Bookstore owner calls 911 when customer confronts Bannon

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Updated 3:51 pm CDT, Sunday, July 8, 2018

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia bookstore owner called police after he says a customer began harassing former White House strategist Steve Bannon in his shop.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Nick Cooke, owner of Black Swan Books in Richmond, called 911 Saturday afternoon after witnessing a woman confront Bannon and call him a "piece of trash."

Steve Bannon has once again argued that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would “be proud of what Donald Trump has done for black and Hispanic working class.”

Cooke said Bannon was minding his own business when the woman began harassing him. Cooke asked the woman to leave. She did so only after he called police.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/steve-bannon-harassed-black-swan-richmond-books-13058152.php

[machoneman]

1. Awwh, poor Stevie! Confronted by a gal!

I do hope locals make this RW book store owner pay, big time, for his action!

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

17. Bannon only reads his chaos books/theories I thought.

Who knew? He's a disgusting man and so is Miller. both deserve the Gulag Treatment. Maybe Guantanamo.

[Jedi Guy]

19. How do you know the owner is a right-winger?

Just because he asked her to leave the store? I'd do the exact same thing if someone started harassing people in my store. Quite apart from the politics, I wouldn't want that kind of drama in my establishment.

Your reaction is exactly the reason. If the owner did nothing, the right would boycott the store. If the owner asked her to leave, the left would boycott the store, as you're advocating.

So no matter what the owner does in this situation, he or she is the loser, not Bannon or the lady who approached him. I wouldn't want my business being dragged into political squabbles, and I imagine this business owner didn't want it, either.

[SunSeeker]

37. Calling out racists is not a mere "political squabble."

It is the moral duty of ever American.

[Jedi Guy]

64. It's not the owner's duty to provide a forum for it.

I don't blame the owner one bit for not wanting to get dragged into politics. They're the ones who'll lose business to boycotts from one side or the other. If they choose to engage, that's one thing. But this lady made the choice to turn someone else's livelihood into the venue for her confrontation with Bannon. The owner was perfectly within his rights to ask her to take it outside, and he shouldn't be punished for doing so.

[Nitram]

74. Jedi Guy, I agree with you about the business owners right to avoid potentially violent

confrontation in his place of business. I also want to applaud the woman for confronting Bannon. It was the owner's right to call the police, and the woman had the opportunity to chastise a racist fascist and live before the police arrived. In my opinion, everybody wins except for Bannon.

[SunSeeker]

75. Who said it was?

She had a right to exercise her 1st Amendment rights and Cooke had a right to ask her to leave his property. No need to create a straw man, Jedi Guy.

[Jedi Guy]

81. Someone upthread wanted locals to "make him pay."

I interpreted that as a call for a boycott since the owner didn't allow his store to be a forum for this lady's views.

[SunSeeker]

82. I didn't read it that way. Regardless, that is no grounds to vilify this woman.

She was doing what every American should do to these Nazis: call them out!

[Jedi Guy]

89. Who vilified her? I most certainly didn't.

I simply defended the store owner who didn't want political drama in his place of business. No need to create a straw man, SunSeeker.

[SunSeeker]

92. You said her calling out this Nazi was "harassing people" and a "political squabble."

Just because he asked her to leave the store? I'd do the exact same thing if someone started harassing people in my store. Quite apart from the politics, I wouldn't want that kind of drama in my establishment.

Your reaction is exactly the reason. If the owner did nothing, the right would boycott the store. If the owner asked her to leave, the left would boycott the store, as you're advocating.

So no matter what the owner does in this situation, he or she is the loser, not Bannon or the lady who approached him. I wouldn't want my business being dragged into political squabbles, and I imagine this business owner didn't want it, either.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1014&pid=2104411


Now you're calling it "political drama." That is vilifying and belittling her.

Calling out racists is not a mere "political squabble." It is the moral duty of every American. There is no "other side" to this. There are no "fine people" on the other side of this "squabble" as you call it.

[Jedi Guy]

95. If that's your bar for vilification, it could double as a limbo bar.

My objection is that she picked someone else's place of business to have her confrontation with Bannon. She chose someone else's livelihood as the battlefield, which drags that person into the matter whether they choose to be involved or no. That's where I feel she went wrong.

