Randi Rhodes - SHUT UP! Your are WRONG on the taser incident

[DesEtoiles]

Read the first hand accounts on dailykos. Randi is distorting what happend, AND insinuating that KERRY shares some blame.

Randi - I'm about to turn you off for good. Are you NUTS? You sound like a raving maniac. Get your facts straight. Have you got it in for Kerry or what?

[brentspeak]

1. k and r

:kick:

[Connie_Corleone]

2. Facts don't matter anymore. Just look at DU today.

Emotion is trumping facts like gangbusters today.

Randi is a major disappointment today.

[rodeodance]

BINGO

[wisteria]

69. Thank you, You right the facts don't seem to matter, doesn't this make us as bad as Repubs? n/t

[givemebackmycountry]

3. Hey you know what?

She's RIGHT.
100% right.
It just may be YOU that are wrong.

You can not taser someone just because they ask an inconvenient question.
And she's right about this too.
KERRY IS SOFT.

[MonkeyFunk]

4. Correct

luckily, nobody got tasered for asking a question.

[durrrty libby]

33. Clearly, the taser incident is just an excuse for Kerry Haters to unleash

Ah well......I guess it is better than kicking their dogs

[cali]

19. Ah, but he didn't get tasered just for asking a question

He didn't even get tasered for being an asshole. He got tasered, the publicity hungry little creep, because he was disruptive and disorderly. He cut in front of many people in line, he wouldn't move from the microphone and he resisted arrest. He shouldn't have been tasered, but he should have been handcuffed and had his pathetic ass dragged out of there.

[cali]

23. self-delete- posted in the wrong place

]

[earthside]

54. This is what I hate.

He got 'tasered' because he was a "publicity hungry little creep."

But if this happened to someone at a Romney or Ghouliani townhall, 99 percent of DUers would be screaming bloody murder about the authoritarianism of the fascist Republicans towards free speech.

But since it was at a Kerry event, he's a "publicity hungry little creep."

And ... if I had been in Kerry's position I would have been right down there demanding that the police/security stop what they were doing.

I'm not a 'Kerry-hater' ... I just don't want to see a double standard come into play.

[cali]

58. What part of he cut in line, disrespecting the free speech rights

of others, do you not get? What part of resisting arrest do you not get?

He's an asshole because of those actions, not because of his meaningless rant.

[JVS]

89. precisely

[rwheeler31]

90. Have you ever stood on a stage?

[krkaufman]

91. Has anyone verified that the guy was actually tasered?

I heard him yelling "don't taser me", but I have a hard time believing he was being tasered at that moment as several cops had hold of him... which would have resulted in their also being electrocuted, I would think.

[DesEtoiles]

43. people who were there say he was acting like a maniac

[durrrty libby]

48. He resisted arrest. Pretty fucking simple. Once again. He resisted arrest

[Sequoia]

55. He shouldn't have been arrested.

I'd get upset too. There was no reason for them to treat him that way, and now HE'S FACING A FELONY charge. That in itself is crazy. Give Kerry the benefit of the doubt he didn't see him because I had a hard time from the video although you could hear him screaming...and some people just sat there with blank faces.

[durrrty libby]

56. Whether he should or should not have, is not the point. That stuff gets sorted out later

One can file false arrest charges and whatever you want, but don't resist arrest

The only one who will suffer is the arrestee.

[Sanctified]

71. I stopped listening to her a long time ago.

She seems to just pull stuff out of her butt without doing any type of fact checking. I prefer Thom Hartmann and Mike Malloy.

[MH1]

83. There's a thread saying Malloy was doing the same thing.

I like what I've read by Hartmann...never listened to his radio show. But I know I won't be listening to Randi or Malloy any time soon unless they wake up and apologize for the crap they spewed today. (admittedly I am basing this on what is being reported on DU. But when people say they are fans and are disappointed, it sound pretty bad. Do these people do any fact checking at all, or just decide what position will make the "best" screed?)

[DancingBear]

Bingo n/t

[wisteria]

72. if you are implying he was tasered for the question than YOU ARE WRONG.

Boy are you wrong. This student was disruptive and could of been a danger to everyone in that auditorium. This was a police matter and Senator Kerry had nothing to do with the behavior of the police.
Randi was doing the work for the repubs today and they were laughing at her and people like you who belittle one of our own and benfit them. Senator Kerry is one of the most intelligent and outspoken critics of the Iraq War and the Repubs just love it when others attack him and claim he is weak. Grow up. Watch the entire video. Are you sure you are a Democrat?

