Frankly, I'm glad Obama is engaging the hecklers, rather than quarantining them out. HT to Andrew for the link.
| Photographer insists on Pledge of Allegiance before Obama rally |
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
I think he handled this so well that you'll get Republicans claiming the guy was a plant.
Grace under pressure.
Grace is the word.
Is it really common (or even, for that matter, occasional) for such events to start with the PoA? Last time I heard it recited was in HS, which was many years ago.
If the guy wasn't so strange, I'd wonder if he was a plant hoping too stir some minor 'Is he or isn't he a patriot?' discussion a la the flag pin thing. But he seems sincere, if a little bats.
Do McCain speaking events start with a pledge? Do anyone's?
Do McCain speaking events start with a pledge?
They will now.
"Do McCain speaking events start with a pledge?"
I'm not sure, but they all have a long bathroom break in the middle.
Demanding the Pledge of the Allegiance through shrieks like that is a rather hardcore act of political paranoia.
Demanding the Pledge of the Allegiance through shrieks like that is a rather hardcore act of political paranoia
Especially for someone with a Press credential.
And another idiot is immortalized no youtube...
And another idiot is immortalized on youtube...
HOW DARE YOU START THIS POST WITHOUT SAYING THE PLEDGE! MY FATHER FOUGHT IN WWII!
"Do McCain speaking events start with a pledge?
They will now."
They don't have to. They never will. The rest of us have to bend over backwards, recite the pledge, stop drop and roll and do fifty pushups because we're dirty filthy hippies.
This guy and probably the guys with signs in FL were put up to this by either the RNC or the McCain camp. They hoped to engineer these kinds of stupid spectacles at the town hall meetings they so fervently wanted. Their only avenue to Obama now is sending these mentally challenged folks in to stir up trouble.
I wonder if, by saying the pledge, Obama would vanish like Mr. Mxyzptlk or something.
It seems we have moved from a free to a feral press. Is this a positive development?
lol
I like the contrast of the pledge and the other clip released to the media from that townhall mtg. where Obama entones Bill Cosby and says, "they take pride in being ignorant."
Only in America!!
Ta-Nehisi, I was one of Matt's regulars and started reading you about a month ago and I've got to say, you're kicking ass even more than I thought! Way to have a great start to your Atlantic blog (unlike some of the more lame bloggers, cough goldberg cough) and thanks for having comments enabled. You and Sully are my reasons for coming here.
Keep up the great work, and GO OBAMA!!!!
OH MY GOD THE COMMENTS WORK PERFECTLY! HALLELUJAH!
Obama handled it like a staight G. No big drama. I haven't even seen this in the MSM, except Fox of course; they do what they do. Way to go, O.
The guys in Florida weren't a plant; they've been around for a while. If you go to their website, they call Obama "white power in blackface". HA.
Let's stop being nice about this. This photographer needs a bullet in his head while his family watches.
Scotttttttttttty says: "Let's stop being nice about this. This photographer needs a bullet in his head while his family watches."
No, he just needs to be mocked as a moron. down. You Republicans need to calm down.
Cute try, Moe. You Republicans? I have no idea why I'm responding, but you are a silly, silly person.
"Obama handled it like a staight G. No big drama."
He handled it the only way he could handle it. Remember, he has to play by the Jackie Robinson rules. That guy is an ass, of course, but I have no doubt he's being hailed as a hero in some quarters for pulling that pathetic white alpha-male crap. He MADE Obama say the Pledge. For that, he comes off to a lot of people as looking real good, even though Obama had to prompt him to jog his memory of the pledge he himself demanded the recitation of.
"He handled it the only way he could handle it. Remember, he has to play by the Jackie Robinson rules."
As opposed to what, having the secret service drag the guy out back and whooping his ass? My point is Obama didn't seem fazed one bit; stop on a dime and made the adjustment. Maybe that is like Jackie Robinson, but not the way you seem to imply.
OH MY GOD THE COMMENTS WORK PERFECTLY! HALLELUJAH!
It was one of the conditions Coates demanded in exchange for agreeing to take the job.
McCain rallies usually do start off with the Pledge. Also a movie talking about his POW experiences that he never talks about because he's so modest.
Obama did handle this thing deftly, but the problem I have was that this jackass was given a forum to be a jerk and was even interviewed afterwards. It is kind of a tricky situation, because the "Don't Tas me Bro" chucklehead also gained a tiny degree of fame and was treated in an opposite fashion.
Maybe I am just a fascist, but there is a time and a place for things, and people do have the right to be loud, obnoxious, rude and nuts. They just don't have the right to do it to everyone at anytime.
Doug,
I wouldn't worry about that too much, the exposure this guy got made it obvious that he was a nut and made Obama's handling of the situation look great.
I don't know about the rest of you.. but I thought this was AWESOME. Yes, the dude is a paranoid moron and not just a little off his rocker.. but instead of Obama being the "elist America-hating liberal" and talking over the dude.. we now have a youtube to wave at how Obama even gets the crowd to recite the pledge of allegiance...
and he didn't burst into flame!
All this does is create more media that disproves the psychotic right-wing blather about America-hating liberals...
So.. Thank You Psycho-guy!
"As opposed to what, having the secret service drag the guy out back and whooping his ass?"
That is kind of extreme, but basically yes, but in a proactive sense. How many people has the Secret Service ejected, excluded, detained, and banned from Bush and McCain events for showing even a modicum of dissent. It's a contrast I hope someone in the Obama camp makes. (Whatever happened to the Denver 3?)
No this guy wasn't wearing a McCain button, but I find it hard to believe this guy hasn't left some sort of wanker-trail. You don't just jump into the deep end of the douche pool like this. I am sure with a little more vetting they could have smelled him out. Hopefully Obama's people or the Secret Service won't make that a policy for Obama. It seems to work out okay for him.
As for this guy getting his 15 minutes, maybe. But I doubt he'll see much legitimate free lance work for awhile. He'll be taking pictures of Bat Boy and Big Foot for the tabloids for awhile.
There's definitely a double standard, which is what I'm assuming people mean by Jackie Robinson rules, but I'm also with everyone who sees the whole episode as good for Obama. Both are true.
So, after having to deal with Rev. Wright, Hillary, and unhinged, bitter Bill, a McCain-tilting MSM, and the unending questions about his "Otherness", did this nutball think that he was gonna rattle Barry? Pffft! The man was a community organizer in Chicago. Loonies like him were likely a daily fixture back then. If he couldn't hadle them then, he wouldn't be up on that podium now.
As for the complaints that this nutter was given too much air time, I say, fine, let him rant. If nothing else, the Secret Service will know who to watch out for when Obama comes to visit Ohio as the President.
This was covered on MSNBC and CNN when it happened, using the full video. On Verdict that night even Pat Buchanan said Obama knocked it out of the park.
Calling this man a "heckler" for defending the Pledge of Allegiance is a disgrace on your part. Americans like their Presidential candidates to show respect around symbolic actions such as the Pledge.
I'm curious to know this photographer's reaction to seeing Pres. Bush tap the flag on his knee during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. Anyone know? ;).....