Stupid Media Trick of the Day: Kavanaugh Didn’t Shake Fred Guttenberg’s Hand
Kavanaugh was portrayed as cold and heartless.
Give the media an obvious political stunt and they’ll run with it like it’s fact, Fred Guttenberg Edition:
Fred Guttenberg lost a child during Nikolas Cruz’s shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida. He was also invited to the hearings as a guest of Sen. Feinstein. Just before the hearings broke for lunch, Guttenberg approached Kavanaugh and attempted to shake his hand. Kavanaugh declined and walked away.
This image of Fred Guttenburg extending a hand was all over the internet, mainly by media who used the image to draw many conclusions about Kavanaugh. The internet responded in-kind, proving hand-shake experts are far more common than you might imagine.
Fred Guttenberg, the father of Jamie Guttenberg who was killed in the shooting in Parkland, Fla., left, tries to shake hands with @realDonaldTrump's Supreme Court nom., Brett Kavanaugh, right, during a lunch break. Kavanaugh did not shake his hand. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) @ap pic.twitter.com/smcCGuLT6X
— Andrew Harnik (@andyharnik) September 4, 2018
Video of the encounter shows it was seconds-long:
Trump’s team will try to brush Kavanaugh’s diss of a Parkland Dad aside by saying “security intervened”.
But here’s the video, and it offers an even more damning glance into the soul of a man very comfortable ignoring us commoners. pic.twitter.com/E2xqeK2sIz
— Rob Bennett (@rob_bennett) September 4, 2018
Nevertheless, Kavanaugh was portrayed as cold and heartless.
To the objective onlooker, the situation looks very different. After months of hysteria and an entire morning of intentional disruption (all orchestrated to push lawmakers into prematurely ending hearings), someone approaches Kavanaugh who turns and walks away when security intervenes.
Not to mention the fact that
Security is the reason the White House suggested for the snub heard round the internet:
As Judge Kavanaugh left for his lunch break, an unidentified individual approached him. Before the Judge was able to shake his hand, security had intervened. https://t.co/ylOhtA1s6G
— Raj Shah (@RajShah45) September 4, 2018
If his Twitter feed is any indicator, Guttenberg is also a political activist.
Monday, he tweeted:
I will be at Kavanaugh hearings and I hope to play a role in ensuring that this man does not become the next Supreme Court Justice. https://t.co/6oC7OPlyB8
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) September 3, 2018
But you won’t see that tweet mentioned in national media reports lambasting Kavanaugh.
The tweet appearing at the top of his thread, which he’s intentionally pinned to stay in place is as follows:
Our new #OrangeWaveInNovember special edition shirts are now available on our website at https://t.co/Q7dpR2DlGf for only $20. Let's make this movement spread across this country. Look forward to seeing people wearing these. Hats coming soon!!!! pic.twitter.com/vmG18QrbI6
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) August 11, 2018
Of the hearings and encounter, Guttenberg tweeted:
At the Kavanaugh hearings. A lot of thoughtful discussion, until it got to Ted Cruz. Thankfully, he did acknowledge elections have consequences. After his discussion of the 2nd amendment now, looking forward to @BetoORourke becoming Senator as a consequence of this elections
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) September 4, 2018
Just walked up to Judge Kavanaugh as morning session ended. Put out my hand to introduce myself as Jaime Guttenberg's dad. He pulled his hand back, turned his back to me and walked away. I guess he did not want to deal with the reality of gun violence.
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) September 4, 2018
To distinguish himself as an individual unaffiliated with the rest of the obstructionist fray, Guttenberg later tweeted:
To be clear, I was invited by Senator Feinstein to attend today. Anyone who knows me knows I will talk to anyone. I initiated an effort to introduce myself to Kavanaugh. It was my decison and I own it. Anyone trying to come up with some politial master plan is simply wrong.
— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) September 4, 2018
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Comments
The Democrats are engaged in cheap Kabuki Theater. Given this dishonorable behavior, the Republicans should just bring the nomination to a vote in the Committee before weeks end. There is no rule that says the Republicans must stand for Democrat sabotage.
