A Blog Version Of The Inside Of My Head. The place where politics, film, the media, music, pop culture, and random topics collide in an orgy of neo-philisophical randomness that would make your mother scream.
Honestly, it isn't fair for blacks to refer to a man like Kenneth Gladney as an "Uncle Tom" because he is black and takes up conservative ideals, as that label is predicated on many factors that they may not realize at first glimps. Maybe he honestly ( and foolishly ) believes in them. But, what can be found out later will allow all of us to formulate a more concise, more accurate, opinion of a man ( or woman ) and how they are using the tactics fed to them, even if it is against their own self-interest.
Yesterday, about 200 conservative activists held a protest outside the SEIU office in St. Louis. Gladney was there -- bandaged and in a wheelchair -- as a featured guest. Some of the activists held signs that read, "Don't Tread on Kenny." Reader R.D. alerted me to this tidbit in the local news account of the protest:
Gladney did not address Saturday's crowd of about 200 people. His attorney, David Brown, however, read a prepared statement Gladney wrote. "A few nights ago there was an assault on my liberty, and on yours, too." Brown read. "This should never happen in this country."
Supporters cheered. Brown finished by telling the crowd that Gladney is accepting donations toward his medical expenses. Gladney told reporters he was recently laid off and has no health insurance.
Wait, the conservative opponent of health care reform, fighting (literally) to defeat a plan that would bring coverage to those who lose their jobs, lost his coverage because he got laid off?
The sad part of this is that he will have his medical bills taken care of by conservatives solely because he towed the line. Not because he is honest, not because he has something to contribute to the ongoing debate over healthcare, but simply because he is the gimmick of the moment for conservatives.
There's nothing more exciting to a rabid, right-wing, conservative than when someone on their side is allegedly beaten for their beliefs. That is, unless it's "caught on tape" and their black. Now, couple that with the allegation that the person doing the attacking is also black and you've got white-hot masturbatory material for at least a weeks worth of news cycles on Fox.
Mary Katherine Ham leapt head first into the shallow end of the pool with her piece in the Weekly Standard about the "beating" of Kenneth Gladney
Brown said Gladney told him he was also kicked by a woman, but Brown didn't witness that part. Gladney then went to the hospital, Brown said.
"He sustained some injuries to his back, some bruising," he said.
Brown said a black male with an SEIU t-shirt and a white man in an SEIU t-shirt were both arrested on suspicion of assault, while another man left the scene before police got there. A woman was arrested in connection with the incident, but not for assault. Brown was not sure of the charge. The incident happened around 9 p.m., he said.
His account seems to match up with the Post-Dispatch report, and would account for three of the six arrests—two for assault, and one on lesser charges.
....there was a clear effort from liberals to portray any scuffles from last night's town halls as the inevitable violent eruption of right-wing mob members, but it is interesting that there was no violence until the night liberal interest group HCAN and Dem members of Congress started calling in union members to "protect" them and host these events. It's also interesting that the only documented cases of violence thus far seem to be going one way. The Slapper, seen on Drudge and in these pictures (9-17), is local Tampa Democratic operative Karen Miracle.
That's not to say opponents of Obamacare were entirely without fault throughout the night, but thus far, there's much more evidence going the other way.
The only problem with Ham's drooling excitement over the alleged beating of Gladney, aside from their being no clear witness to the fight, is that she even embeds the video in her piece.
Take a look at this and see if you can tell what happened.
You'll notice about 1:20 in to the tape that Gladney has walked over to the person holding the camera and then proceeds to wave down a cop car.
The only real mystery from the incident is why Tea Party member Gladney, who's seen up-close after the brief encounter walking around and talking to people and who appears to be injury-free, then decided to go to the hospital to treat injuries to his "knee, back, elbow, shoulder and face." All that from a two-second fall to the pavement?
Also unclear is why he contacted a newspaper reporter, or why his attorney wrote up lavish accounts and sent them to conservative bloggers, or why Gladney and his attorney appeared on Fox News.
Conservatives, aching for a juicy story about someone being attacked at one of the townhalls across the country, could barelycontain their collective, orgasmic, shrieks.
The video doesn't show the beating, yet it is being held up as some sort of smoking gun against SEIU. But this doesn't matter to people like Mary Katherine Ham or any that have nothing but utter disdain and contempt for not only unions but the ery fabric of reality itself.
