Rand Paul assaulted at Kentucky home (UPDATE: 6 broken ribs)

[undergroundrr]

Wow. "Property rights" that don't actually exist. It's hard for me to imagine the person, even a die-hard progressive, who can read that without a WTF.

[ChristianAnarchist]

Wow. "Property rights" that don't actually exist. It's hard for me to imagine the person, even a die-hard progressive, who can read that without a WTF.

Well, I guess Rand is a bit of an ashhole for thinking he can grow pumpkins on his own property. I mean, what has the world come to???

[donnay]

FRIEND SAYS RAND PAUL DOES NOT KNOW WHAT PROMPTED ATTACK

ADAM BEAM and BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press
November 7, 2017 1:40 PM
Updated: November 7, 2017 1:38 PM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Rand Paul does not know why a longtime neighbor tackled him in his yard and broke five of his ribs, sidelining him from the Senate, a close friend of the lawmaker said Tuesday.

Rob Porter, who says he has known Paul for 20 years, visited the senator on Saturday just one day after the attack. He said Paul was mowing his yard and had stopped to remove a limb when 59-year-old Rene Boucher, Paul's neighbor for 17 years, tackled him from behind, slamming him to the ground. Porter said Paul was wearing ear protection and did not hear Boucher coming.

For days, mystery has swirled around what led to the assault, from Washington, D.C., to the high-end gated community where both men live. Rumors spread in the community that the attack stemmed from a festering neighborhood dispute about lawn debris. But Porter said in all the years he has known Paul, he has never heard him mention Boucher or any type of yard issue with his neighbor.

"Rand doesn't really have any interaction with the guy. If there was a dispute, I do believe Rand wasn't aware of it," Porter said. "I have been to their house socially and for a variety of reasons for going on 20 years, I've never heard (Paul) mention (Boucher), good or bad."

The FBI is investigating the assault to see if it was politically motivated. Boucher's attorney, Matt Baker, said the attack had "absolutely nothing to do" with politics but was "a very regrettable dispute" that was "trivial." He would not elaborate, saying he needs to "do my due diligence" before offering specifics about the case.

Paul's representatives have declined to comment about what might have prompted the attack. Doug Stafford, Paul's senior adviser, called the case a "serious criminal matter involving state and federal authorities."

Baker said Boucher was uninjured. The attack broke five of Paul's ribs, preventing him from returning to the Senate this week. A senior adviser said it's unclear how long Paul will be out of work, noting his injuries could cause life-threatening complications if not treated properly.

Paul's Republican colleagues in Washington were updated Tuesday about the Kentucky lawmaker's condition, and the injured senator received a call from Vice President Mike Pence.

While attending the Senate GOP's closed-door, weekly luncheon, Pence mentioned he had called Paul, and "the chuckle was that he must be OK because he was already working (Pence) on ideas on tax relief," said North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven, who spoke to reporters afterward.

Boucher was released Saturday from the Warren County Jail on a $7,500 bond. A judge ordered Boucher to stay away from Paul and his family, a decision Baker said was routine in such cases. With Paul still recovering at his home, U.S. Capital Police have met with Baker to discuss security.

"They were just needing to satisfy themselves that going forward that there would not be any security issues," Baker said.

Police charged Boucher, 59, with misdemeanor fourth-degree assault with a minor injury. He has not returned multiple calls seeking comment and did not answer the door when a reporter knocked on Monday.

Paul is an ophthalmologist and Boucher is an anesthesiologist. Baker called them "both prominent members of the medical community" who "worked together when they were both practicing physicians."

Porter said Paul was "in pretty good spirits to be in as much pain as he was."

"It's hard to move around, you can't sneeze," he said. "Rand is a really tough guy. You've seen that in his (politics) and that's the way he is personally. He is just, you know, he's just going to make it through this."

http://www.wgauradio.com/news/friend...ojoya9kzwE14I/

[specsaregood]

Boucher's attorney, Matt Baker, said the attack had "absolutely nothing to do" with politics but was "a very regrettable dispute" that was "trivial." He would not elaborate, saying he needs to "do my due diligence" before offering specifics about the case.

Of course his lawyer is going to say it wasn't political, otherwise it fits the definition of terrorism and his client would be in for a world of hurt.

