Originally Posted By Sara Tonin <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090903/ap_on_re_us/us_finger_severed" target="_blank">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200..._severed</a>
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Arent't the freaks from MoveOn.org/Code Pink really weird? <a href="http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/sep/03/healthcare-reform-opponent-loses-part-of-finger/" target="_blank">http://www.venturacountystar.c...-finger/</a> >>Rice got involved in a heated discussion with a member of Code Pink, said sheriff’s Capt. Ross Bonfiglio, a department spokesman. After the argument, Rice returned to where his group was standing. An unidentified man then walked from Moveon.org’s area toward the opponents and verbally confronted Rice, allegedly calling him names and acting aggressively, Bonfiglio said. Rice told investigators he felt threatened by the man and punched him in the nose, Bonfiglio said. A fight ensued, during which part of Rice’s finger was bitten off, Bonfiglio said. Rice drove himself to Los Robles Hospital & Medical Center in Thousand Oaks. Another man found the bitten-off portion of the finger and took it to Rice at the hospital, Bonfiglio said. Doctors told Rice the pinky, severed near the second knuckle, could not be reattached because of high bacteria levels from a human bite, he told the Ventura County Star. Rice said he did not initially plan to participate in any demonstration Wednesday. He was driving by when he spotted Code Pink members, and he stopped to see if they were protesting the military, he said. Rice has a son who is an officer in the Marine Corps. After a brief exchange with Code Pink members, Rice said, he was satisfied they were not protesting the military. He was leaving when a man who seemed “deranged” approached and called him an “idiot,” he said. Rice said he felt like the man had singled him out because he was the “easiest target.” But the incident happened quickly, he said, and he doesn’t clearly remember everything that preceded the altercation. Scott Bush, 43, of Thousand Oaks said he was standing with Rice in the group opposed to healthcare reform when the man walked over from the Moveon.org group. Bush said the man asked the group if it supported a public health insurer option, and members responded “no.” The man then singled out Rice and asked him why, according to Bush. When Rice responded that he didn’t want the government involved in anything, the man moved toward Rice and yelled, “You’re an idiot,” Bush said. Bush said Rice then hit the man in a defensive move. The man then pulled Rice into the street, according to Bush. After a fight that lasted only a few seconds, Bush said, he heard Rice say, “He bit my finger off,” and he saw a stump. Several witnesses said Rice’s shirt was ripped during the scuffle.<< And video.... <a href="http://www.breitbart.tv/man-who-lost-finger-to-bite-by-obamacare-supporter-tells-story-to-cavuto/" target="_blank">http://www.breitbart.tv/man-wh...-cavuto/</a>
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Originally Posted By Mr X As to the OP, thank goodness the guy had his medicare coverage so he didn't need to worry about any catastrophic hospital bills on top of everything else! What a great concept!
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin Oh, come on, when was the last time you saw a big crowd protesting. And said to yourself, "Gosh, I think I'll find a parking place and get out and find out what's going on?". And when was the last time you put your finger in someone's mouth while you were merely talking to them? Sounds a little fishy to me. I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip From the Huffington Post: <<A witness from the scene says a man was walking through the anti-reform group to get to the pro-reform side when he got into an altercation with the 65-year-old, who opposes health care reform. The injured anti-reform man walked to Los Robles hospital to have the finger reattached. He had Medicare. A blogger who witnessed the fight from the pro-reform side says that the finger-biter was provoked: The man in the orange shirt hit the pro-reform guy (I'm going to call him PR Guy just to keep the players straight). Hard. ... He punched him in the face, knocked him to the ground and into that thruway. ... He got up, tried to get back up on the curb, but Orange Shirt guy was in his face. Finger in his face, PR Guy standing, steps up to the curb, and there's a scuffle. Orange shirt seemed to have PR Guy in a hold, but again, I was across the street, so won't state that as absolute fact. Next thing I see is PR Guy's hat being tossed into the street, both yelling at one another, then Orange shirt walks away, PR Guy picks up hat and crosses to our side. When he gets to our side, he tells a story in one sentence: "He punched me hard, straight in the face, so I bit his finger off.">>
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt The behavior of the finger biter is indefensible, even if he was provoked. People need to calm down. What next? Civil war over health care reform?
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 I saw an interview clip with the guy yesterday (I will try to find it). He said that He punched the biter in the face once and then the second time he was punching the biter in the face his finger went in the guy's mouth and then the biter bit down. Not that I think the biter was justified in any way but if you are punching someone and your finger goes in their mouth you really can't get too mad at them.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<The behavior of the finger biter is indefensible, even if he was provoked.>> Not true in the slightest. Talk to dentists about the bite reflex. It's very strong and difficult to override, much like the gag reflex when someone throws up. It's totally by design. These guys were fighting and throwing punches, all jacked up on adrenaline. The old guy threw a punch at the pro-reform guy, and it landed on his face. The pro-reform guy's mouth was open at the time, and the old guy's little finger landed inside the other guy's mouth. Who's to say that the pro-reform guy bit the finger off deliberately? There was a punch into his face. That's very painful. The nerves in the face, particularly the trigeminal nerve which runs along the jaw, are very sensitive. Pain in this region often triggers the bite reflex. Why do you think boxers wear mouth guards? Sure, it's to help protect their teeth from their opponent's blows to the mouth, but it's also to protect themselves from their own bite reflex.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt <<The behavior of the finger biter is indefensible, even if he was provoked.>> Not true in the slightest. Talk to dentists about the bite reflex. It's very strong and difficult to override, much like the gag reflex when someone throws up. It's totally by design." Okay, that makes sense. Maybe I spoke too soon without understanding all the details of what went down. Still, the details of why the pro-reform guy was walking through a group of anti-reform protesters is murky at best. Seems to me he could have chosen another route or responded differently to being punched. I get that the situation became emotionally charged, but why was he there in the first place?
Originally Posted By skinnerbox From what I've read online, written by bloggers who were there, the pro-reform guy had to walk through the anti-reform protesters to get to the pro-reform group. I don't know if that's actually true, but it seems plausible to me.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Civil war over health care reform?<< Naah. It'll be mostly over other things.
Originally Posted By Sara Tonin <<Not that I think the biter was justified in any way but if you are punching someone and your finger goes in their mouth you really can't get too mad at them.>> I'm right there with ya'.