[SunSeeker]

97. She didn't "pick" this place of business, Bannon did. She took the opportunity she was given.

If she didn't take this opportunity, where the fuck else would she be able to call out Bannon to his face? Where the fuck else could she "pick" to do this?

As I keep saying in this thread, we are not allowed into corridors of power, or the backrooms of posh private country clubs where these miscreants usually gather to get away from public scrutiny. I am sure she had no idea she would run into Bannon that day. She took her opportunity and I applaud her for it. You, on the other hand, vilify and belittle her.

[Jedi Guy]

98. K

[7962]

60. Very well stated. I agree.

I'm afraid we are in the minority here. But all would be raising hell were the tables turned.

[Jedi Guy]

65. Thanks.

When a right-winger does this to a Democratic official, we won't have a leg to stand on when it comes to protesting it. I'm sure people will still get righteously indignant over it, though.

[SunSeeker]

84. The right wingers have always done this to Dems. Where have you been?

What's news is that Democrats/liberals are finally doing this.

Public shaming is very effective. And it's one of the few avenues available to us, since we are excluded from the corridors of power.

[Jedi Guy]

90. I can't recall ever hearing about it.

I've never heard about a Democratic official being asked to leave a place of business because they worked for a Democratic administration. I've never heard about Democratic Cabinet members being confronted in public, either. It's entirely possible I simply missed seeing it in the news when it occurred.

[SunSeeker]

91. Where have you been? Not only did they do it, the GOP celebrated business owners who did it.

McMurray’s story was thrust into the national spotlight with the help of conservative news sites, blogs and the wide-reaching Drudge Report. It eventually caught the eye of Paul Ryan, the Republican Party’s Vice Presidential nominee at the time, who requested that McMurray introduce him at rally in Roanoke a few weeks later.

“We are gathered here today to send a message to the Obama-Biden team that we did build it,” he told the crowds before recalling his decision to turn Biden away. “Nothing personal, but I just happened to disagree with the President and the vice president on a few things.”

Ryan gleefully took the stage and said: “He just gave my speech. I’m voting for that guy Chris.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-news-biden-baker-sarah-huckabee-red-hen-20180626-story.html

We, on the other hand, wring our hands over it. This is why they walk all over us, Jedi Guy. But thanks for your concern.

And again, we are talking about calling out fucking NAZIS WHO PUT BABIES IN CAGES. This is not comparable to any beef anyone could have with a Democratic Cabinet member about a ginned up controversy over "who built it." Fuck that false equivalence bullshit. I should not have to read that here on DU.

[Jedi Guy]

96. K

[SunSeeker]

85. Wingers have been doing this forever and we have been taking it.

What is new is that progressives are finally doing it.

[Duppers]

70. Then you did not support the action of the RED HEN's owner.

Last edited Mon Jul 9, 2018, 10:55 AM - Edit history (2)

Liberals should support "drama" against wingers, especially people like Steve Bannon, Sarah Huckabee, and Scott Pruitt, who resigned after being confronted in a public business.

And you must disagree with Maxine Waters. Yes, it's safe to take the Nancy Pelosi/Chuck Schumer route but it doesn't get us the results we need.



Edited to add:

We are fighting fascists!

Kpete posted this:

[riversedge]

88. GET IN THIER FACES

[SunSeeker]

93. YES!!

[sandensea]

2. As much as that fat bastard deserves it, she shouldn't have.

She only makes herself - and to some extent the rest of us - look intolerant and hostile, while making a real lowlife like Bannon look like the victim.

Which of course is exactly what they want.

[SunSeeker]

4. Since when is intolerance of a white supremacist a bad thing?

No, they need to be shamed. They need to feel the heat for their horrific, racist positions. It is fucking about time they did. This woman is excercising her 1st Amendment rights. She did not assault Bannon.

[brush]

16. I absolutely agree with you. Aunt Maxine put out the work and...

people are following up—Sarah H. Sanders, Kirstjen Nielsen, Steven Miller, now white supremacist Bannon—have all been publicly shamed, and they deserve it

[rpannier]

27. Agree with you

But, when the owner of a business requests that you stop or leave, you do one or the other
You don't continue until she or he calls the police

[SunSeeker]

34. The story does not state how long she was there after Cooke "asked" her to leave.

Seems to me Cooke didn't wait long after seeing what was going on to call the police:

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that Nick Cooke, owner of Black Swan Books in Richmond, called 911 Saturday afternoon after witnessing a woman confront Bannon and call him a "piece of trash."

