Wisconsin GOP Senator Glenn Grothman chased, trapped by hecklers, saved by Dem. Rep. Brett Hulsey

[babsbunny]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Cx77K8e3WE&feature=player_embedded

[cali]

1. I really, really don't like mobs.

and that includes this one.

[steve2470]

5. +1 nt

[Frustratedlady]

8. They defeat their purpose if they get unruly. They've been so good...

I hope this doesn't turn into a physical protest. I didn't appreciate his remarks on MSNBC, but he still has the right to his opinion.

I just wish this was over.

[eleny]

9. The crowd practiced much self restraint

[cali]

12. some in the crowd restrained others. but it looked to be right on the edge

of spinning out of control.

[eleny]

18. But it didn't happen and that's significant. They chanted, "Peaceful protest"

You and I watched the same video and came away with differing opinions.

[yellowcanine]

29. What does that mean, "looked to be right on the edge of spinning out of control"?

Was anyone touching him? No.

Was anybody threatening to hit him? No.

Did he even have to break his stride as he walked right through the crowd? No. A locked door stopped him, not the crowd. Did the crowd move in on him and deny him personal space or pin him up against the locked door? No. He tried to call for someone to open the door. When no one came, he turned and walked off - again right through the crowd with no one trying to stop him.

If you think that is a crowd "on the edge" you have never seen an out of control crowd.

I think you saw what you wanted to see.

[Tigress DEM]

33. Possibly, but were those even "ours" or were they plants of Walker's?

The only way they can discredit us is to turn our own values against us. We shouldn't have to remind ourselves to be peaceful even though the offensive slime slithers into our midst.

I'm debating whether we are just so tired of all their crap that we're getting borderline out of control or are we being framed by skilled operatives or a combo of both?

Some were shouting "F*** You!" and while that isn't any worse than what SCOTUS just defended for the rightwing blowhards that picket funerals with their gay bashig.... It isn't really the "Progressive" message.

Though it would have been more fun if he'd been talked into responding to those who wanted to "peacefully" listen to him defending his opinions on the mike instead of watching him cower behind a sympathetic collegue who believes in free speech more than most.

[Gin]

11. wow..he really was trapped in a corner...wonder why he didn't call the police

I don't like mobs either...why would he walk out into the crowd like that after his slob remarks?

Hmmm...maybe he wants trouble.

[Goblinmonger]

14. He was essentially locked out of the capitol

He knocked on his office window but his staff ignored him thinking it was a protester.

[yellowcanine]

26. He wasn't "trapped". He was waiting for someone to open the door. They didn't and he left.

The crowd parted and let him through. He didn't even have to break his stride. How is that trapped?

[yellowcanine]

20. It wasn't a mob. He wasn't touched. They didn't chase him. He walked through the crowd.

They made way for him and he was stopped by a locked door. Get it right.

[bluestate10]

40. I agree. The scene was wrong. The protesters should have made a

corridor for that asshole and turn away from him as he passed by. The republican is a disgrace, why would protesters generate sympathy for him by behaving badly?

[cui bono]

2. Ironically he couldn't seem to get in the building.

This is the same guy who said the protesters were just a bunch of college students having a party.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x541002

[Poboy]

4. Is it? Oh, but this guy is a PIECE OF SHIT!!!

[eleny]

3. That was quite a shaming with strong elements of self control by the crowd

Did I hear the crowd yelling, "Don't touch him"? Seems like they gave him room to walk as they followed him.

I kept thinking to myself how he must be quite sorry that the doors were locked and also that he was so arrogant on Lawrence O'Donnell's program last night. He made a spectacle of himself.

It's good that there was such good video although I expect the usual suspects to sensationalize it.

[Bonhomme Richard]

6. The "paid republicans" and the wealthy need to feel personally.....

uncomfortable for their decisions. There are consequences for the people when these creeps make decisions and they too need to pay personal consequences. Up to this point the paid republicans, wealthy and the media have gotten a free ride and that needs to end right now. Our way of life is like a castle surrounded by the enemy and the only thing between our survival or destruction is the castle gate and that is giving way to the battering ram.
"paid republicans" - I have decided to pinpoint my anger toward those republicans that actually earn part, or all of their income by being republican in order to differentiate between them and those that are simply morons.

"Hold your ground, hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers! I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of woes and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you *stand, Men of the West!*
Aragorn

[gratuitous]

7. Gee, why didn't he just walk in the door of the legislature building?

Oh that's right; the doors were locked by executive order. Certainly is unfortunate to be on the wrong side of the locked door, isn't it Sen. Grothman? Maybe if some of the citizens had been waving fat campaign contribution checks, he would have stopped to get their input. As it was, it appears the little class war the Wisconsin Republicans have been fomenting isn't working out quite the way it was supposed to in their game plan.

[Ellipsis]

10. He was more then a bit condescending today ... I'm sure his words will come out

about us "slobs" as his so gently put it... and that's just a teaser.

[cui bono]

13. His words are out...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x541002

[David__77]

15. What's the problem?

The problem with US politics is there is far too little confrontation. This civility crap is nonsense. The problem is that the left are pathetic in general, hippy-dippy people waiting to get steamrolled.

