Two things, most important first:

1) The line between selfdefense and assault is when the attacker is on the ground. Once you knock someone down, anything you do to them after is no longer selfdefense. I wouldn't be surprised if EBM knows this law.

2) I think your calling the black man "boy" is in poor taste. Even if the motivation is that he lost the fight, it is a racially charged term. He's a grown man, not a boy.>> ^MaxWilder:
In my opinion, there are two separate, though related, incidents here. There is a shouting match, and there is a physical confrontation.
Both were wrong to engage in the shouting match, I don't care how it started. The sensible person walks away and shuts up. Points in EBM's favor for at least walking away, but he failed to shut up. So that portion is maybe 70% Epic Loser Boy's fault, 30% EBM's fault.
A physical confrontation is a separate thing. The first person to pull a weapon or throw a punch is at fault, 100%. Once ELB hit EBM, he was at fault, and EBM was defending himself. He has every right to continue defending himself until he feels that there is no longer a threat (ie. the guy can't get back up and start swinging again). The fact that ELB got up and walked to the back of the bus means EBM went EASY on him. On this point, Anna is waaaay off. Street fights are vicious, and once somebody proves they are capable of initiating a fight, you cannot trust them to stop at a reasonable point. You have every right to make sure they can't get up (though I don't think a jury would let you get away with killing someone for a single punch).

>> ^Opus_Moderandi:
All the hoopla over this video proves to me that there are millions of people that have never seen or been in a real fight (in person). When I was in high school the drive-in was the place to be on weekends and if there wasn't a fight, we were all somewhere else.
People fight. And one person usually loses. That's what happened here, 2 guys fought, one guy lost.
The only racists are the people that think there's more to it than that.


Excellently said. But be careful. I think a certain someone with racist agendas round here has a reputation for insulting we who hold this opinion.

What he did was just fine, heroic might be a bit much, but he did the right thing in pounding the guy who attacked him. He tried to walk away, and both of them kept throwing verbal abuse at each other. The black dud initiated the attack, Epic Beard Man finished it.

The only thing I see that's a little shady, is that he kept hitting on him for quite some time ~10 sec which was probably not needed, but if he thought the other guy had a knife, I would want to make sure he didn't come back up to shank me as well.

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That train is a motherfucker.
>> ^dag:
Good on him. Can we work Epic Beard Man into the story somehow- to maybe counteract the ick of that video?

He won that fight pretty big..
>> ^xxovercastxx:
I disagree with Anna calling EBM a loser. He's mentally ill and has some problems, yes, but that doesn't make him a loser. You don't know how he came to be the man he is.
I also disagree that the beating was excessive. He put the guy down and then he walked away. I'd say that actually shows him to be somewhat lucid. When you're in a fight like that, especially when you're defending yourself, you're just an animal. The adrenaline pumps and it's fight or flight. Once the switch flips, it's hard to just turn it off. I'm an excessively passive person and I don't think even I could have turned it off that easily.
I don't think anyone is really idolizing EBM, he's just an intriguing character. Even without the fight, he's a crazy old man wearing a shirt that says "I am a motherfucker". You've got to wonder what his deal is when you see something like that. He's also the underdog in the fight, and everyone loves an underdog.

>> ^shagen454:
I hate to get PC on this shit, you know the video is hilarious. But, it's terrible since this guy obviously has a mental disorder and it seems the majority of people are encouraging this madman's rage. All I know is that if I see this guy and I probably have, but now I'll know to stand clear of his spazz mentality.


He walked away from a guy that was threatening him, then still didn't do anything until a punch got thrown at his face, what would you do if someone was trying to beat you up?

Also, before you say that you would run away, you have to remember he was on a bus, running was not exactly an option.

>> ^alizarin:
This whole thing reminds me of a Harvard study I read about in college - The psychologist shows people a picture of two men having an argument in a subway train. One has a razor in his hand the other is unarmed. When people were shown the image briefly and then asked who was holding the razor 50% said it was the black man, when it was actually the white man. I failed that test then and it was sobering - you can be racist and not realize it or intend it. I think I'd pass it today but I don't think the average person would....


You read the study? And you participated?

