# Congressman attacks student for daring to ask him a question **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 15, 2010, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227 "2010-06-15T00:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 26
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/501 "2010-06-18T02:26:27Z")
Also, Oakminster, did you even read the thread where I made the posts about Dio’s kids? Or did you just get all up in arms because I said something that in some way referenced a poster’s kids? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/502 "2010-06-18T02:38:24Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > (my bolding) > NOW you tell me. What do I do with my spiky gloves and serrated double-axe? Well, ya could look for a midnight showing of _Mad Max_, and attend in costume, hoping to start a _Rocky Horror_ style audience participation thing. I don’t recommend it, but I’d probably watch a youtube clip of it. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/503 "2010-06-18T02:48:00Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Also, Oakminster, did you even read the thread where I made the posts about Dio’s kids? Or did you just get all up in arms because I said something that in some way referenced a poster’s kids? You admitted it in this post: > [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Posting about Dio’s daughters was a personal attack on Dio, not his daughters. It’s nonsensical to say that I personally attacked someone who doesn’t post here. > > By that logic, many SDMB members have personally attacked Palin and Bush and Obama etc etc–you’d be hard-pressed to find a poster who hasn’t personally attacked someone. However, because I’m sure I’ve probably done something that requires penance to some non-existent deity, if you’ll be kind enough to link it, I’ll read at least the relevant portions thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/504 "2010-06-18T02:54:29Z")
In the wise words of the old aphorism, D N F R R ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/505 "2010-06-18T02:59:09Z")
Ah, OK. So yo got all over my ass for saying something about another poster’s daughters, and you haven’t even read the thread where I said it. Jesus Christ. Here’s a synopsis: Dio was being a pig-headed ass about people having sex with someone and later finding out the person was under-age. He kept insisting that there was no way to tell how old someone was. He was basically all up in arms about older guys having sex with women who were slightly under 18, even if the guy checked their ID and did everything humanly possible to verify that they were over 18. Enter Rand Rover, who says that I bet Dio’s daughters are total sluts, which is why he’s up in arms about the subject. The post was funny, too. Dio then says that his daughters are really young, so I follow-up by saying that I modified my statement to a prediction that his daughters would be sluts in the future. That’s it. I didn’t sexually attack anybody (or however Dookie’s dumb ass phrased it above). I just got on Dio’s ass for being a pig-headed idiot about the possibility of guys having sex with older teenage girls. I’m sure Dookie’s stupid ass has a completely different memory of the event, which probably involves me stalking Dio’s daughters and posting lurid pictures of them online or some shit, but what I said above is how it really went down. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/506 "2010-06-18T03:00:47Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > In the wise words of the old aphorism, D N F R R D N F the guy who thinks he personally knows the guy who is the second coming of Jesus Christ (that’s Polycarp, by the way). ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/507 "2010-06-18T03:12:55Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Ah, OK. So yo got all over my ass for saying something about another poster’s daughters, and you haven’t even read the thread where I said it. Jesus Christ. You’re right. I probably shouldn’t have done that. In mitigation, actually reading a discussion between you and **Dio** ranks only slightly above smashing my thumb with a hammer. And I really hate smashing my thumb with a hammer. > [@](#): > > Enter Rand Rover, who says that I bet Dio’s daughters are total sluts, which is why he’s up in arms about the subject. The post was funny, too. Dio then says that his daughters are really young, so I follow-up by saying that I modified my statement to a prediction that his daughters would be sluts in the future. > > That’s it. If I had kids, and you said something like that about them to my face, I’d kick your ass, or maybe you’d kick mine, but punches would be thrown. You do not talk about a man’s kids. Men don’t fight that way. It’s dishonorable. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/508 "2010-06-18T03:26:20Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > This guy is a politician. If he is going to attack anyone who asks him a loaded question… Yeah, he really should have done better. > [@](#): > > Any politician worth his PAC contributions should have be able to knock that one out of the park. Instead, he goes postal on him. Well maybe he was having a bad day. Or maybe he’s encountered Mr. Student before. But that’s ..the best … I can say about the Congressman: maybe he’s just lame! The bottom line is that he screwed up and was right to apologize. (Given that the kid could have been a oppo researcher, making any statement might be pointless though, as it could be easily chopped up and distorted. Not sure.) **Bricker** : Thanks for the legal background. But surely, the Congressman was being an ass for going as far as he did, right? Also, is it fair to say that his conduct was _not_ battery as the touching was not offensive, insofar as it was a) provoked and b) did no lasting damage? Or is the provocation irrelevant on that point? Does manhandling count as battery per se? ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/509 "2010-06-18T03:43:24Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > You are obsessed. You are an idiot. You are a failure. And yet, you’re hated. Better to be a failure than a pariah. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/510 "2010-06-18T04:41:07Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > D N F the guy who thinks he personally knows the guy who is the second coming of Jesus Christ (that’s Polycarp, by the way). I never said what you attribute me as thinking here. Typical of your (mis)behavior that you’d raise this comment. By the way, sold many powered chairs for the disabled lately? Because in between claiming to be a wealthy tax lawyer, you once claimed you sold them in a post here. And this has little or nothing to do with Bob Etheridge. I realize you love the attention; it probably gets dreary in that basement room. But it would be nice to get back to the stated thread topic. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/511 "2010-06-18T08:31:17Z")
