Shameful. There's no other word for it.
As a journalist and citizen, I was incensed by what U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge, a Democrat, did to that poor young man who approached him on the sidewalk for an interview. The kid, who has obviously had a tough life, was simply out trying to fulfill a school project by asking an elected official a legitimate question when he found himself being boy-handled on acity street.
T'ain't right, McGee.
Instead of roughing up the kid, Etheridge should have lauded his courage for going out in public despite the handicaps he faces - namely, not having a face. Or a name. And wearing an ugly suit. If you've seen the video - and by the time rejoicing Republicans get through expressing outrage, everyone on the planet will have seen it - you see that there is simply a blur where the brave young man's face should be. The kid wouldn't identify himself because, apparently, his parents didn't bother to name him.
"What fer, Ethel? He ain't got no face."
I've been told that my face reminds people of Denzel Washington's - if you're drunk, blind in one eye and squint through the other one. Doesn't matter. At least I have a face. That poor novice journalist has labored lo thesemany years with just a gray blur. I, sir, am in awe.
I know that Etheridge, who has been mea culpa-ing all over the place since the incident, is a compassionate man not because of his political positions, but because years ago he alerted me to a hard-working family in his district whose super-intelligent son was also supersized - he wore a size 25 shoe. When I asked you readers to help, you gave generously.
The concern in Etheridge's voice then was way more impressive to me than any vote he'll ever cast. My question is: Why couldn't he have shown the same tenderness toward that poor, faceless, nameless urchin who approached him with the microphone?
Savvy politicians can sense an ambush or a loaded question, and it was immediately obvious that the no-faced boy accosting Etheridge was about as legitimate a journalist as this ham sandwich I'm eating. You could sense a setup as soon as Mr. Eyes Without A Face cheerily asked "Do you fully support the Obama agenda?" and refused to identify himself.
Still, Etheridge has been in politics long enough to know that you can't grab someone - not even a faceless little snot - by the wrist or by the scruff of his neck, as he did when he tried to turn the front of the kid's head toward the camera. My favorite retired cop, Senior Raleigh Officer Masonic Stokes, said wrist-grabbing "could be considered simple assault, depending on how far [the victim] wants to take it."
Most guys who've ever dated a woman with a pet they didn't like know how to surreptitiously poke Fluffy or elbow it in the ribs while appearing to caress it.
Smart politicians know how to do the same thing to reporters. I've got the scars to prove it.
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