Who Are The Thugs Again?

Conservatives are willing to go to bat for their own in just about any instance these days, it seems.

From claiming that Sharron Angle can win a debate by saying "man up" to Harry Reid all the way up to Sarah Palin saying is perfectly fine for Limbaugh to call people a "retard", conservatives are letting their own kind get away with that which they once decried not two years ago.

And while that hypocrisy is blinding in and of itself, one can't but marvel at the spin that Tea Bagger candidate Joe Wilson of Alaska is getting after his rented squad of goons temporarily detained a man at a recent rally.

Here's Ed Morrissey doing his best to cast Joe Miller's crew in a positive light:

If a reporter starts shoving security guards in any setting, he should expect to get arrested by the security guards as a consequence. That’s battery, and that charge does result in arrest. Miller has the right — and probably the duty — to provide security for his events, and private security guards have the ability to detain people who violate the peace. Anyone doubting that has never worked in retail and watched private security detain suspected shoplifters, as well as those who become disruptive. They had better be clear on the basis of the detention, however, because if they have no basis for it, they can themselves be charged with false arrest.

That doesn’t seem to be a problem here, though, since Hopfinger himself admits to shoving a security guard. Throwing the first punch doesn’t make one a martyr for the cause. It may, however, make for a lively debate tonight.

Funny how Morrissey left out some key information.

From the ADN website:

One of the guards grabbed Hopfinger's video camera. Later, Hopfinger said that when he got the camera back, the segment covering the span of the arrest was missing. An Anchorage police officer offered to take the camera into custody and have it examined in the crime lab to investigate whether evidence had been destroyed, but Hopfinger declined. He said he needed the camera and the remaining video for his work.

The guard who grabbed the camera said Hopfinger had dropped it in the scuffle and denied erasing anything. The guard wouldn't give his name.

But it's the paragraph immediately following that takes this story to another level.While Hopfinger was still in handcuffs, the guards attempted to prevent other reporters from talking to him and threatened them too with arrest for trespass. A Daily News reporter interviewed Hopfinger anyway. No other reporters were arrested, though a few shoving matches and chest bumps ensued as the guards attempted to cordon off Hopfinger and block photographs and videos from being taken of the bizarre school scene.

Not only does Miller's security team sound more like trigger-happy SS officers, but they certainly don't understand what constitutes trespassing. After all, this is the candidate that had people literally parading for him in the streets with assault rifles.

I'm not completely convinced that Hopfinger assaulted a person at the rally in such a manner that it would require physical restraints. Then again, conservatives too often dive into semantics when it comes to these types of stories. Moreover, what does Miller have to say about this? He did witness it. I'm not expecting much of an answer outside of he was protecting his Constitutional rights.

I'm reminded of people like Michelle Malkin who consistently level specious and false allegations at Democrats, utilizing the "thug" meme in order to paint a picture that anyone that voted for Obama obviously has ties to the mob in some way and are more than willing to overstep authority and use physical force to silence their opposition. Guess Malkin has decided to opt out of this one until she can find away to blame Obama for this happening.

UPDATE:

Karoli at Crooks And Liars takes a deeper look into Miller's "security force".

Their Alex Jones fans. 'Nuff said.