I’m not particularly surprised that the Etheridge Incident is perturbing the Beltway. It has all the elements that one needs:

• A genuine, newsworthy scenario (Congressman attacks cameraman);
• An easily-accessible narrative (Congressman attacks cameraman);
• A clear video record (note: two cameras, with footage spliced together);
• A hint of scandal (Was the Congressman drinking?);
• And a hint of conspiracy (Was the Congressman set up?).

Plus, of course, there’s the barely-veiled outrage that if the Congressman was set up then he was done so in a manner that Left-activists have been trying to do to Right-politicians since George Allen’s so-called ‘macaca’ moment. Republicans have been dealing with this kind of game-playing for four years, now: which is another way of saying that we’ve had four years to learn how to do unto others as they have been enthusiastically doing unto us.

What I don’t get is why the WaPo article linked to above thinks that there’s not more video of this. The people who filmed it also put up the raw footage from which they spliced their video. Didn’t anybody over at the Washington Post check?

Moe Lane

PS: Renee Ellmers for Congress.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.