'Stand your butt up': Fistfight nearly breaks out during Senate hearing until Bernie Sanders steps in

Salamendacious@lemmy.world to News@lemmy.world – 615 points – 'Stand your butt up': Fistfight nearly breaks out during Senate hearing until Bernie Sanders steps in
nbcnews.com

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, a former MMA fighter, had challenged the president of the Teamsters union, Sean O'Brien, but Sanders shut them both down.

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So this was at the bottom of the article where McConnell weighs in “this is why congress shouldn’t run for 5 weeks straight, things get weird.” Wtf, what about everyone else in the world that works 52 weeks straight. Just another example of how out of touch some representatives are.

I'm surprised he didn't say 2 weeks with all of his long pause time jumps.

He didn't say "two weeks", but it might have taken him two weeks to say it.

What the fuck is going on in America.

Can you please not elect the school yard bully who possibly has an acquired brain injury from the time they were a cage fighter?

The problem is these people are voted in by states who comprise of residents who have brain injuries, misogynistic views, extremist ideals, and/or a myriad of other skewed thoughts.

So unfortunately we get stuck with the consequences of other state's resident's decisions

The real problem is over 50% of the voting age population just doesn't vote

And part of that problem is that the aforementioned group of people deliberately make it harder to vote so that it comes down to whoever they can get more outraged. And guess what kind of people get more outraged?

67% of eligible voters voted in 2020

But much closer to 60% from 2004-2016, and below 60% before that. See turnout statistics. Definitely more than 50% of eligible population typically voting, though.

In presidential elections. Midterms, where people are still elected to Congress, and state and local elections, are also important but see far lower turnout.

2022 turnout was 46%. The last time a midterm election was over 50% was in the 1910s.

I live in Oklahoma, and this is most of the answer.

The reason for that is it's intentionally difficult to vote if you have a job. A lot of managers won't give you time even if they are supposed to. The polling places are typically churches, or old folks homes. My polling place is a nursing home, and every time I vote, there is a line of people who can barely remember their own name getting ready to vote, and it's easy for them because they live there.

And what make you think that 50% would vote the way you want them to? Remember that people are fucking retarded. End of thought.

The problem is you're lying.

In the last congressional election voter turnout was 46%. The last time a midterm was higher than 50% was in the 1910s.

You said people won't vote, you can't pick and choose when they do vote in higher numbers than you're saying in presidential elections.

Last time I checked, senator Markwayne Mullin was not voted in as president.

So I didn't make the comment that you initially replied to. I was only offering some data that showed there are a lot of national elections where voter turnout was less than half. It's true that presidential elections have a higher turnout than midterm but all of the house and ⅓ of the Senate are voted on in every midterm. They're incredibly important and it's a fact that less than half of eligible Americans turn out for those elections.

"Jerry Springer Goes To Congress" is what happened. Republican strategists know full well that most blue collar people who vote Republican are stupid, hateful, and eat this trashy shit up with a spoon. It's intentional.

Ironically, Jerry Springer was a pretty good mayor in Cincinnati, but he was also an idiot who got caught when he wrote a prostitute a check.

Our school systems have failed us and we are finally seeing the results.

On top of that christian nationalists have taken over the republican party.

This is your daily reminder to vote responsibly.

American legislatures are surprisingly civil historically speaking when compared to other legislatures. We've had TWO incidents of legislative violence (Sumner slavery incident and 6 January incident). Meanwhile, in Britain, Parliament devolves into a shouting fest every week during Prime Minister's Questions and don't forget how happy Parliament was to send people they didn't like to the gallows in the past. The French legislature did the same.

Taiwan's legislature turns into a free-for-all fistfight whenever the government presents a controversial bill. Japan's National Diet members will literally eat the paper to prevent a bill's passage.

We've had TWO incidents of legislative violence (Sumner slavery incident and 6 January incident).

I mean I guess it depends on your definition of "legislative violence", but I feel like you are forgetting a certain "states rights" incident here...

Meanwhile, in Britain, Parliament devolves into a shouting fest every week during Prime Minister’s Questions

Does it?

Yeah, there're even YouTube videos about it that get hundreds of thousands of views on the regular. How many channels that feature Congress Cam can boast the same?

We have several cable channels that live stream the US Congress called C-SPAN (1-3). They’ve existed since the 90s. I think they’re also on YouTube, but I’m not sure.

People put it on to fall asleep.

Have you got an example?

https://youtu.be/9Ps88fzLMQc?si=3AVRWGoaHBqWzfTq

1.4 million views

Your definition of shouting is far removed from reality.

They're all literally yelling at and over each other red faced and at the top of their lungs.

What on the world is your definition of shouting?

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A lot of people have chimed in and I'm surprised to not see the main culprit mentioned.

We have a MASSIVE propaganda problem. We have a press/media system that has COMPLETELY failed in all ways possible, fallen to the typical greed that "ruins" most corporations (quality). We have a population driven to believe that the only people you can trust are people you already agree with so you get your news from Faux News or worse johnny jackass's random podcast with a smattering of Facebook memes and uncle Jimmy's racist rants about Obummer.

