Man’s Finger Bitten Off At Health Care Rally
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department reports that a 65-year-old man had his finger bitten off Wednesday night at a health care rally in Thousand Oaks, California. (Photo at right is blood found near the scene, courtesy KTLA.) A group of anti-health care reform protesters formed across the street from an event put on by moveon.org.
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 65-year-old was apparently aggressive and hit the other man, who then retaliated by biting off his attacker’s pinky, according to Karoli from DrumsnWhistles.
The man took his finger and walked to Los Robles hospital for treatment.
Here’s what Drumsnwhistles reports:
[A man in an] 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. As you can see from the photo, cars drive straight through that without stopping. The pro-reform guy could have been run over. 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.”
Hmmm…what was the Pro-Reform guy doing in the anti-reform group? Other than looking for ways to satisfy his insatiable desire for human flesh?
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:43 am
Apparently there are cannibals on both sides of this debate.
I hope we’ve all learned a valuable lesson here.
Don’t punch someone in the face, hard, and then point your finger at them.
A hard learned lesson, a cautionary tale, that we can all learn from.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:49 am
I heard that some seniors up in Oregon, captured and ate several pro-reform college students.
I think it was in a barbeque type setting.
This is getting ugly.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:57 am
I think it was on Geraldo, or maybe Nancy Grace, I can’t remember which.
This cat has some fairly serious chops huh?
I wonder if they were dentures ?
GuidoVanHorn Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:14 pm
I can’t tell the difference between Geraldo and Nancy Grace either.
EricG Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Potfry – “Hmmm…what was the Pro-Reform guy doing in the anti-reform group? Other than looking for ways to satisfy his insatiable desire for human flesh?”
Colmes – “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 65-year-old was apparently aggressive and hit the other man, who then retaliated by biting off his attacker’s pinky,”
Do a little critical reading, Potfry.
You’ve got the cannibal all mixed up. It was the 65 year-old anti-reform man who did the flesh biting not the pro-reform person.
One could say we have had our first causality in the war against insane anti-reformist attitudes that keep medical care from needy American families.
A pinky is a small price to pay!
–
And he was moving around … is that not allowed in America anymore? We all have to stay on our side of the fence and never mix with the ‘others’?
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 am
Ewww, that is totally sick. Does this man have health insurance? C’mon Alan more Ice cream threads that was fun..
EricG Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Gay Ice Cream will save us from body parts lying on the floor…
Sure it will…
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Eric, it just nasty! Biting someones finger off. I asked more ice cream thread it was light and we had fun with it. Please don’t be so angry, Life sucks and it getting even suckier. (is that a word?) no it would not save us from body parts on the floor, but breaks up the monotony.
EricG Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Oh I agree. I was j/k.
“Life sucks and it getting even suckier. (is that a word?)”
No, that’s not a word.
You have to say it like:
“getting to sucking more”
But I like your way better.
And life only kind of sucks.
The better way to say it is that REALITY sucks but life is grand.
It’s all in how you look at it.
Maybe this guy wanted to have someone tear one of his digits off. Who knows?
Or maybe he is a masochist and enjoyed the whole experience…
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am
I like seeing a good fist fight from time to time but this is ridiculous. Let’s keep the fights in the bars where they belong.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:50 am
or in the South Korean parliament.
placefield Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
I forgot about that. Parliament death match.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am
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.”
Damn straight – no such thing as a ‘fair’ street fight. First thing you try to do is run away, if that isn’t possible, anything goes.
I’ve been in one fight as an adult that I couldn’t run away from. Three guys jumped me and my buddy (when we turned our backs to walk away from a disagreement they started).
Two went for me, one for my buddy. They got me on the ground, one guy on top of me, the other kicking me in the side. I jammed my finger up to about the second knuckle into the eyeball of the dude on top of me in an effort to pull it out (your eyeball dangling on your cheek tends to take the fight out of you) – though I didn’t actually get the chance to pull the eyeball out.
About the same time my buddy managed to pull his knife, and lied that he was a cop and the three were going to jail – the three punks took off running.
When we got back to my buddies house and relayed the story to his dad, he wanted to go to the hospitals, to find that ‘one eyed [racial epithet for an Asian person]‘.