>> ^alizarin:
This whole thing reminds me of a Harvard study I read about in college - The psychologist shows people a picture of two men having an argument in a subway train. One has a razor in his hand the other is unarmed. When people were shown the image briefly and then asked who was holding the razor 50% said it was the black man, when it was actually the white man. I failed that test then and it was sobering - you can be racist and not realize it or intend it. I think I'd pass it today but I don't think the average person would....


I've seen similar studies and I'm not calling them BS, but in the example you just gave, as the viewing duration goes to zero, you expect 50% of people to choose the black man if nobody was racist. That's just random guessing because you didn't have time to fully parse the image.

>> ^budzos:
The most remarkable thing about this video to me (the YT analysis, not the original), is the post-modernism. Cenk Unguyr, political analyst, makes a passing reference to Zangief, from Street Fighter II... how many people are gonna catch that!?


The resemblance is pretty striking

http://doctorwendigo.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/zangief1.jpg

>> ^NordlichReiter:
I wonder how he got into the service. I think he suffers from Bipolar Disorder.


Back then all that was required to enlist was bend over and spread your cheeks while the military doctor shined a flashlight up your ass. If no light came out your mouth or eyes, then you were cleared for duty.

"Epic Beard Man (Thomas Bruso aka Vietnam Tom aka Tom Slick) is a 67 year old war veteran who gained internet fame on February 16th, 2010 in a video which was filmed by Iyanna Washington and was posted to YouTube. In the video, our elderly hero finds himself confronted by a racially sensitive and reasonably angry drunk black man. He subsequently surprises us by delivering a beat down so crushing in its righteousness that it has touched the scrotum of Jesus himself. Predictably enough, lulz ensued and 4chan dropped everything to crown their new King. Epic Beard Man is a MOTHER FUCKER. He even has the shirt to prove it. " ED to the rescue.

*promote

Dude, you're the one that's preachy. Come on, dude. I put one word down, and you go off on how sad you are about the condition of the world, about my heroes, and the rest.

The video was FUNNY. The young dude got what he deserved, and EBM was able to defend himself.

It's not like I wrote down "[h]eroic" in all CAPS followed by exclamation point as so: "HEROIC!"

>> ^longde:
Look, the guy is not in any way heroic. Tragic, yes; a sympathetic figure to some, sure; but heroic, no way.
Just over the last month, there are people all over the world that have done heroic things, much of it captured on youtube and videosift. Some kid pushed a stalled car off rail tracks before it was hit. People rescued others from collapsed buildings after an earthquake. Police and firemen have saved lives this week. Yet, this guy gets the moniker of "epic" and you call him a hero. Get real. Is your bar for heroism that low? If so, that's sad.
Irony alert when preachy people tell me to get off my high horse. I do have some crazy relatives, but I'm not addled enough to call them heroes. I try to get them help when i can. Which is what is missing from this hullabaloo. Of all the videos and websites, who is raising money to get this man some help? People are going so far as to post the names and addresses of the camera people for revenge, and others are talking about recovering the guy's bag. Those things aren't going to help this guy.
Most videos are just using his image to drive some stupid meme. This video for example. She obviously found this guy. Why not ask him about his living conditions and how to help, and then relay to others with her video. Noone is helping because they see EBM as a sideshow, to be forgotten tomorrow.
>> ^GoodAttorney:
>> ^longde:
I also feel more sympathetic for that guy, but after reading GA's quote, >> ^GoodAttorney:
Heroic.

I feel kinda sorry for people who are so short of heroes to make this troubled guy into one. The Great White Hope ain't what it used to be.......

Dang. You could just call my comment "disgusting" and leave it at that (you've done it before to some other newb). Maybe you don't have a father figure in advanced age who rides the bus and may be subjected to this type of silliness only to be able to answer forcefully.
Get off the high horse for a second. We're all a little crazy. Thank the good lord there is you, with your large, generous, and sympathetic heart to guide us into the moral oblivion that is what the world is supposed to be and not what it is.

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Hahaha. Yeah, pretty much

In reply to this comment by Raaagh:
>> ^deathcow:
stabbed with a knife.... knocked out for 22 minutes..... does anyone have a link to this advanced version of the fight?


actually yes