Bob Etheridge, North Carolina and Camera Crew Fraud

A similar 'fake' camera crew changed the course of the entire world in September 2001.

(SALEM) - There is one state in the United States where politicians stick up for the right things, and that is the state U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge calls home, North Carolina.

It is also the place the Marines call home, specifically Camp Lejeune, where men and women have been stationed for many years, drinking water that is just simply deadly.

The N.C. politicians I am most familiar with are U.S. Senator Richard Burr, U.S. Senator Kay Hagan and U.S. Rep. Brad Miller. They came out swinging once they realized the Marine Corps was lying through the back of its teeth over the reality of the base's toxic water.

Unfortunately, Etheridge isn't in any of our stories about Camp Lejeune, so I guess it is possible that he had reasons; none that could be good, possible 'conflicts of interest' are likely it, though that is only a guess.

Now this Congressman is at the center of a controversy over manhandling a young man claiming to be 'student' who is alleged to be associated with the hard right wing Andrew Vyborg's Website BigGovernment.org, known for the famous ACORN video, during which a couple misrepresented themselves to Senator Mary Landrieu, in an attempt to befall a group that historically helps minorities.

Misrepresentation is a really bad thing. Our rule as American news photographers is 'It is better to seek forgiveness than permission', but we all know we are in bad form when we have an agenda and lie about it.

And even then, if we lie in order to save a life, expose a product that is killing people, etc., we are perhaps within our rights, at least on a human level. But representing the Republicans is to advocate for the top 2% of wealthy Americans who literally possess 98% of the money in this country. It doesn't resemble a noble deed or goal. Just one more punch from a well to do white kid intent on bringing down those whose party typically represents the poor, and minorities, like Pres. Barack Obama.

In that ACORN video, James O'Keefe dressed as a pimp which he was not, and intentionally created a wild story to explain his presence.

He was arrested by the FBI and later convicted of "Entering a Federal Building Under False Pretenses" and sentenced to three years' probation.

After several years of divisive politics via Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and Bill O'Reilly, the GOP appears to be shifting toward more specific policy of direct misrepresentation and character assassination via deceit.

None of these actions lend themselves toward credibility, and they are just the latest manifestation of 'TV cameraman' misrepresentation; a similar bogus camera crew approach was taken in order to assassinate the best possible leader to emerge from Afghanistan in recent history; the man who fought Taliban for years and tried to warn the world about a pending terrorist attack, (احمد شاه مسعود- Aḥmad Šāh Mas‘ūd; the 'Lion of Panjshir'.

(احمد شاه مسعود- Aḥmad Massoud. Photo by
Tim King, near Blue Mosque in Afghanistan.

He was killed 9 Sept. 2001, seem like a memorable time period? Massoud stood in opposition to the Taliban, the GOP of Afghanistan; the ones who use religion to justify the slaughter of their enemies. Like the warring Republicans, Taliban are the totalitarian religious whacko fundamentalists who have scarcely a clue about the faith they kill in the name of.

Taliban kill with religious motivation to rid themselves of 'infidels' - another description of 'political enemy'. Protestants modified the Bible to change 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' to 'Thou Shall Not Murder'.

Modify religious doctrine in order to justify the slaughter of other human beings.

Unlike the bulk of American political leaders, Massoud was incredible, I admire him as much as I despise people misrepresenting themselves in my line of work.

U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) released the following statement on the viral video which appeared on the internet today:

“I have seen the video posted on several blogs. I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction and I apologize to all involved. Throughout my many years of service to the people of North Carolina, I have always tried to treat people from all viewpoints with respect. No matter how intrusive and partisan our politics can become, this does not justify a poor response. I have and I will always work to promote a civil public discourse.”

Rep. Bob Etheridge, I can compliment your fellow legislators and I can understand why you would have viewed this crew with suspicion, I just wish I could laud you as a hero of the Marines at Camp Lejeune, and if I have this wrong, please, someone add it as a comment. I looked and looked and can't find a connection. Still, I like it when people react to their personal radar. It is something people are often afraid to do. Looks like the ACORN video left an indelible impression.

