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Next entry: Why are progressives so stuck on the public option? Previous entry: Baby daddy Levi Johnston on Sarah Palin’s knocked-up plan for Bristol; Freepers go ape

Obama Of The Dead

imageDude A gets assaulted by Dude B.  Dude A, during the scuffle, bites Dude B’s finger off.

A witness from the scene says a man was walking through the anti-reform group to get to the pro-reform side when he got into an altercation with the 65-year-old, who opposes health care reform.

The 65-year-old was apparently aggressive and hit the other man, who then retaliated by biting off his attacker’s pinky, according to Karoli from DrumsnWhistles.

The man took his finger and walked to Los Robles hospital for treatment.

Now, although I generally don’t support biting off the appendages of other people, freaky shit may happen when someone attacks you.  Now, despite the fact that the biter was assaulted by the other man, three guesses how the usual suspects are spinning this. 

Freedom’s Lighthouse:

Pro-ObamaCare protester reportedly was making his way through a crowd of people opposing ObamaCare and when tempers flared, wound up biting the finger off a man. The man picked up his finger and went to an area hospital. Police are reportedly looking for the attacker, who fled the scene.

Now, I suppose when you support preventatively invading another country because people from a completely different country attacked you, your perception of aggressor vs. victim may be a little bit off.  But leaving out the part where Nino Nine-Fingers punched the other guy seems a bit excessive.  At least Bush pretended there was usable uranium.  This is just sad.

Gateway Pundit is, well, special.  First, look at the following URL: http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2009/09/moveonorg-supporter-loses-finger-after.html.  Now, look at this post title:

MoveOn.org Thug Bites Off Protester’s Finger At Obamacare Rally!

I’m pretty sure that ol’ GP wrote a celebratory post about some dirty liberal losing his pinko finger to the strong, sturdy teeth that only freedom and private dental insurance can buy, then actually read the story, realized he was totally wrong, and still stuck with the same point.  It’s pretty much how Hayek did it, too.

Don Surber sells it as the story of newly piranha’ed Obamacare fascists taking the fingers of people who oppose them, because that makes sense.

Police in Thousand Oaks, California are investigating whether a MoveOn thug bit off the pinky of a man who dared voice opposition to Obamacare at a MoveOn event, KTLA reported.

That is one way of showing people that they need Obamacare.

But I thought Obamacare was supposed to reduce emergency room visits.

Well, Barack Obama told his supporters “to get in the face” of anyone who dares oppose him. Gateway Pundit also recalled Obama saying: “If they bring a knife… we bring a gun.”

The Lefty Reaction to this attempted cannibalism? He was provoked.

Yes, a 65-year-old man is such a threat.

Apparently, Don is not familiar with Jack Lalanne.  But yes, truly, when someone punches you in the face and then, per an eyewitness report, puts you in some sort of lock, they are simply acting to protect themselves from the undeniable Ozomba urge to consume human flesh. 

There’s one ironclad rule of right-wing extremism: it’s not extremism until the person did something undeniably wrong, at which point it’s not right-wing.  I predict the whole thing is called “staged” within 24 hours.  People don’t even have pinkies anymore - have you seen the Simpsons?  Ever? 

 

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Posted by Jesse Taylor on 12:25 PM • (69) Comments

This bread is stale and the circus smells like elephant shit.

Comment #1: norbizness  on  09/03  at  12:44 PM

This is why Americans can’t have nice things (like town halls on serious issues).

Comment #2: Gracchus.  on  09/03  at  12:50 PM

Does Medicare cover reattaching fingers?

Comment #3: DC Fem  on  09/03  at  12:51 PM

This is what my wise WASP mother told me when I was a child: 

“It’s all fun and games until somebody loses a finger!”

and

“If one of your friends went out and bit off somebody’s finger, would you do it too?”

My mother is very wise…

Comment #4: MikeEss  on  09/03  at  12:56 PM

“Does Medicare cover reattaching fingers?”

