http://www.breitbart.tv/congressman-assaults-student-on-washington-sidewalk/

http://biggovernment.com/mikeflynn/2010/06/14/long-hot-summer-begins-congressman-attacks-student/



[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 8:47 AM. Reason : .]

6/14/2010 8:44:34 AM

What the hell?

I wonder if they edited out some part of the video. It seemed like he just walked up to the kid and grabbed him.

6/14/2010 8:48:42 AM

His demeanor makes me think he was having a few afternoon drinks.

6/14/2010 8:50:35 AM

i'm wondering why the kid doesn't say who he is. . .

"do you agree with the obama agenda?"

what sort of school project is that?

either way. etheridge shouldn't have acted that way. looks like he was pretty drunk.

[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 8:52 AM. Reason : but it's hardly a "rampage"]

6/14/2010 8:51:00 AM

Quote :

"but it's hardly a "rampage""

sir, for a congressman to assault a college kid in daylight is a rampage.

6/14/2010 9:02:19 AM

pushing a camera down and holding an arm away is hardly a rampage. stupid yes. rampage no.

but i'll have a lot more sympathy for this supposed student when he reveals what it is this "project" was. because it seems like he was just baiting him to begin with. which was probably what pissed off etheridge.

but just to be clear. i am not defending etheridge here. i just think it's not as cut and dry as CONGRESSMAN GOES ON RAMPAGE ON INNOCENT STUDENT!!!

[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 9:07 AM. Reason : .]

6/14/2010 9:06:10 AM

hahahaha

6/14/2010 9:20:16 AM

Anytime there's a cut, that's questionable.

But what Etheridge did was assault.

6/14/2010 9:28:08 AM

Can you imagine what liberals and the MSM would be saying if this congressman was a teaparty candidate.

6/14/2010 9:39:09 AM

Just saw this.

6/14/2010 9:47:33 AM

Quote :

"Can you imagine what liberals and the MSM would be saying"

Alright, we're going to bury this right here and now:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/28/cable-news-ratings-april_n_554295.html

Quote :

"The ratings are in for April 2010, and Fox News has hit a ratings milestone: its 100th consecutive month as the top cable news network. In primetime (8-11PM), Fox News averaged 1.92 million total viewers (485,000 A25-54) to take first place; MSNBC came in second with 785,000 total viewers (239,000 A25-54). CNN came in third in total viewers with 596,000, beating HLN's 512,000; in the A25-54 demo, however, HLN placed third with 166,000 to CNN's 148,000."

THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA IS FUCKING CONSERVATIVE. IF THE TOP NEWS NETWORK THAT PEOPLE WATCH, WHICH HAS DOUBLE THE SECOND PLACE NEWS NETWORK, IS UNQUESTIONABLY CONSERVATIVE AND RIGHT-LEANING, THAN THE "MAIN STREAM MEDIA" IS CONSERVATIVE. THERE IS NO MORE ARGUING THIS POINT ANYMORE. STOP USING IT AS A TOOL IN YOUR ARGUMENTS. IT IS COMPLETE BULLSHIT.

YOU CANNOT, IN ONE HAND, ARGUE THAT THERE IS A LIBERAL AGENDA WITHIN THE MAIN STREAM MEDIA WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY IGNORING THE FACT THAT THE MOST INARGUABLY CONSERVATIVE NEWS NETWORK HAS OCCUPIED THE TOP SPOT IN CABLE NEWS RATINGS FOR THE PAST FIVE FUCKING YEARS.

[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 9:55 AM. Reason : ]

6/14/2010 9:53:23 AM

Dominating a tiny market segment of the news world (cable news) is hardly MSM.

Take a look at the audience figures for network news and newspapers to put the lie to your idiocy.

[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 10:10 AM. Reason : s]

6/14/2010 10:03:27 AM

ignore the troll

6/14/2010 10:07:10 AM

teaparty nutjobs

6/14/2010 10:54:44 AM

lefty loonies

6/14/2010 11:06:58 AM

Yes, technically assault, but nothing will come of it. He probably was a bit tipsy.

6/14/2010 11:15:43 AM

Quote :

"nothing will come of it."

of course not; he's a democrat

i can hear the MSM wagons circling around him already.

6/14/2010 11:18:11 AM

Nah, nothing will come of it because all politicians hate shitbag kids with cameras on the sidewalk...you know, voters.

