Obama Heckled, Leads Crowd In Pledge Of Allegiance

McClatchy reports on another interruption at a Barack Obama event:

A heckler sitting in the press section interrupted Barack Obama's opening remarks at a town hall meeting in Berea, Ohio, and forced the candidate to lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance. The audience of several thousands groaned with the heckling, but Obama waved them back and said then led the group in reciting the pledge.

Ben Smith has more:

A slightly odd moment at the beginning of Barack Obama's event in Berea, OH, when a man on the press riser -- apparently a photographer -- began loudly demanding that the crowd recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The crowd began to chant, drowning the man out, but Obama -- perhaps sensing a moment of peril -- quickly shushed them, and led the crowd in the Pledge.

"We usually do an invocation and a pledge before we start," he said. "I don't know why we didn't, but this young man reminded us."

Obama was heckled last week for not focusing on African-American issues.

Comments

[MoxieGurl]

The heckler is obviously unstable and believes all the stupid emails that flood his mailbox or he believes all the emails blast he sends off from his mother's basement...

I sure hope the Secret Service had a nice disarming conversation with him.... This was scary to watch the man is obviously UNHINGED.

Nice work Rush, Hannity and the ilk.... You've unleshed a bunch of crazy people onto the Demos and they're crazy enough to hurt people i.e., the TN church shootings....

[poco767b]

"believes all the stupid emails that flood his mailbox"
I hope so,
sunartist.comist.com is his email address

[margardner]

Quick on his heels, great on the stump = Commander in Chief!

[GeoLee]

I guess the monitors are out and I am sorry Obama missed a teachable moment to educate the nation on the correct way of saying the phrase "one nation under God" when saying the phrase. I would have loved to have had him tell all of the crowd "We will say it, but I want all of you to know there is no pause between nation and under God the way the pledge was meant to be said and the way it is written, so let's all say it the right way so this man won't think I don't know the pledge or that you all don't either." We who were taught the first year they changed the Pledge Of Allegiance by adding that phrase must be the only people left who know that you say the phrase "one nation under God" as a phrase and don't stop to take a breath between nation and under. Google it and you will see, hopefully, the way it was written in the 50's as most of you may never have read it or heard it spoken correctly.

[XME]

Beautifully handled. This, in a nutshell, is why I like Obama. After 8 years of a walking gaffe of a president, we desperately need a leader who makes us proud of how they represent us, rather than one who's a constant embarrassment!

[CocteausTwin]

Well I hope it was not an O plant, I do not think it was. Big O shows more grace under pressure than McFlappable will ever be able to muster. O has the ability listen to people who do not agree with him, that might be a really good thing to have in a POTUS.

[mergina]

O plant. He did not look the least bit shocked or annoyed by it all. P-L-A-N-T

[nellie]

This scene doesn't do O any good politically. We're so accustomed to bluster and anger and lowdown mean, we just don't believe grace under fire when we see it. This guy's got it.

[boombox]

You mean he didn't go all deer-in-the-headlights-oh-god-what-am-i-gonna-say like John M-C-C-A-I-N?

[DragonMama]

I was there, he was no plant. If he was a plant, he would have been somewhere easier to hear. He looks so unhinged because he was shouting at the top of his lungs in order to be heard. Acoustics were terrible there. It's not terribly hard to get press credentials, I was offered them for my town's free newspaper.

[abby4ever]

But why would he be EITHER shocked or annoyed, in the first place? It's not as if the guy asked him to strip or something.

[CindyM2008]

Watch the video above. Look at the guys demeanor and actions. Listen to him. This was no plant.

[aquarius2001]

These are rethug operatives sitting in his audience.

[DragonMama]

He wasn't in the audience, he was on the press platform. And security didn't even remove him from there.

[blueinannarbor]

The GOP has be thinking like Butch Cassady and the Sundance Kid as they were being hounded relentlessly: "Who is this guy?"

[nonconformist2]

Here's the utube clip of the guy who interrupted the meeting. It's a bit long (8 Minutes), but if you stick with it for about 4 minutes, you get to see how shady he really is. Definitely some kind of plant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=031VHnUD0aw

[boogygran]

Thanks for the link, interesting to see but I don't know what to make of it. He had a press pass and stayed to take photos during the program after participating in the pledge, so who knows what his purpose there was? Anyway the initial excitement sure seemed to get things going for O and the crowd....