That’s the irony of the situation—it does, but him being eligible for it means that NHS Death Squads have been dispatched to take him out.  So by going to the hospital for treatment, he walked right into their cunning, cunning trap.

Comment #5: preying mantis  on  09/03  at  12:57 PM

Kid1: Mom, he bit my hand!

Me: Why did you bite his hand ...

Kid 2: BECAUSE HE HAD IT OVER MY MOUTH!

If Mr. Teabagg had kept his hands to himself, he’d not gotten bit!

Comment #6: Ms Kate  on  09/03  at  12:58 PM

<blockquoteIf Mr. Teabagg had kept his hands to himself, he’d not gotten bit!</blockquote>

Truer words were never typed.

I’m so confused, though.  I thought Freepers were all about personal responsibility and the right to self-defense and that DFH’s were wimpy excuses for humanity who would run and cower if threatened?  why oh why is Reality assaulting this cherished belief?

Comment #7: Caren-Sun-blocking Creator of Animorphic Pancakes  on  09/03  at  01:03 PM

I thought Freepers were all about personal responsibility and the right to self-defense and that DFH’s were wimpy excuses for humanity who would run and cower if threatened?  why oh why is Reality assaulting this cherished belief?

Caren

Oh no, that only applies to white men (perhaps *some* white women, if they’re being attacked by black men) who feel they are being threatened by brown people (or, if your wealthy, brown people and poor whites). Anybody else has no right to self defense because they probably did something to provoked being attacked, like, you know, existing.

Comment #8: UltraMagnus  on  09/03  at  01:12 PM

“So by going to the hospital for treatment, he walked right into their cunning, cunning trap.”

In my America, that man would have gone home, had his wife swab out the stump with some alcohol (like some bourbon or scotch or something), take a needle and thread and sew up the wound, put on a bandaid, and send him back to work in the coal mines.

Now he has to go to a hospital?  For some kind of wimpy injury like that?  What kind of a liberalized, gutless American is this guy?  I don’t care if he claims to be conservative, that’s just wrong.  No wonder the IslamoFascists have our number.

Say no to healthcare.  Never mind government healthcare, all health care is beneath us as Americans.

If we don’t stop this healthcare thing right now, then truly, the specter of the ravenous, insatiable, gaping maw of the Death Camp cattle car awaits all of America as Satan spreads his wings over the Last Great Hope for Freedom and Democracy on Earth…

Comment #9: MikeEss  on  09/03  at  01:14 PM

Aren’t these the same people who think you should, no must shoot someone just for trespassing on your property because they might punch if you don’t?

Comment #10: bananacat  on  09/03  at  01:15 PM

Imagine if a gun had gone off.  Man, wouldn’t that be the shit?  I eagerly await the brave patriot to open fire in a crowd and get a spot anchoring a FOX News show.

Comment #11: Zifnab  on  09/03  at  01:38 PM

Where is that photo from? That’s hilarious.

Comment #12: sirkowski  on  09/03  at  01:45 PM

One of the little google ads showing up with this post on biting off fingers and “the urge to consume human flesh” is:

Hungry Jewish students
Ease their pain and suffering $5 will buy a delicious meal

That’s . . . disturbing.

Comment #13: Dan S  on  09/03  at  01:51 PM

I read elsewhere that the aggressor was the 65 year old wingnut, and the victim was the younger Move-On member…wonder which story is true?

Comment #14: wagonjak  on  09/03  at  01:55 PM

Why am I not surprised that this happened in Ventura County?

Comment #15: Mnemosyne  on  09/03  at  02:02 PM

“Yes, a 65-year-old man is such a threat.”

If, on the other hand, he were 58 then it’s open season.  Ask Prof. Gates.

Comment #16: robelanator  on  09/03  at  02:04 PM

“I read elsewhere that the aggressor was the 65 year old wingnut, and the victim was the younger Move-On member…wonder which story is true?”

