Rep Ike Skelton (D-MO): "That really pisses me off down there, Those assholes" (Petraeus protesters)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

'War criminal' cries get protesters quickly removed from hearing
Nick Juliano
Published: Monday September 10, 2007



As soon as Rep. Ike Skelton gaveled a joint Congressional hearing to order this morning, protesters could be heard yelling "war criminal" at Army Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, who were about to testify about conditions in Iraq.

At least one woman could be heard shouting briefly, before Skelton (D-MO) ordered anyone who disrupted the proceedings to be removed from the hearing room.

"Out they go," Skelton said. He paused a few seconds, then asked no one in particular, "Are they gone?"

At least a half-dozen protesters were arrested during the course of Monday's hearing, and their presence visibly iritated Skelton. “That really pisses me off down there, Those assholes,” a sharp-eared Wall Street Journal reporter overheard Skelton say to the committee’s ranking Republican member Duncan Hunter of California. A staffer came to the rescue later, shutting off Skelton's microphone.

http://rawstory.com//news/2007/War_criminal_cries_get_protesters_quickly_0910.html

[MethuenProgressive]

1. On C-Span he was heard cussing "God damn" & "fucking"

this was during the mic trouble, and is why I *love* C-Span coverage!

[MADem]

13. He is a cusser. His kid was in the Navy. He's a real champion of the Services. NT

[Didereaux]

27. They are infected with...

Most of what goes on in DC the past few years is now explainable. Even better it can be explained in a few pix! heh

CODENAME: Stanley


A better overview can be had here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12461951@N03/

See what I mean? All clear now, right?
;)

[Vinca]

2. What a thing to call citizens exercising their freedom.

Skelton should be ashamed of himself.

[Cha]

23. Yeah! He might

save his piss for those ASSHOLE buSHITS!

[Kelly Rupert]

31. No, they weren't. Citizens do not have the freedom to interrupt hearings in Congress.

You have the right to free speech. You don't have the right to run into a corporate boardroom, university lecture, or Congressional hearing, and rant with impunity. Your right to free speech and peaceable protest does not allow you to disrupt others.

[BlueManDude]

3. I agree with Skelton, the hearing room is not the place for a street protest.

[KurtNYC]

11. the hearing room is the place for an all day infomercial - Order your Surge today!

Got a messy situation? Sectarian violence? No political progress?

Surge. Get a 90-day supply of Surge for only $50,000,000,000
Order your Surge today!

[MADem]

14. I agree with you. I didn't like it when they made fools of themselves

at the Plame hearings either.

And Skelton is hardly a lockstep cheerleader here--he said BetrayUs was three years too late.

[ShortnFiery]

20. Right, not dis-similar to - "The front of the Bus is no place for black folk."

:eyes: Non-violent protest (the kind that gets one arrested and on the NEWS) is keeping in the Great Tradition that has made America, when we follow Our Constitution, the Beacon of Freedom and Democracy.

Bless OUR anti-war protesters - it's the activists that do *the dirty work* (jail time) in order to catch these ARROGANT Representatives' attention. Vote these ungrateful DINOS out in their next primary is the best comeuppance. ;)

[Kelly Rupert]

29. Civil disobedience is still disobedience,

as the saying goes. If you want to protest in violation of the rules, then you agree to accept the consequences: You're going to be removed, and people are going to think you're an asshole.

The point of civil disobedience is to show how unfair the laws being broken are. Do you believe, as a principle, that Congress should be interrupted by screaming partisans whenever it tries to hold any hearings? Was this protest intended to raise public awareness of the unfairness of Congress's rules of order? No. It wasn't. The purpose was to "raise awareness" of opposition to the war--as if Americans needed to see a bunch of screamers in pink to believe the war was a bad idea. They were not opposed to the law, they were simply breaking it because doing so allowed them to protest more efficiently. Therefore, this wasn't civil disobedience as practiced by the Civil Rights movement, it was just old-fashioned disorderly conduct by a pack of activists.

[BlueManDude]

35. Thank you - you answered much more eloquently than I could have

I also find it odd that Code Pink seems to often be positioned on camera right behind hearing witnesses. Number one - they distract from what the witness is saying; number two - am I being paranoid for thinking this is exactly where the GOP wants them?

Call me crazy but I would not be surprised to learn somewhere down the line that CP has been infiltrated by FBI or some sort of law enforcement.

[Cooley Hurd]

4. How DARE they engage in civil disobedience and protest peacefully, those assholes!

:eyes: Ike, we live in America. That's what Americans do when they disagree with the policies of the US government. Ike, YOU'RE the asshole, IMHO.

[mrgorth]

10. Doesn't sound

"peaceful" to me. Good for Ike.

[Cooley Hurd]

15. Nobody fired guns or lobbed bombs...

:shrug:

[mrgorth]

17. a) They're trying to conduct a HEEEEEEAAAAAARRRRRING

so silence is necessary and b) it's politically retarded.

[MADem]

18. Yeah, let's let them shut down the government...just like Newt did.

Good for Ike--they wanna protest, whoop-di-do, fine.

But they need to understand that there are CONSEQUENCES to that action.

If they can't handle the consequences, they're in the wrong game.