As a bookstore owner, you'd think he would be a bit more tolerant of 1st Amendment expressions. If Bannon had his way, women would all lose autonomy over our own bodies, and he was instrumental in installing a disastrous presidency, which is caging babies as we speak.

So she didn't scoot out of there fast enough for you and Mr. Cooke? Tough. Fuck civility when it comes to people like Bannon and Trump.

The world should not be a comfortable place for white supremacists. We have coddled them for far too long and this is where that got us.

[3Hotdogs]

40. If he didn't call the cops and it escallated and Bannon got injured,

is he liable for damages?

He did the right thing to protect his business.

[SunSeeker]

42. She was not assaulting him. She was just speaking. Again, no time frame is mentioned.

No one is saying Cooke had no right to ask her to leave. My issue is with people who say she shouldn't have said anything to Bannon .

[rpannier]

43. you'd think he would be a bit more tolerant of 1st Amendment expressions

No, I wouldn't. It's a bookstore, not a Speaker's Corner.
He is selling books, and most likely, most of them are apolitical.
And even if they aren't, it's a place of business, designed to sell books to the public. Not a place for people to state their disatisfaction
bannon is below pond scum, but it's a store

[SunSeeker]

48. You think Bannon was browsing romance novels?

Either way, she had a right to speak her mind, and Cooke had a right to ask her to leave if she was on his property.

We are not allowed in the corridors or power, so we have to confront these scumbags wherever we see them.

[rpannier]

47. from the article

Cooke said Bannon was minding his own business when the woman began harassing him. Cooke asked the woman to leave. She did so only after he called police

[SunSeeker]

49. That does not state the length of time she was there after Cooke asked her to leave.

That little flourish about Bannon "minding his own business" is beside the point. Bannon is a public figure who wants to ban abortion. He is ALL UP IN women's business, and wants control over a women's uterus. Fuck that shit.

[Beartracks]

56. But they have no shame. n/t

[SunSeeker]

57. So what? It's about not allowing their behavior to be normalized.

And actually, they can be embarrassed, at least some of them.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. No.

Bullies need to be halted in their track. You may give them some "turn the other cheek" leeway initially but when they refuse to stop then you confront them.

They may make you think that confrontation is what they want, but in reality, these well-to-do "bullies" are a bunch of cowards. That's why they start whining when you DO confront them.

[Honeycombe8]

10. This is only temporary. It'll pass. Unlike the hatred & bigotry that Bannon spreads...

which lasts for eternity.

It's okay to call out a white supremacist, if a person feels inclined to do so. Not invade their space.

But it's also okay just to shoot a dirty look. I don't like the idea of disturbing other customers or hurting the business's business.

I'd probably just give a dirty look.

[Liberalhammer]

20. Tolerance

Of racists and xenophobes leads to abduction and genocide.

[zanana1]

72. Ask any Holocaust survivor.

Silence is the worst crime possible in times like these. Kudos to that woman.

[nolabels]

73. It should be an honor

An ant colony is very logical in this. The workers fight to their end to keep the viability of it from invaders and all things foriegn to it. They don't even question, they just do it

The Kindness of the Hangman
By Henry Oster and Dexter Ford
http://www.thekindnessofthehangman.com/

[JohnnyRingo]

25. I'm one who agrees with you.

Even though I don't at all mind that she called him a piece of trash, she could have ended it before police arrived. At some point it just becomes harassment, and that really resolves nothing.

[sandensea]

31. Thanks!

I detest that walking liver disease as much as anyone; but accosting him only makes him look like a victim - the very thing we don't want to people to see him as.

Some have personalized this, pointing out that one should stand up to bullies and that bullies are really thinly-disguised cowards.

I agree with every word.

But this isn't an everyday confrontation - this is an incident involving an extremely political figure that will use anything he can to make political hay against his opponents. That is, against us.

Accordingly, we should try to avoid doing anything that gives him what he wants, or in anyway improves his image. Nor should we cheer when anyone inadvertently does so.

