Mayoral candidate Ben Konop apologized during a press conference Aug. 13 for appearing in a MonkeY DomE video (which may be viewed at Maggie Thurber’s blog site) that showed the American flag on the ground.

Konop called it “an incident that was very unfortunate,” noting, “I am disappointed in myself.”

The satirical video was produced by a local startup company called MSB Productions. Konop asked the company to remove the YouTube video and the company agreed not to publish it as planned on www.monkeydome.com.

The video depicted Konop making a speech and being heckled by a small doll. Konop then attacked the doll, and in the staged fight that followed, the flag, which Konop said he never saw, fell to the ground. The satire was based on a recent incident where Konop was heckled by a gentleman, but in that case, reacted calmly.

Ben Konop

“That particular clip was not the final edit,” said Dave Jaffe of MSB Productions. He spoke at the press conference and said he respects the American flag and is teaching his son to do the same. The flag at their home is taken down every night because they don’t light it at night.

The video was released by a volunteer at the production company, and usually Jaffe approves the final edit, which he did not do this time, he said.

Konop said he has appeared on the show before and first saw the controversial video on Aug. 13. He is trying to support local people trying to get their production business off the ground. Konop said one of the people involved in the video is a war veteran.

“I am not really looking at this as a campaign issue,” Konop said. “I made a mistake.”

Konop said he doesn’t regret making the video, just the fact that the flag fell on the ground. He believes in politicians making fun of themselves and said they shouldn’t take themselves too seriously.

When asked about if participating in this video played into the idea that he is too young to be mayor, Konop said he is 33 years old, a commissioner, an attorney and a law professor. He said he believes he has acted maturely in elected office. This is a personal issue, not a campaign issue, he said.

“Could this have happened to a 60-year-old political? Sure,” he said. “This is a mistake.”

Konop suggested this could be a teaching moment and said he knows that the flag should never touch the ground.

“I felt sick to my stomach that I was involved in something like this,” he said.

Tags: Ben Konop

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 13th, 2009 at 5:18 pm and is filed under 2009 Race for Mayor, Breaking News, Community.
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