OK, Cotton, it’s your turn…
While all of the liberal media and, unfortunately, most of the conservative media as well, have their knickers in a real twist because the Republican candidate in a special congressional election in Montana decisively knocked a mouthy Brit reporter on his ass for the sin of being a mouthy reporter. As FOX News is at this moment reporting, all the media brouhaha will likely amount to nothing for the simple reason that in Montana knocking a mouthy Brit reporter on his ass is likely considered to be an act of patriotic public service right up there with Custer fighting the surrounding hordes of savages with hand to hand upon expending the very last round of his ammo.
My thinking is that maybe aspiring conservative congressman, Greg Gianforte has set a new level of proving conservative bonafides that all Republican candidates will henceforth be required to satisfy: To convince your voting public that you really, truly feel their pent-up anger at all these bat-sh*t crazy liberals and their oh so cozily supportive media, you just gotta let it go, Bud, and smack one of those suckers hard enough to put him down for the count. And this is important, really important: Don’t apologize. Look straight into those cameras and say calmly, “I was merely acting on behalf of my constituents.” And then, if you’re really smart, you will say, “And my campaign coffers could really use some contributions to continue this sort of representation of my constituents’ wishes. Then just sit back and watch the money roll in.
Right now I’m mentally picturing my Airborne Ranger, Combat Infantryman Senator, Tom Cotton, knocking some smug, liberal media moron flat on his smarmy ass and contemplating how big of a check I’ll be writing. Note to Cotton: the snottier the target, the bigger my check. Make it Chris Matthews and I’ll probably have to take out a second mortgage to cover it.
Category: Politics
“Republican candidate…” is the congressman elect now. The Dems are saying that his margin of victory is a good thing, that, percentage-wise, it means fewer Montanans (?) liked him than they did Trump last November. Cripes. CNN is already wondering what Republicans will do with him, seeing as he has a misdemeanor assault charge pending. My guess is that they will give him a nice belt with a big old gold-plated buckle that reads, “Champ.”
Arrogant freaking brits have absolutely NOTHING to be arrogant about, they are so damned STUPID, its unbelievable!! And they ALL deserve to be knocked on their ass imho!
It’s called being a “MAN” instead of being a “Pussy”.
This guy forced his way into a room and verbally assaulted about to be elected congressman Gianforte, where he *wasn’t* invited and the now congressman, put him in his place.
It *IS* Montana after all. It’s not a place that pansies live. Its rough and tumble out there on the high plains.
Fuck Heem.
Verbally assaulted? Really? By asking a question about the new healthcare plan? That’s the sort of hand-waving nonsense I expect from the PC left, not the hard-chargers here.
The reporter asked questions, as reporters are wont to do, and the guy flipped out. Nobody should be excusing his actions. This ain’t a left or right issue, this is just being a normal human being.
From the NYT and witnesses, HE WAS IN A PLACE HE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN…
” Ben Jacobs walked into a room where a local TV crew was set up for an interview with Gianforte.”
He was NOT in a scheduled meeting or conference.
Secondly, the Congressman apologized.
So Tah DAH.
You come pushing and shoving into my office without an invitation, I’m probably going to defend myself and put you on the floor as well.
LC, according to the accounts I have read the reporter was (a) in a place where he was not invited (b) aggressively shoving his recorder/mic into Gianforte’s face (c) badgering him with accusitory questions (d) refused to leave when ordered to do so from a private area (e) grabbed Gianforte’s hand when Gianforte attempted to push the recorder/mic out of his face and in the ensuing scuffle (f) fell to the ground.
I’m not aware of Montana law, but in Texas at least if an individual is on my property or in my personal office without permission and refuses my orders to leave, I can shoot his sorry tail. At the very least the reporter is guilty of trespassing if not criminal trespass.
I’m inclined to wait and see what other details come out of this – as the story appears to have more to it than merely some politician losing it with a reporter.
To hell with the a.h., he doesn’t deserve an apology, he deserves a swift kick in the ass!! imo
LC, correct me if I’m wrong, but it was reported indicated that the reporter had rudely intruded himself as the panel was being arranged and the candidate was in the midst of a conversation with his associates, and was told to wait until the meeting began.