I’m not seeing where what you wrote is inconsistent with the post.

Comment #17: preying mantis  on  09/03  at  02:05 PM

Grampa’s lucky he didn’t get dropped on his hip.

Comment #18: stogoe  on  09/03  at  02:06 PM

Jesus, even the 1st and 2nd graders I used to work with had more common sense. They knew that, if they tried to pull something like this (“And then he just BIT me!”), every other kid in class would have shouted them down.

Christ, I knew my 5th graders were smarter and more mature about politics than most people, but when my littler kids are lapping you, that’s fucked up.

Comment #19: Matty  on  09/03  at  02:19 PM

The finger was reattached and the procedure will be paid for by Medicare.

Comment #20: kathygnome  on  09/03  at  02:28 PM

I love the way people are calling this “biting,” like it’s a harmless nip.  The man tore the guy’s finger off with his teeth, which has to take all sorts of twisting and pulling to get through the sinew and bone.  How do you spell unhinged?

Comment #21: Potfry  on  09/03  at  02:38 PM

I’m tempted to follow the links and tell the wimps to just walk it off.

RepubliKids these days are too soft.

Comment #22: cynickal  on  09/03  at  02:40 PM

I love the way people are calling this “biting,” like it’s a harmless nip.  The man tore the guy’s finger off with his teeth, which has to take all sorts of twisting and pulling to get through the sinew and bone.  How do you spell unhinged?

S-E-L-F   D-E-F-E-N-S-E

Of course, for right-wingers, “self-defense” is only when right-wingers feel threatened by, say, people in Halloween costumes on Halloween.  Liberals never have a right to self-defense, even when physically attacked.

Comment #23: Mnemosyne  on  09/03  at  02:48 PM

“I love the way people are calling this “biting,” like it’s a harmless nip.” 

What part of “bit a dude’s finger off” suggests to you that anyone’s talking about a “harmless nip”?

“The man tore the guy’s finger off with his teeth, which has to take all sorts of twisting and pulling to get through the sinew and bone.”

It’s damn hard for a modern human to bite through a raw bone.  The digit was most likely severed at a joint.  Also?  I imagine the 65-year-old was doing a pretty good amount of pulling of his own volition once the guy he was attacking bit down hard enough to break the skin.

Comment #24: preying mantis  on  09/03  at  02:48 PM

Oh, wait, I see what Potfry is saying:  the man who was attacked should have shot the 65-year-old man to death rather than merely biting his finger off.  Right, Potfry?  Otherwise, it would look like you’re saying that liberals have no right to defend themselves when they’re physically attacked, and that would just be hypocritical.

Comment #25: Mnemosyne  on  09/03  at  02:52 PM

Oh yay. My hometown makes the national news.

Mnemosyne, I’m kinda mostly surprised that there were enough people supporting reform to hold a rally. And they outnumbered opponents by quite a lot. Sorry, I know I should be more interested in the finger biting incident, but damn - TO is (or was when I lived there) such a conservative place.

Besides, everyone knows that it’s those losers from Simi Valley who brawl and finger-bite. ;P

The headline in the Ventura County Star is “Health Care Reform Opponent Loses Part of Finger During Fight at Rally” (which sortof makes it sound like it was a zombie fight and the finger just dropped off on its own). They also use that good ol’ passive voice to absolve the 65 year old of any involvement in the incident until halfway into the article: “a 65-year-old healthcare-reform opponent had part of a finger bitten off Wednesday night during a rally ...” They don’t bother to even mention that the 65-year-old punched the other guy first until halfway through the article, and then they only mention it in the context of the other guy “acting aggressively.”

