# 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:** 9
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/161 "2017-05-26T19:16:58Z")
Maybe we can go back to the originalist view of congress, where representatives can physically attack each other over politics. Maybe we can bring back duels. I think every senator and representative should be armed while congress is in session. We have to work up slowly to a full government [rehabilitation program,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cVnoqLtrf0) nationally televised. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/162 "2017-05-26T19:27:03Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > What is amazing is why the dems have such a hard time fielding a decent candidate. Maybe none want to try in Montana which is a deeply red state. Since 1950 they have voted republican in all but two of seventeen elections and went to the likes of Nixon and Reagan and Bush and Trump by 20+ points. Montana’s part of the Deep Rednecks, huh ? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/163 "2017-05-26T19:27:09Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Montana went to Trump by like +20 over Clinton. A banjo-playing hippie cut that lead by 2/3. This is actually really bad news for Republicans. Maybe the lesson to be learned is that a hippie with a banjo did better than Hillary. Should make the Democratic debates more interesting - “Never mind your policy on the budget - first, play _Foggy Mountain Breakdown_, and then we go MMA - win two falls out of three, and you get the superdelegates.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/164 "2017-05-26T19:43:24Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Maybe we can go back to the originalist view of congress, where representatives can physically attack each other over politics. Maybe we can bring back duels. > > I think every senator and representative should be armed while congress is in session. > > We have to work up slowly to a full government [rehabilitation program,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cVnoqLtrf0) nationally televised. I’m afraid that we will be back to that situation sooner than you might think. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/165 "2017-05-26T19:52:13Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Nitpick, but not a minor one at all. > > First, the majority of the 23 million will be removed from the insurance immediately, around 14 million, so the statement that most of them don’t have insurance now is wrong on that part. > > Second, many of the remaining people to not have insurance by 2024 do have insurance now. They are either on a childhood insurance program, their parent’s insurance, or they have insurance through their job, which will be either dropping its coverage, or laying off the employee, who will not be able to buy insurance, so they would be another group of people who have insurance now, who will not have insurance because of the changes to our healthcare laws. > > Third, the idea that removing the mandate just gives people the choice of not having insurance is not really true. The mandate did not require you to have insurance, it just made you pay out about a thousand bucks if you did not. So, by removing the mandate, you are increasing the effective opportunity cost of having insurance by a thousand dollars. Those who drop their insurance because the change in opportunity cost can very well be said to have been removed from insurance. Many will also not get insurance because the cost of premiums is going up, the ACA tried to address this, and had arguably effective controls on the rate of increase of premiums. The AHCA does not even try to address this, and it is quite likely that premiums will become unaffordable for anyone who actually needs insurance. Choosing food, clothing, and shelter over insurance premiums is not the same as choosing to not have insurance. That doesn’t sound like a nitpick… ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/166 "2017-05-26T20:01:40Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Maybe the lesson to be learned is that a hippie with a banjo did better than Hillary. A different Democratic candidate could possible have won the election. But I think the reason the Republican gap is diminishing is that Trump is such a dumpster fire that he’s pulling down the entire Republican party. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/167 "2017-05-26T20:21:21Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Maybe the lesson to be learned is that a hippie with a banjo did better than Hillary. > > Should make the Democratic debates more interesting - > > “Never mind your policy on the budget - first, play _Foggy Mountain Breakdown_, and then we go MMA - win two falls out of three, and you get the superdelegates.” > > Regards, > Shodan Hippies play sitars. Inbred rednecks play banjos. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/168 "2017-05-26T20:29:48Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Montana went to Trump by like +20 over Clinton. A banjo-playing hippie cut that lead by 2/3. This is actually really bad news for Republicans. I think the truth is somewhere in between Shodan’s characterization and yours. In the end, Shodan’s right: the GOP has still carried its districts in post-2016 elections and it doesn’t really matter by how much – a win is a win. At the same time, the point margin _could_ portend something going forward. In short, we just don’t know yet what’s going to happen. We don’t really know how strong Trump or Republicans are. The polls may suggest one thing, but they could be wrong, and even if they’re not, they don’t always predict who actually shows up to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/169 "2017-05-26T22:01:28Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > …I keep coming back to the ‘bad 20%’ theory—20% of ANY nation is made up of bully-worshipping pro-authoritarians who believe freedom of the press is just a plot by The Other to undermine Daddy’s righteous rule. … > [@Sattua](#): > > … that is the most beautiful sentence I’ve read today. I really want to cut and paste it onto Facebook just to make steam come out of my mother’s ears. > But I’ll try to confine myself to open admiration here. DAMN. Many thanks for that