Every time the dems get caught in their never-ending series of outrageous incivilities, they call for “civility.” We should all remember these hearings as prime examples of the civility trap, in which the lefties attempt to, once more, guilt-trip the gullible into being nice as the dems continue to act out the classic communist tactics of projection, obfuscation and misdirection.
It was a little odd. Kavanaugh turned, looked at the guy, sized him up, then turned away. I think I woulda taken the guy’s hand, then moved on.
I don’t think it odd he was cautious about shaking the hand of someone he’s never seen before. I don’t blame him for bein cautious.
If he had shaken his hand… the propaganda would be something else. This is the father’s “bargaining” point in grief… if he does this it will make this grief worth it. It is cheap by any standard.
Incorrect. He turned towards him, the guy announced, ‘my daughter was murdered at Parkland’, and then Kavanaugh saw he was just another idiot protester and turned away.
That also presumes that the Judge could even hear what he said, it was very noisy.
Do you think he even knew who he was? With all the nutbags in the crowd today, how do you know this was not just a another, only in a suit and a tie. Great disguise for a terrorist. I wouldn’t have gone near him either.
You beat me to it Dave. Why would Kavanaugh know who this guy was, let alone recognize him….
Not to mention that Gutenburg has misplaced his angst: He should be in Florida protesting the sheriff and the school superintendent. They are the ones who set things in motion that eventually killed his daughter.
I would have taken his hand and not given it back.
Tweet taken from HotAir story:
What fresh hell is this!!!???
Kavanaugh’s assistant Zina Bash giving the white power sign right behind him during the hearing? This alone should be disqualify!!!
For all we know, the assistant looks like she has a hangnail that is bothering her.
I remember this time I was on jury duty. On the way to court I felt an ear ache coming on. By the time I was in the jury box, it hurt like hell. I can remember biting down hard trying to distract myself from the pain in my ear. On at least one occasion, the prosecutor seemed to pickup on my facial expressions and reasked a question of a witness. I have no idea how I looked, but I was pretty sure the lawyers were taking cues from me.
Childish, cheap, and ultimately ineffective. What the Left is all about.
Those who want the Kavanaugh nomination defeated will, after this non-incident, still want it defeated. No gain there.
Those who want the nomination confirmed perhaps know something new; that Kavanaugh is not easily suckered by cheap tricks. So no loss there.
So how’s that Blue Wave coming along?
Kavanaugh knew he was getting set up, he just didn’t know the particulars.
Democrats claimed Sarah Palin was using her children as props in her shameless quest for fame? Yet this guy is hawking cheap t-shirts and bobbles while campaigning over the corpse of his child.
One VERY IMPORTANT thing Democrats are conveniently leaving out. This asshole didn’t just walk up to him and ask to shake his hand.
He walked up to him, announced, ‘my daughter was murdered at Parkland’, and THEN tried to shake his hand. You can even hear the audio in some videos of this farce.
Here’s an alternate title on the story, “Kavanaugh declines to shake the hand of crazed activist after listening to hysterics for the entire day”.
Fred Guttenberg extended his arm for a handshake, yet what did he say as he was doing so? And, with the aide(?) coming up alongside Guttenberg so quickly, Kavanaugh accurately assessed the situation.
Moreover, after what he endured, I’m not sure I’d been up for shaking anybody’s hand, let alone a stranger charging at me.
He announced ‘my daughter was murdered at Parkland’.
Kavanaugh CORRECTLY identified him as an idiot protester with an agenda, and walked away.
Given the hysterical behavior of the left the entire day, it was almost certain he was going to do something like refuse to let go of his hand so he could scream in his face.
In that setting I wouldn’t have shaken his hand either.
Clear the room. The left has had their circus. The clowns can stay home and watch the proceedings on CSPAN. And hold lawmakers responsible when their “guest” misbehaves.
Any guest of a senator who has to be removed cuts down five minutes from their time to speak. How’s that?
I’d only shake his hand to crush it. Ignore every one of them.
Remember the Russian spy and his daughter in London who were poisoned with a nerve toxin a few months ago? If you are a public figure, especially a (manufactured by the Demoncrats) controversial figure, I wouldn’t shake hands to allow anyone I didn’t know within a well defined space. You cannot be too careful.
