AL FRANKEN KNOCKS DOWN DEAN HECKLER

[demdave]

January 27, 2004 -- EXETER, N.H. - Wise-cracking funnyman Al Franken yesterday body-slammed a demonstrator to the ground after the man tried to shout down Gov. Howard Dean.
The tussle left Franken's trademark thick-rim glasses broken, but he said he was not injured.

Franken emerged from the crowd and charged one male protester, grabbing him with a bear hug from behind and slamming him onto the floor.

"I was a wrestler so I used a wrestling move," Franken said


http://nypost.com/news/nationalnews/16692.htm

---sorry about the CAPS in the title, that is how the NYPOST does it--

[Chico Man]

1. Bad move

Franken watch out for the lawsuits.

[Ripley]

10. Perhaps.

But since there is no mention of the heckler being harmed, I would say it is more amusing than "battery" or "assault." I'm sure Franken made enough off of his recent booksales to defend it.

[demdave]

13. If Franken's account of the incident is true, then it is assault.

Offending speech does not give you the right to bodyslam someone from behind and then brag about it. He should have let security take care of it. They have handled the Larouche hecklers very well so far.

[Timefortruth]

39. This may be the first time I've ever agreed with you Dave.

The complaint is being prepared as we speak, and the lawsuit will be filed by COB. This heckler is going to claim everything from a bad back to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, he just won the lottery.

Surrounding hecklers and singing is humiliating to the heckler and very effective at silencing them, what was AL thinking?

[RememberTheCoup]

2. I'd like to see this in some REAL newspapers

If this is true, it will be in real newspapers before long. Then we can try to put the pieces together.

ON EDIT: Those of you who are not familiar with the New York Post should know that it is NOT a real newspaper. It is little more than a right-wing tabloid. That's why I'm waiting for the story to appear in an actual news source.

[Philostopher]

28. See my post below, RTC

For the 'National Review' version -- it's subtly different, to say the least...

[nuxvomica]

30. I found a Newsmax link but nothing in the real media

Here's the link if your interested. http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/1/27/94253.shtml
It's much worse than the Post story, referring to Franken as the "unfunny funnyman" with quotes on the incident from Tim Russert and a review of other Franken incidents.

But nothing in the real media yet.

[lefty_mcduff]

3. O'Reilly is gonna love this.

n/t

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

6. "Stewart Smalley Goes On Rampage"...LOL n/t

[Kolesar]

4. Those Larouche thugs heckled Dems at one of the debates

I remember Al Sharpton giving them the business then. Do I see the hand of the GOP hate machine at play ? :tinfoilhat:

[demdave]

7. I think you see the hand of Larouche cult members.

I have known several of these people and they need no prodding by Reps. to disrupt.

[Kolesar]

14. They are running Larouche as a Dem in Ohio

Strange world indeed

[demdave]

16. He is a Dem. everywhere. That is why his supporters heckle the Dems.

I think the man is nuts and the leader of a cult. That being said, I understand his anger at not being allowed in the debates. I am not sure if that is what they are heckling about now, but it was during the debates. The rules for entry in the debates was the number of people donating to your campaign. I remember seeing that he qualified and was not allowed in. (Like I said, a cult can raise money from a LOT of individual donators.)

I don't want to sound like I support this maniac, it is just a pet peeve of mine that goes all the way back to Perot and Nader. Didn't mean to get of topic.

[Buffler]

54. Allowed in the debates?

I understand his anger at not being allowed in the debates.

Where would he debate from, his jail cell?

And not every candidate has a right to be in the debates. There are several dozen dem candidates on the ballot today in NH.

[The Stranger]

5. Is this story serious?

Did this really happen?

[waterman]

8. "I'm big enough, I'm strong enough and doggone it... people anger me"

[BigBadDaddy-O]

9. He he he :)

I like Franken

[Hoosier Democrat]

11. Steel Cage Match Time!!!!

Here's an idea: Al "The Crusher" Franken going into a steel cage match with Bill "I shout my own name during sex" O'Reilly.

LETS' GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!!!!!!

[Cary]

19. I'd rather see that cage match with Ann Coulter.

Or maybe he could take on both?

[banana republican]

41. TAG TEAM

Al and Moore VS. oh!really and insanity.

[latebloomer]

12. Dumb!

That's the way you preserve "free speech"?

[KansDem]

21. Nah...

I appreciate what you're saying, however, "free speech" seems to have become relative in the political arena of late. As I recall, there were similar incidents at Bush rallies (both Sr. and Jr.). I remember a couple of senior citizens being heckled and harassed by the crowd and arrested by police for simply having signs protesting Bush the Unelected at one of his campaign stops (in Florida?).

