Eric Cantor’s ‘bullet through the window’ story is full of holes
Liar, liar?
TPM has the police report of the “gun fired through the window” incident claimed so dramatically by House Minority Whip Eric Cantor this week to try and equalize the shame in the wake of repeated violent threats against Democrats by tea party militants. And surprise! It turns out things didn’t quite happen the way Cantor claimed.
The police report says a bullet appears to have been fired in the air in the general vicinity of the building where Cantor has an office, along with other lessees. The bullet, fired around 1:00 in the morning in a neighborhood with a history of gun violence problems, was fired randomly into the air, and grazed a window on the first floor of the building as if fell (Cantor’s office leases the second floor.) No one was in the building at the time, and police say Cantor’s office, which you wouldn’t even know was there unless you knew it was there, wasn’t even a target, according to Richmond police, which makes sense, since the so-called incident was not accompanied by threats, notes or angry voicemails, according to Cantor’s own account. And from the AP comes word that even if someone had wanted to harass Eric Cantor (for being Jewish and a Republican) this building would have been a strange place to do so, since…
The pastel green structure with a purple door resembles a town house, and from the outside it is difficult to distinguish whether it is a business or residence. Except for a brass plate by the door identifying it as The Reagan Building, nothing outdoors links it to Cantor or to the GOP.
It is owned by the political consulting firm whose clients include Cantor and former Gov. and former Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Gilmore.
Richmond has struggled for year with high rates of gun violence in some neighborhoods. While the building housing Cantor’s office is one of the city’s safer downtown areas, some of the more dangerous neighborhoods lie one-half mile to a mile away.
No wonder he melodramatically refused to release information about the incident, which he also peppered with unsubstantiated claims of being targeted by anti-Semites. Releasing the incident reports himself would have proved Rep. Cantor to be a liar. Shame on you, Congressman.
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[...] on the Eric Cantor gunshot fairy tale here. Share this [...]
[...] shot a bullet through my campaign office window” story, which in reality is a “someone randomly fired into the air in the general vicinity of a nondescript office building nobody …” story, as fact. When are they going to tell their viewers the truth? TPM has all-but [...]
Forget the damn bullet. That’s not where the story is at.
The story is, he attributed it to his being a Jew.
Why did he add that? Shooting at a Congressman, of either party, is already waaaayyyy over-the-top. It is outrageous criminal behavior.
Forget that it never happened, politics about the impression of truth, not truth itself.
Kristallnacht.
He said it because is draws up the imagery of Kristallnacht.
And it says, to some gullible fucknut listening: “The democrats are NAZIs. The democrat are fanning the flames. And it’s just begining. Kristallnacht. If they’re not stopped, you know what will happen. This will lead to a genocide of Jews, of Christians. Kill them now. Avenge me, avenge what they’ve done to my offices.”
The bullet ain’t the story. It was bullshit, and he knew it was bullshit — the Richmond Police had already issued their press release, saying it was a random stray bullet.
He knew it was bullshit when he said it. But he added the part about being a Jew — to inflame, to incite.
Politics is also about getting people to do what you want them to do without actually telling them to do it.
Great point, Jim! The dog whistle was indeed pretty clear, especially with the right trying to portray the administration’s tough stand on Jerusalem settlements as being anti-Israel.
Well said.
[...] Eric Cantor's 'bullet through the window' story is full of holes - The Reid Report [...]
Forget the damn bullet. That’s not where the story is at.
The story is, he attributed it to his being a Jew.
Why did he add that? Shooting at a Congressman, of either party, is already waaaayyyy over-the-top. It is outrageous criminal behavior.
Forget that it never happened, politics about the impression of truth, not truth itself.