Was at the Sarah Palin rally at Elon University today.
It was an interesting day and I’m glad to have had the experience. But now here I sit, sunburned and sore with a throbbing headache and an aching leg.
Why? Because a McCain-Palin supporter tried to kick my ass.
I know what you’re thinking.
But no, I didn’t have it coming.
What happened, briefly, is this:
After Hank Williams Jr. had finished his set of country standards (”I Walk The Line”) Country pandering (the theme from The Dukes of Hazard) and re-arranged original hits with new lyrics (”McCain-Palin Tradition”), Sarah Palin arrived to cheers, screams and adoration that rivaled Greensboro’s Obama rally.
“GOD BLESS YOU SARAH PALIN!” one man shouted.
But not everyone was overjoyed to see her.
Weaved in amongst the crowd were a what looked like a few dozen Obama supporters – some wearing Obama shirts, others in street clothes. As Palin got into her speech they began chants of “Obama” and screamed out rebuttals to the points in her speech. This angered some in the crowd — some responding with cursing, others chanting “U.S.A.” and “NObama” to drown them out. Eventually the cops came and escorted them off of the baseball field.
Then it happened again, elsewhere in the crowd.
N&R political reporter Mark Binker and I were on different sides of the crowd – but we both got the same reaction from Palin fans as we craned our necks to see what the disturbance was.
“That’s not the story, the story’s up there on the stage!” someone yelled at Binker.
“Ain’t nothing to look at and don’t you write about it!” I was told.
To her credit: Palin stopped the speech to suggest that maybe the security shouldn’t escort the protesters off — maybe they should “stay and learn something.”
Not so very to her credit: she did not actually instruct security to let them stay.
After the speech was over I was walking around getting peoples’ reactions to it when I wandered into several clusters of sign waving Obama supporters outside the stadium area. They were surrounded by McCain-Palin folks and both sides were yelling at each other.
I sidled up to one of the Obama supporters and asked why they were there, what they were trying to accomplish.
As he was telling me a large, bearded man in full McCain-Palin campaign regalia got in his face to yell at him.
“Hey, hey,” I said. “I’m trying to interview him. Just a minute, okay?”
The man began to say something about how of course I was interviewing the Obama people when suddenly, from behind us, the sound of a pro-Obama rap song came blaring out of the windows of a dorm building. We all turned our heads to see Obama signs in the windows.
This was met with curses, screams and chants of “U.S.A” by McCain-Palin folks who crowded under the windows trying to drown it out and yell at the person playing the stereo.
It was a moment of levity in an otherwise very tense situation and so I let out a gentle chuckle and shook my head.
“Oh, you think that’s funny?!” the large bearded man said. His face was turning red. “Yeah, that’s real funny…” he said.
And then he kicked the back of my leg, buckling my right knee and sending me sprawling onto the ground.
From my position there I saw the bottoms of a number of feet almost accidentally stomping me to death as the two political camps screamed back and forth, the music continued to blare and some of the Obama crowd moved the large bearded man and his friends away. When I was helped to my feet the bearded man was walking away quickly.
For a moment I considered running the bloated, twelve-sandwich eating prick down and beating the living hell out of him…and then I remembered that I’m a reporter, how much I enjoy being gainfully employed and how hard it would be to keep my job if I got into a fistfight with a guy at a political rally.
So instead I limped off to try to find a security guard or cop.
When I did the guy was nowhere to be found.
“He’s this big fat guy with a brown beard and he’s wearing a McCain-Palin shirt and hat,” I said.
And then felt like an idiot. I was surrounded by people who fit that description.
So I simply limped to my car fuming.
On the way I passed comedian D.L. Hughley, who I’d interviewed a little earlier.
He’s got a new CNN show premiering at the end of the month and was there to tape a segment.
He was standing on the corner with a camera crew as the crowd passed him, saying: “Hey…are you Joe Sixpack? Joe? Joe Sixpack? I’m looking for Joe Sixpack. Joe? How about Joe the Plumber? Joe? I’m looking for some Joes…”
He gave me a wave and said: “Hey, Joe! Are YOU Joe Sixpack?”
I waved, shook my head and smiled.
But I was thinking: “Well, I may be tonight…”
When I get home I’ll start with one and we’ll see how it goes.
145 Comments
October 17, 2008 at 6:46 am
Oh, Joe, I am so sorry that happened to you. I was there with the Obama protesters near the stadium (in front of the press trucks) and we had a really rough time too. You should have heard some of the awful things they said – I can’t believe someone hurt you. Did you get a member of the police to help you? They were courteous towards us.
October 17, 2008 at 11:39 am
Depsite the abundance of police officers at the event, there weren’t a ton where I was. I was past where you were at that point, although I did see you guys with the signs near the TV trucks when I passed. Looked pretty tense.
I did find one eventually and he was courteous and helpful – but the guy was long gone and I couldn’t have described him with enough accuracy. Besides which, the cops had plenty to deal with without my insisting they go hunting for the guy who kicked me.
As tense as things were I’m surprised there weren’t more scraps — though there might have been, and they just didn’t get reported. When the Obama protesters where ejected from the stadium area I was worried it was going to turn into a big fistfight — which is why the cops said they did it, to avoid violence in that large a crowd.
October 17, 2008 at 11:54 am
Joe: Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?
October 17, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I am so pissed off right now I can barely speak. Violence of any kind has no place at a political rally, except apparentally a Sarah Palin rally. I suspect the lessons she was speaking of were exactly what the bearded neanderthal meant to “teach”.
Don’t the Palin folks vet the places she’s supposed to speak? Is a liberal college campus really the places for her? It’s probably a good thing Guilford and some of the more liberal schools are on break this week or jeebus h. tap dancing keyrice you would have been there! *That* would have gone well, don’t you think?
October 17, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Wow. Good for you for holding back, Joe. The keyboard affords a much better method for buttkicking.
October 17, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Memorably scary story Joe. It was so peaceful when Obama visited here in May. I can’t imagine.
October 17, 2008 at 2:57 pm
[...] rally at Elon University when things turned a little, ahem, heated, as he wrote on his personal blog. “Oh, you think that’s funny?!” the large bearded man said. His face was turning red. [...]
