Prosecution, please.

Assault and battery against a Democratic tracker by someone who seems to be a Missouri Republican party official.

Looks like assault and battery to me. And the perp even waves into the camera.

The victim is a Democratic tracker at a Missouri Republican rally. [Update: Turns out to have been a rally for the Republican candidate for governor. Apparently the victim was eventually pushed to the ground.]The assailant is wearing what seems to be a Missouri Republican Party lapel pin. Given his behavior, I can only call his failure to wear an American Flag lapel pin an act of unwonted patriotism.

Yes, Glenn, we said that if Bush were re-elected, we’d see opponents of the ruling party openly assulted on public property. And we were right!

Footnote “Trackers” are people who videotape opposition rallies, hoping to capture a “macaca” moment. Perfectly lawful activity. A&B, of course, isn’t.

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com