Free Speech? No, but this makes for great political theater!

[jcgadfly]

24. Exactly

If this were a Bush rally, this would be the first line (or so):

"Instigator seeks to disrupt a rally in support of our great president and was restrained by a stalwart Bush supporter defending America. Homeland Security personnel took the disruptor away for questioning."

[KansDem]

31. Say...you're good!

nice touch!...:hi:

Perhaps some day you can write my obituary. I have a feeling this kind of "interpretation of the facts" will be necessary...

[RememberTheCoup]

People, it's the New York Post!

NOT a real newspaper...! There may be a grain of truth in there somewhere, but let's wait till we get some real facts.

[Philostopher]

27. Run it on Google News.

It's being reported other places. Of course, those other places are NewsMax and WorldNetDaily...

Here's the National Review Online's version:

http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200401270912.asp

Which sounds considerably different, no?

[demdave]

35. Thanks for the additional links.

[GinaMaria]

48. It sounds completely different

Thanks for the link

[Victor Wong]

15. When is Franken's radio show starting?

[jean]

17. sometime this spring

[eek]

18. those larouchies are so annoying. do they show up at

republican and/or conservative events?

At the various peace events in NYC last year, there they'd be - looking all nutty and glassy-eyed. Young, too.
Reminded me of the kid in Bob Roberts. Remember? Stalkerish?

[NoMoreRedInk]

20. Do you think Al realizes he violated the heckler's free speech rights...

in an effort to protect Dean's?

How ironic.

[KansDem]

25. So pro-Dean supporters can heckle anti-Dean protestors...

who are heckling Gov. Dean?

I think I see a pattern here...

[rman]

50. there was a gathering of people to listen to Dean

And you're saying a few people making a lot of noise have more of a right to speak? Let them organize their own gathering.
Or if they'd want to debate issues with Dean, that probably can be arranged. But shouting down is not debate, that's just disruption. At best, they spoke out of turn.

[bleedingheart]

22. There is probably much more to this story because Franken

is not the kind of guy to do this...without good cause.

[Robb]

26. ...Or much less. nt

[GOPFighter]

23. Let the World know....

...that Dems and Liberals are mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore. For years we've had our lawn signs defaced or stolen, our bumper stickers ripped off and our cars keyed, and we've been verbally (and sometimes physically) harassed. We've also been publically labeled as Traitors! It's time they get the message that we're fed up. GO AL! Today a heckler, tomorrow, Chaney?

[demdave]

32. "Today a heckler, tomorrow, Chaney?" and then jail I would expect.

BTW it is Cheney. What you are advocating is anarchy. People do not have the right to assault others because they disagree with their speech. After reading your list of complaints I would have assumed you agreed.

[colonel odis]

33. i'm with you all the way

i'm tired, too, of being accused of being everything but a child of god just because i favor democracy.

then they start showing up at democratic rallies and pushing around someone as tiny as joan jett. there are a lot of republicans out there who don't need anything so much as a good punch in the nose.

[demdave]

36. I see court ordered anger managment in your future.

But then I haven't dusted off my crystal ball in years.

[Ruby Romaine]

29. Wasn't there a trial a while back?--Kissenger's wife tried to strangle a

LaRouche zombie at an airport?

[Benhurst]

37. As I recall the incident

a heckler questioned Henry's manhood in a public place. Henry's wife, a rather large and imposing woman, clobbered the heckler with her over-sized purse.

It's not nice to make fun of Herr Henry!

[Lucille]

34. Al Franken is "volatile," "unstable"," "desperate," "deranged"

in Fox, Newsmax, and the Post. Do you think Rupert is trying to get a point across about Franken, one that fits nicely with the GOP's "angry, Bush-hating Democrats"?

I notice that today's NYP also has a item from "Page 6," which describes Franken as "frenzied" and a "spoiled brat."
http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix_u.htm

--snip

WHO'S AN IDIOT?

LEFT-wing shill Al Franken is as big a spoiled brat as any Hollywood star. As hundreds of journalists patiently waited up to three hours to catch flights out of over-packed Des Moines Airport following the Iowa Caucus, a frenzied Franken marched to the front of the line. "He threw a complete drama queen snit," says a witness. "He went up to the security check-in and kept whining, 'I can't miss my flight!' - I but the security guards wouldn't even entertain it." The reporters weren't amused: "There were a lot of other players in the line and we were all shouting at him, 'Hey, we're here too!' "

--snip
Yesterday, Michael Moore was the diva because according to a "source" he asked for (gasp) Evian. I would expect that we'll see all kinds of accounts via the rw media of well-known Democrats who are equally diva-like and/or deranged.