To this day (15 years later), I’m still known as ‘the finger’ to my buddies dad.
Sarah Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:56 am
Yeah, it sounds like AR guy started it with the punch in the face. Biting a finger off is pretty extreme.
Fortunately, AR guy thinks our healthcare system is AWESOME, so it sounds like he got a nice visit to the ER to demonstrate his support.
Um Cara Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:02 pm
Biting a finger off is pretty extreme.
Yea, I agree – in my example, I literally feared for my life. But it sounds like this guy could have run away (which is the smart thing to do).
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:21 pm
Both may prove effective advanced interogation techniques,
if we haven’t already used them that is.
The finger in the eye or the biting off of a finger.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:45 am
AJ – see a good example of his freedom of speech ended at the tip of the other guys nose, or mouth in this case.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
You could be next DRK. Fair warning.
It’s all part of the organized resistance to the resistance, didn’t you get the memo ?
Drk H Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:55 am
AJ – I have 2 brothers and numerous cousins and friends. You think I don’t understand the concept of open mouth and somebody else insert foot, think again. I might be next, go ahead, I have had by butt kicked by a lot better people than you.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 pm
“I’ve had my butt kicked by a lot better people than you”
So have I DRK, so have I.
EricG Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
“I might be next, go ahead, I have had by butt kicked by a lot better people than you”
You do guys want to pull down your pants and settle the next competition on the list?
PIPE CHECK!
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 am
I like the texture and color of that sidewalk.
Interesting.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:07 pm
‘O Dedo’ – but only Mr. [buddies dad's last name] gets to call me ‘The Finger’ :^)
EricG Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:44 pm
“Good thinking to go for his eye. But you’d better hope that The Eric doesn’t read your post and pontificate that ‘even bad guys shouldn’t have to have their eye hanging down their cheek…””
Forgive my Christian nature but I am thinking exactly what your eluding to about all this but I would like to point out that the main point is already here: if you can, you run away.
If the statement was missing that I would be beef but as long as people are making that clear I am not stamping my feet or any other noise.
–
If you ca avoid violence then it’s your personal responsibility to do so. But when confronted with evil it is not always possible to flee, that’s when you get to actually use and self-defense techniques you might know.
Popping out eyeballs is just one of a great many things one can do and be taught how to do. I’ve surprised many a person with how much I know about self-defense for a complete pacifist. Hey … I used to hang out with a bunch of martial artists and I still know a few … what can I say?
As to what you said, Kregg:
Nobody should have their eyes popped out, that’s true. But my objection is not the person defending themselves but rather to the attacker. They should be able to be better human beings and not act the animal by attacking others.
The fault falls to the aggressor and not the defender. However, I don’t think such things warrant ‘badges of honor’ like many want to make them.
I once got hit by a car. I almost got hit just last night. Should the driver talk about “nailing that skinny kid” with pride or should they seriously consider that they would be in jail cell for the rest of their life if they only were speeding a little faster or a few more beers down into the evening?
—
Call me crazy. That’s fine, Kregg.
But don’t forget that I’m pretty much the last Christian alive in the United States as well. So you remember that next time you hear about the wondrous ‘morality’ of some conservative bad-mouthing liberals. Most liberals are better Christians than most conservatives even if they don’t even know it.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:10 pm
First Wendys, now this. Fingers are poping off everywhere.
Also, does anybody know if it was the middle finger.
If so, how will he be able to drive?
Sarah Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Forget driving, how will he be able to snap his fingers along to his Pat Boone records?
TDro319 Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
“Also, does anybody know if it was the middle finger.
If so, how will he be able to drive?”
Which is why it should be made legal to carry a concealed handgun in your car. Just in case you lose your middle finger. =)
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:23 pm
HHHHAH,
I didn’t realize you were this funny until recently.
Is it medical marijuana ?
Good one Sarah.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:24 pm
I could see the fist w/ raised pinky becoming a rallying sign for pro-reform folks. It’d be fun. ( Among other symbols/hand signs such as: raised fist for solidarity, V for victory, raised ink-stained finger for democracy, raised pinky if you support healthcare reform). A natural progression.
