Here is the video report in which Sarah Palin dodges tomatoes while signing books in Bloomington, Minnesota. A man named Jeremy Paul Olson was arrested on charged of disorderly conduct for the caper on December 4th, 2009.

palin tomatoes


This is a Right Pundits open talk thread where you can discuss this topic or any other of your choosing. The tomato-throwing incident occurred at a book signing event at a Barnes and Noble store in the Mall of America in which Olson assaulted Palin from a second floor balcony overlooking fans. Palin is touring the country to promote her new book “Going Rogue.”

Olson threw two tomatoes and perhaps humorously proved a bad shot. He missed by ten feet with both of them and ended up hitting two police officers instead. Ball four.

Regardless of incompetence on the mound, Olson has already become quite the cause célèbre among partisan Democrats around the country, much in the same vein as the George Bush shoe throwing journalist in Iraq last year. There is a certainly ugliness to these incidents that sour the electorate against the political party which instigates them and cheer on these fantasy assassins.

In Washington the growing intolerance on the left was encapsulated in the Senate this week when Minnesota Senator Al Franken cut Joe Leiberman off from speaking on the Senate floor. The move was called unprecedented in the Senate which prompted a rebuke from Senator John McCain of Arizona and other Senators in the chamber.

So this week Sarah Palin dodges tomatoes and many on the left celebrate. Al Franken shuts up a Senator and some rub their hands together with glee. These incidents are examples of the rancor which develops when partisans get too big for their shoes in what is ordinarily an inclusive culture.

It is the same sort of zealotry that submarined the Republican Party from their height of power six years ago and the primary reason for the fall in public approval ratings for the Democrat Party this year. When party faithful become overconfident in their righteousness, ugliness will typically follow.

What voters want in our society is healthy debate. When one side or the other stifles debate, voters in the middle are turned off. The fence sitters move to the other side, not only turned off by behavior perceived as un-American, but also motivated by our very human desire to help the underdog.

So watch the video below and tell us what you think about the Sarah Palin tomato thrower, Jeremy Paul Olson, political rancor generally, or any other topic on your mind. You have the floor.


Sarah Palin Dodges Tomatoes (Video)