Letters to the Editor
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Good Remise Anon, But Still a Remise
Am I ranting? Yeah, I guess so. In my tinfoil protected world a rant is sometimes the best response to an outrage. How perspicacious of you to notice my "america" in the lower case. I am impressed. And thank-you very much for the genuinely witty response; complete with a grammar lesson! I shall aspire to reach your heady level of compositional excellence in the future.
Nonetheless, you still ridicule me sans a proper or compelling refutation of my argument. That's okay, ridicule is after all the last resort of the man who has run out of arguments.
America (sorry had to capitalise that, as it is at the beginining of a sentence) is sadly no longer a functioning democracy. Have you not read the PATRIOT Act? Did you miss the creation of a "unitary" executive through the mechanism of bush's signing statements? The list of anti-democratic measures just goes on and on, Salon readers know the rest of the list. The continuing occupation of Iraq, against the clearly expressed wishes of the majority is an excellent example.
As for the man who dared to ask 3 whole questions... Do you deny that convicted felons in most states lose their voting rights? Are you telling us that as a convicted felon this fellow (and never mind your characterization of his motivations) will not suffer greatly as a result of his asking questions (albeit somewhat obnoxiously) and then having the gumption to actually resist what the majority of americans seem to agree is disproportionate force and an uncalled for arrest?
Maybe anon, just maybe, you can give us a brilliant exposition on why democracy in America has not ended. I'd be happy if you could justify the police tasing this guy? There were 6 police personnel there, one of them was the size of a pro wrestler. In my crazy world I don't care if he was suspected child molester (key word: "suspected") the use of this kind of truly excessive force is unnecessary and yes, not the kind of thing that should happen in a "free" country. Use small simple words please.
grammatically yours,
"crazy" Bill Owen
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taser?
Do we know for sure this guy was tasered? I think he was sent there specifically to disrupt the meeting. There was procedure for public comment which he ignored and he began screaming before the police did anything significant.
I think the whole thing is just political street-drama and I don't think he was really tasered. Is there any witness who says he was?
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Tim, sometimes a jerk is just a jerk
With people still second guessing the West Virginia campus police and school admin in re to the on campus shooting there, it seems smarmy to pile on the police here for taking what appears to be appropriate action.
It was apparent from the video that the police used minimum force until forced by the unruly and uncooperative young man to escalate measures. I told my son, a recent UF grad, to never, ever fight with a policeman, just comply until things cool down.
Sometime a jerk is just a jerk and this kid has a real temper and authority problem. He needs his ass kicked by his parents who probably won't because they also failed to teach him civility. Hopefully they will deal with him now before his problem festers.
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Much ado about nothing
This really doesn't reflect that poorly on anyone involved, other than the recipient of the voltage.
The kid was a disruptive asshole. Kerry showed him way more respect than he deserved, clearly expressing a willingness to answer his questions. People were attending Kerry's speech to hear John Kerry, not this loud and disruptive little twit. And, he clearly physically resisted the police after they politely asked him to settle down.
He didn't have to be tasered, so the police may have overreacted. However, the kid should learn some manners, and something needed to be done.
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More Information coming In On U of Florida Incident
Apparently this guy was on the rampage prior to asking Kerry questions, there are eye witnesses coming forward:
Eyewitness Account Of The Student Tazering:
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/09/eyewitness-account-of-student-tazering.html
Here's my take:
http://marjorieanndrake.blogspot.com/
See you later.
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The Guy Asked For It
Belligerently shouted questions is something Senator Kerry has handled before and he said he'd have handled this guy as well. I also don't think they should have cut his mike off, either. But when the police put their hands on you and ask you to come with them, you mentally draw up your lawsuit and leave. He resisted the police physically and repeatedly. His actions could have caused them injury. That's when it went from Freedom of Speech to "You've Earned Some Shock Therapy."
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Bill
The boy was arrested for a misdemeanor, not a felony.
I have been arrested for several misdemeanors, and misdemeanor arrests for, e.g., trespassing during protests, actually lend you some cache if you happen to be in certain professions--professor, like me, or professional writer, like what the little prick aspires to be.
I do not engage the arguments of people who are off their nut.
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Objecting to this incident is one thing...
but all this extrapolating about how America's a police state and somehow President Bush bears some of the blame for this is ludicrous. The kid got tased for Christ's sake. He's not Nelson Mandela.
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I think the cops were wrong.
Hopefully the kid isn't injured. And maybe it's a useful, if painful, life lesson that "acting-up" can have unintended consequences.
That being said, I was pretty sure that if I did a little internet research on police "use of force" policies, I'd find that using a Taser would be considered just one step below using a gun.
Unfortunately, I'm apparently wrong about that. This is from the UCLA Use of Force policy, which allows a taser to be used whenever someone is physically resisting arrest or:
When a skirmish line is deployed and/or for pain compliance against passive resistors as allowed in UCLA Police Policy ยง 301.24 (Pain Compliance Techniques).
It's pretty incredible to me, that using potentially deadly force can be used as a "pain compliance technique."
And to think I started out today feeling so optimistic...
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Hey, Garry Owen...
I'd be interested to see the evidence of Prescott Bush's conviction for trading with Hitler. There's (some) merit to the charge, but I've yet to see a non-internet source of your conviction allegation.