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines.

Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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David November 5, 2010 1:42 pm (Pacific time)

Tim, I have a lot of friends who are Marines and they are the most honorable men I know. You are a disgrace to your fellow Marines. Threatening someone because they "called you a name". Real tough guys don't do that...you're obviously a phony. Why don't you just recognize that you are trying to defend the indefensible and apologize and move on? Tim King: Tom you are a coward, and you are the second in a row to instantly go to name calling, only you violate our rules of not using profanity also. You wouldn't give your name only I'd make you talk, and even if you shook and balled like a baby, you would talk and talk.

Tim King: Well david, you need thick skin if you do my job for a living, and what else is there to say? You're a disgrace for just writing that garbage above, that guy was belching out all kinds of over the top profanity and I'm sure you would be real gracious in my shoes, right? I wouldn't put money on it.

JoWriter June 27, 2010 5:09 pm (Pacific time)

I'm a reporter. I've never used, or been asked to show, credentials at any political or any other event I've covered. Hard to believe they do it in Las Vegas or LA.Plus, "government" doesn't issue press credentials to anyone. That would violate constitutional freedom of the press guarantees. Is it the police departments doing it? Still hard to believe. But then, I live in Oregon.

Tim King: Jo, I was a reporter in Oregon before I worked in Arizona, California and Nevada. Nevada's is issued by Las Vegas Metro Police, the California one is issued by the CHP. You aren't suggesting that the police agencies aren't government, right? Then I had government issued press cards issued by ISAF in Afghanistan, and CENTCOM in Iraq, all media, and on the second one I also had a biometric body scan, sound like fun? It isn't as bad as it sounds. I actually have several 'government issued' press cards. I think I might write up a quick story and scan them, it is sort of interesting.

Kevin B Montgomery June 16, 2010 7:37 am (Pacific time)

I would like to bring up a few points that I disagree with, and point out what appears to be a bias attitude in your article. First let me point out that there are just as many millionaires and billionaires that are democrats as there are republicans. The republican party appeals to and their message resonates with millions of voters, far greater than the 2 % of the wealthiest. Some of the poorest areas of this country have republican majorities and vice versa. Democrats also have millions of voters that believe in their message and rightfully support their candidiates. Comparing two young men who were making a video of an impromtu interview with Bob Etheridge with the assasination of Mashud is unfair to say the least, for one thing that should be obvious I've seen the size of a flip camera and you are not going to get a weapon hidden inside of it without some kind of serious technology. Obviously Mr. Etheridge did not appear to take this as a threat either, otherwise his reaction would not have been as it was. (The assasins of Mashud were wrongly accredidted and identified as legitimate reporters). Comparing the taliban to the republican party, that is just an insult to the millions of republicans in this country. Your bias is so transparent it does a discredit to your achievenments and accreditations as a journalist. Just as the veiled comparison of the Democrats to the freedon fighters (current rulers) is actually an insult. Those people are now in charge of Afghanistan and too many of them are corrupt and a failure to their own countrymen. In addition, I don't believe that Mr. Etheridge was under the same kind of life and death struggle that Mashud experienced and I am sure he does not believe it either. As far as the two men not being professional reporters or accredited, I am sure that is true, but what difference does it make, Mr. Etheridge had the opportunity to show his support for his party and President's agenda, act as a true gentleman and leader. Instead he acted in way that brought great discredit upon himself. However this discredit is his and has nothing to do with the Democratic Party or our President. Describing the term "Infidel" to mean Political enemy, what kind of drivel is this. It's meaning has never changed except in similar casesto your's as a means to reinforce your message, in this case against the republican party. Attributing it's use in conjunction with the taliban or any muslim is also incorrect, it is a christian based word. As far as the changing of the commandment "thou shall not kill" It was done long ago and we have been hipocrites ever since, we have always fought and killed and said it is ok, there are precious few who have stood up and said I will not fight, killing is a sin, you and I are both not one of these truly religious people. We have served our country and promised to kill if called upon to do so. I also noticed in your comments that you're critical of people posing as TV reporters, do you really believe that these two were posing as TV reporters? I am not sure but I believe even the current camera's in use by TV crews are a little better and larger than Flip videos. The last thing I wish to bring up is that although you obviously hate the Republican party, that's OK. It's your right and duty as a citizen to stand up for what you believe in, but I do want to show you something from your article's post script "Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website.", if this means it's independently owned I understand, if it means politically independent then you may want to revise the statement.

