Setting an Example

The pen is mightier than the body slam.

   "Get 'em out of here," said presidential candidate Donald Trump about protestors.
   "Get the hell out of here," said House candidate Greg Gianforte, Republican of Montana, to a reporter just before punching the reporter.
   
   After assault charges were filed against the candidate, Gianforte aides claimed the reporter was "an aggressive liberal" who "badgered" the candidate by "shouting" questions at him "without permission."
   But a recording of the encounter with Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian newspaper, revealed no shouting or badgering. Rather, it showed courtesy in the reporter's speech even after he was choked, knocked down and punched by the candidate.
   Moreover, this version of the incident was confirmed by several members of a Fox News TV crew, who were in the same room preparing for an interview with Gianforte.
   There are, of course, aggressive reporters, some of whom may indeed resort to shouting questions in order to be heard over a crowd of other aggressive reporters.
   But in America, anyone is free to ask any question of any other person at any time. We may not get an answer, but we are at least free to ask, just as the other person has a right not to answer. Both these rights are guaranteed by the Constitution, under the First and the Fifth Amendments.
   Anyone who has watched a White House press briefing can see what Sean Spicer faces every day as reporters pepper the administration's spokesman with questions. And  if Gianforte succeeds in getting to Congress, he will have to face the same Washington press corps.
   The president has not been known to personally punch out a pesky reporter (yet), but he has a history of insulting the news media generally and some reporters specifically. In addition, there is the video of the president pushing aside the prime minister of Montenegro in order to get to the front rank of national leaders at a NATO meeting.
   There are also reports of the Blabbermouth in Chief loosely talking about secret intelligence information to foreign officials, in addition to the many examples of bullying behavior toward anyone who displeases him.
   America has been trying to live up to the standards of civility set forth in the founding documents of the nation. People have not always succeeded, but at least there have been government leaders who have shown civil behavior as an example for the rest of American citizens to follow.
   This president has set a poor example.