By now, I'm sure you've all heard about this threat made by a Congresssman in the House, after President Obama gave his State of the Union speech on Tuesday: "...I'll throw you off this fucking balcony." I will recap this in a moment, but for those of you who already know what's been reported, I offer this:
If I were that reporter, Mike Scotto, I would have responded in this way to Congressman Grimm's apology:
"I cannot at this time accept your apology, since I don't believe it is being sincerely offered. My knowledge of your past and what you did and said to me on Tuesday indicate you are a man in serious need of (at least) anger management counseling. Until you take at least that step, I cannot accept your apology, though I hasten to add: Even though you broke the law by your actions and words, I won't hold that against you personally since I believe you are mentally disturbed. If you can't bring yourself to seek treatment, I will urge that you be arrested for assault."
What happened on Tuesday night?
To answer that question, I will offer two sources from which I'll quote in part - the second of which includes a video clip which speaks volumes:
QUOTE:
[source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Grimm_(politician) ]
On January 28, 2014, NY1 political reporter Michael Scotto attempted to question Grimm about the [federal] investigation [of his campaign finances] while conducting an interview about the 2014 State of the Union Address. Grimm refused to answer and initially walked away. However, while Scotto was tossing back to the studio, Grimm abruptly collared Scotto [with the news camera capturing this exchange] and told him, "Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I'll throw you off this fucking balcony." When Scotto protested that it was a "valid question," Grimm replied, "No, no, you're not man enough, you're not man enough. I'll break you in half. Like a boy." Grimm later issued a statement defending his behavior... The next day, Grimm contacted Scotto to offer an apology for his behavior, which Scotto deemed to be sincere.[46] He also issued a written statement apologizing for his behavior, saying, "I shouldn’t have allowed my emotions to get the better of me and lose my cool."[47]
:UNQUOTE.
QUOTE: [This link includes a live video clip of the encounter]:
[source: http://news.yahoo.com/-i-will-break-you-in-half---republican-congressmen-threatens-to-throw-reporter-off-balcony-during-interview-053744777.html ]
Grimm, first elected to office in the 2010 midterm elections, was seemingly unapologetic after the interview, issuing a statement carried by the New York Daily News, which reads:
“I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic.”
Grimm continued, “I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first Member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won't be the last."
:UNQUOTE.
The case against Congressman Grimm
I'm sure that Grimm's lawyer, should this assault case ever end up in court, will spin Grimm's threatening words like this:
"My client didn't actually threaten this reporter with imminent bodily harm, so he didn't have any reason to believe he was in immediate danger. Reinforcing that, it must be remembered that this incident took place in public, with hundreds of people present including House security staff."
To which a prosecutor might counter:
"The presence of security staff is never a guarantee of personal safety when confronted by an obviously angry man who was overreacting without provocation to a reporter's question. This reporter could reasonably be expected to know about, and did in fact know about, an incident involving the Congressman in July of 1999."
This is the incident I'm referring to:
QUOTE:
[source: Reference 8 of the wikipedia link inserted above, which is an article written by another reporter named Evan Ratliff]:
The part of the article Grimm referenced involved an incident in July, 1999, at a night club called Caribbean Tropics, in Queens. At the time, Grimm was an agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. An off-duty N.Y.P.D. officer named Gordon Williams, who was working at the nightclub, says that just after midnight Grimm entered with a woman. The woman’s estranged husband, who happened to be at the club, heatedly confronted Grimm. Williams helped separate the pair, for which Grimm thanked him. Williams recalls that Grimm then told him that the husband “don’t know who he’s fucking with … I’ll fuckin’ make him disappear where nobody will find him.”
:UNQUOTE.
While the Ratliff article doesn't prove (or disprove) what Grimm said or did in July of 1999, the reporter (Mike Scotto) should very well have been aware of (in the course of his research as a reporter into the Congressman's background) the strong possibility that he was being confronted by a man with past issues of anger, narcissism, and entitlement.
Grimm had served as an active duty marine from 1989-1991 and worked for the FBI as an agent for nine years. That FBI experience should have amply prepared him to deal with a reporter's unexpected question posed after Obama's speech. Grimm might have thought he was being ambushed by being asked an off-topic question. But surely, with his FBI background, he had to know that people acting as interrogators (in this case, a reporter) will do anything they can to obtain information.
Besides, all Grimm had to do was say: "I can't take the time right now to properly respond to that, since I am already running late for other interviews I committed to earlier." There! How hard is that?
I don't believe Grimm when he later claimed that "[I lost] my cool." I also question his claim that his Italian mother didn't raise him that way. Perhaps she didn't raise him that way, but I'm sure there were other forces in his background that did serve to "raise him that way." As a Buddhist, I wonder if his Italian karma was at work in shaping his world view - including his idea that there are "boys" out there whom he is entitled to "break in half." The Roman Empire was held together for centuries by violent men who engaged in all manners of torture including crucifixion. Just because that Empire eventually fell doesn't mean those torturers disappeared. They had children, who had children, who...led to Michael Grimm.
Conclusion
Grimm deserves to be censured by House and defeated for reelection. He deserves to be censured by the GOP, which recently (in its Arizona branch) saw fit to censure John McCain for being too liberal. He also deserves to be arrested for assault.
I would hedge my words by saying, "...unless he seeks psychiatric treatment." But people like Grimm would never consider such an option. His very first response (cited above) shows that he saw absolutely nothing wrong with what he did and said on live television broadcast from the US House of Representatives. But I'm sure his handlers and higher-ups in the GOP urged him to apologize and get this behind him (and behind the Party of No).
But my conclusion remains: This is a mentally-disturbed individual who either has to deal with his demons or else be dealt with.
As for why the reporter accepted Grimm's apology, it might be hazardous to his health not to - considering Grimm's connections in law enforcement.
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Steven Searle, former candidate for US President (in 2008 and 2012)
Founder of The Independent Contractors' Party
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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