You Said What About My Mamma?
Yesterday, my girlfriend informed me she saw a video of an Alabama lawmaker (Republican Sen. Charles Bishop), punching another Alabama lawmaker (Democratic Senator Lowell Barron) in the face. I tried to find the video online, or at least the story, but couldn’t. Today, luckily, I saw this post at Sister Toldjah. ST links to this article at CNN and found the video on YouTube:
Bishop’s explanation: Barron called him a “son of a bitch.” Bishop explained that “where I grew up, that’s somebody talking bad about your mother and when he did, I responded with my right hand.” I am quite sure that it does not matter where one grew up; it’s an insult just about everywhere.
“Son of a bitch” was doubly insulting to Bishop because his mother passed away a long time ago.
He apologized by saying that “this should not have happened… It is not how adults” solve their problems.
I would like to thank both Bishop and Barron for providing some great entertainment. Lord knows that I needed a good laugh this morning. It is very frequently that I think to myself ‘politics have become so personal. It’s all attacking the other side. There is no room for reasonable debate anymore.’ After I watched the video of Bishop punching Barron I cheared up and realized things could be far worse: luckily we almost never see lawmakers literally fighting one another on the Senate floor.
To put it in perspective, though, it wasn’t all that long ago that lawmakers would challenge each other to duels. Glad that we’ve risen above that, of course, but it’s not as though vitriole and the violence that accompanies it is a new phenomenon.
What was odd about that video, it seemed like they were having a calm discussion right before the punch was thrown; I guess the audio wasn’t close enough to capture what they were saying, but it seemed to come out of nowhere.
Hi Michael,
Its pretty tame in comparison to Maggi Thatcher’s then-Defense Minister Michael Heseltine. He once bashed an opposition MP with the ceremonial mace of justice during a debate in the British parliament.
Regards, C
wow…that was one of the gheyest looking punches ive ever seen. Even the guy who was being attacked couldnt help but smile.