As much as that fat bastard may deserve it, and more.

[SunSeeker]

36. How does calling him out for his racism in public "improve his image"?

We should not base our actions of fear right wing approbation. They will NEVER approve of what we do. Coddling them to date has only emboldened them.

[SunSeeker]

35. She did "end it before police arrived." The police never came.

Read the article.

What you call "harrassment" is ordinary citizens utilizing their 1st Amendment rights to hold the powerful accountable for their misdeeds. If you think this "resolves nothing," then you have a pretty dim view of freedom of speech.

[JohnnyRingo]

59. Imagine it was Elizabeth Warren in that store

How long would she have to hear "Pocahontas" before the owner asks the person to leave?

Should a store owner allow someone to go ballistic on Hillary about her emails in the interest of free speech? I'd hope someone was out on their ear, and so would you.

Sure, they can debate the merits of the attack on the spot, but then it just becomes a heated argument. "Free speech" does not extend to private property, and you know that.

[SunSeeker]

78. So you equate calling out a racist with racist hate speech itself?

SMH

As I've repeatedly said in this thread, she had a right to exercise her 1st Amendment rights, and Cooke had a right to ask her to leave.

What I find so disappointing to see here are the repeated attempts to vilify this woman. You equate her with someone who yells out racist slurs ("Pocahontas" ), people suggested she kept at it for too long, even though no time frame was given in the article and she appeared to have left shortly after she was asked to leave, since the police NEVER CAME.

[JohnnyRingo]

83. Is that what you think I said?

I'm pointing out that shoes can be very uncomfortable on the other feet, and there are a multitude of reasons why Steve Bannon can be called a piece of trash.

I used Warren as only one example of how a public scene can make one appear unhinged. It would certainly elicit a different response from you if someone in a MAGA hat screamed at Bernie for being a socialist, or if one publicly gave Collins hell for her support of choice. The only difference is our political bent.

Yelling at someone in a bookstore or elsewhere displays neither courage nor class and only aids the other side in their definition of a lunatic fringe. To this woman, I'd ask that she please stop helping.

At least we agree that the shop owner had every right to ask the woman to leave.

[SunSeeker]

86. That is what you said. You analogized this woman to racists screaming "Pocahontas."

And no, I have no problem with ordinary citizens expressing their political views to the powerful in the only avenues available to them. That is very different from hate speech.

[JohnnyRingo]

105. I also added an example where Hillary was attacked

So I guess you see that as me comparing what happened to Bannon with gender bias. You clearly misunderstood me.

I'm not going to continue to bicker with you, so I'll say in closing that, as I see it, this woman did absolutely nothing to further our cause and only served to grant Steve Bannon victim status. It felt good to some of our friends on the left for one day like political methadone, but tomorrow our root problems will still be there.

You may have the final words, I've made my point.

[SunSeeker]

106. You are dead wrong. Shaming Nazis is not "political methadone." How insulting of you.

Shaming these Nazis is working. https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10845711

Calling out Nazis is the moral duty of every American.

Too bad you can't see that, and insist on insulting us rather than joining us.

[Jedi Guy]

29. Agreed.

While it's very emotionally gratifying to do these kinds of things, it's ultimately counterproductive. They get to play the role of the victim being accosted by those hysterical angry lib'ruls. And make no mistake, that's exactly how they'll spin every one of these confrontations.

The other thing is that it gives them free license to do the same when there's a Democratic President and Cabinet in office. Turnabout is fair play, and don't think they won't gleefully harass every Democratic official they can find. They absolutely will when the time comes.

As satisfying as it is, I just don't think it's a productive tactic.

[sandensea]

32. There you have it.

That's the very thing we were discussing with Johnny Ringo (just above).

He may deserve every insult in the book and then some; but there's politics to consider. How it plays in Peoria.

The best thing that could happen, is to let these people hang themselves.

[SunSeeker]

38. Yeah? How'd that "letting them hang themselves" work for John Kerry?

Or us in 2016?

[sandensea]

45. Kerry and Hillary, as you know, were cheated.

The time to stand and fight would have been in the weeks following each of those elections, and in the form of lawsuits and recount demands with the best lawyers we can get (and God knows we have some great ones on our side).