I just want to point out how much better the board is when you see all these people talking to themselves. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/512 "2010-06-18T10:22:29Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, they didn’t have to do that. Citizens of the United States have no moral or legal obligation to identify themselves to members of Congress. You’re right so far as it goes, but the question isn’t whether the Congressman has some absolute right to get ID from anyone who approaches him. The question is whether he has the right to ask who someone is who’s initiated a conversation with him, for purposes of determining, for instance, whether they’re a constituent of his. Since 434/435 of the U.S. population qualify as “people who aren’t Bob Etheridge’s constituents,” ISTM that it’s quite reasonable for him to ask their identity, and waste no more time on them if they refuse to identify themselves in a way that allows him to get an idea of whether they might possibly be a constituent of his. That’s hardly being over-entitled or assuming police powers or whatever, IMHO. YMMV, and apparently does, but I can’t help but feel you’re arguing disingenuously here. > [@](#): > > Congress is a national deliberative body. If this clown ever gave an interview to any newspaper from outside his district, or answered a question from someone who lived in DC, he has given up any basis to complain when people ask him questions about his political actions. I don’t have any clue as to why that should be so. > [@](#): > > He works for us. We, the citizens of the USA, are his boss. Yeah, our tax dollars pay his paycheck, but that doesn’t mean he’s at our beck and call, 24/7. He’s still a freakin’ _human being_, and as such deserves some peaceful moments, even outside his own home. He doesn’t have any obligation to answer questions from any bozo with a camera, any time he walks down the street. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/513 "2010-06-18T12:24:57Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > And yet, you’re hated. > > Better to be a failure than a pariah. I wear being hated by the likes of you as a badge of honor. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/514 "2010-06-18T12:28:39Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I wear being hated by the likes of you as a badge of honor. Is there anyone here you _would_ mind being hated by? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/515 "2010-06-18T12:31:38Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > I never said what you attribute me as thinking here. Typical of your (mis)behavior that you’d raise this comment. > > By the way, sold many powered chairs for the disabled lately? Because in between claiming to be a wealthy tax lawyer, you once claimed you sold them in a post here. > > And this has little or nothing to do with Bob Etheridge. I realize you love the attention; it probably gets dreary in that basement room. But it would be nice to get back to the stated thread topic. I love when you bring that post up, Poly. Another poster used a metaphor where someone rode a motorized trike in a park to get around the law against motorcycles or something. I responded and said that, in termsd of that metaphor, I am a motorized trike salesman because, as a tax lawyer, part of what I do is sell people advice on how to get around certain rules. Poly, in his infinite wisdom, thinks that I admitted tha my tax lawyer act is a sham and I really sell real motorized trikes. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/516 "2010-06-18T12:49:57Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I wear being hated by the likes of you as a badge of honor. How do manage to walk under weight of so many badges? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/517 "2010-06-18T13:36:06Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > **Bricker** : Thanks for the legal background. But surely, the Congressman was being an ass for going as far as he did, right? Also, is it fair to say that his conduct was _not_ battery as the touching was not offensive, insofar as it was a) provoked and b) did no lasting damage? Or is the provocation irrelevant on that point? Does manhandling count as battery per se? Of course he was being an ass. No one (except, perhaps, for **Dio** , who feels trapped by his initial intemperate outburst into insisting that the Congressman is not even technically criminal or possibly prosecutable) is defending that point. I don’t think the provocation is relevant to the touching being offensive, except if a good defense attorney could get the victim on the stand and either make him admit that he wanted that kind of reaction, and therefore it didn’t offend him, or make the jury draw that conclusion even absent an explicit admission. Manhandling is battery, except if the touch is privileged in some way. For example, a bouncer may be privileged to use reasonable force to eject a trespasser who fails to leave the bar after being told to. A parent doesn’t commit battery on a child for grabbing the child’s hand and dragging him shopping, because parents are privileged to impose reasonable physical discipline on their children. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/518 "2010-06-18T14:22:54Z")
And yet another thread becomes about Rand Rover. Guys, he lives for this. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/519 "2010-06-18T15:35:40Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > How do manage to walk under weight of so many badges? ouch!! good one though ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227/520 "2010-06-18T15:54:03Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > You’re right. I probably shouldn’t have done that. Glad you recognize that. > [@](#): > > If I had kids, and you said something like that about them to my face, I’d kick your ass, or maybe you’d kick mine, but punches would be thrown. > > You do not talk about a man’s kids. Men don’t fight that way. It’s dishonorable. You are mising several points here. 1. Interaction in the Pit is much different than real-life interaction, so your statement aboiut what yoiu would have done in a real-life interaction is a complete non-sequitur. 2. I didn’t say anything “about” his kids. I don’t know his kids. I was just getting Dio’s goat by playing off his apparent deathly fear of youngish girls having sex. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227.md?page=25) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congressman-attacks-student-for-daring-to-ask-him-a-question/543227.md?page=27)