# "I will throw you off that balcony and break you in two"



## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

After the President's SOTU address on Tuesday evening, New York's Representative, Congressman Micheal Grimm was caught on camera threatening to throw reporter trying to interview him, Mike Scotto, off the the balcony of the Rotunda of the Capital building and break him (the reporter) in two! Call it committing a a simple assault or threatening to commit a felonious assault, take your pick, but really, is this the best we can find among us to elect to represent us? Egad, we've elected the schoolyard bully to the US Congress. I am a Republican and am here to tell you, this fool shames us all!


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

Not excusing it, but it just might be an NYC/NJ thing. Jersey and "The City" folks tend to be a little more "colorful" when compared to people from other regions of the country (at least the locales that I've lived in).


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## TheoProf (Dec 17, 2012)

It's gotten to the point that when I heard the report, it didn't even register which party the guy was from. I just rolled my eyes at the state of things in Washington. It's difficult to discern any intelligent dialog amid the shouting and grandstanding.


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## FalconLorenzo (Aug 14, 2013)

This jackass is exactly why we can't have nice things. :icon_headagainstwal


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## Snow Hill Pond (Aug 10, 2011)

williamsonb2 said:


> I just rolled my eyes at the state of things in Washington. It's difficult to discern any intelligent dialog amid the shouting and grandstanding.


Not to pick on this post, but it makes it sound like the folks in DC are somehow independent of the rest of the country, when in fact, they are our elected representatives. This disengagement is very common and troubling and not new unfortunately. Back in the day, I can distinctly remember listening to a colleague of mine go on seemingly day-after-day at lunch with "The Government did this." or "The Government did that." Finally, I looked at him and calmly said, "The Government is us."

If the government is broken, then we can only blame ourselves for allowing it to remain so. Where is Cincinnatus when we need him?


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## MaxBuck (Apr 4, 2013)

There's no excusing this guy's stupid comments, but we should keep in mind that, until recently, the news media were much more controlled by the politicians they covered. Peccadilloes and misstatements by pols that would have gone unreported in the 1960s (remember Jack Kennedy and all the women he consorted with, all unreported?) are jumped upon with gusto by bloggers and "legitimate" media, who cut snippets out of context to make their subjects look more foolish and venal than they likely are. A rash comment spoken in frustration can sound a lot worse than we realize when we make it, as most of us have learned from personal experience.

I've had the good fortune to know many politicians on both sides of the aisle, all of whom were much better people than one would conclude based on their news coverage. Be careful to draw too harsh a picture based on what media tells you, whether it's Fox News, MSNBC, or somewhere in between.


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## TheoProf (Dec 17, 2012)

Snow Hill Pond said:


> Not to pick on this post, but it makes it sound like the folks in DC are somehow independent of the rest of the country, when in fact, they are our elected representatives. This disengagement is very common and troubling and not new unfortunately. Back in the day, I can distinctly remember listening to a colleague of mine go on seemingly day-after-day at lunch with "The Government did this." or "The Government did that." Finally, I looked at him and calmly said, "The Government is us."
> 
> If the government is broken, then we can only blame ourselves for allowing it to remain so. Where is Cincinnatus when we need him?


You're right. The problem is systemic and not just in Washington. That said, the idealist that still exists within me (albeit on life support) would hope that our representatives would rise above the tone. Perhaps, be representative of our society at its best.

I also agree with MaxBuck's sentiments on this. Who among us hasn't had a bad day and said something out of frustration? Imagine living a life as public as our our representatives in the world of Twitter and 24-7 news coverage. I think I was a little quick to judge.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

Well, at least it distracted us long enough not to pay attention to the President's empty words and promises at the SOTU.


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## MaxBuck (Apr 4, 2013)

WouldaShoulda said:


> Well, at least it distracted us long enough not to pay attention to the President's empty words and promises at the SOTU.


That's a lesson I think I learned in the Eisenhower administration. Never pay attention to the darn things.


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## jm22 (Apr 18, 2013)

WouldaShoulda said:


> Well, at least it distracted us long enough not to pay attention to the President's empty words and promises at the SOTU.


Well, he did promise to essentially give Congress the middle finger by saying that whenever it was possible he would circumvent them through executive orders. It's amazing that a Constitutional Law professor and the POTUS could ever stand there and say that proudly.


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## justonemore (Jul 2, 2009)

The American political machine is broken but how does one, short of a revolution, realistically fix it? No one can realisically vote for an indvidual over a political party. Big mouth. Liar. Cheat. Bully. Will I vote for this guy again or that guy from the other party? Well that other guy is a democrat/republican. Can't vote for them, they have viewpoints I don't agree with. Guess the loudmouth stays, fully supported by his political party and their base. He may be a loudmouth but he's our loudmouth (and that's what really matters in the 2 party U.S. system).

Besides, being a big mouth will get you press, sitting there doing the job you're paid to do, gets you nothing.


