When I read that Obama was heckled by a reporter during his speech, I was surprised. Not that he was heckled, but because it was by a supposed reporter. Never heard of such a thing before.

The name Sam Donaldson is now being thrown around as an example of a reporter getting in your face, but from everything I have read he was never so disrespectful to interrupt a US President making a speech.

I put "reporter" in quotation marks because while he is there to report, it seems obvious to me that this disrespectful gesture was a calculated political move.

Munro like his boss Tucker Carlson are conservative political activists. I am not knocking them for that, but there is a time and place for that. And I don't' know if we should label them as "reporters" so freely. For whatever reason we have blurred the line between "news" and "political activism" Yellow partisan "journalism" has now become the norm.

Like the "You Lie" outburst during Obama's State Of The Union, Murno wanted to make a public show of disrespect. For whatever reason, the modern day conservatives that wears giant USA lapel on all of their clothing, and think of patriotism as a religion, believe it is ok to disrespect this one President so freely in public. All I am saying is our President deserves at least the basic common courtesy we expect from anyone.

Maybe this sort of thing works well and scores points with certain elements in the conservative movement, but I don't think those elements of the conservative movement are anything anyone should be proud of or much less cater to.

And the same goes for the Ed Shultz's and Lawrence O'Donnell's on the other side. Partisan hacks on the left who I have derided on more than a few occations and have dedicated special threads in their honor too.

I know the usual suspects will try and defend this type of behavior and make excuses for this behavior; but therein lies the problem.

[Edited 6/15/12 21:11pm]

Meanwhile, the British think we're wankers, as their PM gets heckled on a regular basis.

^

Let's hope you feel the same way if Romney is elected. Hopefully no one on the left or anywhere else will take this as a precedent.

Other nations... they can do as they please, I am not too concerned about them. I just find it curious to the lengths the political right has gone towards disrespecting a sitting President in public all of a sudden.

If he can put drones over our heads, he can take some heckling.

I think there is a certain amount of respect that should be maintained, in so much that it is unusual for a reporter to act the way this guy did to the President. I just think it's strange that people get all worked up if we don't follow our President lock step. The Dixie Chicks were a good example. It kind of goes against the idea that we have no king, so to say.

So I do wonder, why would a reporter act that way, in a situation where such behaviour is abnormal? Also, I wonder, why shouldn't the President have to come under some hard questioning on a regular basis? I'm thinking publicity stunt more than anything, though. So if the guy was just trying to get in the news and get some readers, he's a scumbag.

He interrupted the President twice; it wasn't a heckle. The Reich Winger was following the script: Let's make every effort to delegitimize Barack Obama's presidency. Obama is non-white; consequently he's not entitled to the same respect as that of the presidents who preceded him.

The Dixie Chicks said what they said at their own concerts. And they are not "reporters"

People can and have said a lot of shit about Obama. that's fine. But when you are a Senator or a Reporter supposedly doing your job and expect the same respect back while doing it, then it's crossing the line.

The same ones who criticized anything against Bush as "unpatriotic" are the same ones pulling this crap now. The right had a conniption and banned the Dixie Chicks from the airwaves, threatened them with death threats. The whole ignoramus nine yards. So if you are going to bring up the Dixie Chicks, let's have a little context and not pick and choose where to start and end this comparison.

Like I said, folks will play their partisan roles and defend this crap, and that in-itself is the problem.

1. Someone tell Neil Munro that he looks like an extra from the third episode of "Miami Vice".

2. Tucker Carlson is a total pussy.

Identity said:

He interrupted the President twice; it wasn't a heckle. The Reich Winger was following the script: Let's make every effort to delegitimize Barack Obama's presidency. Obama is non-white; consequently he's not entitled to the same respect as that of the presidents who preceded him.

Y'all need to get off this "everything is racist" BS.

Do you really think that if a white Democrat was in office, guys like Munro, Carlson and Wilson would have kept their mouths shut?

You have to understand - they couldn't give a flea's shit what color Obama is. They hate him because he is a Democrat. Do you honestly think Obama's been through the same ringer Clinton went through? They destroyed that guy's private life, simply because he was a Democrat.