[Mist]

5. Randi was going from a tape of the event she had available. It seemed to her that

the student was asking questions, had his mike cut, then cops moved in to wrestle him to the floor, then when he was down, tasered him. She thought it was over-reaction, and I'd have to agree.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/ireports/2007/09/18/irpt.tasered.kerry.event.cnn

[mikelgb]

8. honestly

what are these people seeing in that video that I am not?

[onenote]

22. it was an overreaction, but he was tasered for his actions, not his words

and suggesting that it was his words that got him tasered is BS. The cops overreacted by trying to get him to leave, but once you physically resist cops, you are going to provoke a reaction. It shouldn't have come to tasering him, but on the other hand he was warned.

[stlsaxman]

80. in the tape Randi played it goes straight from him starting his rant to being tazered...

i knew that as soon as she played it- having seen the complete original video. The SECOND someone asked him to get on with his question he started jumping up and down yelling "Is anyone taping this?!?!?!?"

the guy obviously has delusions of grandeur.

[toughboy]

93. Or the guy was a plant or a moron

or wants a talk show or wants to get laid or couldn't afford shock therapy. All the media is saying, and joking about is that a guy was tasered at a Kerry event. The secondary conceptual content of that phrase is pretty clear. I mean if you didn't get it the first time. Regardless of what happened it happened because it was a Kerry event. If this was a Hillary speech some on this board would be swearing that she tasered the guy herself after wetting him down.

[radiclib]

6. So call her up and say that

Dare ya :P

[K8-EEE]

85. Why so she can yell and scream about it?

No thanks....she gives me a headache! I can't believe she's the remaining AAR show on. I SOOOOO much prefer Rachel Maddow!

[Synnical]

7. She's spot on!

[Name removed]

9. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[DaveJ]

That guy is a bully by the way he acted

He probably will benefit in life from being a bully too.

[The Count]

62. Indeed! trying to ask questions, asking for help while abused by the police!

What a bully! But we showed him, huh? Long live the police state!

[tnlefty]

36. Yeah, really.

There was an article in the local paper regarding the fact that civics has taken a back seat in classrooms because of NCLB and teaching to the tests.

I'm appalled by the permeation in our society (adults, too) to just go along with whatever a cop says or does; by the fact that there were so many young adults there who found it amusing, but who didn't at least stand up and shame the cops for what they were doing. I saw 2 young women who stood up and were loudly stating, 'why are you doing this",; 'stop doing this'; it makes me want to pull my hair out.

I don't think that people realize how the lack of teaching civics coupled with kids (where mine attend school anyway) being told that they aren't to question teachers or they will get a detention. Not in a spiteful way, nor swearing at nor threatening, but to NOT question at all or else.

The elected official who swore to uphold and defend the Constitution didn't do much along those lines, and what was reinforced to them?

[krkaufman]

92. And what if this guy had been a diversion ...

... meant to draw police/security attention, allowing a partner to calmly walk up to Kerry and shoot him in the face.

The cops may well have over-reacted, but the guy *was* out of control. And let's not forget that the guy *was* allowed to ask his question. Actually, he spent a great deal of time prefacing any questions, and then asked three questions. He had no right to be upset that his free speech had been impinged. Heck, his filibustering encroached on the time others could have spent asking Kerry questions.

[girl gone mad]

94. They do it on purpose, you know.

Everyone accuses this boy of being a publicity whore because he wanted his questions recorded, but what about the cops who treated him with such disrespect while all of those cameras were pointed right at them? They are trying to send a message to the rest of us.

[blm]

46. Randi would taser a guy who pushed away the rest of her audience to demand attention for himself.

She just hasn't seen the entire story.

[The Count]

63. Randi wouldn't taser anyone. She recounted a story of how she dealt with a freeper

at a public event - using humor rather than cops with tasers. It's been done by countless speakers. Not even Ann Coulter was so bad in dealing with a hostile crowd!

[blm]

76. Kerry DIDN'T use cops with tasers - the school did. Kerry's deflected and calmed THOUSANDS of scenes

involving hecklers and freepers - this incident was far enough away from him that he didn't jump in front of the taser after the cops had the guy down - and THAT is what people are dissing him for?