The article seems pretty heavily slanted toward the protester, but that’s partially because they only have his story and seem to have done no work interviewing any of the other 100+ people who were at the rally. You know, witnesses ...? And the description of the biter is really odd - they describe him as a short man with a medium build, and then describe his clothing (what, because he wouldn’t have changed clothes?). They do not mention race. Which may be because this is Thousand Oaks and lots of folks like to pretend there are no brown people here unless they’re standing behind a counter at a fast food restaurant, and/or because we like to pretend that we don’t have racial tensions here in the nice parts of Southern California.

Also, interesting to read that it was the tip of his finger, not his whole finger, which to me makes it sound much more like something that could happen in a fist-fight situation.

Here’s the article in the Star (sorry I don’t know how to do links): http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/sep/03/healthcare-reform-opponent-loses-part-of-finger/

Comment #26: Dymphna  on  09/03  at  02:55 PM

Biters, every last one of you.

Comment #27: Potfry  on  09/03  at  02:58 PM

If somebody punches me, I reserve the right to defend myself in any way necessary.  That might include biting off tips of fingers*.  If you want to keep all your fingers then don’t punch me.  That’s simple enough for even trolls and wingnuts to understand.

*It is surprisingly easy to lose the tip of a finger.  My mom lost half an inch of a finger in an accident where a door slammed on it.  The tips are very fleshy and the bones starts down further than you would expect.  It certainly wouldn’t require gnawing through bone.

Comment #28: bananacat  on  09/03  at  03:06 PM

Duh and by “heavily slanted toward the protestor” I mean the reform opponent.

Comment #29: Dymphna  on  09/03  at  03:09 PM

“Yes, a 65-year-old man is such a threat.”

Only if he’s black and trying to get into his own house, apparently

Comment #30: Momento Mori  on  09/03  at  03:18 PM

Biters, every last one of you.

We’ll call a waaaahmbulance for you.

Maybe this will give you pause the next time you decide you can walk right up to a granola-loving hippie and start swinging because you totally know she’s too wimpy to fight back against your manly manliness.  “Peace-loving” doesn’t mean “unwilling to defend ourselves.”

Comment #31: Mnemosyne  on  09/03  at  03:29 PM

He wasn’t expecting that shit- there’s one asshole who’ll think twice before intimidating someone physically again. The look on a bully’s face when you come over the top of him and snap his fucking dick off- well, you don’t get to see it that often in life, but when you do it’s very satisfying. Still, these physical confrontations are a bad idea.

Comment #32: tb  on  09/03  at  03:32 PM

Now if he’d changed into a dragon and bit the guy’s head off, that would be news.

Comment #33: Magis  on  09/03  at  03:41 PM

”...there’s one asshole who’ll think twice before intimidating someone physically again.”

...or one asshole who’ll bring a pistol to beef up his intimidation next time…

Comment #34: MikeEss  on  09/03  at  03:43 PM

Reminds me of a neighborhood bully—a girl, but still—who picked a fight with me when I was about 13.

I ended up biting her hand, the hand that had hit me, and the look of surprise on her face was worth it.

That ended that, and she never bothered me again.

So, don’t want to be bitten bullies, don’t pick on others peaceably going about their business.

Some bullies learn, and some don’t.

Comment #35: judybrowni  on  09/03  at  03:55 PM

Seriously, why would anyone defend either of these guys?  One decided to pick a fight with someone 1/3 his age.  The other decided the best defense was gnawing a guy’s finger off with his teeth - not exactly English Standard Fighting Rules.

I mean, would it have been better if the young guy had sucker-punched the old guy in the ear and the old guy had tripped the young guy and kicked him in the ribs?  What the hell is anyone defending?

And what does this have to do with the health care debate?  Oh!  Oh yeah!  Now I remember.  Old guy gets to go to the hospital and enjoy the socialized medicine he was protesting.  Young guy - had he been seriously injured - would have to suck on his sky high deductible and massive copay assuming he had insurance.

Because it’s not a matter of who is right or who is wrong here.  It doesn’t matter where you stand on the ideological spectrum.  The important thing to remember is that some of us are entitled to taxpayer sponsored health care and some of us aren’t.