6/14/2010 11:19:59 AM

Just imagine if Rand Paul had assaulted a young muslim student in the same way... All hell would break loose amongst the media

6/14/2010 11:23:19 AM

already on wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Etheridge

6/14/2010 11:27:00 AM

They should know by now that you can't just drop a Sampson County native off in Washington DC and expect things to go well. They're lucky this is all that happened.

6/14/2010 11:29:56 AM

Republicans only assault college students sexually.

6/14/2010 12:04:52 PM

I wonder what was cut out... but either way, it's assault.

6/14/2010 12:14:42 PM

Could someone with a google degree in law tell me whether this would truly be assault in a court of law?

I thought you had to cause or intend to cause bodily injury for something to be considered assault. Maybe the definition of assault varies from state to state?

6/14/2010 12:30:14 PM

PS* "Do you agree with the Obama Agenda"? WTF does that mean? The kid should get a D in his Agit Prop class for the poor execution of this stunt. If Etheridge wasn't apparently hammered or looney the kid would have walked away without any usable photage.

6/14/2010 12:36:15 PM

so these kids are obviously some kind of right wing wanna be activists. they were both filming, baited the old dude into a confrontation, refused to say anything identifying about themselves,blurred their faces, edited something out of the video, and posted CONGRESSMAN GOES BEZERK on YouTube.

obviously the old man shouldn't have done what he did, but he probably doesn't like little douchebags as much as the next guy, and probably had enough drinks to forget he's not allowed to act a fool because he's a congressman.

i predict nothing substantial will come from it (meaning no charges, and he'll still win reelection)

6/14/2010 1:13:49 PM

lol ok... but tea partiers are still the crazy ones right?

6/14/2010 1:19:54 PM

huh?

there are crazy people everywhere man.

and i'm not sure etheridge is crazy...but yeah he was most probably drunk

6/14/2010 1:22:00 PM

Quote :

"PEOPLE EVERY MAN"

6/14/2010 1:25:04 PM

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/7778164/

Quote :

"Congressman caught on camera in physical confrontation ..."No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response," Etheridge continued in his statement. "I have and I will always work to promote a civil public discourse." Etheridge offered no explanation for his behavior, which has sparked outrage among some citizens who are seeking more details about the encounter..."

Also, wral.com will air his live press conference on the matter at 2:30.

Quote :

"so these kids are obviously some kind of right wing wanna be activists."

Oh yeah, definitely. And I suspect they cut some of their choicer comments. Still and all, dude, you're a Congressman. You keep walking, you say "No comment," rinse, wash, repeat until you get to your destination. You do not grab, smack, and otherwise fuck with the other guy.

And yeah, he looked pretty drunk.

[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 1:31 PM. Reason : ]

6/14/2010 1:27:15 PM

I love it, conservatives using Alinsky's rules against liberals.


LOVE IT!!!

6/14/2010 1:30:13 PM

I love the hyperbole as well.

RAMPAGE

BESERK

HE'S GOING INSANE

AS THE CONGRESSMAN, A MAN STANDING EIGHT FOOT TWO WITH LEGS THE SIZE OF TREE TRUNKS AND RIPPLING MUSCLES, GRIPPED THE BOYS NECK IN A VICE, THE INNOCENT BOY'S LIFE FLASHED BEFORE HIS EYES. THE CONGRESSMAN CACKLED AS HIS MASSIVE BICEPS FLEXED, TIGHTENING LIKE A BOA CONSTRICTOR AROUND THE NECK OF THE INNOCENT CHILD. ALSO HE GROPED HIS PENIS.

6/14/2010 1:30:47 PM

Quote :

""I have and I will always work to promote a civil public discourse [except after my afternoon mojitos].""

[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 1:34 PM. Reason : ]

6/14/2010 1:32:15 PM

By modern congressional standards, "rampage" isn't that ridiculous. I mean, if Bob Etheridge were an African bull elephant, then yeah, slapping around a couple of guys would not count as a rampage. As a school shooter, it wouldn't count. As a representative being asked annoying questions by stupid people (which is to say, "as a representative"), it's pretty far out there.

[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 1:33 PM. Reason : repeatin' muhself]

6/14/2010 1:32:54 PM

I agree his reaction was over the top, but the language they're using is just as over the top and paints a portait of this:



when the reality was a 68 year old man confronting two smart ass college republicans

to use words like "BESERK" and "ASSAULT" is retarded. the two kids are just trying to be the next James O'Keefe douchebags.

6/14/2010 1:36:48 PM

Well, "assault" also elicits that image, and I'm fairly sure that in a strict legal sense it applies to what's in that video.