The top lawmaker in DC on issues of dissent and he deserves this?

And if Randi would jump in front of a taser to defend a freeper who pushed through her audience I believe I am correct that she would care a hell of a lot less about his rights over the right of speech of her audience memebers who were ahead of him.

[subsuelo]

10. who is Randi Rhodes, and what is he or she saying?

[Mist]

14. Randi is an Air America talk show host, and her show runs 3-6pm M-F. nt

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tandot]

11. thanks for making sense. K & R

[goodgd_yall]

12. Well, I say you're wrong

I've viewed the video and it's obvious there was an overreaction to the young man. It was sickening for me to watch this. What has happened to this country when a multitude of cops wrestle a man out and taser him for asking questions?

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[tandot]

21. How is that Kerry's fault?

I've seen the whole video and the only persons I can blame is the University of Florida Police.

[goodgd_yall]

35. Oh, I agree---I'm not blaming Kerry

It was the University's fault.

[alstephenson]

50. But Randi blamed Kerry! I heard her.

I totally agree that the campus police over-reacted, but from what I understand Kerry wasn't even on stage or within ear shot when the kid got tasered. What was he supposed to do???

[goodgd_yall]

59. I wasn't addressing the "insinuating Kerry" in the OP

The OP seems to be suggesting everything Randi Rhodes said was wrong.

[The Count]

64. It was his Q&A. he should have handled it without cops. And stopped the cops

who were abusing a member of the audience in front of him instead of quipping about the guy swearing him in as President.

[tandot]

82. It was the University of Florida Police who was not under the control of Kerry

but, it doesn't matter to you anyway...go ahead and spread your hate some more

[ProSense]

24. He was wrestled out for being disruptive.

The taser incident is excessive.

I love the way the spinners claim he was wrestled out for asking a question while ignoring the hysterical way the guy responded when cut off for ranting (which isn't a question).

[Connie_Corleone]

30. It is unbelievable!

The guy cut ahead everyone else to get to the mic, went on a rant, then asked his questions and when the cops tried to escort him out, he starts flailing around and yelling. From the Dailykos thread, this guy had an altercation before he got to the mic.

All that gets summarized to "he was tazered for asking questions." Good Grief!

[loudsue]

51. Disruptive behavior is NO excuse for getting tazered! What are you so AFRAID of?

What part of a "free society" demands torture for disruptive behavior? The guy wasn't shooting anyone. He was an out of control jerk, who needed to be removed....NOT tazered, NOT shot, NOT imprisoned for life.

Holy shit! What kind of society has this become? Lynch mobs are alive and well on DU!!

:kick:

[rocktivity]

DING DING DING! Loudsue, you're our grand prize winner!

...He was an out of control jerk, who needed to be removed--NOT tazered...

FOUR policemen just couldn't have hustled him out the door?

:shrug:
rocknation

[Connie_Corleone]

75. Don't ask me what I'm afraid of. I didn't say it was right to tazer him.

I'm talking about people who ignore his behavior and just say that he was tazered for asking questions. He wasn't tazered for asking questions. He was tazered for resisting the cops.

I've written over and over again on numerous threads that the 6 cops could've subdued him WITHOUT the damn tazer.

Not once have I said that it was right to tazer him!!

[goodgd_yall]

39. I think he's right to be upset for having his mic cut off

That was part of the mishandling of this whole incident by the University of Florida. Seeing someone that passionate and urgent to ask 3 questions IS NOT best responded to by cutting him off. If he was just allowed to finish, I doubt there'd be any more problems. If after Kerry answered he then showed disregard for other students waiting to ask questions, then leading him out might have be justified.

[cali]

47. He rushed the mike, cutting in front of a line of others

want to revise your assessment?

[goodgd_yall]

61. I've read that

but his mic was cut off before he was finished. That would anger me. He had just asked about the group Kerry belonged to during his Harvard years and then the mic was cut off. One might assume they wanted to censor his question. I would have if I was in his place.

[goodgd_yall]

45. He was cut off in the middle of a question

I wouldn't call it ranting. He was passionate when he was speaking. Can you see that there is more than one way to interpret this man's behavior?

