Who thinks Hoffa was speaking off-the-cuff and accidentally let the rhetoric get the best of him?

[NNN0LHI]

I don't believe that for one minute. No one ever gets up in front of a crowd like that knowing full well the media is covering every second of it and says something they don't want to be saying.

There is a purpose for every word, every nuance and every facial expression and voice tone when someone is giving a speech in that kind of a situation.

These kinds of speeches are prepared and practiced for days, if not weeks before they are given. Same thing for the responses given to anyone asking for an apology afterward.

Not sure everyone understands that?

Don

[Sherman A1]

1. I would hope that he wasn't speaking off the cuff

I think we need to call it what it is... class warfare that has been going on for 30+ years.

[liberal N proud]

2. He's not backing down

So I doubt it got the best of him.

Not yet anyway.

[mfcorey1]

3. If it was off the cuff, he would not have been in front of a microphone. He stood his ground like a

man and called those assclowns exactly what they are. Go Hoffa. We want more. No fear of the right.

[EFerrari]

4. Really, it was fresh air. n/t

[mother earth]

5. Who the hell cares. It's how we all feel, no apologies.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Know Your Audience...

Yep, Mr. Hoffa sure knew what he was saying...and whom he was saying it to. How much ya wanna bet his rhetoric gets a lot rawer when there's no cameras around. His role was to fire up the crowd...and fire 'em up he did. May that fire catch on with others...especially in the union movement.

[lunatica]

7. Sure. Like he's never, ever spoken in front of a crowd before.

:rofl:

[RZM]

8. What? 'No one ever gets up in front of a crowd like that . . .'

People make gaffes in full view of the media all the time. Regular people say things they regret too, it's just that the media isn't there when we slip up.

That being said, I don't think that Hoffa meant to encourage violence of any kind - politics is a contest and is infused with the language of war. It probably wasn't one of those 'oh shit, I shouldn't have said that' moments. I'll bet he didn't give the line a second thought until it was on the news. I think the right is still sore over having fingers pointed at them in the wake of the Giffords shooting and this minor flap is their attempt at payback.