Title: Congressman Assaults Student on Washington Sidewalk Source:
youtube URL Source:[None] Published:Jun 14, 2010 Author:. Post Date:2010-06-14 07:34:19 by James Deffenbach Keywords:None Views:1594 Comments:53
Had this been one of my congressmen, or senator, I would have knocked them on their ass for even thinking of touching me. How dare this asshole do this? He should not only be prosecuted for assault, but the kids father should go to this guy's office and dispense an asskicking.
What a pathetic loser this guy is for picking on a kid. Then again, that's what democrat bullies do.
Had this been one of my congressmen, or senator, I would have knocked them on their ass for even thinking of touching me.
Yes, the kid would have been within his rights to punch him right in the beak. Cameras rolling proved the congressman instigated the action through his inappropriate conduct.
Cameras rolling proved the congressman instigated the action through his inappropriate conduct.
I'm not so sure what happened in the beginning of the film. The LA Times says: It is unclear whether the video was edited. Etheridge represents the district of Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base and he opposed Bush's troop surge. But who are they and what is their project? Why is the alleged student's face obscured?
Did he oppose Bush's troop surge but then go along with Obama's? Obama has not made any effort at all to get out of that unconstitutional war. So any congressman who refuses to support something because it is proposed by someone with "the wrong letter after his name" but then goes along with someone else and the very same policy because he has "the right letter after his name" is a hypocrite and some other names that aren't very nice.
Did he oppose Bush's troop surge but then go along with Obama's? Obama has not made any effort at all to get out of that unconstitutional war. So any congressman who refuses to support something because it is proposed by someone with "the wrong letter after his name" but then goes along with someone else and the very same policy because he has "the right letter after his name" is a hypocrite and some other names that aren't very nice.
I don't know his entire voting record. I could be wrong but I don't think he opposed sending troops to Iraq under Republican Bush, just the surge instead of a diplomatic solution after 5 years of extended tours and repeat deployments there. Kucinich is a fellow Democrat who proposed a resolution to end the war in Aghanistan and he didn't vote with him. I wouldn't categorize him as a "dove", so again I could be wrong but I expect that he would have voted the same way on that and to send reinforcements there where our forces were far fewer from the onset, regardless of which party was acting as Commander in Chief. Let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that he is a hypocrite like many in Congress. I'd still like to know if the film was edited, who the alleged students are, what their claimed project is, and why the face of one is obscured. He could have just kept on walking in silence but maybe he saw something that we haven't and hoped to draw the attention of witnesses. Maybe not but he didn't seem to be paranoid about walking unprotected down the street and speaking to the interviewer at first. If he had no right at all to defend himself against a suspected bodily threat of some kind, why the mystery about the supposed students is my question.
I'd still like to know if the film was edited, who the alleged students are, what their claimed project is, and why the face of one is obscured. He could have just kept on walking in silence but maybe he saw something that we haven't and hoped to draw the attention of witnesses. Maybe not but he didn't seem to be paranoid about walking unprotected down the street and speaking to the interviewer at first. If he had no right at all to defend himself against a suspected bodily threat of some kind, why the mystery about the supposed students is my question.
Who the students are shouldn't make any difference. They have every bit as much right to be on a public sidewalk as he does. They also have the right to ask him a question. He has the right to either answer their question or keep walking. He had no right to grab one of them. He should be glad he didn't grab someone who knew how to defend themselves and weren't afraid to do it.
Who the students are shouldn't make any difference. They have every bit as much right to be on a public sidewalk as he does. They also have the right to ask him a question. He has the right to either answer their question or keep walking. He had no right to grab one of them. He should be glad he didn't grab someone who knew how to defend themselves and weren't afraid to do it.
I don't know from the film if he had no right to self-defense at the time. He isn't defending his behavior on those grounds to speak of so he'll probably be out of office soon. I can't agree that who they are and what their project is shouldn't make any difference, even for the voters in his district. If they were Israeli "art" students on a mission to replace him with a neocon who has much less regard for the misuse and overuse of our Military, would it matter then? The definition of "Taliban" is "Students" and that's about all we know of them.
I don't know from the film if he had no right to self-defense at the time.
Everyone has the right to defend themselves, either verbally or physically. But unless the film was altered or edited he was not in any danger of any physical harm. Therefore, unless there is more than is apparent on the video he had no right to grab the student/young man. He had the right to keep walking if he didn't want to answer the question(s). He had the right to say no comment or even "I am busy, call my office for an appointment." He could have said any of that and kept going. But congressman/politicians should NEVER grab someone who is no threat to them. What if the student, assuming he was a student, had grabbed him? Do you think there would have been no consequences and repercussions?