[terip64]

13. Do you have a link to the dailykos accounts? I can't find them. Thanks. n/t

[Connie_Corleone]

17. Here you go

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/18/125041/427

[terip64]

26. Thanks, I found it right after I posted. I read through it and maybe he was obnoxious, however,

why taser him? Why not just carry him out? Randi did get some of her facts wrong, if this account is accurate, but still, was it really necessary to tase him? I have a hard time with that.

[Stuckinthebush]

15. yes, she's a little hysterical over this

So much yelling and very little critical analysis.

[RufusTFirefly]

16. Face it: Randi is a Kerry-hating Freeper troll

:sarcasm:

[The Count]

65. heh, heh - I almost nominated this "post of the day".(your hndle gave it away)

Unbelievable how all ethics dissolve when loyalty for some guy is at stake.

[in_cog_ni_to]

25. I agree with Randi 100%!!! She-is-spot-on! The guy broke NO LAW.

Kerry did NOTHING to stop the police from dragging him away and tasering him. JK is a UNITED STATES SENATOR. He could have left the stage and stopped what the police were doing and he chose to stand by and do nothing. Hell, he had a microphone in his hand...he could have screamed in it if he was REALLY concerned about what was happening to the guy. The thing that needs to be remembered here is the guy BROKE NO LAW! He was just talking too much. Now talking too much is illegal and grounds for police brutality? I don't think so.

[cali]

32. I think you might want to go to kos and

do some reading. It looks like he did break the law. Not saying he should have been tasered- that was an over reaction. No, he couldn't have left the stage. His life has been threatened in the past, I'm sure it will be in the future. And screaming in such a situation is not an option. Not in a crowd. Doing something like that can lead to an ugly melee with people being seriously injured. The dude was disorderly and disruptive, cutting ahead of many people in line, bogarting the mike, asking rambling questions and using obscenities, and holding up all the people who were ahead of him in line. How about their first amendment rights?

[paulk]

40. if Kerry had left the stage and gotten involved

the very same people who are criticizing him for not doing that

would be on here doing the opposite

[timtom]

53. If Kerry had done that

I would have saluted him for being a gutsy leader.

[The Count]

66. What law did he break? And don't tell me asking for "help!" was "inciting to riot"

[OzarkDem]

27. Truth hurts

Though I haven't heard her, she's probably right.

The kid didn't deserve it, period. We aren't going bring about change in this country by sitting around doing nothing. Speaking out is not just important its a cherished right in this country.

[mod mom]

41. I agree. I'm certqainly NOT a "Kerry-hater" as some here suggest but I am appalled

that a college student was tasered for asking a question on a heated topic.

[DaveJ]

28. I guess I must be a bully based on what others are saying

Apparently whenever someone opens the floor for questions it becomes a free for all where there are no rules, I can push myself to the front of the line, start making statements rather than asking questions, act rude, debate the speaker, and resist arrest. Sounds like a good time.

For that matter, next time at the movie theater I'll just bring my own projector and interrupt what's playing, and I won't expect to be removed.

This is really ridiculous.

[Ahpook]

57. From what i could tell..

they gave him his time until the tough question came up. They should have never moved on him in the first place.

By the way, a movie theater is quite a different place than this setting. But if you feel the need to do the things you propose, i am sure a few compassionate Americans will stand with you when you get your ass kicked. Just make it a worthy cause...

[liberalnurse]

29. It's all about Security.

The days of ranting at public events with high level politicians are long gone. The kid acted out.....didn't follow the commands so it is standard safety to secure the scene... There is an expected line of behavior to follow these days. I suggest we follow them in public. The same message can be sent without escalating one's tone, as the kid displayed...

Randi knows nothing about security, obviously....She thus makes herself vulnerable from her own ignorance.

I turned her off.

[Truth2Tell]

52. Right

Security first.

After all, those who would scrafice security in the name of liberty deserve... ahhh, wait a sec...

[The Count]

68. National security to boot. the "I" word was spelled out - and that's verbotten

Amazing how sympathetic to the police state you guys get because it's in your guy's interest.

[Nictuku]

31. Longer Video

http://youtube.com/watch?v=iqAVvlyVbag

[paulk]

34. she is a raving maniac

I turned her off for good two years ago -

when she said that it was a cruise missile and not an airplane that hit the Pentagon

she's whack.

