Ray McGovern’s performance during Clinton’s speech on freedom on the Internet: childishness or more smearing?

I hesitated a lot before covering this story, and then suddenly I decided to go ahead with it. I wasn’t sure exactly what to think, I had certain doubts and questions but now I see more clearly. In fact, what I actually thought on first impression has imposed itself as the valid explanation. I also have to mention that the story was covered as well by people I respect in the progressive sector and because they covered it in a way that I feel is not correct, I feel obligated to retort and set the record strait. I became aware of this story through the Boiling Frogs show and the Peter B. Collins show. As you may know, the websites for these two shows are listed on your right in the category Politics and Policy, and I also took the time to write a description of them in the section Resistance that you can read here. So I was more than perplex about the incident and the coverage they made of it.

First of all, let me set the scene to help you understand the context. Hillary Clinton is giving a speech about freedom of speech on the internet and let me precise as well that he video available on Youtube for this incident could be better. The framing, at the beginning of the scene, doesn’t allow us to see the whole room, with McGovern it it. We only see Clinton and we have to make do with it. This room, as the camera frames back, reveals itself to be of a relatively small dimension, and filled with people who are relax and seemingly willing to listen to a speech. And then we witness McGovern being seized by security guards, and after a few seconds we can hear him shout « So this is America? », and the video ends. I wish we could have a better document on which to base our analysis but all we can do is rely on this one. Continuer la lecture