VIDEO: Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-NC) attacks student

I think it is safe to say that Rep. Bob Etheridge’s new name is Toast!  Granted Etheridge does have a right to know who is asking the question, but his right ends with placing his hands on anyone. At Breitbart, they predict a long hot summer of Democrats losing their cool. 

Expect more of this. The hard, progressive left captured the Democrat majority in Congress and forced them to enact a fantasy grab-bag of legislation that is increasingly unpopular with the American public. We’re on the cusp of a deeper recession, millions of unemployed Americans have no prospect for work, taxes are about to spike higher and we’ve maxed out the national credit card. The Democrats were given a chance to run government and they’ve only succeeded in running it into the ground.

So, yeah, Democrats who are up for reelection this November are a bit testy.

Fortunately, Rep. Etheridge isn’t one of those gerry-mandered political welfare queens. According to the Cook Report, his district is an R+2 district.  He has a credible opponent. Check her out here. 

Etheridge has issued an apology for his outrageous behavior: 

 “I have seen the video posted on several blogs.  I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction and I apologize to all involved.  Throughout my many years of service to the people of North Carolina, I have always tried to treat people from all viewpoints with respect. No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response.  I have and I will always work to promote a civil public discourse.” 

Sorry but the damage is already done and not just to Etheridge himself but to Democrats as well. After shoving ObamaCare down everyone’s throats, Democrats are working against the perception that they are arrogant tyrannical elitists and this video will feed that perception.  Perhaps this is why the DNC has issued these talking points. 

The Democrats' talking points:

1. There is always the part of the story that you can’t see in these gotcha style videos — what were these folks doing, how did they approach him, how were the cameraman and/or others off camera acting?

2. Why would any legitimate student doing a project or a journalist shagging a story not identify themselves. Motives matter — what was the motivation here? To incite this very type of reaction?

3. This is clearly the work of the Republican Party and the “interviewer” is clearly a low level staffer or intern. That’s what explains blurring the face of the “interviewer” and refusing to identify the entity this was done for. The Republicans know if they were caught engaging in this type of gotcha tactic it would undermine their own credibility — yet if it was an individual acting on his own there is no reason that person would have blurred themselves out of the video — and if it was the work of a right wing blog they would have their logo on the video and be shouting their involvement from the roof top.

4. This was a purposefully partisan hit job designed to incite a reaction for political reasons — but it is a tactic so low — the parties involved are remaining anonymous.

5. The fact that no one wants to take credit for this should raise real questions in the minds of voters and the press.

6. Push hard w/ blogs the lack of credibility inherent to anything Breitbart does/posts, given its role in the debunked ACORN videos:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/opinion/21pubed.html?src=twrhttp://mediamatters.org/research/201006010001

http://gawker.com/5508190/okeefe-and-breitbart-acorn-videos-severely-edited

While some of these things maybe legitimate concerns, none of them excuse manhandling the public. There simply isn’t any excuse for that, especially when Etheridge could have simply said; “No Comment” and just kept walking.

See you in November Mr. Etheridge!

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Breitbart

Via: Ethridge.house.gov

Via: Politico