A Democratic president's color is meaningless to these people; his party affiliation is everything.

You play right into their hands when you take your eye off the ball and bring racism into everything. Those guys can honestly say they aren't racists. And while they're destroying you with the truth of that statement, they're getting away with a hatred that has far worse consequences for our government.

Are there racists out there? Sure there are. But understand this - those on the far right do not care one single whit about the color of any Democrat, because they hate every Democrat.

Dauphin said:

I think there is a certain amount of respect that should be maintained, in so much that it is unusual for a reporter to act the way this guy did to the President. I just think it's strange that people get all worked up if we don't follow our President lock step. The Dixie Chicks were a good example. It kind of goes against the idea that we have no king, so to say.

So I do wonder, why would a reporter act that way, in a situation where such behaviour is abnormal? Also, I wonder, why shouldn't the President have to come under some hard questioning on a regular basis? I'm thinking publicity stunt more than anything, though. So if the guy was just trying to get in the news and get some readers, he's a scumbag.

Because he's not a "reporter" in any commonly understood sense of the word, but a partisan operative who is there to put the President "in his place".

Rodeoschro said:

Y'all need to get off this "everything is racist" BS.

It's not BS. The behavior of the hard Right is obviously rooted in racism. I've never seen such animosity toward the Oval office-- and neither have you.

Do you really think that if a white Democrat was in office, guys like Munro, Carlson and Wilson would have kept their mouths shut?

You better believe it.

I wish you could prove me wrong and offer some past examples of similar rudeness.

....

[Edited 6/16/12 15:01pm]

Identity said:

Rodeoschro said:

Y'all need to get off this "everything is racist" BS.

It's not BS. The behavior of the hard Right is obviously rooted in racism. I've never seen such animosity toward the Oval office -- and neither have you.

Do you really think that if a white Democrat was in office, guys like Munro, Carlson and Wilson would have kept their mouths shut?

You better believe it.

I wish you could prove me wrong and offer some past examples of similar rudeness.

....

[Edited 6/16/12 10:19am]

You need only go back to Bill Clinton to see far worse treatment of a Democratic president. They entrapped the guy on a perjury charge, for goodness sakes! After finding out that they had no case against him in the Paula Jones incident, Linda Tripp found out that Monica Lewinsky was having an affair with Clinton and gave that news to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr.

They subpoenaed Clinton on the Jones case and at the very end of the deposition, out of the clear blue sky, they asked him if he'd ever had sex with Lewinsky. It was a question that had nothing whatsoever to do with anything, yet it led to his impeachment.

Before that even happened, members of Congress actually said - on the record - "Bill Clinton is not my president". I think it was Newt Gingrich who said that, but it might have been Bob Barr or Bob Dornan. Whoever it was, they were a ranking member of Congress when they said it.

So Obama is not the first Democrat president whose been spoken of in that way.

Obama hasn't had it easy, but he's got a looooooonnnnnnnggggggg way to go before he reaches Clinton harassment levels.

Look, I get where you're coming from. And I don't disagree that in many respects, the treatment of the Oval Office is worse today than ever.

But if you think that's rooted in racism, you are wrong. If you think that if we had a white Democrat as president right now, there wouldn't be these attacks on him/her, then you have gravely underestimated where the right wing is coming from. And if you underestimate these guys, you are doomed to lose.

They hate Democrats, regardless of age, sex, or color.

You've got to attack them from where they are really attacking you.

Dauphin said:

RodeoSchro said:

Identity said:

He interrupted the President twice; it wasn't a heckle. The Reich Winger was following the script: Let's make every effort to delegitimize Barack Obama's presidency. Obama is non-white; consequently he's not entitled to the same respect as that of the presidents who preceded him.

Y'all need to get off this "everything is racist" BS.

Do you really think that if a white Democrat was in office, guys like Munro, Carlson and Wilson would have kept their mouths shut?

You have to understand - they couldn't give a flea's shit what color Obama is. They hate him because he is a Democrat. Do you honestly think Obama's been through the same ringer Clinton went through? They destroyed that guy's private life, simply because he was a Democrat.