Comment #36: Zifnab  on  09/03  at  03:57 PM

Did Move-On get The Precious back?

Comment #37: Isabella  on  09/03  at  04:05 PM

Like Jim Brown said:  “Anything outside the mask is theirs, anything inside the mask is mine.”

Comment #38: Nick  on  09/03  at  04:13 PM

The other decided the best defense was gnawing a guy’s finger off with his teeth - not exactly English Standard Fighting Rules.

Well, if they were fighting by Marquis of Queensbury rules then the old fucker’s finger would never have gotten into the biter’s mouth now would it? When someone’s finger has been shoved into my mouth then yes,  biting it is, if not the “best” defense, at least the overwhelmingly obvious one.

Comment #39: Sarcastro  on  09/03  at  04:15 PM

If somebody punches me, I reserve the right to defend myself in any way necessary.  That might include biting off tips of fingers*.  If you want to keep all your fingers then don’t punch me.  That’s simple enough for even trolls and wingnuts to understand.

Actually, they’d expect you to throw flowers at their feet in gratitude, catgirl…

Comment #40: Phoenician in a time of Romans  on  09/03  at  04:20 PM

just a finger tip?  next time try the Tycho Brahe manouver

Comment #41: jefft452  on  09/03  at  04:36 PM

“It all started when he hit be back!”

*eyes roll*

Comment #42: TinaH  on  09/03  at  04:38 PM

When someone’s finger has been shoved into my mouth then yes, biting it is, if not the “best” defense, at least the overwhelmingly obvious one.

I don’t really care.  I’m just pissed that, until I get to age 65, if I get in a fight and a finger is lost, I’ve got to pay for half the medical bills out of pocket.  What is so magical about the age of 65?  If I’m 64, it’s personal responsibility.  If I’m 66, I can get mugged on the bus or I can go take my dick out and slap you with it and the taxpayer foots the bill either way.

Why didn’t the MoveOn guy get first rate socialized medical care?

Comment #43: Zifnab  on  09/03  at  05:08 PM

1. I love Jack Lalanne.
2. A mean part of me wishes that the missing finger guy had to cover the complete cost of finger replacement.

Comment #44: pitbullgirl65  on  09/03  at  05:27 PM

not exactly English Standard Fighting Rules.

There is no rules in self-defense, except survival. Neutralize the threat as efficiently as possible.

Comment #45: BlackBloc  on  09/03  at  05:32 PM

Zifnab:

Seriously, why would anyone defend either of these guys? One decided to pick a fight with someone 1/3 his age. The other decided the best defense was gnawing a guy’s finger off with his teeth - not exactly English Standard Fighting Rules.

Oh, please. Fighting fair is for people with something to prove. If you don’t want your finger off, don’t stick it in my mouth. That’s not a fucking moral issue.

Comment #46: Dan, Grand High Emperor of Bananas Foster  on  09/03  at  05:37 PM

Imagine if a gun had gone off.  Man, wouldn’t that be the shit?  I eagerly await the brave patriot to open fire in a crowd and get a spot anchoring a FOX News show.

I’m sure you’re speaking in jest, but no, no I do not look forward to the day when a gun goes off and somebody gets seriously hurt.  I don’t care who is doing the shooting or who is the one getting shot.

It’s bad enough that shit has come to this.  No part of me looks forward to the day when someone dies from a gunshot wound because of this shit.

Comment #47: DTG in STL  on  09/03  at  05:49 PM

You realize that’s the exact reason these right-wingers are packing though? Because they’re afraid of being harassed by Obama’s “thugs”. But bite off a finger in selof defense, and oh no! The fascist cannibals!

Comment #48: Left_Wing_Fox  on  09/03  at  06:09 PM

And Zifnab? No. If I’m assaulted, I fight viciously. Like, kick a man when they’re down viciously. Stab the fucker with a pencil 75 times viciously. Probably while sobbing.