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## Chouan (Nov 11, 2009)

We're both effectively disenfranchised. You get to choose between two parties that are very similar indeed in their policies, with similar structures, or waste your vote on a candidate who hasn't a hope of winning. I get to choose between two parties that are very similar in their policies, with similar structures, or waste my vote on a party, or candidate, that has no hope of winning. In any case, if one doesn't live in a marginal constituency, or a swing state, then one's vote won't make any difference anyway. For example, the constituency where I live always returns a Tory, so no matter what I vote my MP will be a Tory. We've got an effective choice of Tory or Tory-Lite. Depressing isn't it.


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## Gurdon (Feb 7, 2005)

IMHO, Bill Clinton is the best Republican president we have had since Teddy Roosevelt.

Gurdon


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## gaseousclay (Nov 8, 2009)

justonemore said:


> The American political machine is broken but how does one, short of a revolution, realistically fix it? No one can realisically vote for an indvidual over a political party. Big mouth. Liar. Cheat. Bully. Will I vote for this guy again or that guy from the other party? Well that other guy is a democrat/republican. Can't vote for them, they have viewpoints I don't agree with. Guess the loudmouth stays, fully supported by his political party and their base. He may be a loudmouth but he's our loudmouth (and that's what really matters in the 2 party U.S. system).
> 
> Besides, being a big mouth will get you press, sitting there doing the job you're paid to do, gets you nothing.


having more than a 2 party system would be ideal, like Germany. we also need to take big money out of politics - we seem to be steering further away from "of the people, by the people and for the people."


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

gaseousclay said:


> having more than a 2 party system would be ideal, like Germany. we also need to take big money out of politics - we seem to be steering further away from "of the people, by the people and for the people."


I work for a Union, an Insurance Company and Big Oil.

The interests of my employer are my interests.

Why do you propose silencing me, my Union or Industry??


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## gaseousclay (Nov 8, 2009)

WouldaShoulda said:


> I work for a Union, an Insurance Company and Big Oil.
> 
> The interests of my employer are my interests.
> 
> Why do you propose silencing me, my Union or Industry??


because corporations aren't people. interesting that you work for a Union but bad-mouth Obama at every turn. the last time I checked Conservatives were anti-Union and Obama pro-Union.


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## WouldaShoulda (Aug 5, 2009)

gaseousclay said:


> because corporations aren't people. interesting that you work for a Union but bad-mouth Obama at every turn. the last time I checked Conservatives were anti-Union and Obama pro-Union.


...and Unions??

Why do you propose silencing me, my Union or Industry??

I am, of course, speaking figuratively.


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## herfitup (Mar 4, 2012)

MaxBuck said:


> There's no excusing this guy's stupid comments, but we should keep in mind that, until recently, the news media were much more controlled by the politicians they covered. Peccadilloes and misstatements by pols that would have gone unreported in the 1960s (remember Jack Kennedy and all the women he consorted with, all unreported?) are jumped upon with gusto by bloggers and "legitimate" media, who cut snippets out of context to make their subjects look more foolish and venal than they likely are. A rash comment spoken in frustration can sound a lot worse than we realize when we make it, as most of us have learned from personal experience.
> 
> I've had the good fortune to know many politicians on both sides of the aisle, all of whom were much better people than one would conclude based on their news coverage. Be careful to draw too harsh a picture based on what media tells you, whether it's Fox News, MSNBC, or somewhere in between.


It sounded like they made an agreement on what the topic of the interview would be and then the reporter blindsided him with a very biased, off-topic question.

If you make an agreement then either keep it or suffer the consequences. That reporter will be avoided like the plague by the rest of the politicians.


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## Tiger (Apr 11, 2010)

Chouan said:


> We're both effectively disenfranchised. You get to choose between two parties that are very similar indeed in their policies, with similar structures, or waste your vote on a candidate who hasn't a hope of winning. I get to choose between two parties that are very similar in their policies, with similar structures, or waste my vote on a party, or candidate, that has no hope of winning...Depressing isn't it.


I've made this point as well, Chouan. We're in full agreement...


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## Tiger (Apr 11, 2010)

I happen to live in Congressman Grimm's district. Lots of fundraising controversies, past violent incidents, and an uncomfortably blind loyalty to the Israeli Likud Party.

He's also a phony - pretends to be a "Tea Party" guy (which can mean _anything_, given that there are so many iterations of the "Tea Party"), when in fact he has demonstrated that he knows little about the U.S. Constitution or the "Principles of '76." He is the prototypical modern politician, with which both major parties are saturated. He walks lockstep with the majority of both parties, i.e., he's a foreign policy interventionist, ignores (or doesn't understand) the limits of federal power as delineated in the constitution, and is a massive spender with no regard for annual deficits or the staggering national debt, all while enriched himself at the expense of taxpayers.

That's Michael Grimm in a nutshell...


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