once, i was in line to get into a concert when someone cut in front of me. i politely directed him to the back of the line. he stared at me blankly. i repeated myself, showing him that the line curved around, and it did indeed *look* like this was the end of the line, but it wasn't. the end of the line was elsewhere and could he please go to elsewhere and not cut in line in front of me? he listened, glassy eyed, and finally, speaking slowly and enunciating every syllable, declared: "you cannot mess with me because I am a moron!" and turned his back.

i said fuck it, and gave up.

this is how i feel about the birthers, orly taitz, glenn beck, fictional uncle floyd, creationists, 9/11 loose change conspiracy theorists, rabid racists, rabid sexists, anti-semites who think jews killed jesus christ while simultaneously failing to note that jesus christ was himself a jew, and those who say that the moon landing was a hoax. maybe not insofar as their entire lives are concerned, but when these particular issues arise, i remember the words of the guy who cut in front of me, and i think,

I cannot mess with them, because they are morons. i will explain myself, bother them with logic and facts and reason. and they will turn their backs.

fuck it.

i have an enlivened faith in humanity now that i see that there are so many others who don't find the youtube buffet of tasering videos to be "funny." i thought maybe i was alone in this conviction, possibly because i am not desensitized to violence due to growing up without any television, but happily there are others who think that tasers are tantamount to torture and a tool of authoritarianism.

i've noticed a couple things that exacerbate the likelihood that cops use tasers.

the first is a lack of coordination in terms of direction-shouting. i see this all the time both live and in cop shows. a group of cops will scream various orders at someone that would be impossible to determine even if a band of high-school dropouts with guns weren't rushing at him: "freeze!" "don't move!" "get on the ground!"

it reminds me of a scene in raising arizona, wherein two inexperienced bank robbers tell the customers to "freeze" and then "lay on the ground". an old man says, "well, which is it? iffen i freeze, i can't lay on the ground. and iffen i lay on the ground, i'ma gonna be in motion."

if the alleged perp has failed to figure out what the hell the cops want, he's toast. tackled and thrown on concrete, or tased. once tased, he's often roughly handcuffed and any protests or screams are noted in his record as "resisting arrest" and invite further tasing.

another problem is failing to ascertain whether or not the person is hearing impaired, an english speaker, or mentally disabled. in orange countys, it's entirely possible, if not likely, that a person could be one of the thre. i cannot even begin to imagine the fear and horror i'd feel if i didn't speak english, or was deaf, and found myself tased and in handcuffs.

and finally, cops simply don't know the law, or maybe just don't care or don't seem interested in learning. they have no idea, most times, that i CAN refuse to take a breathalyzer on site and can request to take it at the station. they don't know that i do not have to show my ID. they don't know that I am allowed to refuse their requests to search my vehicle, home, or purse. knowing my rights is not the same as resisting arrest, or engaging in disorderly conduct. but THEY DONT KNOW THAT because they don't know the law, or maybe don't care.

i dont understand why pepper spray can't be used. pepper spray will down someone like nobody's business. some guy got sprayed downwind from me once and the entire city block was coughing and sneezing for about ten minutes. what's the problem with pepperspray? i never heard of anyone dying from that...

America's health care is third-world and it isn't. Well, first, i believe the term is "developing nation" and not "third world" any more, but that's beside the point. it's "third world" for people who can't afford health insurance, or who CAN afford it only to be told that their illness/condition/disorder is suddenly on a list of ailments that is not covered. it's first world for those of us who can afford insurance, and can afford to pay huge deductibles, and can afford to pay for whatever is magically not covered.

.

true story: my mom is a breast cancer survivor on medicare and private insurance. her white blood cell count is low because of the chemo. she has to get these shots every three weeks--i forget what they are called. but what i DO remember is that $250 of it is not covered either by medicare OR her private insurance. luckily, she can afford it. but if she couldn't?

my dad is in the same boat. he has had three heart attacks and a stroke, and now suffers from vascular dementia. he has medicare and private insurance. his medical costs that are not covered either by his private insurance OR medicare come to about $10,000 a year. my parents sold their house at a good time and thus they can cover it. but if they hadn't had a house? or hadn't sold it at a good time?

unlike the woman profiled in joan's article, they do not go to town hells. they gladly would pay more taxes if everyone could have better health care. they do not see this as being penalized for their success. before i went back to graduate school and actually made a decent living, i saw it the same way.