Originally Posted by guy44

Man, if I got into with a dude in a bar who then grabbed my hand firmly, but without intent to cause pain, and then went to the nearest cop I could find to press charges, do you know what he'd say? He'd tell me to piss off because that's some trifling shit. And he'd be right.

If the situation were reversed, and a citizen held a congressman's hand like that, would that person be charged? Maybe. And I can see good arguments both for and against that (we should protect congressmen closely because political intimidation is especially heinous vs. who cares, no harm done). But if you think that act shouldn't earn a citizen a charge, then it doesn't make it right to give Etheridge a charge here. Two wrongs don't make a right, etc.