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:45 pm
That would be nice, but question, raising ones pinky would that be the right of the right to bit it off? You would know the Libs from the Neo-con?
crackerjack Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I’m not advocating sticking our fingers in anyone’s faces. This would be more of a gloat-and-taunt-at-a-distance thing. We know the anti-reform folks are unstable. Just walk-away is good sound advice.
Celticwitch Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I am for Healthcare reform, but the violence is escalating and someone might not just loose a finger, but their life. This is really scary times we live in.
placefield Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I agree, I would like to see Medicare for all, but I don’t want to see anybody hurt or worse in the process.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
I like that idea Crackerjack.
Make lemonade out of lemons.
Celticwitch has a point though, it’s getting spookier by the minute.
Back to the lighter side.
Maybe pointing and laughing isn’t such a good idea, up close anyway.
We should do it from a popemobile type vehicle.
September 3rd, 2009 at 12:40 pm
Conservatives punch. Liberals bite. Enough said.
average james Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
Zinger by Potfry !!!
Ha ha ha
EricG Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
You better believe it. I bite. You have to get me backing into a corner and threaten me with physical violence but once we have established you will not let me go and have no interest in rational discussion, biting would be the least of your problems from me.
September 3rd, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Not sure why that should be that your comments aren’t getting posted or remaining posted, Dennis.
However, many of us here have encountered problems with posting because our posts have words that get caught in the Liberaland filter, words like the PROPER spelling of the words/names: c0nv1nce, a$$ault, Uranvs, or various forms of the word c0nv1nce.
Also, if you post links beginning with the ache-tee-tee-pee-slash-slash-dubya-dubya-dubya-DOT beginning to the link (in other words, a click-on link), that can get your post caught or reclaimed by the filter, especially if you have more than click-on link per post. (I have lost several long posts I had typed out for the better part of an hour apiece because of having several click-on links in each of those posts, and it was discouraging!) If you wish to post a link, the safer course is to omit the universal beginning, making it a “type-in link” for other posters that want to pursue the information you provide as support for your posting points. (As you can see, some people can post click-on links here, depending on how their computers interact with the Liberaland filter, but posting type-in links, if you wish to post informational links with your comments, is the safest way to insure your post doesn’t get lost in or snatched up by the filter and disappear.)
Another thing, Dennis, is that Joel or Alan may delete posts that they consider to contain excessive insults or cursing. Again, you can see they permit a bit of that, but they won’t put up with too much of it. (No, Dennis, not accusing you of doing that, I’m just trying to help you evaluate the possibilities of what may be going wrong for you here.)
Hope this helps you solve the problem here, Dennis, and that you can solve it and be able to participate in our conversations here!!
your fellow Liberaland blogger Lib Patriot
libpatriot Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Dennis, hope you won’t get discouraged while you’re trouble-shooting the problem here, it may take more than one try for you to isolate what the trouble is.
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:00 pm
The pro-national healthcare groups organized by Moveon.org? I thought all left wing rallies were grassroots. Looks like astroturf to me.
OldLefty Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Actually, Move on is gra$$roots in the sense that people fund them, not corporations.
They were just 3 people who wanted the congress to censure Clinton and Move On…..
They wrote some things on the net and people responded, then they started petitions, and became a pac
They are not a for profit industry like the insurance companies.
JFA Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:50 pm
lefty, doesen’t George Soros fund move on?
I think that’s big bucks, no?
Daddio Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:54 pm
The left is in denial when it comes to their Big Money. Big Money on the right is used for pure evil. Big Money on the left is used for virtuous endeavors. I thought you knew that JFA. :)
OldLefty Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:58 pm
Soros gave money to them and other causes., but so do I, like richard Mellon Scaife.
But hey are not big corporations who make money from the cause.
OldLefty Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Daddio, How, Exactly is the left in denial?
Daddio Reply:
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:04 pm
The left believes all their money is only used for holier than thou causes. They deny any of the lefts shady dealings.
Anyhow, I gotta go. The Browns are playing their last pre-season game now against Da Bears.
Talk to you all tomorrow. Have a good night everybody.
OldLefty Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Daddio,
From yesterday,
Nobody from either side thinks there is no shady money coming in .
The difference is in who is pulling the strings, for what reason.