Naturally annoying. But he ignored Mr. Gianforte’s advise to wait.
I admire the Senator’s control. He made his point perfectly clear.
The media, some believed to be supported by politicians, have been suspected of encouraging destructive demonstrations (they certainly did nothing discourage them, after all, violence sells!) seem to utilize the ‘Bully Attitude’: bait, tease, provoke, distort to elicit defensive response from a target. All on the record, of course.The bully dramatically ‘succumbs’ feigns near death, or injury, sues, wins and repeats. What would you do?
It has to stop. But how?
LC, correct me if I’m wrong, but it was reported indicated that the reporter had rudely intruded himself as the panel was being arranged and the candidate was in the midst of a conversation with his associates, and was told to wait until the meeting began.
Naturally annoying. But he ignored Mr. Gianforte’s advise to wait.
I admire the Senator’s control. He made his point perfectly clear.
The media, some believed to be supported by politicians, have been suspected of encouraging destructive demonstrations (they certainly did nothing discourage them, after all, violence sells!) seem to utilize the ‘Bully Attitude’: bait, tease, provoke, distort to elicit defensive response from a target. All on the record, of course.The bully dramatically ‘succumbs’ feigns near death, or injury, sues, wins and repeats. What would you do?
It has to stop. But how?
The reporter allegedly (see what I did there?) grabbed Gianforte by the wrist, and that’s when Gianforte dumped him. You put your hands on someone around here, you’re begging for a chance to flirt with the nurses in the local ER.
Reading the next-day accounts, it seems that the tussle began when the libtard reporter grabbed Giaforte’s hand when Giaforte tried to push libtard’s mic out of his face.
Not to libtard reporters, especially Brit libtard reporters: those of us raised in the Real America (e.g. Montana and Texas) don’t take to being pushed or bullied. We understand that the way to stop a bully is to whup his tail – publicly.
It’s not too far a stretch from this.
I understand reporters have a job to do, BUT when you cross the line of being a professional, you get your ass handed to you.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/business/media/reporter-arrested-tom-price.html
From what I’ve seen, the only account of Jacobs grabbing Gianforte came from Gianforte’s manager, whose statement was completely at odds with the Fox News crew who witnessed the whole thing. If Jacobs committed the first act of physical aggression, it’s doubtful that Gianforte would have been cited for assault. (And Gianforte would have no reason to apologize.)
Do you mean the Fox crew who changed their story the very next day?
I’ll write cotton a check in a heart beat if he steps up
And where was the outrage when Congressman Bob Etheridge was assaulting a student reporter on the street?
Oh yeah, forgot. Wasn’t any.
Sshhhh, nothing to see there folks move along now, just move along….
Beat me to it, SEA.
Sounds like fake news. Just like when Michelle Fields was “thrown to the ground” by the Trump campaign.
Circles, don’t you just know that young woman is now wondering how she could have made such a stupid decision. Rather than continuing to be a top Breitbart reporter with excellent access to the most powerful office in the world and the growing influence and income that comes with such prominence, she’s now Michelle Who?
She’s another idiot who traded away a stellar career for fifteen minutes of sensationalist fame.
Fields now writes for HuffPo. If Andrew Breitbart was still alive I would have called that a step down. As it is I’d consider it more of a lateral move.
Um, Bill, does Huffpo have their own equivalent of Steve Bannon in the White House?
Lateral move my ass…
I can see you were speaking of the likely advantage of having a potential inside source at the WH, so I concede the point. I was speaking more of the relative prestige of the two news sources.
“I was speaking more of the relative prestige of the two news sources.”
Then you’re even more wrong–keep digging…
I know I’m not the only one who thinks that Breitbart went downhill since Andrew’s death. And HuffPo has always been garbage. You have your opinion, I have mine. No holes near either one of us as far as I can see.
Anyone that thinks either HuffPo or Breitbart is a good news source now that Andrew has gone needs to branch out. You might as well get your information from Jezibel
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/24/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter.html
Yeah, and she changed that story the next day, backing completely away from the above linked version. It was amusing to watch someone crawfish so quickly.
