# Republicans: candidate who assaulted reporter is fine with us! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 25, 2017, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443 "2017-05-25T21:36:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/281 "2017-05-27T21:35:23Z")
1. When confronted with a Republican blatantly assaulting a reporter who was asking him embarrassing questions about his connections to Russian investments, do whatever you can to deflect the conversation to bad things Democrats have done in the past. Because the thread should be about defending Bad Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/282 "2017-05-27T21:38:17Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > He apologized to his wife, to friends over lunch, and to the reporter he had invited to join him in the attack. But I agree – not to the heckler. You are trying to suggest he felt regret for the way he treated the people he helped remove. I see no support for that interpretation. Gianforte lied about what happened and then, once his victory was assured, apologized to his victim. This reads to me like you were suckered by the usual right-wing media complex (is that how you found the Franken story in the first place?) and now don’t want to adjust your views to the more reliable reporting of the facts. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/283 "2017-05-27T21:44:56Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > If a Democrat assaulted a reporter would you vote for the Republican? Yes. If he/she was even more deplorable, I would vote for a third party candidate. Done it about a dozen times in my life. If there is no third party, I would write in. Only in the absence of any choice would i not vote. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/284 "2017-05-27T21:46:36Z")
I’m gonna bow out here. I find this thread more frustrating than entertaining. I apologize for my pissy post above. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/285 "2017-05-27T21:53:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > [Link.](http://nypost.com/2004/01/27/al-franken-knocks-down-dean-heckler/) He is wrong. I honestly never knew this and if this is the whole story he is not fit for office. The only thing that could make it ok is if the man was posing a direct danger. I do not support body slamming anyone, even if they are disruptive. I support removing disruptive people from private events, but that should be done by law enforcement. I am also not a big fan of the whole yelling over the speaker either. But, unless it is a private venue controlled by someone who can assert trespassing rights, it has to stand. So, Al Franken was just as wrong as this guy and should not be serving the public. But, Trump, who encouraged people to act like Al, should also not be serving. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/286 "2017-05-27T21:54:58Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > He apologized to his wife, to friends over lunch, and to the reporter he had invited to join him in the attack. But I agree – not to the heckler. So he is unfit for office. I don’t care if he apologized. Violence is the divide I stand on. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/287 "2017-05-27T21:58:19Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Yeah, let’s cut to the chase: > > (1) A politician commits an assault. > (2) If he’s a Republican, go to Step (5) > (3) Announce all the reasons he shouldn’t suffer any career-ending consequences. > (4) Go to step (7) > (5) Announce all the reasons that violence is never to be tolerated under any circumstances; demand resignation or removal. > (6) If removal is not effected, go to step (5) > (7) Success! Full stop. If you change your step 5 to “Announce why physically assaulting a reporter for asking questions should not be tolerated, and a politician who does so has shown extremely poor judgement at best”, then you may be very slightly accurate in your assessment of how the liberals are reacting. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/288 "2017-05-27T22:02:46Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > I’m gonna bow out here. I find this thread more frustrating than entertaining. I apologize for my pissy post above. Go have a cool drink :). But appropos of not much, I just wanted to say I always appreciate your even-handed, cool-headed and generally pretty sane participation on this board. You embody the “Fighting Ignorance” catchphrase better than most around here. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/289 "2017-05-27T22:04:38Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Yeah, let’s cut to the chase: > (5a) Find examples of others doing the same thing. LIBERAL HYPOCRISY! This should be amended to finding at least one example of a Democrat doing something vaguely similar within the last 35 years. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/290 "2017-05-27T22:13:11Z")