That’s not bravado. That’s Jr High bully trauma discovering that sometimes yes, violence is the answer. Never start a fight, but finish it in a way that makes people afraid to start another.

Comment #49: Left_Wing_Fox  on  09/03  at  06:14 PM

1st Rule of Street Fighting:

Whomever gets to the lead pipe first, wins.

Comment #50: Magis  on  09/03  at  06:20 PM

Never start a fight, but finish it in a way that makes people afraid to start another.

Hee.  My family still tells the story of how, when a bully pushed me too far, it ended up with me shoving her against the wall with my hands around her throat before the teachers finally broke it up.

Funny, she never bothered me again after that, and I doubt it was because of the stern talking-to the vice principal gave us.

Comment #51: Mnemosyne  on  09/03  at  06:24 PM

Ok - regarding the Fighter’s Decorum crap - I’m just saying the whole affair seemed vicious.  And since I don’t have a video to watch and figure out if the MoveOn guy was jumped or if he just went Mike Tyson, I’m really hesitant to pass judgment on which one of the guys kicking and clawing at each other was in the wrong.  It’s just sad to see that at all in an event that is supposed to be about improving health care.

It just seems like any attempt at defending finger biting or hair pulling or kidney punching is something of a lost cause.  I’m more concerned with the aftermath.  And… you know… the health care.

The fact that this 65 year old was protesting the same coverage he was more than happy to take ample advantage of makes this truly ludicrist.  Had the tables been turned, and it had been a 20-something MoveOn guy with a missing finger to the old guy’s dentures of doom, he’d be out on his ass and without a finger for 40+ years.

Comment #52: Zifnab  on  09/03  at  06:24 PM

Biters, every last one of you.

Comment #27: Potfry on 09/03 at 01:58 PM

Not just biters: also shooters Potfry. Don’t assume that we Liberals are a bunch of handwringing gutless wonders. It was the Left who was stockpiling weapons at one time.

Comment #53: pitbullgirl65  on  09/03  at  06:43 PM

Zifnab:

Ok - regarding the Fighter’s Decorum crap - I’m just saying the whole affair seemed vicious.

Just what the fuck do you think fighting is, then? A gentlemanly affair of glove-slapping and verbose insults between two men in greatcoats and stovepipe hats?

There’s no such thing as “fighter’s decorum” out here in the real world. No rules, just blood, dirt, and lightning-fast violence.

Comment #54: Dan, Grand High Emperor of Bananas Foster  on  09/03  at  07:12 PM

So, ok.  You guys win.  Discussions about finger biting are way more Jerry Springer than saying anything about health care.

Congratulations.  If you’re wondering why the GOP is gaining any traction in the debates, it’s because people are more interested in talking about street fights than about medical coverage of said street fighters after the fact.

Enjoy your news porn.

Comment #55: Zifnab  on  09/03  at  07:55 PM

Dude, the GOP is gaining traction in this because the news companies have made the protests the main story while ignoring the overwhelming support for healthcare reform, or the uneventful health care town halls where there are no protests.

The literal fighting coming out of these protests and the victim mentality of the right is in many ways a very important element of the new wave of politics we’re seeing: reactionary, paranoid and violent. Yes, it’s bad politically that some guy on their side got a finger bit off. But it was also bad that some guy got knocked down in one of these confrontations, and showed up later so “injured” that he was unable to speak and confined to a wheelchair.

The right is going to spin the finger-biting story for all it’s worth. Pointing out that it was in self-defense after being attacked id the only way this is going to get de-fused amongst the rest of the population when this little bit circles the globe as a viral e-mail.

Comment #56: Left_Wing_Fox  on  09/03  at  08:09 PM

Zifnab:

So, ok. You guys win.

Look, if you don’t like being called stupid, don’t say stupid things. A subject doesn’t magically become taboo when it turns out that you don’t actually know what the fuck you’re talking about, regardless of how holier-than-thou you get about it.