[angelatc]

Wow. "Property rights" that don't actually exist. It's hard for me to imagine the person, even a die-hard progressive, who can read that without a WTF.

It seems to me that if the HOA has rules against pumpkins then they would be enforcing them. If this is about pumpkins and/or messy trees then it's probably about ambiguous language like "well maintained" or "properly."

[euphemia]

Whether Rand is a good neighbor, or not, does the homeowner agreement say being beat to a pulp is the punishment for noncompliance, and since when does one neighbor get to take matters into his own hands when there is no threat to his own life or property?

[euphemia]

Talking to black people and visiting the inner city is not what cost him the Republican primary.

No, it was really overplaying the pot card and putting all his eggs in the student basket. Fringe and no money.

[helmuth_hubener]

Talking to black people and visiting the inner city is not what cost him the Republican primary.

What do you know: that's true! I'm so glad you agree with me so thoroughly that you must bring in new statements to talk about, things I never said, just to keep the convo interesting, so we have something to go back and forth about. Thanks, I appreciate it. So yeah, of course the right is fine with talking to the black folk. You know who else talked to black people and visited the inner city?

Do ya?

I know ya do!

It's Big D, The Donald, DJ Trumpmeister!

He talked to and about them a little bit different, though, didn't he? "Blacks love me!" And maybe didn't have Al Sharpton on his arm? I don't remember The Donald ever having Al Sharpton on his arm. Maybe it happened? Did I miss it?

Did The Donald take the side of Blacks in the ongoing Blacks vs. the Police conflict? He in no uncertain terms took the side of the police.

Did the Donald take a lefty stance on any of the carefully selected issues that Rand and team calculatedly took a lefty stance on and emphasized? Hmmm..... nope.

This is all psychological stuff. Oh, the psychological games we play. Rand was playing them too, of course. But, and this is the fundamental reason that the election turned out the way it did: one Donald J. Trump was at least one, and perhaps several, orders of magnitude smarter, better, and more brilliant than everyone else at the psychological warfare necessary to persuade people to think things and do things. He is a master.

Also, Rand didn't want to Build That Wall.

Really, it may mainly have been the wall.

Rand had a Wall problem.

The (white male) electorate are deeply cynical about the immigration issue. They've been burned repeatedly. Everybody, and I mean everybody, has lied to them. Repeatedly. The electorate weren't even really convinced that Trump would build the wall! Why do you think they shouted and chanted it at him every rally he held? But he apparently was able to persuade enough of them that there was at least some plausible chance he'd actually Build That Wall and deport the beaners that they came out and voted -- many for the first time in years.

[Brian4Liberty]

Whether Rand is a good neighbor, or not, does the homeowner agreement say being beat to a pulp is the punishment for noncompliance, and since when does one neighbor get to take matters into his own hands when there is no threat to his own life or property?

That reminds me. An HOA does have the authority to kick people out. This seems like the kind of incident and person an HOA would want to eject.

[helmuth_hubener]

Who owns G.Q?

Please refrain from alluding to facts that could negatively reflect upon a certain very special ethnic group:

"Posts should not promote negativity in collectivist mindsets that view humans as members of groups rather than individuals. Such forms of collectivism include anti-semitism; they will not be tolerated here."

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/content.php?1989

Please re-read the guidelines. Thanks.

[jct74]

No, it was really overplaying the pot card and putting all his eggs in the student basket. Fringe and no money.

Rand lost because of... weed? Haha, nah I don't think that had much to do with it.

[PursuePeace]

[undergroundrr]

Rand lost because of... weed? Haha, nah I don't think that had much to do with it.

Rand lost because he didn't properly address whatever one's pet issue happened to be. It had nothing to do with party machinery, the electoral landscape, or the media-industrial complex.

[Valli6]

This video is from HLN, but it includes an interview with a state trooper, and some interesting discussion of how the law will be applied, depending on the circumstances of the attack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdDb5o5vIEk

[euphemia]

That reminds me. An HOA does have the authority to kick people out. This seems like the kind of incident and person an HOA would want to eject.

Exactly. There's nothing to stop Boucher from taking issue with other neighbors.

[axiomata]

Any one know the gist of the WSJ opinion piece Could He Not Stand Rand?

[euphemia]

Rand lost because of... weed? Haha, nah I don't think that had much to do with it.