October 17, 2008 at 2:59 pm
[...] was kicked to the ground at a Sarah Palin rally at Elon University yesterday. He tells the story in How I Became Joe Sixpack « AUTOMATIC WRITING: After the speech was over I was walking around getting peoples’ reactions to it when I wandered [...]
October 17, 2008 at 3:12 pm
[...] N&R reporter Joe Killian’s other encounter with a (not so peaceful) McCain-Palin [...]
October 17, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Jeff, what on earth do you possibly think Joe’s done to deserve being randomly assaulted? You can disagree with his opinions, fine, but saying he should be attacked is crossing a major, major line.
October 17, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Leaving aside the attack on you (easy for me to do), what I find scary, and what I ‘ve been seeing elsewhere as well, is this ‘GOP = USA’ stuff. This sort of insane Anne Coulterist ‘libruls = traitors’ has been building for 20 years or more, and is getting more and more open. Used to be John Birchers were publicly hushed up, however much they might have been privately supported. Now they’re the main core of the GOP. Self-pity, hate and unthinking certainty make a very nasty mix.
October 17, 2008 at 3:49 pm
[...] Joe Killian tells his story: After the speech was over I was walking around getting peoples’ reactions to it when I wandered into several clusters of sign waving Obama supporters outside the stadium area. They were surrounded by McCain-Palin folks and both sides were yelling at each other. [...]
October 17, 2008 at 3:58 pm
“Don’t the Palin folks vet the places she’s supposed to speak? Is a liberal college campus really the places for her?”
The problem is, there’s a shortage of beer halls in the U.S.
October 17, 2008 at 4:22 pm
[...] and even assualt those appearing unfriendly to the campaign, particularly Obama supporters and the media.: After the speech was over I was walking around getting peoples’ reactions to it when I [...]
October 17, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Obama will win the election and Palin can go home to her refrigerator and be forgotten…
October 17, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Wow, Chris, knee jerk reactions never cease to amaze me. I didn’t say any of the things you imply. I simply observed that karmatic forces at work in the universe sometimes are difficult to comprehend.
I’d be more worried about LCloud’s views that college campuses are off limits to certain politicians before I’d worry about Jeff’s observations on the laws of karma.
October 17, 2008 at 4:39 pm
“He’s this big fat guy with a brown beard and he’s wearing a McCain-Palin shirt and hat,” I said.
Speaking as a “big fat guy” I’m wholly offended that a journalist of Joe’s caliber would use such disparaging language to describe any person, regardless of body size. I think it speaks to Joe’s twisted perspective and his heightened sense of supremacy.
October 17, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Joe, thank you for sharing this riveting account. I’m really sorry you had to go through that, but hey, sometimes it takes news to break news, right?
I dunno. Just trying to lift your spirits. Wish I could buy you a drink. I feel like you took a hit for all of us. :-(
October 17, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Jeff doesn’t mean it. He’s just upset like the fat bearded guy . People of limited understanding react with violence and fill-in-the-blank jingoism. He could have just as easily typed USA, USA and had it mean the same thing to him.
Joe I don’t actually feel sorry for you. You walked in to the snake pit that Palin/McCain have been, by all admissions, poking at with big pointy sticks. You got dinged. We all have- asking questions we never would have thought deserved such reaction.
Now, all you and any reporter need to do is contact the campaign and ask for security protection. If they won’t give it, approach the police and let them know there have been assaults and that you feel you need to be protected. If they are unresponsive, try the FBI or Secret Service making sure, each time, to let them know that you have witnessed assaults and have been the recipient of such an assault and find that the crowds can be whipped in to an unstable and violent frenzy at these rallies where the current level of protection appears to be inadequate.
Good luck Joe Journalist. Be courageous. Carry mace, wear your kneed pads and shin guards and stay on the story.
October 17, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Damn, Joe. You do have a way.
Any wingnuts who are reading this should know that Joe is an on-air friend of Rush Limbaugh’s and a damn fine journalist. And he’s a boxer, too, so he could have kicked the shit out of that guy.
One thing he is not is a punching bag.
I don’t blame people for being frustrated when they think their candidate isn’t getting a fair shake, but in America we don’t take it out on innocent reporters who are actually doing their job, trying to tell the public what happens and why. Joe’s only agenda is to get the news.
By the way, if any rich Hollywood liberals happen to read his account of what happened, Joe could use a new laptop. It wasn’t a vicious rallygoer who did in his laptop, though. It was a cat and a glass of water. But still.
October 17, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Wow. Sorry you had to physically suffer; but as you point out, Palin really did very little to quell the crowd, and in fact seems to spend her time in crowds pumping them up.
Wanted to also respond to JohnR’s comment – right on!! The “liberals are [insert hate word here]” rhetoric started with Reagan, it seems to me – with his laughy comments about “the L word” – and we, liberal/progressive types have been off-target all this time and have allowed the right wing to define us – our values, our views, our ideas. It makes me SO angry!
October 17, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Jeffrey Sykes:
It’s sure fascinating watching Palin supporters and apologists furiously duck responsibility for the things they say and do.
Knocking someone down because you don’t like their politics is not “Karma.” The bearded guy is not some mindless force of the universe visiting retribution on Killian for some transgression.
He’s a jerk who assaulted someone because he decided he decided he didn’t like the guy’s politics.
October 17, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Right, Jeff, how silly of me. Obviously this is a post about Eastern religious theory, and your comment was completely on topic. My apologies.
You know what you implied. You can argue it was unintended, but that’s a real hard package to sell.
October 17, 2008 at 6:06 pm
[...] Like to kick reporters from behind and then run away. Now, one would be tempted to call this behavior “mob-like.” But Senator John the Maverick thinks referring in such terms to his supporters, of whom he is proud of let’s not forget, is “unacceptable and insulting.” [...]
October 17, 2008 at 6:10 pm
[...] some freaks? Really? How about fine Americans like this one (h/t)? I sidled up to one of the Obama supporters and asked why they were there, what they were [...]
October 17, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Shorter Jeff Sykes: “I’m not going to take responsibility for saying that a criminal assault is just the price one pays for being a journalist.”
October 17, 2008 at 6:21 pm
First, Joe, I’m sorry you got kicked. I read your columns back when you were at the Carolinian, and while I often disagreed with your opinion, I always appreciated the way you approached a topic. You’ve always seemed fair-minded to me. It’s a shame that words could not have been used instead of feet.
Most of the commenters here seem to think only Palin supporters say ugly things and support violence. Go to a more republican leaning site and they all assume Obama supporters are the intolerant ones.
As usual, the truth is in the middle. We’ve all seen the idiotic comments about Obama’s religion. And we’ve all seen the t-shirts calling Palin wonderful names.
There are ignorant people voting for both of the major tickets. There are people who think the other side is un-American and should leave the country. There are people that can’t express themselves intelligently with words, and so after the shouting match, there’s nothing left to do but hit/kick/shoot someone. It comical until you realize that the fate of our country is in the hands of these people (again, I’m talking about both sides).
But the sense of indignation is just silly. When each side demonizes the other, why is anyone surprised when someone reacts in such an uncivil way? Both sides have declared the other side to be completely wrong and unworthy. And that is un-American.
October 17, 2008 at 6:25 pm
Jeffrey Sykes, what a coward scumbag. Somebody writes a post about being hit from behind by some dude for having the temerity to be interviewing protesters at a rally. The main idea being that it sucks to be hit from behind for no reason.
Then you say “Karma’s a bitch.” Which can only be read as “too bad that you had it coming.” So how can one read that but to mean that you think doing what he did made him deserve what he got?
Then you start furiously backpedaling and spouting bullshit about speaking theoretically about the alleged workings of karma in 150% hypothetical situations, not at all regarding the very real anecdote about which this post is about.
If you’re going to be a d-bag, at least be one that doesn’t back down from said d-baggery.
October 17, 2008 at 6:55 pm
[...] careful where you wear your MPAV! t-shirts boys and girls. A reporter who wasn’t even wearing any of our spiffy duds was attacked at a Palin rally yester… in North Carolina for (gasp!) interviewing an Obama supporter. If just TALKING to an Obama [...]
October 17, 2008 at 7:07 pm
You’ll be glad to know, Joe, that the nuts are convinced you’re making this up. See here, for example: http://sweetness-light.com/archive/reporter-gop-gives-license-to-beat-up-press
October 17, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Damn. I saw an item on Talking Points Memo about a reporter being assaulted at a Palin rally, and was I ever shocked when I clicked through to find out it was you.
I’m glad you’re going to be okay.
I was thinking of going to the McCain rally here in Raleigh tomorrow, just to see for myself what he and his supporters have to say. But now I really don’t think I will. I don’t feel safe.
October 17, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Steve: The communications director for the state Republican Party e-mailed me this morning to say he was sorry this happened. Class move, considering the party’s not really responsible for every nut that comes to a rally. The nuts are the nuts.
Carrie: You should go! Just try to stay out of the middle of any potential conflicts.
October 17, 2008 at 7:12 pm
The way I see it, this is what’s happening. One by one, conservatives are abandoning the sinking Republican ship. David Brooks of the New York Times berated McCain for his choice of Sarak Palin as his running mate. Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post said that Sarah Palin is “not ready” for the big time. Kathleen Parker of the National Review said that Palin should “bow out”. Wall Street Journal writer and former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, Peggy Noonan, said that she’s not yet sure who she will be voting for. Some conservatives have even started to endorse Obama. Wick Allison, a former publisher of the National Review, wrote that the current conversatism “has produced financial mismanagement… and the wreckage of our economy that McCain now threatens to make worse.” Look, let me get to the point: As more and more of these respectable conservatives head for the hills, increasingly, what we are left with are all the bitter, hate-driven, rage and anger-driven, paranoid nut cases, and xenophobic freaks.
October 17, 2008 at 7:17 pm
It is a colossal failure of the McCain-Palin campaign that they inspire people to fear, to despise and to attack with physical or verbal violence. I am very sorry that you were assaulted in my home state.
October 17, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I wish, that, for once in a very long time, Americans of all persuasion would come together and vote for the best candidate for the U.S. presidency. And that man is Barack Obama. As Americans we have always led the entire world as we have tirelessly spread democracy across the world. Now as democracy seems to elude us, the time has come for Americans to take an example from a very tiny West African country called-Liberia. In October 2005 after 14 years of war and turmoil, Liberians opted for the best candidate whose policies would change the country for the better when they elected Africa’s first female president-Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. And after eight years of republican scare tactics, political manipulation and the worst economic times we have seen since the depression-Americans can do the same by voting for and electing Barack Obama its 44th president.
October 17, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Just out of curiousity, what is this particular pro-Obama rap song?
October 17, 2008 at 7:45 pm
I’ve dealt with conservative assholes and liberal assholes. The liberal assholes are not, in my experience, likely to physically assault you. They’ll throw all kinds of verbal poo, but they don’t throw punches. Yes, there’s a lot of bullshit rhetoric out there on the liberal side, but most of it is just that, rhetoric. Even that skank Madonna, who didn’t exactly raise the level of discourse by calling McCain a Nazi, only threatened to physically kick Sarah Palin’s ass. We all know she’d never actually try it.
As someone who has increasing conservative leanings with age (well, a few selected ones), it pains me to say that fucktards like the big fat coward seem largely a conservative phenomena. And like I said on Ed Cone’s blog, I’m NOT a pacifist, not above getting in somebody’s face and even throwing a punch if I’m really pissed off.
But I’d never do it a political rally, unless the other guy tried to hit me or someone else first, as there’s too much potential for a one-on-one fight to turn into mob violence. And I’d certainly never strike somebody from behind and then waddle away.
October 17, 2008 at 7:48 pm
“Jeffrey Sykes, what a coward scumbag. ”
It’s the name calling that I love.
Joe and I have gone tit for tat for a few years now so I’m sure he can take it.
I’m sorry he got kicked. I found it humorous.
October 17, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Jeff:
We’ve had disagreements on blogs. We’ve never actually met. If somebody kicked you to the ground I wouldn’t get any pleasure out of it. But I can take a little ribbing, no problem.
James:
I don’t think it was that one but I also couldn’t place it.
October 17, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Ian?
Ian McDowell?
Ian McDowell from UNCG?
Hellooooo!
(Pam Troy, UNC-G 1984)
October 17, 2008 at 8:09 pm
[...] is the “pro-america” area where reporter Joe Killian got [...]
October 17, 2008 at 8:13 pm
October 17, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Dammit Joe, find that guy and have him arrested for A&B! I want him booked, tried, and convicted! This sends a signal that assault and politics mix, and we know what happens when that message gets out to the masses.
October 17, 2008 at 8:32 pm
[...] unfortunately told to, “Sit down, boy!” by a Palin supporter. As ugly as that was, the actual physical violence at another Palin rally may have been uglier. A reporter covering the event had come across a group of Obama supporters. As any reporter [...]
October 17, 2008 at 8:34 pm
[...] not a McCain supporter or a republican assaults a reporter at a Palin rally. Keep it classy, GOP! How I Became Joe Sixpack AUTOMATIC WRITING [...]
October 17, 2008 at 8:37 pm
[...] Joe Killian After Hank Williams Jr. had finished his set of country standards (”I Walk The Line”) Country pandering (the theme from The Dukes of Hazard) and re-arranged original hits with new lyrics (”McCain-Palin Tradition”), Sarah Palin arrived to cheers, screams and adoration that rivaled Greensboro’s Obama rally. [...]
October 17, 2008 at 8:40 pm
“I’m sorry he got kicked.
I find it humorous. But not really.”There. Fixed.
October 17, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Liberal douchebag
October 17, 2008 at 8:48 pm
[...] into that vein that already exists in the ignorant knuckleheads who attend her rallies … here is a great blog from a reporter (unbiased individual) who attended such a rally … and got his azz beat when [...]
October 17, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Hi Joe.
I read about this on Wonkette and just wanted to write to thank you for covering the story and for risking your limb to get it. Maybe these crazy fascist Palin supporters get this way because Palin lives so close to Russia and we all know how the Russians feel about a free press and the rights of a journalist to, um, live. But, please, for your own safety in the future, please don’t engage these people. Remember: they’re all packin’ heat because it’s their God-given right. Your right to write about that – um, not so much.
Wishing you lots of ice packs and Bactine and a speedy recovery. Maybe your next assignment will be somewhere safe, like Afghanistan.
Cheers.
October 17, 2008 at 9:17 pm
“and then I remembered that I’m a reporter, how much I enjoy being gainfully employed and how hard it would be to keep my job if I got into a fistfight with a guy at a political rally.
So instead I limped off to try to find a security guard or cop.
When I did the guy was nowhere to be found.
“He’s this big fat guy with a brown beard and he’s wearing a McCain-Palin shirt and hat,” I said.
And then felt like an idiot. I was surrounded by people who fit that description.”
just another better than thou lib. sorry joe, like many these days, i have neither respect nor sympathy for you.
October 17, 2008 at 9:19 pm
john oglesby, you, like John McCain, seem confused about the incidence of name-calling at rallies on each side. It’s not even close. I’ve been to a ton of pro-Obama events and watched a ton more online, and beyond maybe a few scattered boos at a mention of John McCain’s name or plans (which Obama scolded people for doing the other day), I have never, NEVER, heard anyone call McCain names or yell anything at all about him, most certainly not yelling “Kill him.”
I saw McCain make that claim at the debate and again on Letterman. He’s just making it up, and you are similarly wrong.
October 17, 2008 at 9:21 pm
P.S. Get well soon, Joe!
October 17, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Joe,
I, as many others here, wish this didn’t happen to you.
It didn’t have to happen to you, and violence is absolutely impermissible in our political discourse.
Neither to the media, nor those that oppose our viewpoints.
Cheers,
SPiHC
October 17, 2008 at 10:03 pm
Yeah, kicking somebody so hard that they are limping is a real laugh fest.
October 17, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Joe,
You would have been well within your rights to knock the crap out of that bastard. On a positive note you have a few pages to add to your memoirs. Let me know the next time your on the coast, I’ll buy you a drink.
October 17, 2008 at 10:19 pm
That guy who kicked you is Joe Sixpack at his worst. There is hard-working Joe Sixpack, and violent meathead Joe Sixpack. He was the latter.
October 17, 2008 at 10:21 pm
There’s “well within your rights” and then there’s “unprofessional.”
A fat lot of good it does me not to go to jail if I can’t get a job and have to live in a piano crate in an alley and keep my clothes in a cloth sack on the end of a stick.
October 17, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Change the subject from whether the N&R fairly reported the crowd attendance and gave Palin her proper due as compared to their coverage of Obama into whether Joe got kicked. Posted HOURS later….
Curious…
October 17, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Wow. I’m actually pretty surprised that we’ve come to this point in American political rallies.
I hope you’re alright, and I’m glad that something worse didn’t happen.
Off topic: Small world! I work in the ad dept. of the N&R, and I’m shocked that no one on our end mentioned this today…
October 17, 2008 at 10:36 pm
One of the biggest reasons why I won’t go to a political rally to watch and get quotes for article ideas is because of what you describe. Though what you described reminds me of what I can go see at the local zoo…
People who take their party affiliations too seriously are dangerous as you no doubt now know.
October 17, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Gosh, Joe! you are as cute as Jeri Rowe!
October 17, 2008 at 10:59 pm
that’s awful. it’s unfortunate that we can’t just see that no matter who you vote for we’re all voting in hopes to better the same nation.
October 17, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Wow! I’m glad you held back and, most important, I’m glad that you’re okay.
It’s just ridiculous that someone had the gall to assault you while you were doing your job.
Unfortunately, you ran into neither Joe Six Pack nor Joe the Plumber but Joe the Meathead. :(
October 17, 2008 at 11:53 pm
[...] wasn’t the only incident from the rally. a reporter from the News and Record posted this blog about his experiences there. Apparently he enountered some difficulty with some Palin supporters [...]
October 17, 2008 at 11:54 pm
Joe, I’m really sorry this happened to you buddy. I’m glad you weren’t seriously injured and I’m also glad that you didn’t respond in kind.
But here’s the thing: incidents like this can do some really freaky things to your head, you dig? It can be like having a psychological rug pulled out from under you, giving you the feeling that the world you thought you knew is a farce, and this new world contains a lot more idiotic and dangerous people than you previously thought.
That’s basically a mind-f**k and it’s not true, but you may have to work your way through it anyway. If these feelings start hitting you, go ride a bike, take a walk in the woods, make love very slowly, make lasagna from scratch, whatever.
Don’t let a few moments of time rob you of other, better moments. We only have a limited number of them to enjoy, right?
October 18, 2008 at 12:05 am
[...] How I Became Joe Sixpack Was at the Sarah Palin rally at Elon University today. It was an interesting day and I’m glad to have had the [...] [...]
October 18, 2008 at 1:24 am
It is getting messy out here! Robo-calls to GOP supporters are still claiming Sen. Obama is “in cohoots with Bill Ayers.” And as if that is not enough, republican operatives are now spreading false propaganda that Sen. Obama is in the know as to the current Acorn voter registration problems.Wow! something smells fishy and I hope that all good and fair Americans do not fall for this old GOP gimmick. Am I alone in my analysis?
October 18, 2008 at 2:23 am
Too bad he didn’t indulge in a little batting practice.
October 18, 2008 at 2:26 am
Now young fella. A good kicking should convince you that Palin’s arguments are right and you should love her too..
Pity it hasn’t worked in Iraq and Afghanistan. Doesn’t matter we’ll keep kicking away until they too learn to love us.
tomedgar@halenet.com.au
October 18, 2008 at 3:01 am
[...] Greensboro, NC: I sidled up to one of the Obama supporters and asked why they were there, what they were trying to accomplish. [...]
October 18, 2008 at 4:07 am
You were in the wrong place at the wrong time joe joe. Whatever you said, however you incited that patriotic American, you had it coming to ya. McPalin cannot, and will not, be stopped (notwithstanding your pansy liberal world view and pleas for empty change).
October 18, 2008 at 4:13 am
I just hope we get a second stimulus package…
http://andthisismyamerica.com/2008/10/18/our-new-bodyguard/
October 18, 2008 at 7:21 am
Well, Jeffrey Sykes, you realize that a bunch of people who have never been to this site clicked through from elsewhere, and they now all think you’re an ass for implying Joe deserved physical abuse.
Karma’s a bitch, ain’t it?
(This is about as funny as your posts were.)
October 18, 2008 at 8:16 am
wow lol thats cool
October 18, 2008 at 11:26 am
As much of an Obama (but former Clinton) supporter and bleeding-heart-leftie I am, I find it unfortunate that Obama supporters felt the need to provoke people at the rally. Tension is high and it’s unfortunate that you ended up in the thick of it. I don’t excuse what happened to you; but, I question, if McCain-Palin supporters (who may already feel victimised by “self-righteous liberals”) were left to attend the rally in peace, whether it have turned out the way that it did. Was blaring the pro-Obama rap song a moment of levity or moment of obnoxiousness?
I support the Obama supporters’ right to protest, but I also think that right for McCain-Palin supporters to attend a peaceful rally should have been observed. Is it naive to expect some level of common decency and respect from both sides? It’s not like this was some KKK convention.
I am a third party observer, and watching the events unfold all the way from Down Under is giving me more insight in to the American political process and psyche than any other election I have been witness to in my 21 or so years of being alive. This election is not only establishing but consolidating social and political divisions; the effect of which, I think, will rear its ugly head in the coming years.
October 18, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Damn… The entire world fought a war to stop violent xenophobic a55holes like that (I think America might have even chipped in a little, you know), and now they’re back and assaulting journalists…
October 18, 2008 at 12:25 pm
What in the world is happening to our country? I’m reading Bad Money by Kevin Phillips and The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman. I was discussing a few things in them with my wife this morning and wondering how people can keep getting distracted away from the real issues of not just this campaign but of the early 21st century by nonsense and jingoistic flag waving.
Most people don’t watch the news, and even if you do how can you put things in perspective and make connections from 30 second to 2 minute sound bites? Most people don’t read books, and how many of those that do read works of non-fiction that might be relevant to their decision making process?
It all seems so appalling and just when I think I’ve seen the worst and lowest, I read your article. Why must people resort to violence to settle differences of political opinion? I hope your knee gets better quickly.
October 18, 2008 at 12:58 pm
McCain is a d ckhead. Go Obama!
October 18, 2008 at 1:37 pm
[...] nicht zu den glühenden Verehrern der peinlichen Lady gehört und mit den falschen Leuten spricht. Joe Killian erzählt in seinem Blog, was ihm an der Elon University in North Carolina passiert ist (Hervorhebung von mir): I sidled up [...]
October 18, 2008 at 1:43 pm
[...] 180 Convergers, what we lacked in quantity was made up for in quality with late surge that included Joe “the reporter” Killian who, as I awoke to discover, became more and more famous as yesterday [...]
October 18, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Wow, I hate hearing that!
It really scares me that these groups are becoming so violent and hostile! I hope your leg is OK.
(I found your blog through a friend on Twitter… wasn’t going to comment but…. wow!)
October 18, 2008 at 3:43 pm
I believe Toby Keith first declared that putting a boot in someone’s ass is the American way.
October 18, 2008 at 4:02 pm
This post is so funny, I’m sorry about your leg. I just blogged something today about Obama and Palin supporters. I keep making a decision about who I want to vote for and then their supporters make me change my mind. I know you hate to hear this but the Obama supporters that are running me away from Obama are the media and their making fun of those fat bearded McCain/ Palin supporters. The supporters running me away from McCain/Palin besides the fact that they are in the same party as Bush are the Fat Bearded Men who kick people in the leg. If the media continues to make fun of Joe the Plumber he’s just going to get more and more angry. The people caught in the middle of this are people with a sense of self respect for themselves and who are not giving in to the cries of the media that being an elite celebrity or intellectual is where it’s at (Obama supporters), or that in order to be an American you have to scream USA and send your son to war (McCain Supporters). We independents will make a decision soon.
October 18, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Why is it that the country is so polarized? We are taking giant steps to even more separation. Never in my lifetime, have I witnessed such a giant leap backward for the blacks of this country. Obama has empowered his people to bring out the worst in everyone. You should not have been treated the way you were. I know, that doesn’t make the hurt go away. Chaulk it up to experience.
October 18, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I’m so sorry you were kicked like that. I begin to wonder about the intelligence of the McCain/Palin supporters.
Hopefully your next political outing goes better.
October 18, 2008 at 4:30 pm
[...] wrench beer in your hand? Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Day 8: WesternWashington Wire – [...]
October 18, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Don’t Obama supporters have better things to do than attend McCain/Palin events? All they are looking for is trouble.
Sorry you got kicked though.
October 18, 2008 at 4:44 pm
It may have been all of the gun racks mixed with the intoxicating hair spray that evoked such a response from this guy… totally beyond his control I’m sure.
Sorry it happened to you, but you DO have a good story to tell out of it. And at least I know where I can go when I’m feeling a little sassy and aggressive and need to feel some release.
October 18, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Wow, great story…
that’s almost as interesting as a male Obama supporter beating a female McCain supporter, with a stick, in NYC….
http://chicagoagainstobama.wordpress.com/2008/10/17/obama-told-his-supporters-to-get-in-peoples-facesthis-loser-listened-and-beat-up-a-woman/
It goes both ways…but you would never want your readers to know that…would you?
October 18, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Joe, thanks for telling your story. People love to demonize the media, and there you were among the ones that make it very personal. Very brave.
The sucker-kick guy…not so much.
October 18, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Terrific post. Hope you’re feeling no pain (one way or another).
October 18, 2008 at 6:39 pm
[...] covering the Sarah Palin campaign appearance Thursday at Elon University. Joe’s account is here. Additional info and commentary by our colleague Mark Binker is [...]
October 18, 2008 at 8:08 pm
[...] And the full story from the primary source is here. [...]
October 18, 2008 at 8:09 pm
[...] St. Louis rally, go here. Bonus: Remember the Reporter who was assaulted at the Palin Rally? This is his story from his blog. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)John McCain: More of the Same, and why “More [...]
October 18, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Great story Joe. That whole incident backs up the stereotype that I conjour up when I think of what citizen chants for McCain. Thank God I’m not of them haha and even more thanks that Obama is bringing some sense into the political realm- we need change and he’s here for it!
October 18, 2008 at 8:29 pm
[...] October 17, 2008 – At 3:01 am, nearly 12 hours after the Palin rally, Joe Killian posts a story on his personal website about being kicked at the Palin rally by a man he describes as a “big [...]
October 18, 2008 at 9:00 pm
[...] Killian, a reporter the News & Record, was assaulted yesterday at the Sarah Palin rally at Elon University. This election season we’ve been seeing an increasing amount of violence and threats from [...]
October 18, 2008 at 9:29 pm
[...] A reporter for the Greensboro News-Record was physically assaulted by a McCain/Palin supporter at a Sarah Palin rally in North Carolina on Oct. 16. “This [...]
October 18, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Sorry to hear that
October 19, 2008 at 12:09 am
“I’m sorry he got kicked. I found it humorous.”
W.T.F?
Well, I’ve seen the light: since assault is so damn funny, I’ll be laughing very hard next time one of your ilk get beat up. Oh wait, that doesn’t happen, ‘cuz we’re not thugs.
October 19, 2008 at 12:09 am
Thank you for reporting this. I find it ironic that Palin supporters chanted “USA” at the Obama people, as if Obama supporters are less patriotic. I don’t know how Palin and McCain can sleep at night knowing they have encouraged mass hysteria and only fostered hatred. God help us if they are elected.
October 19, 2008 at 12:24 am
Fascism is very ugly indeed. With the Obama/Socialist takeover of the US, we’ll see more and more liberal/Fascist reporters like this guy covering up for the regime, and crying “racism” and covering up for Obama’s thugs at every turn.
Folks, we’re just two weeks away from electing America’s first Fascist President. The only thing standing in the way of the Goosesteppers is McCain and Palin. Please don’t let them take over this country, like the Nazis did in 1933. Please! Our very lives depend upon it.
October 19, 2008 at 12:29 am
[...] leave a comment » “Don’t the Palin folks vet the places she’s supposed to speak? Is a liberal college campus really the places for her?” – lcloud [...]
October 19, 2008 at 2:08 am
Joe,
Thanks for yet another fanciful, fabricated and of course wholly unsubstantiated smear of of McCain’s supporters. It fits nicely into the talking points the Obama campaign e-mailed you last week. Since you were almost trampled to death after provoking an imaginary fistfight, I’m sure if real reporters searched the public records they’d find your filed attempted murder charges, right? Yes, I know all McCainites look alike with their beer-bellies and beards — but remember, their individual DNA is unique. I’m sure the guy left enough on you to run through a database, and we all know he’ll pop up because of his 20 or 30 priors for racially-motivated beatings.
October 19, 2008 at 2:15 am
Joe Six pack Speaks:
http://www.JoeSixPack.me
October 19, 2008 at 4:10 am
[...] If McCain wins, he will get little done with a Democratic Congress; he will be under continued scrutiny because Sarah Palin will probably keep speaking–which is a disaster in any case–and his supporters will blame Obama and the Democrats for his inability to lead. More anger, resentment and inactivity. One troubling result of which can be read here. [...]
October 19, 2008 at 4:31 am
So Joe, just when you thought the physical abuse was over, now comes the emotional.
Didn’t you learn to not investigate or report anything the first time?
In all seriousness, glad you’re okay and kept your dignity under fire.
October 19, 2008 at 4:52 am
I wish I could say I’m surprised that happened. After seeing various photos from McCain/Palin rallies, you can’t deny there’s a degrees of hate that stretches past political beliefs.
It’s interesting to hear McCain/Palin supporters talk of an unfair portrayal of the VP candidate and then to have a Palin supporter assault a reporter interviewing members of that event’s political minority to write an objective recollection of the rally.
I can’t find any mentioning or subtle undertones of Joe Killian’s political affiliation within this story. Both Jeffrey Sykes and Eric Dondero need to get over themselves and realize that this story told an ugly truth that no one wants to talk about. Whether it’s fueled by racism or traditional conservative values, assaulting a reporter; assaulting anyone results in a negative portrayal of events. How is that Fascist?
October 19, 2008 at 8:45 am
Wait…why didn’t you kick his teeth in? Did he not have teeth?
Yeah you’re a reporter but that doesn’t mean you trade your balls for a microphone or computer.
October 19, 2008 at 1:27 pm
[...] a reporter is attacked at a McCain-Palin rally in my very own North Carolina Jump to Comments At Elon, no less. For all I know, the assholes in question used to be my neighbours. The same sort [...]
October 19, 2008 at 1:59 pm
[...] – Joe Killian, “How I Became Joe Sixpack” [...]
October 19, 2008 at 2:00 pm
[...] into Joe Killian the other day while attending the wonderful ConvergeSouth conference. Joe was knocked down while [...]
October 19, 2008 at 2:06 pm
As a fellow journalist, I can sympathize with you. It’s not easy being targeted as something you might not be. The hostility is growing against smaller news outlets because of the rage directed at the “Mainstream Media”. It’s only going to get worse. My advice: kevlar, karate lessons and weapons training.
On the plus side, you can one day tell your grandkids about reporting in a hostile war zone when you covered the 2008 election.
October 19, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Joe,
Who are you voting for?
What qualities do you look for in a leader?
What are the major external stimulae this leader will have to face?
I have asked those questions to 100 different people and have been threatened by dem/repub alike and complimented by dem/repub alike.
Reporters, like anyone need a job. Like anyone else, a little notariety doesn’t hurt you at a job interview.
I suppose later you can say what a tough journalist you were to go into the line of fire to get a difficult story. Then, you can get a better job with a payraise. Obama is in the lead in the poles, so why not pander to the larger group of supporters to help your own cause.
I’m no reporter and you are no ‘Joe Sixpack’.
October 19, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Why is my comment ‘awaiting moderation’?
You actually pick and choose what can be submitted?
What kind of a journalist supports censorship?
October 19, 2008 at 2:29 pm
You were right to leave the assault out of the main story. The more it is analyzed, the stupider it gets. It’s not a question of properly understanding its monumental relevance. It’s a question of understanding its relative irrrelelvance.
October 19, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Thanks for sharing.
October 19, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Dave -
All the comments ont his thread so far have been approved.
I do moderate comments because I used to get a lot of obscene comments and later a lot of spam comments. I’m not censoring any of the comments for content and both of yours have now been approved.
I’m afraid I can’t asnwer your question as to who I’m voting for. I can vote for whoever I like, but it’s against the code of ethics and professionalism of the company that I work for to publicly back political campaigns. I agreed to that when I took the job and, while it’s not always easy in an election season, it’s probably for the best.
October 19, 2008 at 4:49 pm
[...] what about Joe the Solar Guy? But Republican anger is real, as Joe the Reporter, gets kicked to the ground by a Palin supporter. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Joe Wurzelbacher: The New [...]
October 19, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Joe,
I left some questions for you at blogs of Ed Cone and Sam Spagnola, but I notice you haven’t responded. So I’m going to try here. This is what I left at those two blogs. I hope you will consider providing answers.
Joe,
I earlier left a question for you at Sam Spagnola’s blog. You did not respond. Perhaps you didn’t see it.
I’m trying again. This time I’m posting it at the blogs of both Spagnola and Cone in the hope that you will see it and reply.
The question I left earlier was about the figure of only 2,000 people attending the Palin rally as reported by the News & Record. You said that a cop gave you that figure. I wanted to know who that officer is and for which law enforcement agency he or she works.
Not long after I left this question at Spagnola’s blog, John Robinson said at his blog. “The Burlington Police told us 2,000. That’s where we got the number.”
Since the rally apparently took place in Elon, which has its on police department, I wondered why the Burlington Police would be issuing such a statement. I asked John who at the Burlington Police department provided that information. So far he has not given an answer.
Was the officer who provided you the 2,000 figure from the Burlington PD? Is this the person John is relying on? Or did he get the figure from somebody else at Burlington PD?
I still want to know the name of this officer and the agency for which the officer worked. As a diligent journalist, surely you got the officer’s name and the department, didn’t you? Most cops wear name tags and insignia so that’s not too tough.
Will you now provide that information?
I now have other questions.
You could see the crowd. Were you aware that the stadium, as Ed Cone points out, seated 2,000? Weren’t the seats filled, along with the infield and most of the outfield, as video tapes and photos show? Weren’t more people in shaded areas beyond the stadium? Shouldn’t that have caused you to question the officer’s judgment that only 2,000 were present?
Do you accept anything that any police officer says as fact and present it that way even if your own judgment tells you that it’s not true?
Why did you accept the 2,000 figure?
Sam’s concerns about the attack on you also raise more questions.
As a reporter, if someone had come to you with a story about an assault that is as deficient in details as the one you have provided would you have published it?
Here are some questions about the attack that I think a reporter or police officer might ask. Who were you interviewing at the time of the attack? Can you provide a name? At which dorm did this occur? Did anybody attempt to stop the attacker?
You wrote that from your position on the ground after the attacker sent you sprawling, “I saw the bottoms of a number of feet almost accidentally stomping me to death as the two political camps screamed back and forth, the music continued to blare and some of the Obama crowd moved the large bearded man and his friends away. When I was helped to my feet the bearded man was walking quickly away”
How many friends were with this guy? What were their descriptions? How did the Obama crowd move him and his friends away? Did nobody attempt to detain him after witnessing the attack? Did anybody call for help? Call the police? Were you helped to your feet by the person you had been interviewing?
How far did you have to go to find a police officer? You wrote that you did find one eventually. How long did it take? Who was that police officer and what agency was he with?
You wrote that he was “courteous and helpful.” What did you tell him and what did he say to you?
Certainly, this officer can be located and can confirm what you say if you can only supply the details that any reporter would require. That would clear everything up, wouldn’t it?
October 19, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Joe the Reporter,
Thank you for your fearless presence in a crowd of the fearful. Being kicked the ground is some displaced anger. If Republican inciters really want to win this election big, they need not redirect anger to “unbelievers”, but tap into the clearly seething American anger against the actual symbols of the forces that have betrayed our economy. Maureen Dowd wrote a great piece on this today: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/opinion/19dowd.html
Stay strong.
October 19, 2008 at 5:41 pm
[...] Well, they got some…a bit more than they expected. I’ll let Mr. Killian take the story from there (from his blog): [...]
