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If There’s No Video of Tea Partiers Calling Barney Frank a ‘Faggot,’ Did It Happen?

So apparently there is a debate “raging” over whether anyone called Rep. Barney Frank the F-word, and whether anyone called Rep. John Lewis the N-word. Because there is no video of said incidents, they cannot be true!

By reporting the name calling by Tea Party protesters on the Hill over the weekend, the media and the blogs are unfairly painting this group of revolutionaries as bigots! Worse, faceless bigots, because they can’t identify who shouted these terrible words. Or so goes the argument from GayPatriot‘s Bruce Carroll and Nick SomethingOrOther. ABC News, for example, “Inflames Race and Gay Baiting In America” by reporting the story with “no substantiation.”

What’s more, this video supposedly proves nobody said mean things, because it captures 23 seconds of Tea Partiers not being prejudiced assholes when Rep. Lewis walked by. GayPatriot says the video “debunks” the claims.

And hey look, here’s a video of the Rev. Jesse Jackson not being called the N-word while interacting with Tea Partiers — more evidence nobody is the crowd is a racist shithead. (To be fair, some Tea Partiers had the good sense to tell Jackson to “Get a real job, you commie,” while another screamed “Father another child out of wedlock while you’re at it.”)

Meanwhile, there is video of Michigan’s Rep. Bart Stupak being called a “baby killer,” on the floor of the House, by an alleged Republican, though nobody will come forward to claim credit. So: There is no evidence civilian Tea Partiers are foul-mouthed bigots, but there is evidence Republicans elected to office might be genuine jerks. (UPDATE: Texas Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer admits he screamed it, but he was talking about the bill, not Stupak: “Last night was the climax of weeks and months of debate on a health care bill that my constituents fear and do not support. In the heat and emotion of the debate, I exclaimed the phrase ‘it’s a baby killer’ in reference to the agreement reached by the Democratic leadership. While I remain heartbroken over the passage of this bill and the tragic consequences it will have for the unborn, I deeply regret that my actions were mistakenly interpreted as a direct reference to Congressman Stupak himself.”)

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