You omitted the second part of his response where he thanks Colby Hall & Tommy Christopher from mediate for doing their best to portray him as a hero. Alas, that was a mission impossible but he looks forward to working with them in the future.

Congressman, you are the wind beneath Colby Hall’s wings

Jon, “This is clearly not the last we’ll hear of this story although it is unclear whether or not the video will seriously hurt Etheridge’s career or even end it akin to what happened to Helen Thomas. ”

If history is any guide, being a Dem, he get’s a pass and a promotion.

In my opinion (and, yes, I’m bracing myself for the scorn of a million commenters as I type this), there are no good guys in this story. Etheridge’s actions were completely over the line. You can’t physically touch someone (I’ll let legal experts throw around words like “assault”) who just asked you a question. You especially can’t do that if you are an ELECTED OFFICIAL. He came off more like a crazy person than a Congressman. And, no, “crazy person” and “Congressman” aren’t the same thing. At least they shouldn’t be.

However, I think this video points to a bit of an unsettling future. Sure, the “Obama agenda” question was pretty tame, but do we really want aspiring journalists to be stalking our politicians the way the paparazzi stalks Lindsay Lohan? Obviously, elected officials should be held accountable for everything they say and do and their constituents should be able to question them, but shouldn’t there be a time and a place for this?

I hope that, if some good comes out of this movement (and James O’Keefe was right, it’s becoming a movement), that it forces politicians to proscribe to complete transparency (posting all stats, figures, and discussions on the internet for public review) so as to ward off the Flip Cam Brigade.

If that doesn’t happen though, these journalists may do more to scare good people out of seeking office than they do to keep those already in it from being good themselves.

Regardless of Etheridge’s stupid, stupid, stupid (did I mention stupid?) actions, don’t you think this could be the top of a very slippery slope?

Even in his apology he still has to elude to ‘no matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become’. This is bunk, he needs to go. Charges must be brought..where’s the outrage!! Now will the White Houses’ media arm (google) let the video rise in popularity on it’s own?

I think the Congressman, Colby Hall, Tommy Christopher & the interviewer in the video should hold a beer summit. And by beer summit, I mean when the Congressman, Hall, & Tommy are asked if they support the Obama agenda (clearly a guerrilla tactic), the 3 amigos should slam the interviewer’s head into the concrete and steal his beer. That way, they’ll become national heroes!

Tim,
Judging by an informal study of the Internet’s response (comments here and on completely apolitical sites like Reddit), I don’t think Etheridge is getting a pass any time soon. The outrage is just too loud.

He was upset that someone asked him if he supports Obama’s agenda! (REMEMBER, Obama told them to get in our faces)! WOW, the bloom is definitely off the rose!

Sarah RISING – Obama FALLING

That’s very GOOD for AMERICA!

My God, what the heck?

Why, wha…Im just shocked…again…he has the smarts to realize he has to offer an apology …buts its another non apology – apology. Pretty dang dumb….

This fellow comes from a GOP plus 2 district…if his opponent ( a woman I believe) is even somewhat acceptable – id bet anything she wins because of this incident alone.

I truly expected – and hoped for – a real knees on the ground – Im so sorry, im so sorry mea culpa – but no -

once again – ego before brains…

this guy didnt make this – as an issue – go away – he just made sure that it will get bigger and bigger and bigger.

i used to produce dumb DC pol talk shows – there is no way that this story wont grow – this is killer footage and in two days this will be story number 3 in the media hit parade – after the Gulf and obama’s shrinking popularity and presidency.

Jon..how many town-hall type meetings did the pols avoid during this past break? You say there’s a time and place, well we can’t get answers from our servants if they refuse to meet us, can we? And paparazzi journalists got Paris and Brittany to start wearing panties..so in your face tactics have their way of producing positive results.

Jon,
Fair points but jeez, the guy said “Hi Congressman, do you fully support the Obama agenda?”. That’s not exactly stalking. It’s not even a tough question. You’d think they poured blood on him, called him a murderer or tried to make a citizen’s arrest.

How hard is it to say, “I don’t do ambush (even though I don’t think this is an ambush) interviews but if you’d call my office, maybe we can set up an interview”? Then, if the guys persist it could make them look bad. However, that didn’t happen, the Congressman acted as if these guys had just kicked his dog in face.

Let’s not pretend that had this been a Republican member of Congress, the media would be out in full force and the students asking the question would portrayed as national heroes.

There we go, Ranger! If this leads to an unspoken rule that all pols who avoid town hall meetings deserve and will get this kind of tactic but those that have an open discussion with the people are left alone, good will come of it.
If it just becomes a free for all of anyone with a camera feeling like they should pounce on a senator who’s trying to take his kids to McDonalds, there will be a problem.

I agree with you, Lonestar. The interviewers in the video didn’t do anything that bad (nothing but a leading question). But, like I said, it’s a slippery slope. When this video causes major traction (and it already has), how long is it before some truly crazy person is planting himself outside of a senator’s house with a camera in hand?

Jon,
If you are troubled by the prospect of some outside a senators house, why did you and the rest of the media completely ignore when a LARGE group of SEIU members surrounded the house of a B of A exec, leaving his 14 year old son at home alone terrified?