Unfortunately I believe we're absolutely fucked. We're a zombie nation trudging along a path to violence that we will not steer away from. The propagandists are pushing us there and we won't stop them as we have afforded them 1st amendment protections that they absofuckinglutley have taken advantage of and hide behind.

The people that should lead us want nothing to do with politics, and I don't think anyone can blame them. That leaves the castle gates wide open for wackos.

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Don't tell this guy about how often Congress devolved into fist fights, cane beatings and duels during our countries early years.

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"Sir, this is a time; this is a place. You want to run your mouth? We can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here."

  • Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stopped the altercation from happening, yelling at Mullin: “Stop it! No, no, sit down! You know, you’re a United States senator."

Markwayne was upset about a fuckin tweet. Shame on Oklahoma for voting him in. This is what you get from a MMA fighter, he tries to fight people. 😂

Republicans: All Trump is guilty of is a few mean tweets.

Also Republicans: If somebody tweets something mean about me, I will fucking kill them.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stopped the altercation from happening, yelling at Mullin: “Stop it! No, no, sit down! You know, you’re a United States senator."

Bernie is a treasure.

It was all bluster anyway. But good on Bernie for stopping that nonsense.

Ever been to Oklahoma? They don't know the word shame

I hear they're OK with everything

Isn't this "OK sign means white supremacy" thing made up by 4chan?

Made up? Yes.

Embraced by actual racists? Also yes.

The symbol that actual white nationalists still do at their rallys? Origins don't matter in terms of how it's actively used by groups, Whinnie the Pooh is either a loveable bear or a critique of the Chinese goverment. Mac Tonight is an McDonald's mascot or a racist. A swastika is either Nazis or good luck to Hindus.

All sorts of groups latch on to cultural touchstones.

I remember hearing that in middle school about a decade prior to 4chan (similar to 'the Band 311 means 3 of the 11th letter, KKK'). So my head canon is that it was a school kid joke/meme that carried over to 4chan.

Oooh, ooh, I hope Gym Jordan, Fivehead Gaetz, Jimbob Squarehead Comer, and Margarine Traitor Greene will offer to fight me for the very mean tweets I've sent them!!!

Ted Cruz offered Gym Jordan to fight Ron Perlman. Ted is such a pansy he has to have a rape apologist fight his fights.

We can be two consenting adults.

Two consenting adults, eh? 😏 I feel like that phrasing is almost always used before the words in the privacy of their own bedroom. If Markwayne wanted to get topped that bad he should have just asked; why are bottoms like this?

#LittleManSyndrome

In a funnier but still depressing timeline we might have gotten the first congressional actual dick measuring contest 😆

The entire episode devolved, with Mullin and O'Brien calling each other names not normally heard in committee hearings, but they did not get physical.

Sanders yelling at him was then followed by him sitting down while they just kept insulting each other. It's like when your dog wants to fight another dog, and it obeys your order to sit, but still won't stop barking aggressively,

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Can we please just have adults represent us. This buffoonery is embarrassing.

The adult broke it up.

I'm so thankful for Bernie. I have high hopes for AOC and his other prodigies.

I think you meant protégés. I agree with the sentiment, however.

Yes, autocorrect got me.

Almost got me as well. The only reason I said anything at all was the off chance it was a genuine misunderstanding of words. I figured better to say something here than let you go into a presentation and confidently use the wrong word.

"Then stand your butt up then," said Mullin.

"You stand your butt up," said O'Brien.

It's kind of funny to me that these grown men were about to have a fight in the middle of a congressional hearing over a mean tweet, but saying "ass" isn't appropriate.

They never would have fought

I watched the video and they both kept saying they would but wouldn't actually do it. Then both accused the other of being a thug/bully for wanting to fight but also a coward for not fighting.

Theyre the kids that act tough and pick fights in front of teachers knowing nothing can happen.

Now it might just be my bias, but I feel O'Brien was taunting trolling, while the hard-right guy was posturing. Of the two, I expect the hard-right guy to be more of the unstable child in the situation, but also agree probably not willing to actually fight. With O'Brien or however it's spelled, I feel like getting that reaction was his win... but again probably a lot of personal bias.

I don't think it's bias. O'Brien was seated throughout the whole thing and was talking calmly. He wasn't actually looking for a fight and was just letting Mullin make a fool of himself.

I think we got a master class in how to trigger GOP dumbfsckery. The video is pure gold.

I mean, there were duels back in the day, but I feel ya.

I really wish they let those two have a knife edge death match like off Yu Yu Hakusho. I would have paid to watch that.

President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho. That's where that country is headed.

At least he cared about his fellow Americans.

President Camacho saw his people in trouble, so he sought out the smartest man alive, and empowered that man to make real changes. This caused some unforseen consequences because of how comprehensively bad the situation had gotten, but upon seeing positive results they championed and promoted Not Sure.

These are politics so virtuous that they can only be fictional.