That's not what I said. I said he overplayed the card. If he had spent a lot more time talking about debt and injustice, he would have reached more people.

Another thing that needs to be made an issue is how to help poor people own property without direct subsidies.

[angelatc]

That reminds me. An HOA does have the authority to kick people out. This seems like the kind of incident and person an HOA would want to eject.

Wouldn't that be spectacular?

[angelatc]

No, it was really overplaying the pot card and putting all his eggs in the student basket. Fringe and no money.

The forums would be a better place if everybody would just ignore Collins. Look at his posts - all he does is smugly assert that everybody else is wrong, implying that we're all stupid. Never once does he explain why he thinks Rand lost. He just uses the emoticons to mock anybody who posts an opinion.

[euphemia]

In any case, Boucher should have enough sense to know we don't flog people here.

[Schifference]

Wouldn't that be spectacular?

Depending on how liberal the HOA is, Rand might get an eviction notice.

[euphemia]

In any case, Boucher should have enough sense to know we don't flog people here.

Although sometimes I think an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a rib for a rib might be more helpful. In the South we are known to say, "He can't hear, but he can feel."

[angelatc]

Depending on how liberal the HOA is, Rand might get an eviction notice.

The GOP would make hay with that.

[euphemia]

It would be more fun to flog the neighbor.

[jct74]

Rand Paul Getting Attacked Is What’s Wrong with Libertarianism. Wait, What?
Unprovoked physical assault normally invites sympathy, unless your politics are too weird

Matt Welch
Nov. 8, 2017

The premise, admittedly, sounds like a Will Ferrell comedy: Politically outspoken middle-aged neighbor physician attacks actual politician middle-aged neighbor physician, but not over politics (reportedly)—over a "landscaping dispute." Though even one cracked rib can hurt like hell, and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) reportedly has five, sometimes you have to laugh a little:

...

But if you think a seemingly non-political man-fight would escape the relentless Politicization of Everything, you haven't been paying attention. By dint of his unusual ideology, Rand Paul suffers from the Weird Man's Burden, which means sustaining an unprovoked assault is a splendid occasion to call him an $#@!.

"Rand Paul is an $#@! neighbor," GQ's Jack Moore asserts, for example, in a post titled "Rand Paul Sounds Like the Worst Guy to Have as a Neighbor." Just how short is that ideological skirt?

...

The attack has prompted impressively in-depth reporting on Paul's irritable views toward his local Home Owner Association rules, with asking-for-it newspaper headlines such as, "Rand Paul is not a perfect neighbor, says community developer." But extra credit goes to Detroit Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson, who wrings an entire piece out of the question: What kind of politician mows his own lawn? Sample:

[C]ynicism inclines me toward another explanation, which is that Paul is the sort of fellow who wants to be known as a self-mower, and to be seen driving a John Deere around his own yard.

Mowing one's own lawn is a time-honored way for a well-educated politician to establish his "just folks" bona fides. Former Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis had a Harvard Law School degree, but preferred to be known as a guy who pushed a hand mower around the yard of his modest Brookline home. (That might have been the image that stuck in voters' minds if Dukakis had not carelessly allowed himself to be photographed in a ridiculous tank helmet.)

Piloting a riding mower around a big yard combines the virile self-reliance of mowing with the aspirational elements of horsepower and real estate acquisition.

...

read more:
http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/08/ra...-is-whats-wron

[Valli6]

Huh! It appears to me, that this clown, JIM SKAGGS is the jerk off spreading misinformation about Rand Paul being a bad neighbor!
He's the developer of the Rivergreen gated community in Bowling Green. Perhaps he bears some legal liability in the matter also? Or he just hates him for political reasons? This would not be surprising considering that SKAGGS apparently loves the 13 pages of regulations and admits arguing with Rand over property rights since day one! If that don't beat all, he called Boucher a near-perfect neighbor!

Now here's another kicker!

JIM SKAGGS is the FORMER CHAIRMAN of the WARREN COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY!

Clearly, this RINO turd (Skaggs) is aware of Rand's libertarian leanings and hates him for his beliefs! Assuming Bowling Green is in Warren County, I'll bet Rand helped oust him from his chairmanship! Suddenly this is looking much more political!

