Freedom of the press on life support in New York City

[JD Barleycorn]

Online reporter asks a question of Mayor Bloomberg and gets the fifth degree from NYPD. First amendment on life support in bed next to second amendment.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journal...ntrol-Question

[CuteOldGuy]

This is what we're becoming. And there are people on this board who are happy about it.

[i'va biggen]

Besides you and the op who?

[Seedy]

Fucking bloomberg, what a douchebag. I would have told him to get down and suck my dick.. lol

[WTF]

Originally Posted by seedman55

Fucking bloomberg, what a douchebag. I would have told him to get down and suck my dick.. lol

You'd let a man suck your weenie?

God Damn seedy, I thought COG and JD were the only ones light in the pants in this forum!

[Guest032516]

I think they should have kicked his ass.

There is a reason why high-ranking public figures have security details in the first place. John Hinckley got within about 15 feet of Reagan and emptied a gun at him. Reagan was saved by the bodies of the people between him and Hinckley. That's why the security guards keep placing themselves between the mayor and the on-line asshole.

Why is it that some people think they can get RIGHT UP IN OTHER PEOPLE'S FACES anytime they want? Do they think there is a constitutional right to demand the undivided attention of another person?

Bloomberg clearly turned to walk away from the guy, but he kept trying to maneuver around to get back in Bloomberg's face.

It was entirely possible for him to stand 10 or 15 feet away from Bloomberg and ask his question. NO ONE has the right to be within arm's length distance of a public figure. Teh White House press corps is routinely kept behind a barrier when the President enters and leave the White House on the Marine One helicopter. They do not have the right to charge up to the President and stick a microphone in his face.

I don't like Bloomberg, but he deserves his space like very other human being. And if he does not want to answer the questions of a reporter - ANY reporter - that is his right. If people don't like it, they can vote him out at the next election..

If some left-wing asshole from the Daily Kos was doing that to a conservative politician, the right wingers on this board would be jumping all over him.

[Guest032516]

Originally Posted by WTF

God Damn seedy, I thought COG and JD were the only ones light in the pants in this forum!

Speak for yourself, twinkle-toes.

[Seedy]

Originally Posted by WTF

You'd let a man suck your weenie?

God Damn seedy, I thought COG and JD were the only ones light in the pants in this forum!

Lmfao, just a figure of speech. Fucker.... lol

[WTF]

Originally Posted by seedman55

Lmfao, just a figure of speech. Fucker.... lol

Watch your figure of speech 'round here, a couple of these gay loggers on here will have ya bent over before Bloomberg bans another soda!

[JD Barleycorn]

Bloomberg, unlike Reagan, is advocating gun control and infringing on the second amendment. Can you say hypocrisy?

[Jackie S]

Originally Posted by ExNYer

I think they should have kicked his ass.

There is a reason why high-ranking public figures have security details in the first place. John Hinckley got within about 15 feet of Reagan and emptied a gun at him. Reagan was saved by the bodies of the people between him and Hinckley. That's why the security guards keep placing themselves between the mayor and the on-line asshole.

Why is it that some people think they can get RIGHT UP IN OTHER PEOPLE'S FACES anytime they want? Do they think there is a constitutional right to demand the undivided attention of another person?

Bloomberg clearly turned to walk away from the guy, but he kept trying to maneuver around to get back in Bloomberg's face.

It was entirely possible for him to stand 10 or 15 feet away from Bloomberg and ask his question. NO ONE has the right to be within arm's length distance of a public figure. Teh White House press corps is routinely kept behind a barrier when the President enters and leave the White House on the Marine One helicopter. They do not have the right to charge up to the President and stick a microphone in his face.

I don't like Bloomberg, but he deserves his space like very other human being. And if he does not want to answer the questions of a reporter - ANY reporter - that is his right. If people don't like it, they can vote him out at the next election..

If some left-wing asshole from the Daily Kos was doing that to a conservative politician, the right wingers on this board would be jumping all over him.

The mayor is a public official, in fact, a very high profile public official.
You never put hands on a member of the Press with Credentials when they are in the act of doing their job. Bloomberg is not the President, he is simply the mayor of a City.

I would think there is a major Civil Rights violation here, especially concerning the 1st Amendment. I see it as no different than a bunch of jack booted thugs breaking into a publishing office and smashing all of the machines.

[Guest032516]

Originally Posted by JD Barleycorn

Bloomberg, unlike Reagan, is advocating gun control and infringing on the second amendment. Can you say hypocrisy?

Oh, I see. Thank you for clarifying that.

If you agree with a politician's positions, then people should respect his space and personal safety and maintain a respectful distance.

But, if you don't like a politician's opinions, then anyone should be able to get right in his face every time he tries to turn away from them. It is OK for people to act like deranged stalkers towards politicians you don't like. Is that it?

I think the cops were wrong to follow him and ask him for his name and date of birth. But they were perfectly correct in keeping their bodies between him and Bloomberg.

And he was an asshole for continually trying to spin around them and get closer to Bloomberg.

[Guest032516]

Originally Posted by Jackie S

The mayor is a public official, in fact, a very high profile public official.

You never put hands on a member of the Press with Credentials when they are in the act of doing their job. Bloomberg is not the President, he is simply the mayor of a City.

Your first sentence ("very high profile public official") and your third sentence ("simply a mayor") contradict and make no sense. What are your trying to say?

But, ultimately, what difference does it make if Bloomberg is "only" a mayor? Does that give creeps and assholes the right to shove right past his bodyguards and get in his face when he is trying to get away from them?

Where do you get your weird ideas about members of the press having credentials? Are you saying that if someone has press credentials, they have some enhanced rights to confront politicians? If the press member decides that "doing his job" means that he can tackle Bloomberg and pin him to the ground and "demand answers" to "important questions", is that OK because he has credentials?

Are press credentials some kind of "Get Out Of Jail Free" card?

Believe it or not, the press does NOT have any superior rights to the average citizen.

Originally Posted by Jackie S

I would think there is a major Civil Rights violation here, especially concerning the 1st Amendment. I see it as no different than a bunch of jack booted thugs breaking into a publishing office and smashing all of the machines.

You would think that. And you would be wrong.

The first amendments protects freedom of the press and freedom of speech. It does NOT and NEVER HAS guaranteed the press an audience with a politician. If a politician ignores the press and walks away from them, they do NOT have the right to try to block his path and get past his bodyguards.

They can shout questions to him all day long. And he can ignore them all day long.
That is the way it works. But when the "press" (and I use that word loosely with this asshole) gets physical, they step across a line just as surely as you or I would if we tried the same thing.

[CuteOldGuy]

While the government controlled MSM dutifully obeys the government on what to report and how to report it, our only chance to know what is really going on is through these independent journalists willing to risk everything to get the story. This guy was followed and harassed in Washington DC by NYC police officers, who had no jurisdiction, but only the threat of intimidation.

This is beyond the pale of journalist harassment. We are only free if our press is free.

"Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it." --Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, 1786.

"The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them." --Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787.

I especially liked the line "Would you like a sip of my soda?"

Certainly our politicians need to be protected, but freedom of the press is more deserving of protection than any politician.

[JD Barleycorn]

I never said what you claim I said. Must be hanging around WTF and someother semi-literates. Bloomberg is a public figure...which has nothing to do with what happened. The man is a reporter with the proper ID and he is treated like a stalker. I has nothing to do with what a politican is saying. My comment which is separate from the confrontation, based on your comments, is that Bloomberg is forcing people in New York City to do what he won't do. He is a tyrant.