Posted on 04/21/2005 4:17:21 AM PDT by RVN Airplane Driver
(AP) In a photo released by the Kansas City, Mo. Police, Michael A. Smith, is shown. Smith, 54, of... Full Image
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A man spit tobacco juice into the face of Jane Fonda after waiting in line to have her sign her new memoir. Capt. Rich Lockhart of the Kansas City Police Department said Michael A. Smith, 54, was arrested Tuesday night on a municipal charge of disorderly conduct.
He was released on bond and is due to appear in court on May 27.
Fonda covers a wide range of topics in "My Life So Far," including her 1972 visit to Hanoi to protest the Vietnam War, during which she was photographed on a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun. She has apologized for the photo, but not for opposing the war.
Smith, a Vietnam veteran, told The Kansas City Star Wednesday that Fonda was a "traitor" and that her protests against the Vietnam War were unforgivable. He said he doesn't chew tobacco but did so Tuesday solely to spit juice on the actress.
"I consider it a debt of honor," he told The Star for a story on its Web site. "She spit in our faces for 37 years. It was absolutely worth it. There are a lot of veterans who would love to do what I did."
Fonda, who flew to Minneapolis Wednesday for another appearance on her book tour, issued a statement through Jynne Martin of Random House.
"In spite of the incident, my experience in Kansas City was wonderful and I thank all the warm and supportive people, including so many veterans, who came to welcome me last night," she said.
Fonda drew a crowd of about 900 at Unity Temple, said Vivian Jennings, whose Rainy Day Books of suburban Fairway, Kan., sponsored the event.
Jennings said the 67-year-old actress never got up from her seat and continued autographing books after the tobacco juice was wiped off.
"The important thing is that she was so calm and so gracious about it," Jennings said. "She was wonderful."
He should demand a jury trial.
Odds are at least one member of the jury would agree with his action. If we were lucky, they'd have to try him 4-5 times before a verdict could be rendered, keeping Hanoi Jane's name in the mud for all to see.
I can understand why the guy did it, but I still don't think it was right.
Absolutely. The same way that it's wrong to throw a pie at Ann Coulter or salad dressing at Pat Buchanan.
It would be great to see a crowd of Vietnam Veterans showing up to support him that was so large, it would spill out of the courtroom and into the street.
The MSM wants us to believe that Fonda has "apologized" for her actions during the Vietnam War. She hasn't. The only thing she has said is that she regrets allowing the photo to be taken of her sitting on the VC anti-aircraft gun. That's what we are supposed to believe is her big "apology".
Fonda can go pound sand. I hope that so many veterans line up to pay this guy's fine, that they just throw the whole thing out. Arresting him is as repugnant as arresting those who participated in the Boston Tea Party.
Fonda is the criminal, here and should STILL be in prison for treason!!
What's the point of being right if your behavior is indistinguishable from the people you despise?...and there you have it! Sums it up for me.
I'm torn about this. I think it is wrong to throw food or spit on someone, so I don't like the behavior.
However, the "elites" in this country just completely ignore the rest of us and pretend that we either don't exist, don't matter, or are just too stupid to understand, until we do something that embarrasses them and makes them uncomfortable. (That includes our side, too. For example, President Bush didn't want to talk about the downside of illegal immigration until the Minuteman Project embarrassed him. Now, at least he has to discuss it.)
So, anyway, Jane Fonda's been going around "apologizing" and getting fawned over in the media. Nobody believes or accepts her apology, except for her media/Hollywood/left wing friends. This guy did something to embarrass her and got his point across.
I guess that I have reached the point that, as long as you are not hurting someone, and as long as you are willing to accept the consequences of your actions (jail, fine, etc.), then knock yourself out. You want to spit on Jane Fonda, go ahead. You want to throw a pie at Ann Coulter, have at it (hopefully, she'll eat some of it).
If the elites won't pay attention to us when we're being polite, maybe it's time to get rude.
I understand. It's not called "The High Road" for nothing, though....
I still don’t think spitting on a woman is appropriate conduct for a man, no matter how despicable the woman may be, and to do such a thing makes us no better than a common Democrat. I can just hear the Liberals now, “Yes, Yes, Yes, John Kerry told us what kind of Genghis Khan emulating animals those Vietnam Veterans are, now look at what they have done to our poor Jane!”
Somehow, over the years, every time I heard a "Dumb Blond Joke" the face of the woman that appeared in my mind was that of Jane Fonda. We waste our hate on such a dim wit, and the last thing we want to do is make a martyr of her.
Why waste the chew??.....
So you think Fonda's actions were as harmless as merely spitting on someone?
I understand what you mean.
Ann Coulter had a pie thrown at her because the liberals don't like what she has to say.
But Jane Fonda committed treason and has never had to pay any kind of legal price for that.
The pent-up rage is totally understandable.
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