The US elections in November, 2010.

[Coito ergo sum]

She ought to sue those folks, and she ought to press charges. Period.

It appears that she was assaulted and battered. Prosecute the offenders.

I don't know what she or MoveOn.org are planning to do about it (I don't look at their website), but to be politically pragmatic, if I were them I'd wait until after the election. Rand Paul's probably going to win anyway, and then they'll be suing a sitting Senator. If she rushes to press charges, some people might accuse her of provoking the incident (she did put a protest sign in view of the candidate, after all) in order to hurt the campaign before election day.

Or maybe I'm just being cynical?
Ah, screw the politics behind it. She was assaulted and the offenders should be prosecuted. Period.

I agree. If I were a bettin' man, I would bet that this Moveon.org person was doing something to antagonize and provoke - trolling for a reaction. Moveon.org is a piece of shit organization. However, that being said, generally speaking, no amount of antagonizing or provocation can excuse a physical assault.

This isn't limited to teabaggers - remember the election up in Boston and the assault on a reporter? Or, the Democratic congressman who assaulted the college reporter who asked unpalatable questions?

The world is going crazy.

But, when it comes to assaults, prosecutions should ensue even when a-holes are assaulted.

It is one thing to feel like assaulting someone standing up and failing to resist the temptation. There have been many times where I've had some jackass smiling in my face who was just one more word away from having his i dotted.

However, once someone is down it seems a bit much. To me it is a sign of a particularly vicious, mean and low character to kick a person on the ground who is not physically threatening.

Can't disagree with you there.

[Warren Dew]

This isn't limited to teabaggers - remember the election up in Boston and the assault on a reporter? Or, the Democratic congressman who assaulted the college reporter who asked unpalatable questions?

Yeah. When Democrats do it, though, no one generalizes to the entire party, I notice.

[maiforpeace]

This isn't limited to teabaggers - remember the election up in Boston and the assault on a reporter? Or, the Democratic congressman who assaulted the college reporter who asked unpalatable questions?

Yeah. When Democrats do it, though, no one generalizes to the entire party, I notice.

No, they never do that.

[Ian]

This isn't limited to teabaggers - remember the election up in Boston and the assault on a reporter? Or, the Democratic congressman who assaulted the college reporter who asked unpalatable questions?

Yeah. When Democrats do it, though, no one generalizes to the entire party, I notice.

Ah, but was I generalizing an entire party, Mr. Defensive?

Nope. I would, however, assert that Tea Partiers and other right-wing types are more prone to this sort of thing, even if the perpetrators remain a small minority. There's a difference. Feel free to disagree (without bringing up the old left of the Vietnam era).

[Robert_S]

This isn't limited to teabaggers - remember the election up in Boston and the assault on a reporter? Or, the Democratic congressman who assaulted the college reporter who asked unpalatable questions?

Yeah. When Democrats do it, though, no one generalizes to the entire party, I notice.

Ah, but was I generalizing an entire party, Mr. Defensive?

Nope. I would, however, assert that Tea Partiers and other right-wing types are more prone to this sort of thing, even if the perpetrators remain a small minority. There's a difference. Feel free to disagree (without bringing up the old left of the Vietnam era).

Anyone remember the atmosphere leading up to the resumption of the Gulf War? There were right wingers calling me a traitor and a coward. A coward??? To express an unpopular opinion about a war that I knew I'd never have to fight in either way...

Meanwhile, my friends across town with he big anti-war poster kept finding dead animals on their doorstep. That's the Republican culture out there.

Just to bolster the case against a pro-Democrat bias:

Who has heard of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich? A lot?

Who has heard of his Republican predecessor George Ryan? Anyone more than a state away?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Rya ... conviction

[Warren Dew]

Ah, but was I generalizing an entire party, Mr. Defensive?

No, maiforpeace's source was.

I would, however, assert that Tea Partiers and other right-wing types are more prone to this sort of thing, even if the perpetrators remain a small minority.

You would apparently be wrong, given the perpetrators here were some random supporters of Rand Paul, while in the Martha Coakley case it was her aide.

Of course, maybe it's just that Democrats like to reward their criminally inclined types with jobs.

[Robert_S]

Ah, but was I generalizing an entire party, Mr. Defensive?

No, maiforpeace's source was.

I would, however, assert that Tea Partiers and other right-wing types are more prone to this sort of thing, even if the perpetrators remain a small minority.

You would apparently be wrong, given the perpetrators here were some random supporters of Rand Paul, while in the Martha Coakley case it was her aide.

Of course, maybe it's just that Democrats like to reward their criminally inclined types with jobs.

From the first google search that loaded:

Tim Profitt, the Rand Paul campaign's Bourbon County coordinator, admitted today to stomping on the head of activist Lauren Valle outside Monday's debate between Paul and Jack Conway. The Lexington Police have issued a criminal summons for the head-stomper.

[Trolldor]

The far-right and far-left are equally prone to violence, but you're more likely to find those in the far-right than you are on the far-left in America, so yes. In America the right is more inclined to violence.

[Ian]

Of course, maybe it's just that Democrats like to reward their criminally inclined types with jobs.

That must be it.

[Ian]

Anyone remember the atmosphere leading up to the resumption of the Gulf War? There were right wingers calling me a traitor and a coward. A coward??? To express an unpopular opinion about a war that I knew I'd never have to fight in either way...

Meanwhile, my friends across town with he big anti-war poster kept finding dead animals on their doorstep. That's the Republican culture out there.

There was a student-staged protest at my high school before the first Gulf War happened (early 1991). In the parking lot afterwords, a rather hippie-ish teenage protester was grabbed by some of the counter-demonstrators in his class, held down and kicked in the testicles so many times he had to have one of them surgically removed. I have always had a very hard time imagining that protester and his friends grabbing one of those conservative kids and beating him to the point of surgery.
But at least the main instigator of the assault was expelled.

[Coito ergo sum]

Please....let's not pretend that left wing protesters are not violent.

Look at France - they'll burn down a neighborhood if you ask them to work until they're 62.

And Black Bloc protest groups are left wing socialists, union thugs, etc. who plan violent acts ahead of time.

And, antiglobalization folks are primarily socialists and other leftists who like to riot in Seattle and other cities where the G-8/12 are or whatever number they're on these days....

[Trolldor]

Protesting change is a conservative attitude, and 'conservative' is a key feature of a right-wing attitude.

[Clinton Huxley]

You have to watch out for those lefties, here's former Deputy PM John Prescott getting a bit tasty....

[Coito ergo sum]

Protesting change is a conservative attitude, and 'conservative' is a key feature of a right-wing attitude.

Liberal and Conservative in real life doesn't always fit the usual mold or definitions.

[Trolldor]

Right is conservative and reactionary. Left is progressive and revolutionary.

The riots are a reactionary response to change, making them conservative, making them inspired by right-wing sentiments. If the riots were for change, they would be progressive and revolutionary.

Simply labelling something as 'left' or 'right' isn't good enough, you actually have to demonstrate it.

For instance, the rise of Mao was a left wing act. It was revolutionary and progressive. The present Chinese Government is right-wing. It is conservative and reactionary.
I daresay both sides are as equally vile.