Of course, this "issue" about unhinged Democrats goes way way back to campagain 2000, but it was also reflected in the media coverage of the Wellstone Memorial service, and most recently with the ridiculous coverage of the supposedly worrisome "Dean Scream."

I note that Newsmax also has an article about Franken's supposed wrestling match, and cites Tim Russert on Imus today as the source of information:

The altercation was witnessed by NBC Washington Bureau chief Tim Russert, who called Franken's antics "unbelievable."

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/1/27/94253.shtml

Newsmax must have had advanced word of this story to get it up so quickly.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that this looks like a smear of Franken, perhaps taking a small incident and blowing it up. But it fits in with the GOP's meta-strategy, which we should acknowledge and be prepared to refute.

[YearOfTheLLama]

38. For all we know, the NYP just made this story up.

RemembertheCoup is right in saying that the Post is just a right-wing tabloid; I would like to point out that it is owned by media mogul and right-wing wacko Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News. He sued Franken months ago for the use of the phrase "Fair and Balanced".

[Ruby Romaine]

40. yeah, remember the supposed trashing of WH offices by departing dems

Could this be a rove/goebbels lie?

[Lucille]

42. CNN presents this "story" quite differently

Their emphasis is on LaRouche "disrupters. Maybe CNN didn't get the memo? It'll be interesting if their presentation of the story morphs into something more like Newsmax's
--snip

The crowd began cheering "Howard Dean, Howard Dean," drowning out the LaRouche supporters as they were removed from the room.

Franken, a comedian and self-described liberal well-known for his attacks on the Bush administration and conservative-leaning media, helped carry out one of the disrupters. In the process, Franken's glasses were knocked off his face and broke in two.

Putting them back together with electrical tape, he quipped he had been "deputized" by Dean's security.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/27/elec04.prez.democrats.larouche/

[GinaMaria]

43. This doesn't sound like Franken at all

This whole story seems odd to me. It sounds like an Anti Franken smear. He knows better than this, and he always uses his wit not his muscles. Franken is proof that brains always triumph over brawn. It's just so difficult to believe this story isn't a fabrication.

[rman]

47. it's debunked already - see post #42

-

[Lucille]

49. My guess is that security was trying to remove the guy

and the guy resisted violently. Franken assisted security. If you read Russert's actual quotes they appear to support Newsmax's story of Franken's disturbed behavior. If you read the CNN report and apply Russert's comments, it seems like Russert is saying that the whole incident was extraordinary, not Franken. I don't listen to Imus--and lord knows Russert is happy to smear Democrats. But my impression is that the Post et al is bashing Franken when they'd be hailing him as a hero if he were assisting in the removal of a disruptive Bush protester at a GOP rally.

[Merlin]

44. Al was just establishing...

a Free Speech Zone.

[RetroLounge]

45. Good!

I think we need to knock around a bunch more hecklers and repugs just for good measure.

If they really think that being a Repug is better than a good hard punch in the nose, lets test their theory.

[Ruby Romaine]

46. FYI-found this about Larouche harassment of reporters etc.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/cult/larouche/larou4.htm

[David__77]

51. LaRouche Trotskyite tactics.

Some things the LaRouche group says are valid--but their methods are foul. They of course are Trotskyites--it's in their roots--but they today deny it. Like the Trotskyite Spartacist League or sundry sectlets, the LaRouche "Int'l Caucus of Labor Committees" "intervenes" in ongoing political processes to inject their vision, while they do little to actually unite forces and conduct organizational work.

[Buffler]

52. supporting free speech?

Franken supports free speech by taking out someone exercising it to shut them up?

[KansDem]

53. I find this statement refreshing...

Franken, a comedian and self-described liberal well-known for his attacks on the Bush administration and conservative-leaning media, helped carry out one of the disrupters. In the process, Franken's glasses were knocked off his face and broke in two.

Is it just me or did CNN acknowledge that the Media was "conservative-leaning?"

on edit: see post no. 42 for reference to CNN

[Catherine Vincent]

55. I like Al a lot but I think this was a bad move.

I wouldn't be surprised if this guy sues him for bodily harm. But since he's a republican, he probably won't. Don't most republicans despise frivolous lawsuits?

on edit: just read post #42, different outcome than the post that started this thread, I understand now

[Buffler]

56. Republican?

What have you read that says this heckler is a republican?

[Moderator]

57. Read here why I'm locking this thread:

I don't normally do this, but the New York post article initially referenced has such a conservative bias that I'm afraid people clicking on this link will see only that. Conservatives want to demonize Franken over this, but I don't think we should let them do it on DU.

Perspective is everything. Please feel free to repost using a source with more impartiality than the NY Post or Newsmax.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/27/elec04.prez.democrats.larouche/

http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200401270912.asp

Thanks.