Also, if you’re incapable of holding more than one idea in your head at the same time, that’s fine with me. But my thoughts on health care are not completely obliterated without hope of recovery by a discussion of the nature of real violence, because I’m not a drooling simpleton.

Comment #57: Dan, Grand High Emperor of Bananas Foster  on  09/03  at  08:25 PM

Mnem (59):

Hee.  My family still tells the story of how, when a bully pushed me too far, it ended up with me shoving her against the wall with my hands around her throat before the teachers finally broke it up.

You must be over 25. Can’t do that nowadays, with zero-tolerance.

(Actually, when I was a kid only the non-bully got in trouble, though that may only be where I went to school)

Comment #58: Hershele Ostropoler  on  09/03  at  08:27 PM

Trying to avoid Teabagger spin is an impossible task.

Anything, Anything, ANYTHING somebody who is not one of the koolaid-drinkers says or does is subject to spin/mockery/distortion/lies/etc.  So it doesn’t really matter what happens, it will be picked through for any nuggets of slime that can be used, inflated, or created.

With that in mind, it seems much better to keep our eyes on the prize and ignore the loonies on the right.

The teabagging nonsense is irritating and exasperating.  But it was not unexpected.

What has been unexpected is just how quickly and thoroughly the Obama Administration has capitulated to the Evil Insurance Cos. and Big Medicine.  The Medical/Industrial/Finance Complex is the dragon that is killing America.  Until it is tamed or slain, there is nothing in America that will remain safe from exploitation and thievery.

We have major problems.  Some idiot biting the finger off another idiot just doesn’t rank…

Comment #59: MikeEss  on  09/03  at  08:38 PM

2. A mean part of me wishes that the missing finger guy had to cover the complete cost of finger replacement.
Comment #44: pitbullgirl65 on 09/03 at 04:27 PM
———————————-

The mean part of me wishes the surgeon misread the chart and amputated the guy’s leg.

Comment #60: Nick  on  09/03  at  09:00 PM

To be honest, I’m amazed that they decided that this guy was with MoveOn rather than ACORN or SEIU. Those have been the boogeymen lately.

Comment #61: Dolbia  on  09/03  at  09:32 PM

Just the thought of the pearl clutching going on at the thought of ‘Obamacare Thugs’ is so ridiculous as to be laughable.  Do these people not realize that THEY are the bullies?

As for biting, thank you, judibrowni especially, for sharing bully stories.  When I was 12 a friend and I were in a confrontation with a group of boys on school grounds, about 15 minutes after classes ended.  The busses carrying most students away were gone, but the staff was still there, and we were preparing to walk home.  They were bugging us and teasing us (not in a nice way) and the ringleader grabbed her by the skirt and flipped it up.  Well, I jumped in, and when elbows and fingernails didn’t work, I bit his upper arm.  Through a denim jacket, didn’t even break the skin.  The school administration wanted me (honor student, orchestra geek, art teacher’s pet) put in juvenile lockup because biting was so barbaric an action that I was obviously a savage social deviant unable to function in society.  There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth about communicable disease and how I could have given him AIDS (as thought I had it, as though it could be transferred by bite) It was one of the worst hours of my life waiting for my parents to get there, but then my dad asked them how they’d rather I responded to attack and sexual assault.  He then suggested we geld the boys in question and offered to press charges against the boys and the school for allowing the gang to grab us in the courtyard in plain sight of the office.

I totally stand by my instinct (because it wasn’t really a thought out decision) to use my teeth.  I wasn’t trained to fight, and there were three of them, bigger and stronger.  Looking back on it now, I don’t believe that they were truly intending to do more than exercise a bit of male privilege by feeling her up, but at the time I felt really threatened.  When someone is overwhelming you, injuring you, you use whatever weapon is on hand, or jaw as the case may be.