To draw a parallel between Move on and these other astro turf movements you would have to show that there is an ulterior motive that their supporters don’t see and that it is THEY who rile up their supporters not the other way around.
In the “Brooks Brother’s Riot” , GOP operatives were POSING as average Floridians, pounding on the glass, chanting, “Stop the count. Stop the fraud.”
In testimony before the Senate Commerce Committee, a Clear Channel exec said that the idea, organizing and promotion of the pro war, anti Dixie Chicks rallies, (along with blacklisting, their music and songs like the Beatles, Imagine), came not from their listeners, but from corporate.
I must also add that the rallies where we were treated to steam rolling and people smashing and stomping CDs sure looked the book burning we saw in 1933 Germany.
Move up to the tremendous anger the people harbored towards the crooks on Wall Street…..to redirect the anger away from the rich and shameless, the Wall Street insiders like Santelli got the people, (who already hated Obama), riled up in order to defend THEIR gaming of the system and fight off regulation.
And now it is the insurance companies and the GOP leadership who are terrified that a good health care plan would be as well liked as medicare.
The people who sent money to Move on were anti war, and anti Bush’s economic policy…..so again, you would have to show me what ULTERIOR motive or purpose they serve, that their supporters don’t realize.
It would be like claiming that the whole anti war movement was funded by the HUGE, multi billion dollar “Peace Industry” who were losing billions in the war?????
I’m REALLY busy today, so I had to get everything out at one time…what’s an old gasbag to do?
karthiks030977 Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 8:01 am
” the whole anti war movement was funded by the HUGE, multi billion dollar “Peace Industry” who were losing billions in the war?????”
I like that,Oldlefty :-) Well put.
RDM Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 9:17 am
There are plenty of big buck Democratic Sugar Daddy’s.
The only big money I can see backing the folks that oppose government run Obama Care is coming from Hoveround and The Scooter Store.
OldLefty Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 10:11 am
RDM,
EVERYBODY has big buck Sugar Daddies.
The opposition to reform comes from Americans For Prosperity and Freedom Works, all funded by the insurance industry….( just check their funding.)
Also big is Rick Scott, founder of a group called Conservatives for Patients’ Rights.
From WaPo:
Scott, a multimillionaire investor and controversial former hospital chief executive, has become an unlikely and prominent leader of the opposition to health-care reform plans
Scott previously started a for-profit hospital chain in 1987 that later became the $23 billion Columbia/HCA. He was ousted from this post in 1997 after he and three other executives were indicted on charges of Medicare fraud.
The investigation revealed that the hospital chain had been bilking Medicare while simultaneously handing over kickbacks and perks to physicians who steered patients to its hospitals
Also, the doc in my family was approached by these guys:
The GOP’s Fake Doctor Council
How Obamacare opponents scam physicians and the public.
They ask you to be part of a peer review.. he said, “There are no peers here, this purely a con.”
ALL this money is going to produce results like those who demand that the government stay away from their government run medicare….very sad.
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
I like the guy. If someone got in my face at a anti-GOVERNMENT run Health Care Reform Rally, I would do the same.
When life steps on your toes, spills your beer and spits in your face, hit back, laugh it off and move on.
karthiks030977 Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 9:25 am
Hmmm. Are you saying you would have bitten off the pinkie of the guy who got in your face?
Just like to know, so I never wag my finger at you,no matter what the provocation.
RDM Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:15 pm
No, I would not use any Mike Tyson tactics.
Celticwitch Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 9:30 am
I agree with Karth, especially if I flick you the bird. I need that to do it to my husband when he p*sses me off.
RDM Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
I saw the Scariest license in the world yesterday.
PMS-24-7
Was this you?
Celticwitch Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Sorry I don’t get that anymore, but pray that Hot flashes doesn’t make me homicidal.
September 4th, 2009 at 9:04 am
What’s a little bitten finger, when one can suck on a whole toe…lol
http://atlasobscura.com/places/sourtoe-cocktail
Sarah Reply:
September 4th, 2009 at 12:18 pm
Hey, leave Dick Morris out of this….
:)
September 4th, 2009 at 11:07 am
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September 8th, 2009 at 8:21 pm