Posted on 08/07/2006 2:44:05 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
TAMPA - A Jerry Springer moment hit community television this weekend when a chair was hurled at Joe Redner.
Redner and Tony Katz have exchanged verbal jabs before on "The Bleepin Truth," a political debate show that airs on Tampa Bay Community Network. But their mutual dislike for each other turned physical Saturday when Katz threw a high stool chair at Redner.
The chair hit Redner on his back, forearm and head.
"That is assault!" Redner yelled repeatedly.
The whole thing was caught live on TV.
"I was kind of just stunned," said Redner, a Democrat who is running for a Hillsborough commission seat.
Sunday night, Redner said he was sore and had some swelling on his arm and head.
Katz, a Republican and host of an Internet talk show, could not be reached for comment late Sunday.
Host Chris Krimitsos said the men dislike each other so much that they won't talk to each other after the show. They just walk separate ways.
Redner and Katz debated two other times without incident. But the third time, "they started needling each other on," Krimitsos said.
The men became heated when they started discussing Israel. They later exchanged personal attacks against each other.
Katz called Redner a liar. Redner called him fat.
Redner thinks that's what precipitated the chair throwing. Krimitsos thinks it's more than that.
"Don't think it's from that petty stuff," Krimitsos said. "It's all politics."
Redner says he won't press charges or pursue legal action. "I kind of got a forgiving nature," Redner said. "He's not worth being bothered about."
Krimitsos says certain procedures need to be addressed before the two can debate on the show again.
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lol I would thrown a chair at him as well. Since when is being fat a topic for political debate
He calls him "Fat Boy" and tells him to get up and show everyone. It's really nasty.
I wouldn't vote for someone who would throw a chair during a political debate, but I agree being fat isn't an adult topic for political debate -- it would have been nice if the chair thrower had instead pointed that out in an adult manner.
Glad I don't live down there - I wouldn't want to have to choose between these apparent Beevis and Butthead candidates.
Tampa politics at it's finest....
Chair-throwing is just a continuation of politics by other means.
Somehow I think we've gone backwards...
Redner is slime
NOW THIS IS HOW POLITICIANS SHOULD ACT
Aaron Burr Kills Alexander Hamilton in a Duel
At a political dinner for the Federalist Party held in New York, Alexander Hamilton voiced a despicable slur upon the name and reputation of Aaron Burr. What Hamilton exactly said was not printed at the time, but rumors and newspaper reports reached Burr, who wrote Hamilton and demanded an apology. Hamilton waffled in his response, Burr protested in another letter, and after receiving no satisfaction challenged Hamilton to a duel. When Burr and Hamilton met on the dueling grounds of Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804 Burr shot Hamilton, who fired into the air either as a reflex after being shot or purposely to avoid shooting Burr.
From http://www.nps.gov/jeff/LewisClark2/Circa1804/In1804/HeadlinesAaronBurrDuel.htm
Hamilton, mean-spirited to the end, said this in his dieing declaration to further injure Burr, even though the seconds from both sides and the attending physician told slightly different versions. Burr characteristically kept mum.
Krimitsos says certain procedures need to be addressed before the two can debate on the show again.
Cage fight?
Verbal abuse, apparently, is not an "assault", and the response was "disproportionate".
Whipping out and using a knife or pistol would have been "disproportionate".
HAHA!! Now some illiterate white supremacist needs to slap Dr. Conley on the air, and all will be well.
Can't agree with you more (we will never know what really happened or what Hamilton intended to do). The public wanted to canonize Hamilton. Hamilton did apparently give the same advice to his son (firing into the air) who died in a duel three years before (at least according to Chernow). The younger Hamilton apparently aimed but shot after being struck.
Redner is the owner of several local nudie bars. This type of establishment appears to be the highest-growth industry in Tampa.
A little Public Access rasslin action!
One of the main problems is that Burr, for the most part, kept his mouth shut and although he was a prodigious writer he entrusted all his papers to his daughter Theodosia who was lost at sea along with the trunk containing Burr's papers.
Our view of the whole event and of Burr's character are all informed by the opinions of others, mostly Burr's enemies (and he had a lot).
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