Lauren Valle, Head-Stomped MoveOn Activist, Responds To Stomper’s Request For Apology

[kpete]

Mr. Profitt, You have asked that I apologize to you. Perhaps this is not the apology that you are looking for, but I do have some things to say.

I have been called a progressive, a liberal, a professional agitator. You have been called a conservative, a Republican, a member of the Tea Party movement. Fundamentally and most importantly, you and I are both human beings. We are also both American citizens. These two facts, to me, are far more meaningful than the multitude of labels that we carry. And if these two facts are true then it means we are on the same team.

I have not been for one moment angry with you and your actions. Instead I feel thoroughly devastated. It is evident that your physical assault on me is symptomatic of the crisis that this country is struggling through. And it seems that I will heal from my injuries long before this country can work through our separation. Only when we decide let go of our hate, our violence and our aggression will we be able to communicate to each other about the issues that divide us. Right now, we are not communicating, we are stomping on each other. No one can ever win, no one can ever be heard, with violence.

You and I, as fellow citizens, and we, as a country, have a choice. Either we choose to continue the cycle of inflicting violence upon each other, screaming at each other, insulting each other and putting one another down or we and find a way to sit down and start listening to each other. We’ll see how far we get. We are all viciously and vociferously feeding a fire that will only burn us down together. We must reach inside ourselves and make space for each other. We must forgive each other. We must believe in our capacity for transformation. The moment we choose compassion and reconciliation is the moment that we will begin to move toward freedom. There is no other way.

I believe that you should be held accountable for your actions but I also recognize the incredibly negative impact that the consequences must be having on your life, and I wish you all the best as you yourself heal from this. Violence hurts everyone.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/10/lauren-valle-not-offering-her-stomper-an-apology-as-he-asked.php

[maryf]

1. The divide and conquer strategm is working...

it is only when all of our individual ire becomes one that is directed toward the true perpetrators that we will begin to overcome the ptb.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. What a thoughtful response!

In the face of the head-stomper's unmitigated gall in asking HER for an apology, Lauren Valle's plea for putting aside violence reveals head-stomper to be an even smaller man than he looked previously.

Well done, Ms. Valle. I don't believe I could have been so gracious in your place.

[peacebird]

3. what a beautiful response! K7R - off to the greatest with you!

[Atman]

4. Proffitt responded by beating his chest, screaming, throwing poo.

I'd love to hear that asshole's response to such an eloquent and well-written post.

[Occulus]

9. see my post below for a hint of it- it's sickening,

but that's exactly how his sort would respond.

[Le Taz Hot]

5. The one thing, the ONE thing

the ptb, the people who hold the puppet strings fear the most . . . that the different factions start talking to one another and find commonality. When people on this board blame Boomers or blame Gen. X or Y or blame teabaggers or the Republicans or fill-in-the-blank, they're falling into the SAME trap. Those are labels and labels are not people.

This wise woman certainly speaks for me.

[skepticscott]

6. Her attitude is admirable and her response

is more than he deserves, but the fact is that she is making the same mistake that Obama has been making for two years..assuming that these people have ANY interest in working together, communicating or compromising with the left in any way whatsoever. They don't. And they NEVER will. We've wasted two years of a strong majority in Congress tiptoeing around the right wing nutballs rather than pursuing an aggressive agenda of our own, and that advantage may now soon be lost.

[Ineeda]

7. Perfect response from Lauren Valle.

I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else, but I think it should be noted. In viewing the video (again and again) you can see an older, blonde woman wearing blue sweat pants step over Lauren and shove the second guy away (the guy in the plaid shirt, identified as Mike Pezzano I think, who initially throws Valle to the ground and holds her down.) This woman then gestures to the victim, seemingly disgusted with the guy's actions, as if saying 'what the hell are you doing?'. I interpret this woman's actions as a defense of Lauren, and she should be congratulated. Even more so if she was a Rand supporter.

[Occulus]

8. *sigh* this is why Republicans and the Americans people see the Democrats as weak

"most importantly, you and I are both human beings"
This type of Republican does not see it that way. He sees us- Democrats and Progressives and Liberals of all stripes- as traitorous filth, to be eliminated, less than human. As a gay man, I know this very intimately.

"We are also both American citizens."
This type of Republican would strip us of our citizenship and send us into exile- or worse- if he could.

"These two facts, to me, are far more meaningful than the multitude of labels that we carry."
To this sort of Republican, labels are all that matters because labels are all they are fed and all they think of and all they act on. They hate and fear "the other" to the exclusion of all rationality, and you can't reason with that.

"And if these two facts are true then it means we are on the same team."
This sort of Republican sees us as a team to be eliminated.

"I have not been for one moment angry with you and your actions."
This sort of Republican is angry we exist at all, hence the curbstomping she experienced.

"Instead I feel thoroughly devastated."
"Sorry I hurt your feewings. Pussy." -This sort of Republican

"It is evident that your physical assault on me is symptomatic of the crisis that this country is struggling through."
This sort of Republican sees her (us) as the cause of the crisis.

"And it seems that I will heal from my injuries long before this country can work through our separation."
This sort of Republican sees that as a Goddamn shame. Her injuries and the fact she will heal before this sort of Republican's civil war, I mean, not the "working through separation" part. They like being separate from us.

"Only when we decide let go of our hate, our violence and our aggression will we be able to communicate to each other about the issues that divide us."
This sort of Republican will not end his violence until she stops being so hateful and threatening. Smirk.

"Right now, we are not communicating, we are stomping on each other."
"You got that right, you librul carpetmunching cunt!" - This sort of Republican

"No one can ever win, no one can ever be heard, with violence."
"We came unarmed- THIS time!" - This sort of Republican

-----------

I could go on with every sentence from every paragraph she wrote, but the fact is that, given I can riff these off the top of my head and know, balls to bones, that this is the attitude she's trying to reason with, well, it's pretty easy to conclude that not only will her letter fall on deaf ears, no matter how heartfelt and meaningful it is to her and the rest of us, it will only be seen as a sign to this sort of Republican- the sort who would restrain and curbstomp a political opponent for her political speech- that Democrats and Progressives of all stripes are too emotional, too weak, too forgiving, and too "limp" (yes, in that way) to hold the reins of power.

She means well. I know that, you know that, we all know that. But it won't make a thin dime's worth of difference to this sort of Republican.

[Cirque du So-What]

11. Perhaps her reply wasn't directed toward teabaggers (or Repubicans in general)

I believe she knows that the head-stomper & his ilk are beyond redemption. More likely, I believe, is that she addressed that response toward people who don't follow politics 24/7/365 - and there is room for inroads among those individuals. You're right about the typical sociopathic conservative; they're hopeless, and will see her call for reconciliation as weakness. There are millions of other people, however, who are NOT sociopaths - who just want to go about their daily lives without bothering anyone and not being bothered - who will compare the head-stomper's stance with this plea for cooperation and decide for themselves the side with which they'd rather associate themselves.

[madmax]

10. Brava, Ms. Valle

Classy lady. I'm interested in seeing where this leads her in the future regarding politics. Wishing her the best of life.

[progressoid]

12. Too many words for him or his type to comprehend.