[MADem]

19. Pardon my doubleclick....nt

[Kelly Rupert]

30. This was not civil disobedience.

Civil disobedience is an attempt to show the unfairness of a law by violating it peaceably and with no harm to anyone, and then accepting the consequences. The intent is to raise public opposition to the law by showing how unjust it is. This is not what happened here.

This is just a bunch of protesters choosing to disobey because they wanted to be able to shout on cameras instead of on the streets. That isn't covered. Sorry.

[soothsayer]

5. i wish he'd been overheard calling patreus that

[whistle]

6. Concurrently, a clergyman was being denied entry into the hearing room

...was taken down by police and hospitalized with a broken ankle. Anyone who even made a comment during the hearing was expelled. Ray McGovern was heard to suggest that while the committee was waiting for order in the hearing room, that Chairman Skeleton should swear in the witnesses Petraeus and Crocker. With that the police escorted McGovern out

[flpoljunkie]

7. I was outraged to learn that Ray McGovern was excorted out for suggesting Petraeus be sworn in.

Evidently "swearing in" those who work for the Bush administration is so passe--it's just not done, and it is heresy to suggest it.

[DancingBear]

8. Oh, but he's SO much better than the Republican

Let's re-elect him!!

He'll help end the war!!

Don't you want to save abortion rights?????

:sarcasm:

[Freddie Stubbs]

9. Would the Republicans even be holding this hearing?

:shrug:

[Xatencio81]

12. What's the point of Democrats holding this hearing?

They said before it even started they weren't even going to believe anything Petraeus said.

[Kelly Rupert]

32. Wouldn't that be a rather glaring difference between D and R then? n/t

[Xatencio81]

33. I hope you don't mean that Republicans would actually listen to him

instead of calling him a liar before he even speaks.

[depakid]

36. I think the point is to run cover

Look like you're doing something- and then basically do nothing.

Pony up another blank check and say "But hey, we held hearings!"

[ShortnFiery]

16. Methinks it's time for this old codger to retire. He's lost his "center." nt

[MadHound]

22. He's never had a "center"

He's another typical Missouri Dem, right wing as hell. He is Democrat simply to maintain the illusion of bipartisanship in this state. Sadly it seems as though all the real Dems in this state either retire early or meet their end in small planes.

[Kelly Rupert]

28. Looking at his record, he's about the definition of "centrist."

Rated 0% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (however, he voted both to allow and to expand stem-cell research)
Rated 33% by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record. (Dec 2002)
Rated 60% by the US COC, indicating a mixed business voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 56% by CURE, indicating mixed votes on rehabilitation. (Dec 2000)
Rated 100% by the NEA, indicating pro-public education votes. (Dec 2003)
Rated 60% by the LCV, indicating a mixed record on environment. (Dec 2003)
Rated 61% by the Christian Coalition: mixed voting record on families. (Dec 2003)
Rated 33% by CATO, indicating a mixed record on trade issues. (Dec 2002)
Rated 56% by APHA, indicating a mixed record on public health issues. (Dec 2003)
Rated 67% by SANE, indicating a mixed record on military issues. (Dec 2003)
Rated 80% by the AFL-CIO, indicating a pro-union voting record. (Dec 2003)
Rated 26% by NTU, indicating a "Big Spender" on tax votes. (Dec 2003)

http://www.ontheissues.org/House/Ike_Skelton.htm


Basically, he has a few "family-values" leanings, but on economic and social issues (barring abortion) he's very slightly left of center. He's a centrist. And frankly, I'd rather the centrists caucus with us than caucus with Republicans.

[zulchzulu]

21. Watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvj7WCfPNWQ

About 5 minutes into it, Skelton calls the protestors "assholes" and then Duncan Hunter gives him the tips on how to 'git 'em!

:crazy:

[Cha]

25. Thanks, zulch!

Ol' Pissy ike..

[Zodiak]

24. There's one Reps who I will never vote for or lend

my support.

Civil disobedience has been lying dormant for so long that people don't know how to deal with it any more. They act so shocked that people would object to their dog and pony show.

Yes, they were having a hearing....and if the hearing were to go as planned, a lot of lies would be told and no hard questions would be asked, and the rubber-stamp will come down for six more months or more of death and loss of resources. The Democrats have already signalled that is what they are going to do.

So since the hearing is a fait accompli, it is only appropriate that it is disrupted. If there was even a chance that the hearing could go either way, then it should not have been disrupted. But the Dems have already signalled that they are going to play along regardless of the wishes of their constituents.

But the reactions of the Democrats, especially this Sheldon asshole, indicates that the hearing was just a formality....a formality that they HAD to perform in order to lend legitimacy to the rubber stamp. IT is a sickening display of risk aversion and lust for power....and it is coming from DEMOCRATS!!

I am glad that it was disrupted, and I really don't give a hoot what others on this board say about propriety. Propriety went out the door when impeachment went off of the table (along with just about everything else we cared about).

[Kelly Rupert]

26. I agree with him.

They were disrupting the hearing by shouting "war criminal." They were being assholes. Even Code Pink knew they were being assholes; they intended to disrupt Congress, intended to offend, and intended to be arrested for doing so. They just believed they were being assholes for a cause.

[MonkeyFunk]

34. Good for Ike Skelton....

the protesters WERE assholes. I like a politician who tells it like it is.