I'm oddly disappointed the sentence didn't end with "with a steel chair"

I was waiting for a meandering story ending with the Undertaker throwing mankind off hell in a cell and plummeted sixteen feet through an announcer's table.

So much little dick, snowflake, peaked in middle school energy coming from this guy, it's just absolutely sad.

And we somehow expect more from a cage fighter? Most of the fighters I have met were nice to a point but have super super fragile egos.

Wtf is happening

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I'm sorry... Markwayne?

What kind of stupid fucking name is that.

It's too common these days, and honestly, it's just an evolution of hyphenated names. Why even have the hyphen? Just smoosh 'em together and nobody will notice.

You know, I was just thinking how stupid the name sounded until you pointed this out. I still think it's stupid, but now it at least makes sense how we got here.

MMA fighters are all loose cannons. You don't just decide that your life's calling is to knock the piss out of another man by any means necessary. That's psycho shit. So is threatening violence on a union president. If only Republicans understood that hatred isn't a political ideology and doesn't cash checks.

I dunno. My boss at my current job is a former MMA fighter and I don't really consider him to be a "loose cannon". He's actually really chill. I mean, if you push him, maybe, but in general he's a really cool and supportive guy.

If only Republicans understood that hatred isn’t a political ideology and doesn’t cash checks.

It does seem to be the undertone of other things though that do cash checks. Unfortunately.

They know their constituents eat it up. It's theater. Thanks, Jerry Springer.

No, they are all already like that, and their constituents eat it up. It's not a charade, they're not playing 5D checkers or whatever, they're literally cognitively challenged bullies and that is basically the whole Republican voting demographic.

I have limited experience but I had a former MMA champion as a customer and he had been childhood friends with one of my coworkers and he was super nice and respectful

Yet Mullin cowardly hides under a row of seats during Jan 6.

Yeah he should have definitely stood his ground, unarmed, against an angry, violent and armed mob of lunatics. Like stfu you would do the exact same given the circumstance.

But we don't act like big tough guys who try to fight people on the senate floor. We know we are weenies he just acts like he isn't one. Did that break it down for you hun 💖?

Aww the condecension is cute, so is it just that you take issue with a politician lying? Incredible.

Uduslly this type of toxic masculinity screams closet case to me.

Teamsters boss is right, the senator is a clown. Saying stupid things to get in the news.

I wish that Obrien had handled this better rather than leaning into the macho chest-beating. He could've really made this guy look like even more of a doofus if he'd have just been like "Sorry, are you offering to fight me on the house floor right now? I'd like to speak to someone competent".

Mullin needs to go back to his crappy plumbing company. Wasn't he the one hiding while his suposed buddies invaded the place a couple of years ago?

Should be immediate loss of position when you threaten to fight anyone in congress

That will take a ⅔ vote and that's not likely. Otherwise the people of Oklahoma can do it in 2027.

But they won't. They make it absurdly easy to vote here if you're 100 years old, but if you work for a living it's difficult.

Mullin might benefit from a little historical research on the activities of the Teamsters' union.

Step 1: Challenge a teamster to an honest round of fisticuffs.

Step 2: Mutually approach your opponent arms raised to protect your face.

Step 3: Wake up (potentially in the hospital) at least a fair fraction of an hour later.

Step 4: Find out, dazed and confused, that you were concussed right before the fight proper initiated from the bludgeoning of a baseball bat upon your skull by a second teamster.

Step 5: Resolve to never fuck around again.

Abe Lincoln would have wrecked them

yeah I kinda wish we could bring Abe and Teddy Roosevelt back to whip the shit out of the GOP... their shame should know no bounds.

Abe would beat the lot of em bloody. But Teddy would probably ask what type of modern firearms we have nowadays and then proceed to shoot up congress.

yeah, but Teamsters don't show up to a fight without preparing, including having already dug the other guys grave.

Nah, we's not like that no mores, kid! Come around back to this cornfield and we will talk about some things.

Not a good idea to try to get psychical with the teamsters.

The title makes it seem like Sanders ripped his shirt off and beat some ass. Which I would like to see, actually.

Ideas like this is why I'm excited for AI. An animation like that will probably be easy to make in the near future and it would be hilarious.

MMA. oh man I used to work with a Muay Thai guy. Body builder, ate nothing but protein. Suspected a lot of roids. They stand there and kick each other in the head. smh

And the US takes another step towards devolving into an African third world nation...

Don't put down African nations like we don't have the CIA to keep things that way.

I know, I know. The simile gave a bad taste in my mouth, but it was only rhetorical. The point, I mean, not the taste.

Americans have been fighting each other in the Senate since the beginning. People used to cane each other in Congress.

The caning of Sumner. I know of that even as a EU citizen. But which only strengthens the point- the Republicans are reactionary to the point of reintroducing barbaric practices of the 18th hundreds.

With a name like that, had better make sure he isn't married to his cousin.

I'm just saying (somewhat jokingly) banana republic. Please decent US people, stop this shit. it's causing so much anxiety over the pond. I just can't anymore.