6/14/2010 1:41:46 PM

Quote :

"And I suspect they cut some of their choicer comments."

Based on what?

Sounds like he clearly starts rambling on about "WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU?" in response to the "Do you support Obama..." question

6/14/2010 2:38:49 PM

Based on previous BigGovernment video releases, I would imagine that the video edit is a trap (it's a trap!) to get liberals to pronounce all sorts of declarations about how badly the kids must have acted or whatever to provoke Etheridge.

Then, when the liberals have fully inserted foot into mouth, they'll release the full video showing polite mild-mannered questions


LOVE IT! Alinksy would rue the day conservatives started using his tactics!!

6/14/2010 2:49:28 PM

That's possible

but given James O'Keefe's recent bullshit tactics, I suspect not

6/14/2010 3:04:04 PM

Quote :

"Based on what?"

Based on the fact that there are breaks, without audio, between each escalation of his action. Really, based on the existence of any such breaks. If Bob Etheridge really did act like an unmitigated, unprovoked jackass, why even have those in there? Why not just show the whole thing?

Again, it's just a suspicion. For all I know they just edited incompetently, or Solinari's right and they edited out some benign comments to get people to say exactly what I just said so they could be proven wrong (a douchey move in its own right, but whatever).

---

The press conference, as press conferences often are, was a complete waste of time. He would not answer any questions about the event itself and kept repeating "I'm only here to do one thing, and that's apologize" and "I'm not making any excuses."

6/14/2010 3:39:50 PM

Watch the two edits:
First edit: Theres a car in the background. After the slate, the car is still there, in about the same place...theres at the very most a second missing.
Second edit: After the slate, we see what just happened (the camera being slapped out of his hand) from another angle. Nothing is missing between the start of the video and the end.

Of course, if they know anything about sound editing, they could have easily edited the audio of the student, particularly since you never see his lips...maybe he said "your mother is a whore!", which would make Etheridges response a little more understandable...but in regards to video, nothing has been cut out.

6/14/2010 4:58:08 PM

Look man, I'm not going to do a forensic analysis on the goddamn thing. Unless one of those kids physically hit Etheridge (which I don't for a moment think happened) his response was uncalled for and he acted like an ass. That's the key.

I merely said that the cuts were odd and suspiciously placed, and that maybe, just maybe, these kids weren't acting like angels themselves. It would not surprise me for a moment to find that they were baiting him -- but even if they were, he's a moron for rising to that bait.

6/14/2010 5:19:29 PM

Quote :

"maybe, just maybe, these kids weren't acting like angels themselves"

i thought they were acting like douchebags, but maybe that's just me

6/14/2010 5:45:32 PM

After the whole ACORN video editing thing I might have sympathy for him trying to get the "interviewer" on camera and identified. But after his vote against DADT repeal (luckily DADT repeal easily passed in the House), I'll just share a link with info on his Libertarian opponent instead.

http://donatetorose.com/

6/14/2010 5:50:22 PM

Quote :

"i thought they were acting like douchebags, but maybe that's just me"

Yeah man, it's totally ridiculous that a politician would be held accountable by a regular citizen in the street. They should be shielded from that kind of criticism, and anyone that speaks up should be silenced - by physical force, if necessary.

^That guy seems good, unfortunately he's a member of the Libertarian party. There's really no chance of a Libertarian winning, in my opinion. It's sad, but until the barriers for third party candidates are removed, we're forced to pick between the two parties in power.

[Edited on June 14, 2010 at 6:54 PM. Reason : ]

6/14/2010 6:47:20 PM

I only saw one person in the video who acted completely and unequivocably like a douchebag with no room for other interpretation

and that would be Bob Etheridge

6/14/2010 6:50:36 PM

Quote :

"I have and I will always work to promote a civil public discourse"

I just love how politicians counter any scandal by basically saying they have not ever and will not ever do the thing they were just caught on camera doing. Apparently we are all so stupid that we succumb to Jedi mind tricks.

6/14/2010 6:56:27 PM

Maybe its just me, but if someone were shoving their fist and camera in my face like that, I'd smack their hand away too. Personal space people, learn to respect it.

6/14/2010 7:11:59 PM

The best way to respect someone's personal space is to grab their wrist and not let go

6/14/2010 7:17:42 PM

Bob Etheridge, are you a grown-ass man? Are you in Congress? Can you not tell when some punk is TRYING to get you to hit him? Jesus Christ.

6/14/2010 7:29:40 PM