins this, we should seriously consider selling Alaska back to the Russians!
Chefguy
October 26, 2010, 10:19pm
80
Miller fails to report land holdings on disclosure documents.
In part:
For the past 14 years, U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miler has owned or controlled 40 acres with a two-story house near Willow, but he does not report it in his Senate financial disclosure statements.