[chitown8]

Did anyone notice he started crying. This guy is scary. Security might be O team concern at these events. Obama if you or your staff are watching please be careful.

[lizwatch]

Thank you for the link. That was so creepy! The guy was so lit up about the whole thing. I was surprised that he apparently was not a veteran since he talked about other family members serving and not himself. He was not there to help Obama (obviously) in any way. I don't recall seeing McCain doing the pledge at anything. Does he do it? I guess it all goes to try to show Obama is not patriotic. It is so sad that people like this have to be so angry. I don't think he was even press. That is so scary. I hope they have better security than that. I worry......

[DragonMama]

It's relatively easy to get press credentials, and there are a lot of local newspapers in Cleveland that he could have been freelancing for. He's from Parma, which is about 50/50 Republican (I was born in that burb).

FWIW, I was the lady who asked the last question. The questions are definitely NOT pre-screened. Aside from my getting to ask one (and getting really sore arms from holding my hand up so long), one of the questions before me was "I just bought a killer dress, how do I get invited to the inaugural ball?"

There are plenty of idiots in this town, no need to recruit them. The energy "protesters" in front were just as self-directed (or O'Reilly-directed)

[raye1]

I was working as a journalist in Berlin for Swiss National Television covering Baracks visit. I am proud to say that I too indulged in some heckeling myself! Whenever the pocked faced reporter from "Fixed News" started to do his live "reports" , I led the crowd behind me in the time honored chant of "Fixed News, Fixed News!". He tried to have me removed, but to no avail! So I feel Baracks pain!

I guess the second best thing about being there is that I totally kill the notion that it was ONLY over two hundred thousand folks from Berlin (Germans) there for Baracks speech. While I am at , let me kill the other myth about folks coming for the "free concert". The so called free concert did not begin until an hour before Barack spoke. No one had a clue who the first band was and the second one to come on was a singer named Raemon (sp?). He is a one hit German wonder.

We also interviewed dozens of Americans, visited the Democrats Abroad voter registration tables and took some great pictures of the lone McCain supporter , who was there holding up an umbrella with little McOldMacdonald signs hanging from it!

[momof3inGA]

Too funny!

[wanj]

This is mister Commander in Chief! He can take a heckler, convert him to an Obamacan... and have him yelling "Yes we can" all in less than a minute!

[nonconformist2]

Unflappable!

[Marcee]

Obama is so cool on pressure. He handled it just right and shut the fool up. Way to go, O!

[SuiginTou7]

Hey, I'm proud to say, Obama's is the ONE. It's time to use this agaisnt McCain.

[LiberTLover]

I agree completely.

He is the ONE to:

Unite the country and move forward as one people.
Start getting things done in Washington that help all people to prosper, not the top one percent.
Revamp healthcare in America so no one dies because of unaffordable healthcare.
Revitalize and retool the economy to America's advatage in the one global economy.
Invest in science and technology so that American ingenuity is number one in the world again.
Lead America into a new age of self reliant energy while protecting our one and only environment.

I could go on,, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that can contribute to this list.

[xcrunner77]

You can only get heckled when you allow anyone who wants to to attend your events. When you consider that Obama's events are completely open, it's surprising that more of these morons haven't tried such stupid stunts.

McCain and Bush don't get heckled because anyone with a different opinion is not allowed in. Bush will only speak at military bases and academies, where everyone is required to salute him. No possibility of heckling there unless someone wants a court martial.

McCain's handlers routinely eject anyone who might not agree with him. There was the librarian with her "McCain = Bush" sign (apparently it's not flattering to be likened to the current President). There was the black Florida reporter who hadn't said anything negative, but was ejected for being black.

Bottom line: Obama gets heckled some times because he is practicing what he preaches: an open society. McCain/Bush don't get heckled because they practice what they preach: a closed society.

Which one do you want, America?

[boogygran]

I'll take the big O

[mesut]

I agree and what impresses me more is he doesn't have the heckler removed BUT addresses the issue. Now that takes nerves of steel to face up to an uncomfortable situation and turn it to his advantage.

To bad MSM tries to make traction where there is no road

[MiddleRoadLiberal]

Next he'll be heckled for not talking about Brangelina's new twins. How cute are they?

[chrisbee]

hahaha,