Poetrooper: “Make it Chris Matthews and I’ll probably have to take out a second mortgage to cover it.”
Poet: Not needed. I’ll foot the bill even if I need to establish a Go Fund Me Tin Cup Account.
Gianforte’s Democratic opponent appears to have been a pretty weak candidate: a musician with a history of financial problems. It’s possible that a lot of people voted for Gianforte for the same reason that many voted for Trump: even knowing his flaws, they decided that he was preferable to the even weaker alternative. The right Democrat could have beaten Trump (Biden, for example, or Jim Webb), and I think the right Democrat could have beaten Gianforte (Montana has a Democratic governor, after all).
Speaking as someone who worked in the newspaper business, there seem to be multiple issues the news media is ignoring in its leap to defend Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs:
As a reporter, you don’t have the right to demand anything of a political candidate. The access they grant to you is a courtesy whether you choose to admit it or not. It’s also very rude to interrupt an interview in progress by another news crew. If I had been there with the local Fox crew, I might have been tempted to toss Jacobs out on his ass myself.
If you’ve provoked a candidate to the point of violence, most of the time it means you’re not doing it right. Your goal is supposed to be getting your questions answered, not making somebody want to punch your stupid face.
There are some old and very good reasons why reporters are not supposed to become part of the story. In this instance, instead of Jacobs getting Greg Gianforte’s position on Obamacare, something useful, we get the pissant melodrama of pics of broken eyeglasses, and sobby tweets from the waaambulance.
Unlike some of the TAH crew, who tend to see the news media as similar to what you get on your shoes at the dog park, my own view is that we’re not getting the news media we deserve. Those who do good work should be recognized and rewarded. Those who don’t might better serve society by operating a shovel at the dog park.
given that three million more voters apparently believed in Hillary… perhaps we are getting the press we deserve. What a sad thought.
In Portland two Anglo women have had to shut down a burrito shop due to a social outcry over “cultural misappropriation.” Guess that means Ex-PH2 can’t make any more Italian or Chinese? Me, I just wish the two women, instead of being white, had been black lesbians. You’d hear heads explode all over.
Black, lesbian, Muslims selling gefilte fish and matzoh balls…
Bull shit. I’ll cook whatever I want to, using whatever ingredients I wish, including the best damned chorizo I’ve found so far for red beans and rice.
#FOOD INGREDIENTS ARE UNIVERSAL!!!!
Can I get a mug with that on it?
And I found the Fox article on it, and since I use whatever I want to for cooking, I haven’t seen anything that ridiculous in my life. If I want to make spanakopita, do you think ANY Greek immigrant is going to accuse me of something as asinine as “cultural appropriation”?
No, s/he is going to say “Add some tzatziki to it to make it better!”
That is the STUPIDEST thing I have ever run into in my life.
Ex, Sweet Thang and I just drove down to Cajun Country with the top down to savor some of the local foods for a few days. Folks forget that Louisiana was under the rule of Spain for many, many years and many of the same Spanish influences on Mexican food are here as well. In fact, our first night we ate in a place in Baton Rouge that advertises as a Louisiana Mexican restaurant. It was trying too hard to be a bistro for the nearby LSU clientele, so I don’t recommend the place.
However, there are plenty of similarities between Cajun and Mexican cuisines from the ever-present rice and beans to the insistence on it being hot, picante as well as caliente.
Poe, I don’t know if you are aware of it but some of the Mexican music used by the various Ballet Folklorico groups as representative of some of the northern Mexican states is heavily influenced by the music of the German immigrants to Texas. Possibly the Polish and Czech immigrants as well.
By “snowflake-logic” that means I can complain about them appropriating my culture, right?
Speaking of Coonass (Cajun) food, my favorite place for that was a little Mom-and-Pop Boudin Store right off of I-10 in Breaux Bridge on the west end of the neverending Swamp Bridge over the Atchafalaya. They’d take your order in English and you’d hear them hollering back and forth in “Coonass” in their kitchen, but MAIS, the food! I wonder if it’s still there, I came off the road in 2001.
Perry, there can also be excellent reasons for the journalist to insert himself into the story such as if he is trying to instigate a last-minute incident that could impact the results of the election.
