Talk Elections

link (http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/male-rand-paul-supporter-stomps-head-of-female-moveon-member-outside-debate.php?ref=fpblg)
(thread title stolen from fark.com)

Stay classy teabaggers!

Lovely how the Rand campaign has taken on the fascist attribute of intimidating and forcibly removing and silencing dissenters at campaign and election events. 

The Tea Party is scary, that's for sure. 

yeah.. I saw this video.  It's pretty disgusting seeing the fascist mob do these things.  If I were Rand Paul, I'd be absolutely disgusted with the things coming out of the woodwork to vote for him.

The Tea Party - Bringing fascism to America since 2009.

Because this automatically means Tea Partiers are brownshirts.

Tim Profitt is the guy and is a former volunteer for Paul.

He claimed he was concerned about Paul's safety.

Also, at the same event, a Conway supporter stomped on the foot (in a surgical boot) of a Paul supporter who had just had foot surgery (http://www.kypost.com/dpps/news/political/2-fights-break-out-during-paul_conway-debate-_5305909).  Classy.

Her incision was split open, as well.

Some are, like the thugs in this video.

This is, of course, horrible, but it's clear that fascism has lost all meaning among forumites.

Isn't it funny how somehow Rand Paul as well as the entire tea party movement are somehow to blame for this? As if violence never occurred among crowds of people at political rallies before.

Just a few weeks ago some guy got violently assaulted for videotaping a speech by Oregon's Democratic governor. OMG John Kitzhaber is bringing fascism to America!!!!111

Most of them aren't even supporters of those policies, but instead make excuses for them like "GEORGE BUSH STARTED IT!" which is even more pathetic.

Expect more of this to come once the John Birch Party (d/b/a the Republican Party) takes power.

No. You have no idea what you are even talking about.

Yes I do. The Tea Party wing of the GOP is nothing more than a mix of the John Birch Society and Joseph McCarthy on steroids.
They're hateful, evil people.

As I've said before, I wish the GOP were like the John Birch Society, an organization with a consistently anti-war, pro-civil liberties, anti-corporate welfare agenda.  Unfortunately, it is nothing like that.

Can't you teabaggers just admit that stomping on a woman's head is wrong without making excuses and throwing up straw-men all over the place? This isn't a very complicated issue here.

I agree, the GOP still is too much like the Moderate Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy. Moderates are very dangerous.

However there is little connection today between the tea party and the John Birch Society.

While that Paul volunteer perhaps used too much force restraining the accused felon (http://www.lpso.net/pressrelease.asp?id=927) who lunged at the candidate with a heavy metal object, whatever "excuses" might be used here pale compared to the bizarre behavior (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=126576.0) of you lefties trying to explain away much more troubling things about Conway.

You're saying they are enemies of the state, and should be sent to re-education camps?

"Perhaps used too much force?" Stomping on an unarmed woman who had already been assaulted and thrown to the ground is "perhaps" excessive? It's debatable? Could the stomping have served some kind of purpose that I just don't understand? And what has Conway done that is more troubling than this?

See, you people whine about authoritarianism but deep down, so many of you love it! As long as your authoritarians are running the show, of course.  The borderline Jim Jonesesque obsession with the Paul family and their ilk on the part of "libertarians" is quite disturbing.  And please don't whine to me about freedom of speech any more if you think violently attacking a woman trying to express it is not as bad as Jack Conway talking about the Aqua Buddha or whatever.

Lets see, an extremist right-wing political movement utilizing gangs of thugs to crush their opponents on the center and left.  It is fascist.

bingo.

Projecting again, Lief?

That was not a stomp on her face, it was a step on her shoulder. A stomp requires much more force.

If a "tea bagger" ran at Obama with a large metal object, I suspect you wouldn't complain at him/her being stopped along the way.

At least I'm honest, bro.

Hey, a libertarian (well, a "libertarian") posted this, not all of us are willing to literally step (a stomp wasn't done here) on the neck of our political enemies.

It sure looked like a stomp to me and it was described that way in the report and she was injured so... ?

And you suspect things of me which are not true. By the way, she was trying to present him with a fake award thing. Are you people really going to argue that that looked like a weapon? Pleaseeeeee.

This (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV9Oj-vhLkE) is a stomp.

Uh, that's a curb stomp... very different from a regular stomp. :P

Libertas, I simply don't see any change at all between Obama and the last several presidents.  I'm not sure what you're talking about. 