My accomplishments

Kevin B Montgomery
United States Navy Ret.
Husband and Father
Catholic (non practicing but still a believer)
Obama Voter, McCain supporter, but not voter because of Palin,
Vote for democrats when I think they are right or against Republicans when I know they are wrong
Hater of the Health Bill (seen what it has done to my native Britain and it's poor)
Pro Choice
Cancer Survivor
Not rich but work hard
Adamant believer that America is the Land of Opportunity

(I would have liked to see if an Afghanistan with him as the leader would have been better, I believe it would.)

Editor: You are right about how we run the risk of being insulting to parties with that comparison. I'm afraid it could be a real insult to the Taliban, comparing them to the GOP.

Anonymous June 15, 2010 6:28 pm (Pacific time)

Tim King why does any citizen have to have ID for asking a question of an elected official? This could have easily been at any location and this numbnut still would have assaulted someone smaller than he, or someone who looked physically weaker. If I went to one of my local elected leaders and asked a similar structured question and they grabbed me, especially around the neck area, male or female, they would be horizontal in quick order. Q's and A's are for all, not just people in the media, immitation or real. I expect this congressman will pay dearly for his action in the fullness of time.

Tim King: I'm just saying there is protocol and it is established by the cops more than anyone. In Vegas and LA if you don't have a government issued media ID they won't even talk to you, again 'they' being the cops. It is because there needs to be integrity. Again, I do not condone the actions of the legislator, never did; I am also critical of the people posing as TV reporters. All they had to do was say their name, this is video we're talking about.

Joe June 15, 2010 5:22 pm (Pacific time)

Looks like the editor doesn't like to be insulted but has no problem insulting and even threatening commentaters. This is his site but if he wants everyone to agree with him at all times he should move to North Korea.

Vic June 15, 2010 2:11 pm (Pacific time)

Democrat Congressmen/women and Republican Congressmen/women...just different names for the same collection of self-serving bastards that could give a rats behind about America or Americans. The way I see this, if you become a "public servant" and reap the benefits of the job, you dont act like this a-hole...even if you think you are being "set up" although I failed to see the set up in the video. I saw a very well paid congressman refusing to answer a simple question and getting violent because some taxpayers had the audacity to ask him a simple question. Who cares what the motive or agenda of the interviewers was? Should it matter? He should be arrested for assault like any one of us would have been, including my good friend Tim King if he had done the same thing. There are two sets of laws in America...one for the elite, which basically says "anything goes' and another for the rest of us...

Tim King: I do not think he should have gotten physical, I think he just needed to put distance in. Plus, he probably has some serious skeletons in his closet. I just don't like posers, and there is never ever a time that I work without news ID. That is a fair and reasonable thing to expect, these guys simply refused to identify themselves and really only an idiot would talk on camera to somebody like that.

Shawn June 15, 2010 1:07 pm (Pacific time)

Dude, 2% own 98% of the country's money - you are 100% stuuuueeee-pid and jelous for no reason. If you are wrong on that, maybe everything floating around your simple brain is wrong.

Tim King: Thanks, each of you, for beginning your comment with a personal insult. It is the reaction of little-brains, the Stern fans, etc. Low IQ and you can still write a comment. Well shucks, that ought to make you king of the trailer park for the whole day.