“someone approaches Kavanaugh who turns and walks away when security intervenes.”
It bears repeating that security intervened – too late, this guy should never have gotten that close.
That’s true, Edward, security was a bit slow there. They need to wake the hell up!
Kavanaugh did exactly the right thing, under the circumstances. With the number of liberal loons who were in the room previously, he should have immediately distanced himself from a person who could well be another liberal loon who wished to do him harm.
Now, I hate to say anything negative about anyone who has lost a loved one to violence. But, In Guttenberg’s case, we have a man who ignored the potential threat to his child from a lack of school security. He failed to demand adequate security at MSDHS and his daughter paid the price for that. And, now he is trying to assuage his own guilt over failing to protect her by attacking an instrumentality and those who support the general availability of that instrumentality. A firearm did not kill his child. The availability of firearms did not kill his child. The liberal, feel-good policies of the Broward County School Board, the actions of the shooter and his failure to force the school to provide adequate security for his child killed his child. While we can all feel sympathy for his pain of loss, we can not afford to view him as having any superior moral position.
What are the odds that he voted for that sheriff and the school supe who both entered into the contract to keep the shooter from being dealt with before the fact. And he will probably vote to keep them in office on his next opportunity.
@ Mac45
If I could, I would have given your statement quite a few more up-votes.
It was the most cogent comment here.
The only thing the left is missing are suicide bombers. Thankfully, they all love themselves too much to consider it.
From what I saw this moron is lucky he isn’t being treated for severe carpet burns to the face that occured when he was face planted into the carpet by security.
Security had to have been warned to the photo event attempt. Seriously, if anybody under such constant threat is rapidly approached by somebody lunging with a hand extended and calling out anything with “murder” in it…
It certainly would have made for a more exciting photo op. “Security at the hearing took down and cuffed an unknown man who lunged at the nominee…” Too bad it didn’t happen.
A *serious* attempt at security would have been to restrict each Senator to two guests, the press coverage to four still cameramen and four TV cameras, and count each interruption as costing the interrupter a minute of floor time.
With the precedents set in numerous assaults by #anti, there was cause for him to suspect a setup.
They should announce that Michael Drejka will be providing security for Kavanaugh starting tomorrow morning.
Some stranger walks up to him, and he’s supposed to automatically shake his hand?
This is how you try to introduce yourself? The man is walking out, there’s a noisy crowd, and you think he should stop everything and investigate why you want to shake his hand? I wouldn’t be shaking anyone’s hand, unless it belonged to someone I KNEW and they brought me.
Loons.
Not only is there a noisy crowd, but there is a crowd that parts of may be hostile.
Tragically losing a child in any manner does not suddenly elevate you or your opinions or give you carte blanche to engage in the cheap tricks this father now seems to believe he has a right to.
Considering the irrational behavior of many protesters (and a few senators), I would not take the hand of anyone I didn’t personally know in that room period. His family had to be escorted by ARMED security guards to protect their well being. If someone rushes me like that, I let security do their job. The guy could have had a composite knife in his hand or who knows what kind of caustic agent on his hand. The guy did tweet he planned on ensuring he did not become the next Supreme Court justice. Who are we to know how far this guy would actually go? I’m certain he is already unsettled after losing a child to senseless violence.
CaliforniaJimbo, you said it much better than I. Exactly.
I wouldn’t shake the hand of anyone in that bats*it crazy crowd either. Security needs to do a better job if this guy can get that close; not like leftists are known for rational behavior.
Political stunt fails. Democrats butt-hurt. I’m sure we’re all equally shocked.
I suspect there have been a number of credible threats made against Kavanaugh. I don’t think it was an accident his daughters were moved out of the room as the “idiots in back” escalated their behaviors – I’m quite sure, as seems to be the trend these days, his children had been threatened also.
And he’s ripping Fienstien a new one on Heller.
At first glance, I thought the “Orange Wave” t-shirts were pro-Trump merchandise.
So many ribbons, it’s hard to remember what they are all supposed to mean.