The spitting incident occurred says RVO listener plus video UPDATE: New Video casts doubt
UPDATE UPDATE: Video seems to show the spitting incident may have been way overblown. Video and full story below.
An RVO listener told us today the spitting incident at the DC Health care protest did occur and he was about 10 feet away. Regular caller “Wayne” said he drove to DC on Saturday to take part in the Tea Party protest, and, in particular, to deliver a “pink slip” notice to Congressman Courtney’s(D, CT 2) office. Listen to him describe how he was treated.
Wayne said the protest was orderly and well behaved, and he said he saw only two signs that the left could seize upon, but hardly controversial considering what the left did to “W”. One was a sign with a hammer and sickle deploring government control …. and one Obama with a mustache.
As for the spitting incident, where Congressman Emanuel Cleaver says he was spat upon by a protester, Wayne says it happened and was purposeful, but he says the Tea Party protesters were the ones who jumped the jerk and yanked the protester away.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcBPYo44WNU
Wayne says he thought the man was a plant. Don’t know. James Rosen did his own report on Fox this afternoon, and you can clearly see Congressman Cleaver stopping, and pretty angry. In my mind, the Congressman showed a lot of self control. I would be angry too. But remember, the other Tea Party protesters grabbed this out of control idiot, and pulled him away.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m61RcCgMfs4
Kudos to Rosen for detailing the attacks on Tea Party folks too, and the variety of politicians who have been at the bad end of a loogie. Bottom line here, one over the top jerk can paint an entire grass roots movement in the eyes of the main stream media. It was disgusting. No Congressman …. and I mean none, deserves this kind of disgusting treatment. I am proud of the way the protesters reacted.
UPDATE: From Riehl World, new video shows the charge of spitting may have been overblown. In fact based on what I saw, way over blown. Here’s the analysis at Riehl World.
There’s some higher resolution video below I hadn’t seen before. Unlike what was claimed during recent Tea Party protests in Washington, DC, it would appear Cleaver was simply walking close by in front of a protester. The protester’s hands were cupped as he was shouting. While it appears Cleaver may have experienced a spraying of sorts as a result of the yelling, it does not support a conclusion that he was intentionally spat upon, as claimed.
The video doesn’t make Wayne wrong, or a hyper sensitive Congressman either. If you were standing behind him, where Wayne says he was … looking at a man with cupped hands leaning toward the Congressman, it could look like he spit on purpose, even though after watching the video the man never appears to stop chanting “Kill the bill”. Spray doesn’t equal spit. If that were the case Chris Matthews wouldn’t have a job.
UPDATE 2: An RVO reader, Rick from Chicago, notes Wayne couldn’t have seen it because he said it happened as the Congressman was leaving the building for the Capitol, instead of, as the video shows, entering the Capitol. I am trying to cut Wayne some slack here. But it’s getting hard. Again, standing behind the guy, it’s easy to mistake that for spitting. I agree. But the location is tough to screw up. This is getting worse than analyzing the Zapruder film.
Here’s the video:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7wYt9jee2U&feature=player_embedded
9 Comments
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Given how deparate the left is to find a racist in the crowd, any loser can get 15 days of fame by spitting the N word. That said, it is remarkable how little inappropriate behavior takes place at tea party events. Just like Obama never really wanted to take over the car companies…we don't really want to protest and take over politics . We just love our freedom, our liberty, and our constitution. We want the political class to listen , be OUR representatives, and do what is right and just. Given how the politcal class just keeps giving us the finger in their evil march toward fascism , they should consider themselves lucky to be spit upon. If they were genuinely offended by the N word , why can I find so much of this crap on Youtube ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-mIuYyIytA
One errant person, identity and actual affiliation with the Tea Party unknown and definitely not established, does not besmirch the Tea Party any more than Robert Byrd's membership in the Klan makes every Democrat a Klan member.
The most telling part: it was the Tea Party members themselves that dragged this idiot away. You surely won't hear about that on the news.
Dimsdale:
Watch the tape — no one was dragged away.
See below: I went by Wayne's account.
Jim, your blog entry got A LOT of responses over at Free Republic. Even some of the posts in response were asking who was this Wayne guy? Here is the URL:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2478259/…
:)=^..^=
There were two spitting incidents. The one I witnessed was at a differnt location than on the steps going into a congressional building. The one I witnessed was at a different time than the location in the above posted videos. I was in "Faith the BellRinger" mode in DC. If I were nearby, you would have heard the bell ringing.
The spitting I witnessed was at a sidewalk crossing on street level. In the incident I saw, the spitter spit with such force that he threw his entire upper torso into spit. Like someone trying to spit a watermelon seed 30 feet. The sidewalk location was at a signal light where congressman and others cross the street to get to the capitol building from their office location. I did not see the "victim" of the spitting, only the spitter. He was grabbed instantly by a bystander in a horse collar fashion while others moved between the two in a position as if they were breaking up a fight.
I am of the opinion that the spitter was not a Tea Party participant as he was wearing a sports jacket, was of foreign descent, by dialect and brown skin tone. My amateur guess would be Turkey/Lebanon. This man was very angry about something. I do not know if there was a prolonged arguement, but what I saw lasted less than 10 seconds.
I am just out there trying to keep Big Brother from Molesting My Freedom.
Race from FreeRepublic emailed me this video. This video shows the man with the white baseball cap yelling, holding his hands to his face, is thought to be the spitter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7wYt9jee2U
According to the National Geographic, we can blame any bad behavior on "global warming"!