A Democratic president's color is meaningless to these people; his party affiliation is everything.

You play right into their hands when you take your eye off the ball and bring racism into everything. Those guys can honestly say they aren't racists. And while they're destroying you with the truth of that statement, they're getting away with a hatred that has far worse consequences for our government.

Are there racists out there? Sure there are. But understand this - those on the far right do not care one single whit about the color of any Democrat, because they hate every Democrat.

Sure they don't like democrats, and sure many of them treated former President Clinton like sh*t, but what they did to Clinton doesn't come close to some of the disrespectful bs they've projected towards President Obama. Was Clinton called a muslim, anti-white, a terrorist, and racist emails, coupled with racist graphics and taunting? Nope, but it's happened to Obama.

Because he's not a "reporter" in any commonly understood sense of the word, but a partisan operative who is there to put the President "in his place".

Yes. He was there to remind the uppity, Marxist Kenyan that (a) he's still Black and (b) intensely hated.

as rude as barack has been to reporters it is good to see one of them get some pay back.

Can't wait till a black reporter gives cult member willard mitt romney a dose of his own medicine.

Identity said:

Can't wait till a black reporter gives cult member willard mitt romney a dose of his own medicine.

If we are going to talk smack about his religion, we all fail.

2elijah said:

RodeoSchro said:

Y'all need to get off this "everything is racist" BS.

Do you really think that if a white Democrat was in office, guys like Munro, Carlson and Wilson would have kept their mouths shut?

You have to understand - they couldn't give a flea's shit what color Obama is. They hate him because he is a Democrat. Do you honestly think Obama's been through the same ringer Clinton went through? They destroyed that guy's private life, simply because he was a Democrat.

A Democratic president's color is meaningless to these people; his party affiliation is everything.

You play right into their hands when you take your eye off the ball and bring racism into everything. Those guys can honestly say they aren't racists. And while they're destroying you with the truth of that statement, they're getting away with a hatred that has far worse consequences for our government.

Are there racists out there? Sure there are. But understand this - those on the far right do not care one single whit about the color of any Democrat, because they hate every Democrat.

Sure they don't like democrats, and sure many of them treated former President Clinton like sh*t, but what they did to Clinton doesn't come close to some of the disrespectful bs they've projected towards President Obama. Was Clinton called a muslim, anti-white, a terrorist, and racist emails, coupled with racist graphics and taunting? Nope, but it's happened to Obama.

They impeached Clinton. And in the run-up to his impeachment, do you think they were blowing daffodils up his ass?

C'mon!

But let's not lose focus. This isn't really about who got the worst treatment. I bet we can agree they (Clinton and Obama) have both received horrible treatment.

And as a former Republican, I am about 100% certain that treatment comes from the (D) behind their name and not the color of their skin.

.

[Edited 6/16/12 16:34pm]

OnlyNDaUsa said:

as rude as barack has been to reporters it is good to see one of them get some pay back.

I learned at a very young age that two wrongs don't make a right.

RodeoSchro said:

Identity said:

You better believe it.

I wish you could prove me wrong and offer some past examples of similar rudeness.

....

[Edited 6/16/12 10:19am]

You need only go back to Bill Clinton to see far worse treatment of a Democratic president. They entrapped the guy on a perjury charge, for goodness sakes! After finding out that they had no case against him in the Paula Jones incident, Linda Tripp found out that Monica Lewinsky was having an affair with Clinton and gave that news to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr.

They subpoenaed Clinton on the Jones case and at the very end of the deposition, out of the clear blue sky, they asked him if he'd ever had sex with Lewinsky. It was a question that had nothing whatsoever to do with anything, yet it led to his impeachment.

Before that even happened, members of Congress actually said - on the record - "Bill Clinton is not my president". I think it was Newt Gingrich who said that, but it might have been Bob Barr or Bob Dornan. Whoever it was, they were a ranking member of Congress when they said it.

So Obama is not the first Democrat president whose been spoken of in that way.

Obama hasn't had it easy, but he's got a looooooonnnnnnnggggggg way to go before he reaches Clinton harassment levels.

Look, I get where you're coming from. And I don't disagree that in many respects, the treatment of the Oval Office is worse today than ever.