Look at this bunch of BS, originally from the Louisville Courier Journal!
(written by Thomas Novelly)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...per/839677001/

The history between U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and his accused attacker is filled with years of angst and petty arguments over misplaced lawn trimmings and branches, the neighborhood's developer said.

"I think this is something that has been festering," said Jim Skaggs, the developer of the Rivergreen gated community in Bowling Green, where the two men live. "... I wanted to build a place where everyone could get along, but I guess that's just impossible."

Paul suffered five broken ribs and lacerations on his lungs after his neighbor, 59-year-old retired doctor Rene Boucher, allegedly tackled the politician last week, according to an arrest warrant obtained by Courier Journal.

Kentucky State Police charged Boucher with fourth-degree assault, which is usually reserved for incidents that result in minor injuries. If federal charges are added, Boucher could potentially face 10 years in prison for physically attacking a politician.

An FBI spokesman said Tuesday there was no update in the investigation or on whether additional charges would be filed.

The two men have been neighbors for more than 17 years, said Boucher's lawyer, Matt Baker, in a statement Monday.

While there's no official word on what caused the fight, Skaggs suggested it might have stemmed from Paul allegedly blowing lawn trimmings into his neighbor's yard.

There have been disagreements in the past, Skaggs said, over lawn clippings or who should cut down a tree branch when it stretched over a property line. The two men live on different streets but their lots join and their homes are 269 feet apart, according to Google Maps.

Skaggs described Boucher as a "near-perfect" neighbor, but he said the libertarian politician is a different story.

Paul "was probably the hardest person to encourage to follow the (home owner's association regulations) of anyone out here because he has a strong belief in property rights," said Skaggs, who is the former chairman of the Warren County Republican Party.

Skaggs noted the 13 pages of regulations are extensive. But even from the start of Paul's residence in Rivergreen, Skaggs said Paul has been difficult to work with.

"The major problem was getting the house plans approved," Skaggs said. "He wanted to actually own the property rights and build any kind of house he wanted. He didn't end up doing that, but it was a struggle."

[Note from me: Not sure if this is accurate, but I have read that Rand's house is the original farmhouse that existed on the property before it was made into a gated community and filled with Mcmansions. Wonder if Rand was living there before this developer took it over?]

But Rob Porter, a 20-year friend of the senator said he had never even heard of Boucher before

"When I saw Rand after the incident he even acknowledged that he hadn't talked to Boucher in years," Porter said. "If there was some kind of ongoing rift, i wasn't aware of it and Rand didn't act like he was aware of it."

When asked for comment, a statement from Paul's senior adviser said "It is a pending, serious criminal matter involving state and federal authorities. We won’t have any further comments at this time.”

After being "blindsided" by the attack, it's unclear when the Republican senator from Kentucky will return to work, according to several statements from Paul's aides.

Voter records from March 2017 show Boucher registered as a Democrat, but his lawyer said Monday that politics had nothing to do with the "trivial" dispute between neighbors.

Boucher's lawyer, Baker, said he would not comment on what the argument was over until he conducted more interviews with other neighbors.

Skaggs said he told Boucher he wants the ordeal to be done with.

"We would really like to see this all over and you back in your house and him back in his house and try to be friends with each other, even though you'll never like each other," Skaggs said he told Boucher.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...per/839677001/

[euphemia]

Rand lost because he didn't properly address whatever one's pet issue happened to be. It had nothing to do with party machinery, the electoral landscape, or the media-industrial complex.

Don't blame it all on the party. I have followed Rand for years. I did not see much in the campaign that spoke to anything to do with my life. There was a little bit, but not much. It sure wasn't enough to attract enough votes to be relevant in the campaign.

[Anti Federalist]

Daily Beast Reporter Accidentally Tweets Out Rand Paul’s Home Address

Once again, if we were even a shadow of what we were ten years ago, this guy would have been "doxxed" back twice as hard.

Now, Randal will be stuck with angry mobs of Social Justice Warriors pestering him around his home while trying to recover, poor bastard.

[Anti Federalist]

Where's that He's Right You Know meme? I had it here somewhere.

I'm on it...

[Schifference]

I thought that HOA had rules and if you broke the rules you were notified. If you continue to break the rule you get a fine. Each time you break the rule fine increases. I don't think they would let you break rules for 17 years.