There is a discussion about the [Franken incident here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=337521), but I’m not sure how reliable that site is. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/291 "2017-05-27T22:17:28Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As the clarifications and cites showed, that was not the case with Franken, so again, are you recommending others that violence or threats are ok to use when a reporter or anybody else confronts someone with information that is not good for the one being confronted? > > Really, that is not what a lawyer should advice, No cite contradicted the story if Franken challenging a guy to a fight in a parking garage. And that came from the New York Times. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/292 "2017-05-27T22:21:00Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > No cite contradicted the story if Franken challenging a guy to a fight in a parking garage. And that came from the New York Times. And it is duly noted that you are stalling. That is not the question I made. And you know it. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/293 "2017-05-27T22:21:05Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Then, when I read the account that he was actually assisting legitimate security for removing a heckler, I changed my mind, in that he did nothing wrong, other than involving himself in a situation where he could get hurt. > > The difference between the two stories is quite stark, where one makes him look like a pretty terrible person, and if that had been the story, I would agree that people should not vote for him. But, once it was clarified that the story that you quoted had a _touch_ of bias, and that the real story was very different in every conceivable way, I went back to just thinking he isn’t very funny. > > Are you really trying to draw an equivalence between assisting security with a legitimate matter, and body slamming a reporter for asking questions? They are not identical. But they are similar in they involve violence meted out by someone who later became a US legislator. And since the chorus here was, “Violence, never acceptable!” it was relevant to showing that “never acceptable” is not true. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/294 "2017-05-27T22:23:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > They are not identical. > > But they are similar in they involve violence meted out by someone who later became a US legislator. And since the chorus here was, “Violence, never acceptable!” it was relevant to showing that “never acceptable” is not true. Clearly when there is violence going on one has to reply to it and not be passive, this was not the case with Gianforte. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/295 "2017-05-27T22:45:21Z")
I hope people don’t mind if I change the topic here away from bad Democrats who have done bad things and LIBERAL HYPOCRISY!!! [Trump hails ‘great win in Montana’ for candidate who body-slammed Guardian reporter](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/26/greg-gianforte-wins-montana-congress-race-body-slam-reporter) Congrats to those of you who are supporting your Leader Mr. Trump. I hope you are proud to be part of the Trump team. And now back to the deflection. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/296 "2017-05-27T22:48:51Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Looked at it from a Machiavellian perspective it’s better for the Dems. One seat in the house really won’t make that much difference(And I just doomed impeachment to fail by one vote ;)) Since impeachment is only going to happen in liberal wet dreams, your statement is moot. > [@](#): > > But the show of incompetence, depravity, the Pubs are putting on the last 4 months is staggering in breadth. I’ll call for a cite on that. Names, dates, places and actions, please, and also show that it was all planned by the Republican Party. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/297 "2017-05-27T22:54:12Z")
> [@Lucky\_Mike](#): > > So he is unfit for office. I don’t care if he apologized. > > Violence is the divide I stand on. Unlike most folks here, you’re consistent. Now, I still disagree. This should NOT disqualify Franken. I think he did admirably. But to you I say you’re mistaken, but not partisan. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/298 "2017-05-27T22:55:30Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > If you change your step 5 to “Announce why physically assaulting a reporter for asking questions should not be tolerated, and a politician who does so has shown extremely poor judgement at best”, then you may be very slightly accurate in your assessment of how the liberals are reacting. But I agree that physically assaulting a reporter for asking questions should not be tolerated, and a politician who does so has shown extremely poor judgement at best. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/299 "2017-05-27T23:01:09Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I hope people don’t mind if I change the topic here away from bad Democrats who have done bad things and LIBERAL HYPOCRISY!!! > > [Trump hails ‘great win in Montana’ for candidate who body-slammed Guardian reporter](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/may/26/greg-gianforte-wins-montana-congress-race-body-slam-reporter) > > Congrats to those of you who are supporting your Leader Mr. Trump. I hope you are proud to be part of the Trump team. > > And now back to the deflection. If it’s possible for you to answer a question honestly, tell me this: My thesis is that the outrage associated with this incident is grounded mainly in the political party of the malefactor. How would you say I can acceptably argue this thesis? Or is it one that is so impossible that I shouldn’t even broach the subject? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/300 "2017-05-27T23:01:34Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Unlike most folks here, you’re consistent. > > Now, I still disagree. This should NOT disqualify Franken. I think he did admirably. > > But to you I say you’re mistaken, but not partisan. If Franken assaulted someone, how could he have done that “admirably”? A non-violent heckler\* does not deserve to be met with violence. \*I’m assuming you think the heckler was not being violent. If he was, then the two situations are not at all alike. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443.md?page=16)