To cap off the story, we all ended up in detention.  I was the only one to end up in a special afterschool program for screw up kids.  My friend distanced herself from me, embarrassed at my lack of daintiness, I suppose.  Her mother, however sought me out and thanked me, with intensity, for defending her daughter when those boys grabbed her.  If we could have afforded it my parents wanted me to learn self defense, but at the time we weren’t very well off.  My dad still gets angry thinking about the incident, and the school’s response.  If we had been in a higher tax bracket, I wouldn’t have been the one most severely punished in the incident.  He also insists that my daughter learn self defense as soon as possible so that she has options in a situation such as this.

Anyway, the message seems to be these days that using your natural defenses is somehow low or dishonorable.  Lying there and taking it because you don’t want to sully yourself by meeting violence with violence, or you shouldn’t resist because you don’t think you can win…I’m not going to argue about the best way to respond to violence.  Vilifying the PR guy for biting whilst in the midst of the struggle, while excusing the older guy for throwing a punch at a stranger who calls him an idiot to his face, is the sort of dirty double standard that we’ve come to expect from the right wing media talking gobs.

Comment #62: Delishka  on  09/03  at  09:51 PM

My goodness . . .  Pace the whole fucking lot of you apparently, there is a concept of proportion even in self defense.  If someone initiates a fight by punching you once, and you stab that person 75 times with a pencil, or cut off her head, you’ll go to jail for the rest of your life. 

Obviously, none of us know all the facts here.  Until we do, I’m not especially moved to defend either party to this horrific act of mayhem.

Comment #63: southpaw  on  09/04  at  07:28 AM

If someone initiates a fight by punching you once, and you stab that person 75 times with a pencil, or cut off her head, you’ll go to jail for the rest of your life.

Comment #63: southpaw on 09/04 at 06:28 AM
—————————————————

Naw, probably 7 years in many states for second degree murder.  You might even get less with a temporary insanity plea.  Your chances on that would be enhanced if you gnawed off the head rather than simply cut it off.

Comment #64: Nick  on  09/04  at  09:38 AM

You could always do what I did in high school:  Make expedient friends.

I tutored a girl in math, and after she got her first B on a test EVAR, pretty much everyone in school knew to leave me the fuck alone.  She was one tough bitch.  I was scared of her when I first started tutoring her. 

A friend of mine was dating a linebacker on the football team, and he and I were pretty good friends.  He once saw a guy harassing me in the hallway and had him by the neck up against the locker promising to remove his kidneys through his nose if he ever touched me again.

I never had to lift a finger. 

It helped that I was a starter on the varsity men’s soccer team and many an opposing player had to be helped off the field after trying to physically intimidate me and/or talking shit about me on the bench.

Comment #65: speedbudget  on  09/04  at  10:07 AM

Wow.  This gives a whole new disturbing meaning to the “pull my finger” game.

That said, Isabella wins the thread:
“Did Move-On get The Precious back? “

Comment #66: seeker6079  on  09/04  at  10:58 AM

southpaw:

If someone initiates a fight by punching you once, and you stab that person 75 times with a pencil, or cut off her head, you’ll go to jail for the rest of your life.

It’s a good thing that no one was arguing that that was A-OK, then, isn’t it?

There’s a concept of proportion in argument, too. And a thing called a “strawman.”

Comment #67: Dan, Grand High Emperor of Bananas Foster  on  09/04  at  12:35 PM

@Comment #67: Dan, Grand High Emperor of Bananas Foster


Dan, please see comment #49.  Thanks.

Comment #68: southpaw  on  09/04  at  12:50 PM

Making large dangerous-looking friends unfortunately doesn’t work so well for autistic children, who make excellent targets for bullies.  And are usually the ones punished when pushed far enough to finally respond to the bullies’ tormenting with violence of their own.  Which is like super double extra tasty for bullies—they get to pound on the weird kid and then the authorities do!  What’s not to love?

Comment #69: kaninchen  on  09/04  at  01:09 PM
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