Thats an extreme kind of stomp.. in a movie..

What happened here was simply a less extreme stomp without the intent to murder or Hollywood exaggeration.

+1

To suggest that this is in anyway justified only showcases the undemocratic, thuggish, authoritarian nature of right-wing extremism. These are the same people that see no issue with Joe Miller's private "security force" illegally detaining a reporter who tried to ask a question.

The last several presidents were/are also fascists.

The people here defending the guy's actions are quite disturbing. Is this thread also the audition for the SS?

I think the guy should be tossed in jail for that sh**t. I can't believe he is running around free, actually demanding an apology from his victim.

http://ktar.com/category/local-news-articles/20101027/Rand-Paul-supporter-want-apology-from-woman-he-stomped/

I just saw that on Hardball. What a tough guy! I'd like to see him try that on somebody his own size and gender.

What filth.

Yeah I read that about him demanding an apology. What a disgusting piece of human trash. He does belong in jail.

Well here's good news: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/lexington-police-former-rand-paul-volunteer-with-criminal-summons.php

Too bad he probably won't get a felony charge.

It is clear that neither side has a clue what fascism is and likes to label an entire group for the action of a nutjob supporter.

´Fascism´is too easy but it has been bleeding obvious since like forever that the Tea Party (following on from the GOP) contains some people who have at root extreme authoritian. In a typical of cognitive dissonance at its finest, many of these same people are those who shout about ´freedom´ and ´liberty´ (or even more accurately, ´the constitution´ which seems to me to be no longer a legal document at least with this crowd) the loudest.

I have to interject here.  It is clear from the video that he placed his foot on her shoulder, and then it slipped down on to her head when the friction of the sweatshirt against her undershirt gave way.  Anyone familiar with walking in the woods knows the force your foot exerts downwards when it slipps off of a log or a rock.  He wasn't intensionally "stomping" on her head.

Now, was there any reason for him to put his foot on her shoulder to begin with?  No, especially when someone else was already holding her down and people were calling for the cops.  The guy will probably be given a small fine and provide a public apology, but that's as far as that will go.  As far as the gal, she will probably have to make a written apology for her actions, but that's it.

This is a level-headed analysis. I'm not sure what you mean by "gal" needing to apologize, though. You think the woman who got stomped needs to write an apology?

She was the antagonist, attempting to make her way to the front of a Rand Paul rally, hold up her fake support sign, and make the natural supporters behind her unwitting accomplices in an anti-Paul photo op.  Without her actions, none of this would have happened.  She is not an innocent victim in this event.

But what did she do that actually warrants an apology? I can understand that her actions would have led members of the crowd to physically prevent her from moving up to Paul, and apparently they were acting out of serious concerns for Paul's safety. I therefore disagree with those who suggest that anyone in the crowd but the stomper did something wrong, at least as far as I can tell. But moving forward in a crowd doesn't need an apology. Trying to do a dumb political stunt doesn't need an apology. Getting pictures in a crowd doesn't need an apology. Generally being a dumb liberal activist doesn't need an apology. So what's her apology going to read? "I'm sorry other people misinterpreted my intention"?

No, no, no... don't be silly. It's the audition for membership in the SA.

Oh pleeeeeaaasssseeee. Come on, MODU. It was clearly intentional.

And the "gal" won't make any apology for expressing herself and being assaulted for it. That's absurd.

Modu has always been highly skilled at defending the indefensible.

In point of fact I can't see any reason it could be considered acceptable for the mob to forcibly prevent her from 'moving to the front of the rally'.  These fascists were parading in a public street, so they have not right to assault citizens merely for moving about in the street.

This is literally stomach-turning. I wish people didn't think that being a conservative (or liberal) meant that beyond defending conservative (etc.) views and elected officials, you now have to defend every disgusting act that a random person affiliated with your group does. He's a grown man who stuck his foot on the head of a prone young woman on the ground. Rand Paul's going to win anyway, so it's not like calling him out for his thuggery is going to hurt your cause. It makes me question what we have in common as a people if there are people who think, well, he's on my side, I'm going to rationalize his stomping on a woman's head. Jesus H. Christ.

Calling out Rand Paul, or the lunatic who did the deed?

The lunatic. Rand Paul's first apology was half-assed but as long he makes a clear statement in response to things like this, he's not responsible.

Gotcha..........agreed.