Posted on 11/11/2004 7:35:01 AM PST by ArmyBratCutie
By Cliff Kincaid | November 11, 2004 Here's a different kind of case you may not have heard about, even though possibly a hundred journalists were present and five television cameras were there. One of the favorite stories of the press is when a heckler disrupts a political event, especially when a conservative is the target. Months ago some extreme left-wingers disrupted a congressional hearing where Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was speaking about Iraq. They held up a sign and started chanting. That became news. Conservative columnist Ann Coulter was recently giving a speech at a university and ran from the stage when she saw two men coming to attack her. It turns out they only had pies, but they could have easily inflicted bodily harm. Film footage of the attack made the news.
Here's a different kind of case you may not have heard about, even though possibly a hundred journalists were present and five television cameras were there. In this case, the Washington press corps ignored an assault at the podium of its own National Press Club, minutes before billionaire George Soros was scheduled to speak and just four days before the election. We at Accuracy in Media covered the attack, as we were in the audience when it occurred and saw the initial stages of the assault. Anti-drug activist Steven Steiner was surrounded by security personnel, who represented either Soros or the National Press Club, and he was hauled away and beaten up.
As we reported, Steiner told us that he was accused of "trespassing," when he had a ticket to the event, and that he simply wanted people to see a picture of his dead 19-year-old son, Stevie, and to explain why Soros-supported drug legalization would only make the drug problem worse. This "disruption" occurred before the official program was underway and Soros had been introduced. There was nobody else at the podium at the time. Yet security came down on him like a ton of bricks.
Even though the initial stages of the incident occurred in front of possibly a hundred or more journalists and five television cameras, the only newspaper story we have found about the incident appeared in the Binghamton, New York, Press & Sun-Bulletin. Reporter Justin Walden contacted Steiner, a local area resident, and Accuracy in Media for comment.
As he reported, "Steiner spoke at a platform near Soros for about 15 seconds, displayed a picture of his son Steven Steiner Jr., then was physically removed from the platform by three or four people…What further bothers Steiner about the incident in Washington is what happened after he was hauled away by those three or four people. Steiner said he was thrown into a door in a side hallway at the Press Club. Steiner said he suffered a dislocated left shoulder—aggravating a prior injury. But the pain was bad enough to send him to the hospital for five hours."
It's important to note that Steiner did not threaten or go near Soros. He wasn't trying to throw a pie at the billionaire. He just wanted a few seconds before the start of the official program to say something about the drug problem and the death of his son. There was nobody else at the podium at the time, and most people were just milling around or waiting for their food. If you're outraged by this incident and the cover-up, call the National Press Club in Washington.
What do you want? Equal time for assaults and trespassing? Forget about it. They are all wrong. If they want to be heard, get their own forum. We should all show respect, not give equal time to anarchy.
BTTT
This post was NOT about the protest, and the article does not side with the protester in any way. It is about (i) the undue abuse he suffered, and (ii) lack of reporting on it by the media.
A link, please?
Thanky God the Press DID NOT advetise this idiot's foolishness. I'm surprised they didn't play this up big for the stereotype of the lunatic oppressive republican crusader.
you completely missed the point, if you ask me...
the point being, that the Liberal Media gives PLENTY of press to a conservative being attacked, because the Liberal Media thinks they deserve it...BUT they gave no press to this man, who wanted to protest Soros speaking, because of Soros support of illegal drugs ...
no where was it shown.. because Soros is one of the Liberals heros, having finanaced most of Kerrys campaign...
other than that, I dont know what you're talking about...
The guy got up and started heckling in a hostile forum. He got what he asked for....the whoopin was due. No matter how much I agree with him.
Yeah, well I for one would have liked to seen the guy stay silent until Soro's started yapping, then pull out a 44 mag and blow the friggin' commie's head off. For some reason I don't equate anti American protestors in the same vein as pro American protestors.
I think you're completely wrong.....
the man deserved to have some coverage of his heckling that lunatic liberal billionaire ... he wanted Soros to answer about his support of illegal drugs....NO ONE reported on it, because NO ONE wants anyone to think Soros isnt just the BEST THING since sliced bread.......
but thats just my and their opinion...
The one media outlet who ran the story tells it a bit differently than the "victim".
Perhaps it wasn't reported because it was a non-event, nothing like making Ann Coulter look good enough to eat. (careful, gentleman)
I think it was an event....A father heckling a Liberal Billionaire that supports illegal drugs......the AIM point was, that if they were heckling a conservative, it would have been all over the news, because of course we ALL KNOW conservatives deserve it.... but they didnt report a Father heckling Soros support of illegal drugs, because Soros is the darling of the Liberal Media....so obviously the man needed beating and shutting up....'cause Soros is SUCH a good man, why would anyone want to heckle him......
I cant believe so many of ya'll dont get this....sheesh
I agree that "he deserved to have some coverage." You and I both know that the press protects their own.
Where we diverge is on methods. I despise the idiots that interrupted Rummy's Senate testimony with "Halliburton baby killers" or whatever, and I also dislike this fella's methods. For example, Protest Warrior does a FANTASTIC job of beating the libs at their own game, but they don't incurr any arse whoopins (generally.) This guy asked for it, and he got it.
So, if this guy had gone out and vandalized some Honda Prius's he would've deserved coverage of his "point" because liberals smash SUVs all the time?
What "we don't get" is why you relativistically support an idiot on our side and don't support idiots on the other side.
Idiots do not help our cause. I can't believe you don't get that.
;-P
Hes not an idiot.....
hes a broken hearted father that wanted to protest George Soros speaking at the National Press Club....a man so anti american, he reeks of it.....
I do support this......you bet I do....
I don't approve of unnecessary force and violence (unlike the drug warriors who get their jollies from bashing doors and bashing heads) but god knows America isn't exactly wanting for anti-drug prohibitionist rhetoric. Just ask poor, oppressed John Walters about that..
You can bet if a liberal had been roughed up before a conservative forum it would have been portraid as a Rodney King moment.
AMEN!!
The MSM press are his comrades in arms (ink.)
The folks that threw pies at Ann Coulter did not help their cause.
The folks that heckled Rummy did not help their cause.
I despise them all.
I SUPPORT this poor father, but his choice of grabbing headlines did not help his cause. Why should we want to be like them?
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