I hear you, SunSeeker. But accosting people in public places - even those who deserve every bit of it and then some - changes nothing, and only gives them something else to use in their favor.

[SunSeeker]

50. She did not "accost" him. She spoke her mind to one of our evil overlords.

We should always stand up to these fuckwads.

[sandensea]

51. She called him what he is, and God bless her for it.

It's further than I'd go personally; but a piece of trash is what these lowlifes in fact are, no question.

Let's just hope it never goes any further than that.

For a sociopath there are few more rewarding things than seeing their opponent lose their temper. And there are, as you know, few worse sociopaths than a GOPee public figure.

[SunSeeker]

52. Of course! Nonviolent protest is the most effective. She was not violent. nt

[sandensea]

53. I certainly hope it stays that way.

She was able to check herself; but the next time, some well-meaning Democrat may end up losing his temper.

All the more so because some Republicans are very good at provoking others. Bitchy little bastards, some of them.

[7962]

61. "exactly what they want". Yes! And it WILL be used as ammo

Its handing them a weapon to use.

[ProfessorPlum]

80. I disagree

what is the weapon? Them crying about being talked to? Womp womp .

[SunSeeker]

3. Bannon is such snowflake!

[cstanleytech]

5. Nothing you say to a piece of trash like Bannon will matter because people like him

do not care about anyone but themselves so the woman was wasting her time.

[SunSeeker]

99. She definitely was NOT "wasting her time." It's working. This is affecting these Nazis.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=10845711

[mountain grammy]

6. He is a piece of trash. Right on, madam.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

7. This kind of stuff plays right into the hands of Republicans. How many more elections do we want

them to win?

[SunSeeker]

100. Letting them walk over us without a peep is how they win elections.

They have been doing this to us forever. It is about time we started calling them out.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

102. I said zero about letting them walk all over us. Now, do you want Trump re-elected?

I sure don't.

[SunSeeker]

103. No, that's why we need to call these Nazis out this time. nt

[WhoWoodaKnew]

104. I have no problem with calling Nazis out. I also want Trump out of office. Everything

we do that costs us one friggin vote pisses me off. He, and his kind, need to be gone.

[More_Cowbell]

8. Bookstore owner's wife once embezzled money from church, gave it to his parish

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1995/05/07/rector-resigns-after-wife-is-accused-of-embezzlement/50e8fd03-8a36-4131-8a6a-d5956f63994a/?utm_term=.142c228b7e80

[paleotn]

15. And a farm in Lancaster county...

Another house. Tuition. Jewelry. Oh, that's right...it was all due to workplace stress. Horseshit. She worked for a church, not freaking JP Morgan. I hate thieves of all types. And like all thieves, she was only sorry her ass got caught.

[catchnrelease]

21. Wait, I don't get this part

The article says that 'Ellen Cooke, who has not been charged with any crime, spent the money on a farm in Lancaster, Va., a house in Montclair, N.J., private school tuition for her sons and jewelry, meals and travel for herself, friends and relatives.' Then goes on to say that her husband had no knowledge of what she was doing. Didn't he wonder how she/they had the money to buy all of those things???? I'll bet that wasn't reported on their taxes either. I hope they did end up charging her big time!

I'm with you--I hate thieves and con artists that take advantage of people.

[Judi Lynn]

28. Two articles, one from the NY Times, in 1995, and the other from the Washington Post, 1996:

1995
Rich Life Style and Looted Church; Ex-National Episcopal Treasurer Plans to Make Restitution
By ROBERT HANLEY

Before the scandal, Ellen F. Cooke, former treasurer of the national Episcopal Church, and her husband, the Rev. Nicholas T. Cooke 3d, an Episcopal priest, paid nearly $1 million for an 18th-century house with a wraparound porch and five fireplaces in Montclair, N.J., and a 23-acre vacation farm in a peach orchard in the Virginia countryside. Thousands more went into a new kitchen for the Montclair home and for tennis courts and a new 140-foot dock on a river flowing by the honeysuckle patch at the edge of the Virginia farm.

"Everybody said they must have had an awfully big congregation -- they had so much money," said M. S. Harcum, a neighbor in the sleepy hamlet of Ottoman, Va., about 90 miles east of Richmond. "I couldn't get any masonry or woodwork done, they kept everyone so busy."