Jack June 15, 2010 9:57 am (Pacific time)

Editor, re:"the GOP of Afghanistan," give me a break, can you be honest with the past? Which party has been in power when the majority of people have been killed in American conflicts? It is the democratic party sir! Why jump on the republican party and just make stuff up, or are you making a point that the majority of your readers are so poorly educated that they don't know their history? When Truman was dropping the atom bombs that killed a few hundred thousand in a blink of an eye, or ordering our poorly outfitted military into the Korean War Meat grinder, or LBJ falsifying events that led to nearly 58,000 American war dead in Vietnam, do you think they were reflecting on the Ten Commandments? History is what it is, as is the behavior of this boorish Rep. Ethridge, which frankly appears he committed a crime of battery at the very least. Let's be honest, if the party membership was reversed, how would this play out then? Hypocrisy is a double-edged behavior that is easily illuminated.

Don June 15, 2010 7:07 am (Pacific time)

This was a classic strategy of outfits like the television program "60 Minutes", and so many more. In regards to ACORN, the majority of congress saw the video's made and unanimously stopped funding them. ACORN had some serious problems, but they are still around, they just changed their name. Since they receive public funding, as does Congressman Ethridge, the subject of this article, they rightfully come under the public purview. The video tapes of all these rascals speaks volumes. These are not entrapment issues that are evaluated in the judical system, these are "see for yourself..."

John June 15, 2010 7:05 am (Pacific time)

Did you really compare the terrorists who killed the leader of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, too a couple of kids with a flip cam asking Etheridge if he supports the Obama agenda. Really, you couldn't be that stupid.

Tim King: Yes I made that comparison, and if you had a reason why it isn't a fair or accurate comparable, perhaps you would state why, but you behave like a small child and resort instantly to "that is stupid" which is as weak as weak gets. A

Tom Walls June 15, 2010 6:54 am (Pacific time)

Those two guys are the equivalent of the suicide bombers who killed Masood??? Is this typical of your thinking and writing? God forbid a "public servant" answer a question. I wouldn't tell him my name either if he started roughing me up. I still can't get over the comparison with Massood's killers. What kind of an as...

Tim King: Tom you are a coward, and you are the second in a row to instantly go to name calling, only you violate our rules of not using profanity also. You wouldn't give your name only I'd make you talk, and even if you shook and balled like a baby, you would talk and talk.

Its Bushs Fault June 15, 2010 6:24 am (Pacific time)

Etheridge deserves a break! He had just spent all day in Obamao’s JBT (Jack Boot to the Throat) training facility learning to look for some A $ $ to kick. Wait until the MSM (main sewer media) libs who are trying refocus the story on those terrible street punks find out they are disgruntled ACORN castoffs.

truthseesall June 14, 2010 9:40 pm (Pacific time)

Bob Etheridge: "I have seen the video posted on several blogs. I deeply and profoundly regret my reaction [ but most of all that this was taped and I was outed for who I really am...oh, and that my MSM cohorts were not able to do better spin control....damm this internet! ] and I apologize to all involved," Etheridge said in a prepared statement.

Tom Walls June 14, 2010 8:59 pm (Pacific time)

It is an unfathomable leap to assert what these kids is equivalent to the suicide bomber assassination of Ahmed Shah Masood. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.

Tom W June 14, 2010 8:57 pm (Pacific time)

Stopping Etheridge and asking him a question is somehow on the same level as the suicide bombers who killed Masood? I don't know what to say - that's just a mind-boggling leap. Is this typical of your writing and thought?

Rick June 14, 2010 8:47 pm (Pacific time)

Check out the photos of congressman Etheridge twisting the arm of the student and taking his phone http://www.kooks.com/congress/1/Rep-Bob-Etheridge-D-NC-Attacks-Student-and-Takes-Camera-Phone.html

John June 14, 2010 8:43 pm (Pacific time)

Hey Marine, quit yer whining. Your boy Etheridge got nailed by the same tactics you lefties have been using for decades. Better get used to it ... more to come.

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Bob Etheridge, North Carolina and Camera Crew Fraud

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