[fenriswolf]

38. two cents

while i dont agree with the tazering i do believe the young man was out of line. he was being antagonistic, ignoring kerry while he was trying to answer questions, purposfully raising his voice in an antagonizing manner and above all if this kid is smart enough to read books on topics like that then he is smart enough to now that in america (at least in this day and age) you should be wary of how you act when you have several cops right behind you. he should have respectfully asked his question and gotten his answer. the way he was acting it seemed like he wanted to make a scene rather then recieve the answer to the questions he was asking.

[paulk]

44. it seemed obvious to me that he was doing this for publicity

he wasn't interested in answers.

I wonder if he feels the tasering was worth getting talked about on the Randi Rhodes show? Plus now he's facing some pretty serious charges...

[The Count]

70. Like Cindy Sheehan, Code Pink and all the damn demonstrators

Damn publicity whore trying to get attention to the stolen election, impeachment and other selfish things!

[paulk]

79. there are certain kinds of attention that hurt the cause

more than help it, IMO.

[liberalnurse]

73. He has a history of "DRAMA".

His website notes his "You-Tube" mission. He wanted his 15 minutes...and got them.

[ret5hd]

81. Don't you just wish they'd tag people like this with RFID chips so they could track 'em?

:sarcasm:

[The Count]

95. Public waterboardings would help too - cuz Kerry is just so awesome!

[shawmut]

37. k&r

:thumbsup:

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[shenmue]

49. You know what?

NormaR, *you* sound pretty messed up in your own right. What is "your are," anyway?

You tell someone else to shut up, but then you say what you want. Pot calling kettle!

:dunce:

[The Count]

60. You wanna I should taser her? or just rough her up a bit?

I guess maybe Randi, like some of us saw the video and got her facts from there. How can one distort a video?
man with a microphone in his hand passively ignoring dissenter being dragged away by 4 policemen and screaming in pain: "I am being tasered!" and joking about being sworn as president...bad, bad Randi....

[wisteria]

67. she is carrying the water for the repubs by attacking Kerry.

She is behaving just like a presstitute.

[jefferson_dem]

74. Randi rants first and thinks later...

if at all.

Sorry, friends. I've wanted to like her but the open-throated reactionary rhetoric wears thin after a few listens.

Gimme Stephanie any day.

[K8-EEE]

86. The WORST was when the military recruiter called.

She just ranted and raved - he was calling to AGREE with her but he had to tell her than in an email, she was SO rude she literally wouldn't let him get a WORD in after introducing himself as a recruiter. She later read his email and SORT of apologized (in a way where she totally let herself off the hook for having a 'viceral' reaction because she's a mom or something - sexist.)

[Dob Bole]

77. Bill O'Reilly?

What are you doing here?

[BrightKnight]

78. I like Randi but she does go off into the weeds sometimes.

Nobody gets it right all of the time. I value her opinion but she does not think for me. This is not right wing radio where the Grand Poobah speaks the Word of Gop.

[SeattleGirl]

88. My thoughts exactly, BK.

I listened to her show today, and also read some of the "rest of the story", and I was feeling really peeved at Randi. She went with PART of the story, not the whole thing, and she kept blaming Kerry. Sheesh.

While I agree with a lot of people that the guy probably shouldn't have been tasered (there were, what, 4 cops on him?), if he cut into line, and went on and on about stuff without asking a question for while, he should have been removed. Asking challenging questions is just fine, but from what I've read, this guy did a lot more than that.

Randi wasn't going to listen to anyone today who did not agree with her 100% on this, and I found that very disheartening.

[K8-EEE]

84. I find her to be too rude and stuck up to listen to

I hate it when she "hannitizes" somebody (yells, overtalks) especially when they are being perfectly polite.

I did turn it off today when she was ragging on Kerry - "he could have shown some leadership!" Then she said something like "he should have looked at his watch and said 'gotta go!'" Uh, like that would have fixed this incident?

[ShortnFiery]

87. Your thread statement "SHUT UP" speaks volumes - freedom of speech is not for people you don't like.

Yeah, we got it. :eyes:

Newsflash: Civil rights are for *all* Americans. Yes, even the one's some self-appointed authorities evaluate to be assholes, punks or idiots.

I can't believe that my beloved country is turning into a fascist police state.

But here we are. :grr: :nuke: :thumbsdown: