When Richard Nixon lost his bid to become Governor of California in 1962 he angrily told the press: “You won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” (Actually the press DID and Nixon became President and the press REALLY did have him to kick around.)
Now, Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL) announced his retirement and an aide of his is accused of taking that sentiment a bit further: by kicking around — or, rather, shoving down a stairway — a member of the press.
See the video HERE. The reporter has filed a complaint.
There was a time when people were indeed a little less prone to physical and verbal violence but the bar keeps being moved since it is tolerated and enabled. So the bar is constantly lowered and these various forms of rage become the norm. The bad news for Weller: he is already retiring under a cloud. This makes him retire under a thunderstorm.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.