But if you think that's rooted in racism, you are wrong. If you think that if we had a white Democrat as president right now, there wouldn't be these attacks on him/her, then you have gravely underestimated where the right wing is coming from. And if you underestimate these guys, you are doomed to lose.

They hate Democrats, regardless of age, sex, or color.

You've got to attack them from where they are really attacking you.

Obama was pushed into proving that he was even a citizen. Bill Clinton did not have to go through that.

Mormonism is not a religion. It's a cult that was created by a heretic and a drunken polygamist. Wasn't mitt born in a polygamy commune in Mexico?

RodeoSchro said:

2elijah said:

Sure they don't like democrats, and sure many of them treated former President Clinton like sh*t, but what they did to Clinton doesn't come close to some of the disrespectful bs they've projected towards President Obama. Was Clinton called a muslim, anti-white, a terrorist, and racist emails, coupled with racist graphics and taunting? Nope, but it's happened to Obama.

They impeached Clinton.

And in the run-up to his impeachment, do you think they were blowing daffodils up his ass?

C'mon!

But let's not lose focus. This isn't really about who got the worst treatment. I bet we can agree they (Clinton and Obama0 have both received horrible treatment.

And as a former Republican, I am about 100% certain that treatment comes from the (D) behind their name and not the color of their skin.

I have to agree that party leaders don't care about the color of his skin, but there is also no doubt the GOP will stoke whatever fires it can, including race. They are not beneath that, and have stoked the fires good and hot, let's not marginalize that either.

smoothcriminal12 said:

RodeoSchro said:

You need only go back to Bill Clinton to see far worse treatment of a Democratic president. They entrapped the guy on a perjury charge, for goodness sakes! After finding out that they had no case against him in the Paula Jones incident, Linda Tripp found out that Monica Lewinsky was having an affair with Clinton and gave that news to special prosecutor Kenneth Starr.

They subpoenaed Clinton on the Jones case and at the very end of the deposition, out of the clear blue sky, they asked him if he'd ever had sex with Lewinsky. It was a question that had nothing whatsoever to do with anything, yet it led to his impeachment.

Before that even happened, members of Congress actually said - on the record - "Bill Clinton is not my president". I think it was Newt Gingrich who said that, but it might have been Bob Barr or Bob Dornan. Whoever it was, they were a ranking member of Congress when they said it.

So Obama is not the first Democrat president whose been spoken of in that way.

Obama hasn't had it easy, but he's got a looooooonnnnnnnggggggg way to go before he reaches Clinton harassment levels.

Look, I get where you're coming from. And I don't disagree that in many respects, the treatment of the Oval Office is worse today than ever.

But if you think that's rooted in racism, you are wrong. If you think that if we had a white Democrat as president right now, there wouldn't be these attacks on him/her, then you have gravely underestimated where the right wing is coming from. And if you underestimate these guys, you are doomed to lose.

They hate Democrats, regardless of age, sex, or color.

You've got to attack them from where they are really attacking you.

Obama was pushed into proving that he was even a citizen. Bill Clinton did not have to go through that.

No, he wasn't. He chose to do that, and he played it so perfectly. He let the idiots bleat and bleat and bleat about it, and when the biggest idiot of all, Donald Trump, finally made the ultimate play, Obama blew his pompous ass right out of the water. I guarantee you Obama had an absolute blast during that whole process.

Clinton, on the other hand, faced serious legal trouble. Like, jail time legal trouble. Not to mention being removed from the presidency.

Now look - you guys have got to understand that the right wing did not go after Obama because he's black. They really, really didn't.

Are they racist? Probably. But they went after Obama because he is a Democrat. If they can use his race against him in their anti-Democrat tirade, they will. But his race is only a tool in this process.

They'd be doing this to any Democratic president - white, black, Hispanic, Asian.

V10LETBLUES said:

RodeoSchro said:

They impeached Clinton.

And in the run-up to his impeachment, do you think they were blowing daffodils up his ass?

C'mon!

But let's not lose focus. This isn't really about who got the worst treatment. I bet we can agree they (Clinton and Obama0 have both received horrible treatment.