But the money the Cookes spread among the craftsmen of Virginia, among other places, came from $2.2 million that church officials say Mrs. Cooke, 50, looted from the church treasury from February 1990 to last January.

The church's Presiding Bishop, Edmond L. Browning, said last week that outside auditors had found that Mrs. Cooke "systematically diverted" the $2.2 million, much of it from the Bishop's discretionary accounts.

More:
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/08/nyregion/rich-life-style-looted-church-ex-national-episcopal-treasurer-plans-make.html

~ ~ ~

Washington Post:

EPISCOPAL CHURCH EX-TREASURER GETS 5 YEARS FOR EMBEZZLEMENT
By Laurie Goodstein
July 11, 1996

Ellen F. Cooke, a college dropout from Virginia who rose to become the powerful treasurer of the national Episcopal Church, was sentenced today to five years in prison despite her claim that a psychiatric disorder caused her to embezzle $1.5 million from the church and evade $300,000 in income taxes.

U.S. District Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, her voice edged with outrage, rejected Cooke's claim of having no memory of diverting funds over a period of five years because of mental illness.

"This defendant deliberately and meticulously, with knowledge then and now, looted the national church over a period of years for one reason and one reason only: to live the life of someone she was not," Barry said. The judge added that she found abhorrent "the refusal to accept responsibility for one's actions, blaming everyone and everything, and relying on spurious psychiatric defenses."

. . .

The five-year prison sentence is 14 months longer than the maximum recommended under federal sentencing guidelines. Judge Barry said that Cooke deserved such a harsh penalty because she had undermined the work of the church, "an important societal institution that performs an essential function: care of the needy.

. . .

The Cookes have paid the church $100,000 in restitution. Insurance covered $1 million of the loss. In addition the sale of the Cooke's farm, on the market for $850,000, and their house, on the market for $695,000, netted the church only $250,000 because of deductions taken for mortgage owed, maintenance and lawyers' fees, said James Thrall, a church spokesman.

Her sentence today included a fine of $75,000 and a probation of three years, in addition to the five-year prison term. Her attorney said an appeal "is under active consideration" based on the judge's finding that Cooke's psychiatric claim was "spurious." If she does not appeal, Cooke is to surrender Aug. 26 and has asked to be sent to a federal women's prison in Alderson, W.Va., close to her family in Virginia. CAPTION: Ellen F. Cooke, center, walks to courthouse in Newark last January with attorney Plato Cacheris, right, and other members of the defense team.

More:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/07/11/episcopal-church-ex-treasurer-gets-5-years-for-embezzlement/1bac7ca0-7334-4ba0-bfd6-add28ba6baff/

[catchnrelease]

44. Thanks

Those articles answered my questions. Also noticed this little nugget--the judge who was not lenient is Maryanne Trump Barry. 'Barry is known for having little mercy on white collar criminals. She is the sister of real estate mogul Donald Trump.'

She must choke when she sees the kinds of scams her brother runs!

[SkatmanRoth]

11. Bannon is a public figure

When Bannon appears in public, he can be criticized in public. As long as the woman did not touch Bannon or impede his movement, there is not much the police can do.

[paleotn]

12. He deserves far, far worse.

[Mr.Bill]

13. I would not create a disruption in a private business.

It's the business owner's call if he wants Bannon in his store or not. I would simple leave without buying anything after quietly letting the owner know why.

Then when Bannon hits the sidewalk, it's game on.

[DeminPennswoods]

14. The owner has posted a note on the store's main web page

https://www.blackswanbooks.com/


I was unable to cut/paste the note, but it says in a nutshell the owner disagrees with Bannon's politics, but won't allow rudeness in his store.

[JohnnyRingo]

26. I see his point.

He has a business to run and if he allows such behavior it's bad for his store. I wouldn't like it if some wingnut harassed Elizabeth Warren in a book store. I'd want to see the owner step in and ask the person to leave. Like happened here.

[CozyMystery]

30. I see his point. nt

[summer_in_TX]

22. Confronting these people in public is counter-productive.

It deepens the culture war and gives Trump and all the demagogues in right wing media something true-ish to cudgel the left with.

The research on shaming shows it's singularly ineffective in producing positive change. Some have been shamed to death, others just bury the shame. It's likely to bust out in harmful ways.

