January 27, 2004

Crushing of dissent - in a bear hug
Posted by Jon Henke

Well, isn't this lovely....

Wise-cracking funnyman Al Franken yesterday body-slammed a demonstrator to the ground after the man tried to shout down Gov. Howard Dean.
...
"I got down low and took his legs out," said Franken afterwards.
...
The trouble started when several supporters of fringe presidential candidate Lyndon Larouche began shouting accusations at Dean.

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

So, uh, don't we have a term for that sort of thing? I'm no lawyer, but that sounds an awful lot like "Assault". Franken defends his assault against a speaker by claiming....ready for this?
"I'm neutral in this race but I'm for freedom of speech, which means people should be able to assemble and speak without being shouted down."
Franken didn't clarify which speakers freedom of speech was thought worth defending....but he tackled the guy with whom he disagreed.

Coincidence? Could be!

UPDATE: Ok, ok.....Dale Franks points out that it's not "Assault"....it's "Battery". Fine, fine...as long as we get to see Franken in handcuffs.

We won't, but still.

UPDATE II: John Cole writes...

You know, I can't help thinking that if Dennis Miller tackled a heckler at a Bush rally, it would take about 8 minutes before Dave Neiwer added another chapter to his 'All Republicans are Fascistic' tome. Instead, the left seems to be reacting to this with glee.
When do we get to start the "Al Franken's Amerika" meme?

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