day-brightener (and feel free to use the post anywhere). The thing about the recent string of “The Bully Wins” stories is that it’s _depressing_ to live in a world in which bullies win. It’s just hard on the psyche unless you’re a natural-born toady–and most of us here at the Dope are _not_ such. I have found that it helps to look at it in evolutionary terms–which is _not_ to say that people aren’t responsible for their actions (bullies included). We are all responsible for our actions, but it’s fair to say that differing brain structures can predispose us toward either bully-worship or bully-revulsion. Sometimes, the most useful thing we can do in the face of that is to spotlight it. As here: > [@a poster](#): > > It’s not clear to me that the best description of the reporter is, “Just doing his job.” For example, if a reporter asks a question and a politician replies, “No comment,” I’d say that repeating the question immediately is not “doing his job.” It’s badgering. … These remarks typify the pro-authoritarian, bully-admiring mindset: a reporter may ask a question _once_–but any more than that shows a lack of the deference owed to An Authority! > [@a poster](#): > > … The press has been relentlessly liberal. It’s no surprise that Trump, and the GOP, are tired of a press that is routinely biased against conservative positions. … > Sorry – the press waded into the mud, and cannot complain now that they have had mud slung at them. This appears to be a defense of the act of taking a reporter by the neck with two hands, body-slamming him to the floor, and beating him\*—“the press” as a whole failed to support conservative positions and thus this one reporter deserves to be assaulted. (If the poster was not suggesting that the Guardian reporter deserved the beating on behalf of all the press because “the press waded into the mud,” then what _was_ the poster suggesting?) All of this is of a piece with the bully-worshipping view that the guy at the top may not and must not be questioned, and any who would presume to question him deserve whatever is dished out. It’s indefensible. > [@](#): > > At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, “I’m sick and tired of this!” > Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken. He asked Faith, Keith and myself for our names. > **[Greg Gianforte: Fox News team witnesses GOP House candidate 'body slam' reporter](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter)** > > The race to fill Montana's sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives took a violent turn Wednesday, and a crew from the Fox News Channel witnessed it firsthand. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/170 "2017-05-26T22:08:33Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > The press, as a group, needs to hound this asshole 24/7 with tape recorders in his face every time he steps out in public. They need to start hiring MMA fighters to ask the questions too. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/171 "2017-05-26T22:13:42Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’ve got some bad news for you - in most countries (including the US) it’s higher than 20%. In some cases, [a lot higher, and getting worse](http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2017/05/daily-chart-17). > > Apologies if the link is firewalled; it’s a recent Economist graph showing the “Share of respondents saying that having a strong leader, who does not have to bother with parliament and elections, is a good way to run their country”, comparing 1995-97 data with 2010-14 data. In virtually every country shown the percentage of people in favor of a strongman leader has increased (notable exceptions being Australia, Sweden, Pakistan and - weirdly - the Philippines). The US has gone from roughly 24% to roughly 32%, although it’s still way behind the undisputed leader Russia at around 75% (up from 50%). > There’s also a graph showing that the view is most prevalent in younger people, which is not a good sign. … Yes, the percentage of pro-authoritarians in a population will vary (and thanks for the information). One of the most heartening developments on the world scene has to be the demonstrations that took place in Russia in recent weeks–despite the ruthlessness and harshness of the police state Putin has created, people are still standing up and protesting. And this is in a nation that has a centuries-old tradition of authoritarian rule! Some percentage of human infants are born each year that are naturally skeptical of authority and not inclined to bow down before it–and that’s a source for hope. > [@](#): > > Protesters in cities across Russia on Saturday gathered to call for President Vladimir Putin’s resignation. …The protest came in response to speculation that Putin will run for office in the 2018 presidential election, paving the way for his fourth term. Demonstrators on Saturday, with handwritten appeals for Putin to step down, said the former KGB man’s rule has only been detrimental to the country. [Dozens Arrested in Russian Protests Against Putin](http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2017/04/29/dozens-arrested-in-russian-protests-against-putin?via=desktop&source=copyurl) > [@](#): > > Tens of thousands took to the streets in more than 90 Russian cities in late March protesting rampant corruption in the country. Blogger and anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny called for the demonstrations after posting a video on the internet showing the massive wealth acquired by Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev. Caught off guard, government authorities were shocked by the scope of the demonstrations. [http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-putin-protests-explosion-russia-perspec-0404-md-20170403-story.html](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-putin-protests-explosion-russia-perspec-0404-md-20170403-story.html) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/172 "2017-05-26T23:03:56Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > The press has been relentlessly liberal. It’s no surprise that Trump, and the GOP, are tired of a press that is routinely biased against conservative positions. I’m sorry, but I don’t regard the general vituperative tone taken with the press as unjustified. Reporters are overwhelmingly liberal, and frame stories from liberal perspectives. Even if it were true, the general bias of reporters doesn’t matter because a high percentage of your party supporters get their news from Fox and other manufacturers of outright lies. _Broadcasting hate and lies_ are an invention of the right in this country. You can’t complain about subtle nuances in the reporting of a complex argument when your guys are making up assassination stories out of whole cloth. Liberals have been denigrated for decades by Fox and friends, and now that liberals are finally starting to push back, you turn into a crybaby. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/173 "2017-05-26T23:17:14Z")