Feeling guilt however can lead to remorse and positive change.

These rude confrontations do not win us friends in any way, shape, or form. They feel so satisfying though. It's seductive. But it causes people to identify with them and imagine how they'd feel in that situation, and I for one am not a fan of making them seem like someone with whom to sympathize.

I heard an NPR piece this morning on how fired up Republicans are this year for the mid-terms. It's not going to be at all easy. If we are widely perceived as angry, rude people who will stop at nothing to destroy Trump (as we are often being portrayed), it doesn't help us.

[dembotoz]

23. I don't plan to be good German. U can if u wish

[SunSeeker]

39. +1

[7962]

62. Most of the "good Germans" were forced to be "good Germans".

It was common to have your business shut down if you didnt "go along". Among other things.

[LanternWaste]

66. You'll of course, point towards valid, historic evidence supporting your premise, yes?

Among other things... "shrug:

[Stonepounder]

24. Sounds like the owner did the right thing.

It is his store, he pretty much gets to make the rules. He asked her to stop, she didn't. The book store is a private business. She should have stopped, waited for Bannon to leave and then she could have yelled at him on the sidewalk. Calling the police at that point she wouldn't listen to the owner was appropriate.

[Ohioboy]

33. The problem with stuff like this is it gives the anti- liberals fodder.

They're all playing the victim now, and that is where the focus is going. I'm not saying they don't deserve it, but, to borrow from Michelle Obama, we need to go high with these lowlifes.

[SunSeeker]

41. How'd that work for us in 2016?

[EndGOPPropaganda]

55. THIS IS A RIGHT-WING TALKING POINT. Repubs WANT us to be silent

Remember the goal of Republicans is to keep acting like everything is normal while they stuff the judiciary full of ideologues.

OUR goal, on the other hand: Raise an outcry. This is not normal. We should act like it.

[SunSeeker]

58. Thank you!

[LittleGirl]

68. Yes! eom

[Duppers]

71. EXACTLY!

I don't care what we do, any attempt to defend ourselves will be interpreted in the worst way.

So, fuck them.

[RhodeIslandOne]

87. Can we please fucking stop with the Michelle Obama quote?

That was when we looked like we were going to win the election by 400 EV

Now we realize how sick this country really is.

[SunSeeker]

94. Sad but true. nt

[C Moon]

46. What gets me about these Trumpettes is that many of them HATE the idea of taxes.

But they sure as hell like having the cops a 911 call away, to use as a scare tool.
I feel sorry for the police dealing with these racist idiots.

[EndGOPPropaganda]

54. Good stuff, woman who confronted Bannon

[heaven05]

63. good for her

free speech in a bookstore. I guess local fascists who own bookstores have a right to regulate free speech rights. In another development steve bannon crawled out his toilet to find more to advise trump, surreptitiously mind you, on how to run the country.....into the ground.

Bravo to the woman unafraid of the bannon POS.

[Demit]

67. I wonder how the newspaper found out about this minor incident?

I guess reporters still are assigned to police beats, and he or she got it from reading police logs, and it was a slow news day. But it also could've been the bookstore owner, or even Bannon, who tattled to the press.

But really, not much of an incident. I question the motive of the paper to print it. It's shit-stirring.

[Maxheader]

69. Confronting americus enemys in public?

Love it....

[WhiteTara]

76. I would have told that guy that if he supports traitor bannon,

I would never buy another book from his store and would post it on my fb page. Sniveling little weinies, call the cops because she wasn't civil and in her place--in the kitchen or on her back.

[exboyfil]

77. The store owner could tell the customer

to take it up with Bannon once he exits the store. Also try to be a little more constructive than "piece of trash".

If someone is looking to purchase my books, I don't want them harassed. It is my right as a store owner to ask disruptive people to leave. The woman has every right to continue the conversation on the street.

[underpants]

79. Thompson and Main

If I'm not mistaken.

[Turbineguy]

101. I would have called the cops too.

Comparing Bannon to trash is an insult to trash.

[FiveGoodMen]

108. "Cooke said Bannon was minding his own business"

After the deliberate role he's played in destroying our country, his business IS our business.

Traitorous Nazi monsters like Bannon are not entitled to be left alone.