October 19, 2008 at 6:44 pm
[...] subconscious End Times postmillennial hysteria run amok Joe Killian assaulted while reporting at a McCain/Palin rally. [...]
October 19, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Wow, Obama’s has awakened some that many Americans thought was long gone, and I am not just talking about Race. Obama’s in my view has awakened the for the soul of Americas past, and Americas future. It is clear McCain is the past and Obama is the future. Yes, people do not like Obama because he is black, some do not like him because he is a Dem, but many do not like him because he is all about changing and that would mean that many Americas would have would have to come to realize the Presidency is not ruled by Jim Crow, “white only.”
October 19, 2008 at 7:32 pm
[...] the people who are attacking canvassers and beating them, who are attacking the media with physical assaults and verbal racial slurs – those people don’t represent America. And ironically it’s [...]
October 19, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Thank you for the response.
October 20, 2008 at 2:38 am
Joe, I’m just catching up on the comments here and on other blog posts about your incident. After seeing the ignorant, hateful things people have said to and about you, it amazes me how you can keep your cool and not only be professional but be civil to the people who are calling you a liar. I guess when you blog as a journalist, you have to learn to put on a mental flak jacket just to check your email. I don’t think I could ever cultivate the discipline to let accusations of dishonesty roll off my back, especially when they’re literally adding insult to injury. Just one of many reasons you are an awesome journalist. (And, you know, just awesome.)
October 20, 2008 at 2:49 am
Thanks, Kitty. Writing for a newspaper sort of steels you for blogging, I guess.
But nobody I consider to be reasonable is being a prick.
October 20, 2008 at 6:48 am
it’s almost too bad you didn’t start something, otherwise there might be a shred of evidence (police report) that anything happened, like the number of thoroughly disproven violence/calls for obama assassination at rallies fantasies getting bandied about on this side of the aisle.
October 20, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Perhaps I’ve missed it somewhere, but I have not seen your answers to the questions Jerry Bledsoe asked you.
Where might I find them?
October 20, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Hey Bubba and Jerry Bledsoe,
Joe does this blog on his own time. Believe it or not, you don’t have any right to demand answers to whatever questions you care to toss at him.
October 20, 2008 at 5:40 pm
wow, bubba. why is 2000 so important to you? and who cares who made that estimate? perhaps joe isn’t responding because he doesn’t know every detail but just reports on what he’s aware. ya sound like a bully, bubba. and so does jerry.
as to the post itself, it sure seems ironic that mccain supporters shout USA USA whenever someone says Obama. are they afraid or are they chanting the obvious? or are they suggesting that obama supporters are not americans. it’s all confusing. but it’s republican politics to the core: demonize those who don’t get down on their knees in and kiss your a** in agreement.
Personally, I’d like to know the truth behind Palin’s association with that anti-American secessionist party up there in Alaska, the Alaska Independence Party. Something which is a heck of a lot more relevant that a petty little disagreement over attendance numbers.
October 20, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I think David Hoggard had it right on Ed Cone’s blog when he said Joe is too smart to get sucked into Bledsoe’s attacks. He actually has a job and knows nothing he can say will satisfy some of these people anyway.
October 20, 2008 at 6:15 pm
lolz.
October 20, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Still no answer to Bledsoe’s question.
Now just what should we make of that?
October 20, 2008 at 8:12 pm
[...] damn! Things are getting rowdy here in Cackalacky. A reporter was beaten at a McCain-Palin rally at Elon University on October 17th. Obama got an ugly reception [...]
October 20, 2008 at 8:31 pm
It’s probably the same reason he’s ignoring you Bubba. Hoggard had it right earlier when he said it’s not worth arguing with you guys because nothing he says can please you.
October 20, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Ohh boys you’re great!!!! *g*
October 20, 2008 at 9:40 pm
wow, what a crazy story… also sorry that happened to you… but i think it’s great that you shared it. it’s pretty scary how worked up people get over this stuff.
October 21, 2008 at 9:04 pm
[...] man in full McCain-Palin campaign regalia got in his face to yell at him,” Killian writes in his blog. He asked the man to hold tight while he interviewed [...]
October 21, 2008 at 11:12 pm
[...] handles this. Remember, Binker was understandably upset over fellow reporter Joe Killian’s incident at the Palin rally, yet he crossed the line when he “wondered whether Republicans [...]
October 22, 2008 at 11:22 pm
[...] by a Palin supporter as he was trying to interview protestors at the event who backed Obama. From Joe’s blog: “Oh, you think that’s funny?!” the large bearded man said. His face was turning [...]
October 25, 2008 at 10:40 am
[...] I sincerely hope that Joe Killian was not injured at the Elon Palin rally. I was appalled by his subsequent treatment. [...]
October 29, 2008 at 11:43 am
I read & heard from several Elon University professors about the attack you suffered after the rally. I’m terribly sorry that you received this kind of treatment from adults, who should know better. I believe that Palin’s rallies are, unfortunately, showcasing a disturbing trend in the Rupublican party. It’s not a new trend, the politics of divide & demonize has been working for them for years. Here’s the problem; for the “Real Republicans” (ie. the truly wealthy, politically important ones) this is a tactic, an edge item, a throw-away bit; for those who “think” they are Republicans (ie. Joe the Plumber, Betty the hairdresser, making less than $50K per year.) it is next-door to a religion. Those on high in the Repugnican party have preached this gospel to the true-believers, and lo they have believed it. Now, when we need our country to come together and do what is best for all, those true believers CAN’T! It would be akin to denying the existance of God, the right to bear arms, & the veracity of the Bible.
Do not get me wrong. I know and love these people. I’ve lived with them all my life. They are not bad people, mostly. Occasionally, you will meet an ass, like the one who knocked you down. He was wrong. He should be punished. But, I can just about guarantee you, that what he felt when he did what he did was probably akin to a religious experience for him. He was “defending his beliefs” in his own mind. Unfortunately, no one ever taught him how to do that without using his fists (or feet.) and the Repugnican party has targeted its message to those like him, to further divide us as Americans. Has anyone explored how to “de-program” Republicans??
I am sorry that you were assaulted in my county. It makes me ashamed of my county & it makes me furious (fortunately, I do know how to use “my words!”)