If we let violent thugs like this into the government, think what could happen next. The government could start kidnapping people and putting them in cages when they haven’t harmed anyone. They could intimidate people into giving them money. They could literally outfit aircraft with bombs and start dropping them from the sky! No, i do not like this development one bit. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/174 "2017-05-26T23:21:15Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Perhaps there’s a difference between slinging mud and slinging fists? > > I don’t care if politicians say mean things about the press. (even when false) I don’t think many people do. Physical assaults (and/or urging violence) cross a line. Then I urge you to look back and see what post prompted my reply. It had to do with politicians saying mean things about the press, the fact that Trump called reporters “among the most dishonest human beings on earth," and the fact that the press is a central villain of his political rhetoric. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/175 "2017-05-26T23:24:56Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > So, they asked for it, then? They asked for the inveighing against them, yes. But because you used a phrase that is sometimes invoked against victims of physical violence, I wonder if you’re clear that I’m saying they asked for the inveighing, but not physical violence. I wonder if you used this phrase to conflate the two, and suggest (without saying) that _I_ was saying the press “asked for” violence to be directed against them. Did you? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/176 "2017-05-26T23:26:23Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Do you really think that the press, by and large, hasn’t been fair to Trump? I do. And because Trump is such a disaster, that takes some doing. But yes. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/177 "2017-05-26T23:29:39Z")
> [@Richard\_Parker](#): > > It’s not the mud. It’s the threats and physical attacks. The defense of the murder of journalists. The baseless criminal charges and threats of imprisonment. The systematic dismantling of press access. > > Maybe you, like Trump, think Putin has about the right approach to the press. I disagree, and I think people who hold that opinion are the real threat to democracy. Whoa, there, Cochise. The GOP defended the murder of journalists? When was that again? The GOP defended baseless criminal charges and baseless threats of imprisonment? When? Now, as to press access, I don’t agree there is a generalized right of press access, especially when the press in question is demonstrably twisting the truth. The press is free to write what it wishes; it’s not free to get interviews when it wishes. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/178 "2017-05-26T23:31:27Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Ok, what if the candidate shot someone on 5th Avenue? But only once. Jesus, **Bricker** , why can’t you just say criminal assault is a bad thing? Apparently you think two or more assaults is enough to rescind your support, but “just one” doesn’t push you over the edge? Jesus, Procrustus, why can’t you admit that I have already said it’s a bad thing, but that a single physical assault with no serious injury is not bad ENOUGH to make me per se withdraw my support? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/179 "2017-05-26T23:39:02Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > Not that it’s going to happen, because politicians are above the law, but what would happen in the theoretical case that he was prosecuted and got jail time? First of all, as I have mentioned in this thread before, jail time for a first offense misdemeanor assault with no serious injury would be highly unusual, so why would such an outcome compel a conclusion that Gianforte is “above the law?” If he did, that won’t stop him from being the US Representative from Montana. Now, I’m getting tired of making points and having my opponents dodge them and fail to acknowledge their truth, while I am expected to honestly and fairly assess what’s being said to me. So tell me, **begbert2** (and anyone else interested in this aspect of the argument): yes or no. Do you acknowledge that, regardless of how you personally feel about politicians, reporters, this case of criminal assault, or how evil the GOP is, a first offense misdemeanor assault with no serious physical injury would be unlikely in the extreme to be sentenced to actual jail time? And do you acknowledge that if the outcome of THIS criminal case is also no jail time, that’s consistent with other such cases involving similar injuries and a lack of prior criminal history? ---
**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 26, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443/180 "2017-05-26T23:46:23Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Whoa, there, Cochise. > > The GOP defended the murder of journalists? When was that again? > > The GOP defended baseless criminal charges and baseless threats of imprisonment? > > When? > > Now, as to press access, I don’t agree there is a generalized right of press access, especially when the press in question is demonstrably twisting the truth. The press is free to write what it wishes; it’s not free to get interviews when it wishes. Perhaps you’d like to go back a couple posts and restart this dialogue, since you appear not to have read them carefully? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/republicans-candidate-who-assaulted-reporter-is-fine-with-us/787443.md?page=10)