And as a former Republican, I am about 100% certain that treatment comes from the (D) behind their name and not the color of their skin.

I have to agree that party leaders don't care about the color of his skin, but there is also no doubt the GOP will stoke whatever fires it can, including race. They are not beneath that, and have stoked the fires good and hot, let's not marginalize that either.

Right! They only use race because it's a tool.

They aren't going after him because he's black. But because he's black, they'll use that if they think they can damage him with it.

My whole point is this - do not underestimate the right wing. They are driven with a single goal in mind - get rid of all Democrats.

Don't think that because Nancy Pelois, Harry Reid or Hillary Clinton is white, that they'd deal better with them.

They absolutely would not.

Identity said:

Mormonism is not a religion. It's a cult that was created by a heretic and a drunken polygamist. Wasn't mitt born in a polygamy commune in Mexico?

Was that a joke, or do you really not realize that post was every bit as offensive as what Munro did yesterday?

RodeoSchro said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Obama was pushed into proving that he was even a citizen. Bill Clinton did not have to go through that.

No, he wasn't. He chose to do that, and he played it so perfectly. He let the idiots bleat and bleat and bleat about it, and when the biggest idiot of all, Donald Trump, finally made the ultimate play, Obama blew his pompous ass right out of the water. I guarantee you Obama had an absolute blast during that whole process.

Clinton, on the other hand, faced serious legal trouble. Like, jail time legal trouble. Not to mention being removed from the presidency.

Now look - you guys have got to understand that the right wing did not go after Obama because he's black. They really, really didn't.

Are they racist? Probably. But they went after Obama because he is a Democrat. If they can use his race against him in their anti-Democrat tirade, they will. But his race is only a tool in this process.

They'd be doing this to any Democratic president - white, black, Hispanic, Asian.

I was just referring to your prior Clinton point. Y'all can continue having your race discussion though.

smoothcriminal12 said:

RodeoSchro said:

No, he wasn't. He chose to do that, and he played it so perfectly. He let the idiots bleat and bleat and bleat about it, and when the biggest idiot of all, Donald Trump, finally made the ultimate play, Obama blew his pompous ass right out of the water. I guarantee you Obama had an absolute blast during that whole process.

Clinton, on the other hand, faced serious legal trouble. Like, jail time legal trouble. Not to mention being removed from the presidency.

Now look - you guys have got to understand that the right wing did not go after Obama because he's black. They really, really didn't.

Are they racist? Probably. But they went after Obama because he is a Democrat. If they can use his race against him in their anti-Democrat tirade, they will. But his race is only a tool in this process.

They'd be doing this to any Democratic president - white, black, Hispanic, Asian.

I was just referring to your prior Clinton point. Y'all can continue having your race discussion though.

I'm trying to keep race out of it!

RodeoSchro said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

I was just referring to your prior Clinton point. Y'all can continue having your race discussion though.

I'm trying to keep race out of it!

I agree that Obama has struggled with race a lot during his presidency, but I'm not entirely convinced that this episode is directly tied to race.

Sam Donaldson on the supposed heckler "reporter"

Never once did I interrupt a president in any way while he was making a formal statement, a speech, honoring awardees or in any other way holding the floor. Yes, almost always when he was finished in the Rose Garden or in the Briefing Room or at a photo opportunity with other world leaders I tried to question him (only rarely was it a shout on the rope line, more often a more normal tone of voice) and other reporters of course did the same thing along with me.

What this man did yesterday is something new, to me wrong and unusual. I think it is probably the result of the growing incivility of the times, the competition among reporters and news organizations to be noticed not only for the work product but for the theatrics of the gathering…and there is one more factor, let’s face it: Many on the political right believe this president ought not to be there – they oppose him not for his polices and political view but for who he is, an African American! These people and perhaps even certain news organizations (certainly the right wing talkers like Limbaugh) encourage disrespect for this president. That is both regrettable and adds, in this case, to the general dislike of the press on the part of the general public.

For Tucker Carlson to say that he would if he can give this man a raise for this rude attempt to interrupt the president is reflective of what I’ve said above and, to me, lowers my opinion of Tucker.