Yes, he reacted badly. Ask yourself how you'd react if someone got into your personal space. Yes, he is a public figure and ostensibly representing us. It seems that if it were as innocent on the surface as it's being made out to be, that there would have been just the one camera. Adding the second to me suggests a preplanned ambush. And to me, the greater thing that is apparent is the loss of civility in society. Yes, Bob reacted badly. He's apologized. Let's move on.
I agree. Its up to the voters to decide and it should be on his record and whether that he still represents appropriately those in his district. Its not something he should necessarily lose his job for. One thing that bothers me is some suggesting that he was intoxicated when really no substantial evidence points to that. Public figures put themselves in a higher profile than regular citizens. This includes celebrities as well as political figures. The camera's eye is always watching for a slip up to trounce upon. Etheridge lost his cool and if someone did that to me, it would likely rub me the wrong way. However, no one would normally be trying to stick a camera in my face on a public sidewalk for whatever reason. I'm not saying they deserve what they get, but this sort of incident is always likely to happen to those that the media's attention is on. If these guys were stalking him or harrassing him as he walked the sidewalk, I could understand his actions. But Etheridge stopped and rather continue walking, he confronted them verbally over and over and then physically. It was a mistake anyone could make, but whether a deliberate political ambush or couple of legitimate college students, he chose to react poorly.
