I will take it as such, then.
Mainly, I just thought it was bizarre that these kids with their cameras are obnoxious louts who were begging to be beaten. (Did they have their gimp costumes out too?) And that according to Dio, liberals just don’t do that. Except for Michael Moore. But he’s the very picture of journalistic integrity.
I had the same reaction as Airman.
Here, yes, I am glad Etheridge is a Democrat. I’m also glad he is not from my state. I hope he isn’t a lawyer, too. His conduct was embarrassing, and would be moreso if he was from my state, or a member of a party I support. Since he is not from my state, and is a member of the current majority party, I can just enjoy the spectacle.
I’m pretty sure I’ve blasted Republicans for doing stupid shit, too. If Etheridge were a Republican, that would not change my position that his conduct was improper.
Accepting his apology is irrelevant. The man hasn’t harmed me, and doesn’t owe me an apology. I don’t live in his district, so whether I’d vote for him is moot. Will say that an elected official scuffling with citizens in the street is not a professional image to present.
Now, now, on a board dedicated to fighting ignorance, we can at least all cheer on the 72-year-old Buzz Aldrin’s punching a predatory interviewer moon hoaxer, right? Let’s have a group hug now!
Local coverage. I find it very, very interesting that this video promptly appeared on Breitbart sites, and that his opponent (whom I’d never heard of) is suddenly getting an infusion of support. Draw what conclusions you like from that.
Unreservedly!
Hell yes. The guy was an ass and wouldn’t leave Buzz alone.
Plus Buzz isn’t an elected official and has a strong public image already as a former astronaut, with no real political consequences for his actions. That’s the thing that really just kills me about what Etheridge did, criminality aside.
That’s not accurate. Unless I’m missing something, there was one request that was ignored, and that’s probably because Etheridge was talking at the same time and didn’t hear it. The second time the “student” says “let go of my hand” Etheridge does so immediately, and then spins him around to face the camera, which is all the “grabbing by the neck” thing was about.
Etheridge does appear to have a screw loose, but to characterize this as an “attack” is a ludicrous exaggeration.
Blame the Vorlons? Hell no!
I don’t see liberals on one side of this debate right here, and conservatives on the other. I see a bunch of people on both sides of the political spectrum on one side, and you on the other.
And it isn’t like Etheridge is some Blue Dog who’s never there when we need him. He’s voted for health care reform, cap and trade, the stimulus, mortgage cramdown, and a bunch of other things that are out of step with a district with an R+2 Cook PVI.
He’s been on what I would consider the side of the angels a whole bunch of times, but that doesn’t change things for me, or for a bunch of other people in this thread who’d like the way he’s voted. He’s a jerk who did something that appears to fall comfortably within the common-law definition of assault and battery, regardless of whether any papers to that effect ever get filed.
If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody ever sees it, it still fell.
Wrong or not, at this point I’m so put out by the weaseling tactics of the Right that I’m going to send the man a cane.
You’re an idiot.
It might not be the most violent attack ever committed; it might not as bad as other attacks that leave people badly injured; it might not even have caused any damage to the victim; but it was a physical attack nonetheless.
You are right that the congressman lets go of his arm after the second request. But he lets go of his arm in order to grab him by the neck, turn him around to face the camera, and then grab him around the shoulder. Completely unacceptable, whether the kid was a douchebag or not, and no matter what political stripe the congressman is.
I disagree. It was nothing. A kid got spun around to face a camera. Who gives a shit?
At the time it happened, someone here suggested (and I would heartily support) there should be a law that states any person who has actually been to the moon should be allowed to punch Bart Sibrel whenever he is within reach.
Why not everyone else?
Yep. That sums things up precisely.
I have to admit a certain disdain for the “kids” in this episode, but they probably learned their craft from 60 Minutes. How many times have we seen this sort of thing by respected, professional journalists? I think the Congresscritter in question somehow felt less restraint in getting physical with these “kids” than he would have with, say, Leslie Stahl.
And I don’t think this would’ve caught on as much if Mr. Congresscritter wasn’t acting so weird about the whole thing. I don’t know what the guy is normally like, but he sure wasn’t acting “normal”.
It seems the “students” gave a shit, since they did everything they could to make sure they wouldn’t be identified.
On one side, we have a congressman who was goaded into losing his temper and has since publicly apologized. On the other side, we have the “students” who conspired to get a reaction from the congressman obviously to aid his opponent, and who are ashamed to show their faces. Where the fuck is the apology for the ambush from those bozoes?
That’s my take on the incident in a nutshell.
Longer version is that I think this was a set-up by Breitbartian affiliated assholes and I think the video was edited to remove something inflammatory. I also think Etheridge (who I’ll admit I never heard of prior to this incident) seems either drunk or deranged, and at most allowing yourself to be baited like that when the guy is holding a camera implies you’re not the sharpest knife on the Christmas tree, and while I don’t think he’s guilty of any crime as no harm was done I also think that unless there’s something really really powerful on that video that was removed he’s not a man of much judgment and can probably count on one hand the number of iron poles he’s bent with his mental powers over the years.
I’m curious why they targeted Etheridge. He’s certainly not high profile and I seriously doubt most people walking down a street in D.C. could pick out their own Congressman, let alone Etheridge. He’s a tobacco farmer and hardware store owner whose district contains part of Raleigh and lots of little towns, BUT he is probably an easy target to take down for a Republican win. If I were from the DNC in his district I’d probably try to convince him to step down for unspecified “health reasons” and let a less “Hee-Haw’s Lurch” Democrat run in his stead.
Wrong Carolina, but I like your style.
He held the kid’s wrist for a good thirty seconds and ignored at least three requests to let go. Cite (at :21, :41 and :46)
Then, when he did let go, it was in order to immediately grab the kid by the neck and yank him forward, followed by the shoulder crunch which was apparently intended to get the kid’s face into camera range.
There was clearly no editing between the student’s greeting of Etheridge and the question “Do you fully support the Obama agenda?”, followed by Etheridge’s glaring tone and demand to know “Who are you? Who are you?”, followed by the camera smack. The entire encounter from the student’s greeting up to the point where the camera was smacked was uninterrupted. And given that the demand “Tell me who you are! Tell me who you are!” continued along the same vein while Etheridge held the student’s wrist in his grasp indicates to me that there was no other provocation in the meantime.
In my opinion this was Etheridge showing his true colors. The baleful glare and tone of voice, the smacking at the phone, grabbing the kid’s wrist and refusing to let go followed by the neck grab and shoulder crunch, are all things that most people would not do under such minor provocation unless they were accustomed to behaving that way to begin with.
I wouldn’t be surprised if an investigation into Etheridge’s past behavior toward underlings and other random “little” people in his life were to reveal a tendency toward intimidating and bullying behavior, combined with a touch of arrogance and superiority as well.
How has it gotten to the point in this country where simply asking a Democratic congressman whether he supports a Democratic president’s agenda is a “weaseling tactic”?
I’m guessing it’s because the questioner was wearing a suit, and therefore clearly a member of the opposition trying to lay a trap of some kind.
(Ahh, for the good old days when people were regarded as scuzzbugs when they had long hair, dirty clothing and stunk of patchuli. Now, it’s jackets and ties that are surefire signs of rebellion and insurgency against the establishment. :D)
Not according to Brietbart himself. You can take this for what it’s worth, but…
So unless you want to believe that Brietbart is an out-and-out liar, he and his organization had nothing to do with setting up the confrontation.