I say that because over at American Thinker a commenter is reporting that the reporter in question is the former head of oppo research of the Iowa Democratic Party. Those who engage in oppo research and activities, on all sides, aren’t particularly known for their spotless political ethics.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2017/05/what_the_heck_happened_with_greg_gianforte_and_that_body_slam_comments.html
Indeed, I heard Pajama Boy on a number of stations getting his 15min all the while claiming he didn’t want to be “part of the story”. What a crock and totally laughable.
Good analysis PG. Thanks.
Greg rocks!
I don’t usually condone this type of behavior but if Tom bitch slaps The Lunatic Wig From CA and causes her to shut her mouth for once I’ll sell my truck and donate.
Seriously, only part of the story was stroked all over the media which is not surprising. That smug a-hole reporter has apparently been a pain in the ass for quite some time. The Representative was conducting an interview in a private room and that pajama boy was told it was private several times. Living up to the “me me me now” snowflake generation where rules don’t apply he still burst into the room, interrupted what was going on and despite being told to get out shoved his phone in the Reps. face and started to ask. Consequently he was knocked on his ass which is about what any person would do. Tellingly, the “choking the neck and bodyslammings” only witness, a Fox reporter, has backtracked on her initial statement as to what happened.
If more people acted like this to the out of control media, you know, show common respect, then they would have a higher approval rating than 8% and so many of us would not be cheering right now.
I think that carrying a can of shaving cream along to spray on the intruders is always a good idea. That, or a seltzer bottle with a sprayer – anything to get rid of the pests.\
Journalists have not been this obnoxious in quite a long time. Maybe it’s time their walking papers were handed to them.
My favorite prank in college was to swap the applicator atop a can of shaving cream with the sprayer tip from a can of WD40 and with the stem attached I could accurately apply a stream of shaving cream on someone’s face from six feet away.
As good as I am sure it felt and no one being hurt it still was not the right thing to do. He got trolled and he lost his temper. This is a poor way to solve a problem.
No, the reporter was TRESPASSING. Not merely trolling. He got what deserved.
Quist was a dead beat clown.
Not surprised so many on this board celebrate this.
You guys whine like hungry kittens about violent snowflakes but constantly celebrate when the government commits violence on citizens.
“Small government” my ass.
You love authoritarianism.
The reporter asked a legitimate question about the CBO review of the healthcare bill. The CBO report showed the bill to be a clusterfuck.
It was a legitimate question and the public has a right to know what their elected officials feel about it.
This man is unfit to serve in congress.
The fact that he is elected says a lot about the authoritarian leanings of the modern American right wing.
Lars, what part of THE REPORTER WAS TRESPASSING ON A PRIVATE INTERVIEW do you not understand?
“The reporter asked a legitimate question about the CBO review of the healthcare bill”
And he did so politely in a civil manner right?
Babbles McButthead, you REALLY DO enjoy coming here and getting pounded after peeing in your pants in front of God and everyone, don’t ?
AT LEAST he didn’t pound him with a bicycle lock like some liberal “Person of Tolerance” did to counter protesters in Berzerkely.
At the time of the incident, he wasn’t part of the government yet,,,,, so,,,yeah,,,,,
You never got to actually spend your lunch-money on lunch, did you? THOSE GUYS ARE BIG MEANIES!!!
If you’re genuinely concerned about authoritarianism, look up how most colleges students are behaving with the encouragement of faculty. Then look up bureaucracies like the EPA who deem co2 a “pollutant” on their own dime.
After that check out your fellow prog brethren who have advocated locking up “climate deniers,” or at least criminally prosecuting them.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/05/24/greg-gianforte-fox-news-team-witnesses-gop-house-candidate-body-slam-reporter.html
Interesting how in the past you have disparaged Fox news, yet when it fits your narrative you gladly drop a link.
Give it up, Commissar, you gnat-brained twit. The reporter invaded a private interview. He had no right to be there, any more than you have a right to walk into my house without my permission.
You’re WRONG. Jam it, jerk.
They actually conducted some straw polls on in the Eastern part of the state after this happened and his popularity went up.
No shit.