Yeah, I generally get a little uncomfortable watching “ambush” interviews but unless there’s more to this story, the Congressman’s reaction is just bat shiite crazy. Who knows, maybe the guy with the phone was making faces or shooting him the bird but it looks as if this congressman took a crazy pill 5 minutes prior to running into these guys.

As far as someone setting up outside a senator’s house, how about a couple hundred deranged SEIU guys setting up shop in the front yard of a lawyer who works for a bank? I’m not all that worried about this little video setting some sort of precedent.

Michelle, from what I’ve read of the SEIU thing, it seems reprehensible. I personally believe people should be entitled to a personal life separate to their professional lives (unless they’re doing something illegal).

And don’t any of you say that Etheridge was doing something illegal by following Obama’s unconstitutional agenda, yada yada. You know what I meant. :)

I don’t care how “sorry” he is, he put his hands on another person, held on and then caught the kid from behind the neck, that is an assault. And, of course he is sorry, he got caught! This guy needs to resign immediately. Next time he could seriously hurt someone with his “reaction:!!

It’s amazing how these two stories today have scared off all the libtard commenters that usually infest this site..we’re left having to fight it out with the authors or managment. I know you chumps are out there..speak up!

Jon Bershad says:
June 14, 2010 at 2:24 pm
Michelle, from what I’ve read of the SEIU thing, it seems reprehensible. I personally believe people should be entitled to a personal life separate to their professional lives (unless they’re doing something illegal).

Jon, can you tell me why Mediate ignored the story? You can’t say you didn’t hear about it, since I emailed you the details, including how Nina Easton, of Fortune, who lives in the neighborhood where it happened, was attacked by the left when she wrote a piece about it. It just seems to me that this is another case of the left having selective outrage.

I appreciate your interaction Jon..can you post as Royal King so I can yell at you..

“Regardless of Etheridge’s stupid, stupid, stupid (did I mention stupid?) actions, don’t you think this could be the top of a very slippery slope?”

Not at all. They are MY elected representatives.

Obviously, elected officials should be held accountable for everything they say and do and their constituents should be able to question them, but shouldn’t there be a time and a place for this?

For the First Amendment? Yeah. The time is right now, and the place is the United States of America.

Obviously, elected officials should be held accountable for everything they say and do and their constituents should be able to question them, but shouldn’t there be a time and a place for this?

If it was an inappropriate time and place, Etheridge could have declined to take questions. or simply walked away. But there is no wrong time to ask an elected official walking down the street a question. And there’s no right time for a pol to lose their mind on an American citizen.

Jon, at the risk of appearing confrontational, I must also point out that you here at Mediaite and most of the media completely ignored the MANY instances of leftist violence against Tea-partiers and conservatives that have occured in the recent past. Yet, you were quick to point out when the left claimed that racist things were chanted at tea-party rallies, even though NO evidence has ever surfaced and the only reason colby originally wrote about this was to try to paint the person asking the question as the villiam and Etheridge as the victim. Unfortunately for him, it backfired. You must admit there is a complete double-standard in this area.

villain. Don’t need King on my case

Good point Michelle

Jon Bershad says: I don’t think Etheridge is getting a pass any time soon.

Jon, you are absolutely correct! This was the first thing Beck sounded off on this morning on the radio. He said he’s putting it on his show today.

I’m not totally convinced that these two kids were trying to be aspiring journalists. It was hard to tell, but they look like high school age and told the congressman it was a project. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. They greeted the congressman very appropriately and all he had to do is walk away. IMHO, I wouldn’t call it an ambush.

Obama is going to “Kick his Ass” for picking on those kids!

I believe that these incidents were non establishment “journalists” film politicians, and media personalities in some fairly awkward, and down right illegal acts, is a plus for freedom and accountability. The Congressman is a very powerful person as a representative of the US Government. Regardless of the fact that he got physical with the two individuals, his repeated claim that he has some “right” to know who is asking him a question is preposterous. No where in the US Constitution does it state, or even imply, that the government has a right to know who is questioning them.

The Washington Compost is calling the assault ‘a hug’..no shit. Go see for yourselves. The media, and peeholes like Tommy&Colby, don’t try to minimize the damage that their heroes on the left perpetuate on the American people..do they? Good thing obama wants to regulate the thought and opinions of the people who dare use their voices here on the net..as he said “information is dangerous’. When he bails out the newspapers, we can read about how Clinton was a great president..and other such mindless drivel..Yeah…….

Time to “fess up” Mr. President:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHxb_vZe7Ao

The only thing he ‘deeply and profoundly regrets’ is that there was a video camera recording his actions. Libs from sea to shining sea are **this close** to going postal, conflicted between adoring Obama and despising him for setting them up for ridicule. Libs back-slapped Obama into the White House and now they’re paying the price. ‘Tolerance and Compassion for different viewpoints?’ I’m quite sure that is a supposed bastion of Liberalism…key word ‘supposed.’

Bob Etheridge was a victim as well. I will await the apology from those kids.

ChrisNH, the only ones paying the price is you and your tea bagging friends. Get used to Obama, you’ve got six more years of him as president. Oh, wait, I forgot, Sarah Palin is going to be our president. Oh what a world we live in!