[toddwv]

16. Republican walk of shame. I like it.

They should all be forced to walk with their heads bowed in shame.

[yellowcanine]

17. If you look at the video - he wasn't chased or trapped. No one stopped him.

They made way for him and he was stopped by a locked door - locked on orders of either the governor or the Republican leadership.

People were yelling, yes, but in no way was this a mob. He wasn't touched.

[eleny]

22. That's what I saw in the video, too

Remarkable restraint by the crowd.

[gkhouston]

28. and most of the people are chanting while one or two are yelling like lunatics.

They sure quieted down fast. Looked a lot like a crowd that one or two people were trying to provoke.

[yellowcanine]

30. Just as it appears that the OP here is trying to provoke.

[Blue_In_AK]

19. Is he the one who was on Lawrence O'Donnell's show yesterday

and called the people protesting inside the capitol "slobs"? My jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

[eleny]

23. Yes

[mod mom]

24. Yep...called the protesters "slobs"

[Brickbat]

21. That's awesome. And that's not a mob.

[nebenaube]

25. This was Walker's option to try to provoke the crowd... n/t

[toddwv]

27. Remember, this is the douchebag that referred to the protesters as "slobs"

Isn't teabagger Glenn Grothman on the recall list?

If he isn't he should be.

[leftynyc]

31. Chased? Trapped?

Did you post the right video? Nobody even touched him and he got where he was going without having to stop once (except for a locked door). What are you talking about?

[maxrandb]

32. So

Does "our" side show up with loaded weapons strapped in "quick-release" holsters on our legs?? NO!

Does "our" side show up with weapons with signs saying; "the tree of liberty must be watered with the "Blood of Tyrants"? NO!

Does "our" side spit on people, or call them the "N" word, or "Crackers"? NO!

Does "our" side have politicians...POLITICIANS, NOT FRINGE FOLKS calling for "2ND Amendment Remedies"???NO!

When that shit happens on our side, let me know...and then maybe...just maybe...I'll be "concerned" that this Republican ASSHAT had to suffer a moment or two of discomfort.

[handmade34]

34. keeping it respectful means not calling the protesters

"slobs". Every single one of our law makers (state and national) needs to understand how it feels to be "locked out" (literally and figuratively) to be trapped, to be hungry and to be homeless... then they will understand better how to lead.

There was a time I would have been disquieted by that crowd. I do not wish anyone harm but now I rejoice in the fact that we have people willing to stand up and confront inequalities.

[last_texas_dem]

35. I'm of two minds on this.

First, the worst it looked like Grothman technically had to endure were some nasty words (I'm pretty sure I heard a "fuck you" chant mixing in there at some point). If he can't handle that, though, he shouldn't be politics. Yeah, the crowd "followed" him a bit, but, as far as I can see, no one laid a hand on him.

I'd have been pretty nervous if I were in his place, considering the potential things that *could* happen to me, but nothing physical appears to have. I could be missing something, but he doesn't exactly look "trapped." He's locked out of the building, right? The protesters don't appear to be keeping him from turning around and trying another entrance. If they were, that's bad form on their part, but all I really see is Grothman waiting to be let in to the capitol while he has to deal with the indignity of a bunch of protesters yelling "Shame!" at him. There are far worse situations to deal with than that.

(As an aside, I'll admit a couple of things that could be preventing me from offering a truly unbiased judgment on this. For one, isn't there a good chance that the reason that door was locked was a product of the WI Repugs deciding to close off most of the entrances to the capitol? If so, the guy should've been smart enough to remember this. And secondly, Grothman has shown himself to be a huge jerk on these issues and is the WI Repug (other than Walker) I'm the least likely to feel any sympathy for.)

That said, I didn't like watching that. I've loved watching footage from the protests in WI, but that was the first one that made me uncomfortable. Even if no technical harm occurred to Grothman, we need to stay away from any behavior that appears to be physically aggressive. I don't watch FAUX, but once they get a hold of this footage they will no doubt have a field day with it; they'll be able to show their "union thugs" without misappropriating random footage from palm tree lands. As the protesters say towards the end, "Keep it peaceful." Nothing good will come from anything getting out of hand. The media have already done a shit job at covering these protests, perhaps because they haven't been violent: but if they start to move even slightly in that direction, the media likely will suddenly care, and it will not play to our benefit.

[eleny]

36. kick

[bluedigger]

37. He got to exercise his right to free speech

and the "slobs" responded. I don't see a problem.

[Roy Ellefson]

39. No surprise

Glen has been trying to pick a fight like this for awhile now. I was on the edge of the rotunda on Saturday and he was standing on the fringes clearly trying to call attention to himself. Most people were unaware of who he was or just ignored him. A buddy of mine tried to talk to him and he reacted like my friend was a enraged maniac...mumbled something and scurried away...later he emerged again and my friend tried to sneak behind him holding a "Recall Walker--Feingold for Governor" sign so I could take a photo...Grothman got real pissy again and ran away. We never invaded his space or did anything untoward--plus we didn't fit Glen's stereotype of the "slobs" that have taken over the capitol. Glen is a drama queen who would like nothing better than to be roughed up for the right wing cause.

[rbixby]

38. I don't think 'shame' is a word the GOP understands NT