OK, the Taser thing. The kid had a mic. Both he and the law thought they were on Springer. Case closed!
Actually as things develop there may be more to it. And Oh so many unanswered questions – in addition to the ones directed at Kerry by this particular "perp."
1) What the heck ever happened to pepper spray?
2) In fact, doesn’t Heinz grow spray peppers?
3) Is "Don’t Tase me, bro," the most effective response to your
average university cop, even if you are in Florida watching too
many "Miami Vice" episodes? Move on already to CSI.
4) Will the kid get to play Greg Palast in the film adaptation
of Armed Madhouse?
5) Is there a generic name for these electric shockers with the
barbs, or will we always have to use the Taser brand name, like
Kleenex and Frigidaire?
Five more, plus some not quite as silly stuff, as our story continues. In the meantime, I've got to lie down.
6) Twenty-one? University of Florida? And READS? Hey let
him off with time served.
7) Communications major? OK maybe the Mclaughlin Report - but
certainly not anything to do with mediation.
8) Was the kid’s mother frightened by Dan Rather on
the floor of
the ’68 Democratic convention? Hoping for
similar career advancement through the wonder of Youtube? Or just
getting clear by reliving the moment through some kind of twisted
Dianetics?
9) Kerry may not be the world’s greatest ad libber, but as the ruckus
commenced, couldn’t he have done a just a little better
than a "That’s all right. Let me answer the question," that
likely went unheard by the attending constabulary? The right
response, but o so very Kerry.
10) Where the hell is ABE RIBICOFF when you really
need him? "If John
Kerry were president, we wouldn’t have these Gestapo tactics in the
student unions of Gainesville!"
OK maybe that would have sounded a little unappreciative of the four or five officers rolling around on the ground for him at the moment –but Bill Clinton probably could have turned it around. Then again you’ve also got to put yourself in Kerry’s shoes. Most of the time he protested, people at least listened. Manners. Such good manners, you're not in the White House.
And yet Kerry's "let's see" take on this seems about right for the time being. Why should the other party be the only one with a guy who would rather have been right than president? Sue me, I’m a liberal and I’m here to turn myself in.
Isn’t it possible to acknowledge the kid may have been a showboater in search of career advancement, or out of line regardless, and still think the police used excessive force?
Or that he only appeared to be acting out of line because it isn’t the 60’s? Well it isn’t. Or to think the force may have been excessive, while wondering what you would do in their shoes? I know many of the more passionate will be offended, but I'm going with close either way.
I’ve noticed the responses to the various Kos diaries on this seem to be supportive of the positions taken by the original diarist. Either "outrage" at the excessive force, or "cut the cops some slack, Taser was the lesser force," etc.
You want to come a little closer to the monitor? I'm not sure I want everyone to hear this. Actually I appreciate the number of posts and comments that sought some perspective. Expected pretty much only the police state invocations. Not that there’s anything WRONG with that Jerry (the other Jerry). It’s natural but frequently wrong to evaluate any given phenomenon in a certain way, just because it reinforces one’s world view of the moment. Especially among ideologues like us. Personally, I can still believe we’re becoming something of a police state without taking that adjective entirely literally. If we’re looking for examples, this would have to be one of the weaker exhibits though certainly made for the Internet. On the other hand, even with the best of intentions, if you're going for street theater -- Kerry? Just because he's handy?
Have a feeling this is going to turn into one of those Zapruder Kodak moments. Was the Tasee actually being arrested at the beginning of the incident or were they just trying to escort him off? It appears, at first at least,it was primarily a relocation effort. But if the former, was the bust warranted, literally and figuratively? Did they, or could they have been a little more patient in trying to talk him away? Looks like they could have, "contained the threat" without the laser (laser, taser, shmaser, whatever? Yet how much rolling around should be expected on a campus cop’s salary? Sure they're university police, but could we really expect a dialectical approach to this matter? Still "if" the cuffs were already on, a little more circumspection might have been expected.
Although the central question for Mr. Meyer still must be the justifiability of that jold of electronic Red Bull. For the rest of us it should be whether he should have been stopped from questioning in the first place. Let's face it, it's 2007, everybody, including the police, is out of practice. I'm so confused. After all these years, I can't even figure out why those Fox felons on "Cops" sign the release forms that allows the network to put them on television -- with or without shirts.
Adjust the paradigm. Even at 21, and beyond your sophomore year, it’s still possible to believe that the questions you’ve just rattled off are the most pressing in the world, and you’d be letting mankind down taking nothing for an answer. Just expecting actual answer might put one in that jejune category.
But even if it was mere grandstanding (because ultimately, as is common knowledge, everybody on campus does everything primarily just to get laid) it’s taken a lot of us considerably longer to come to terms with something like that. It’s not ego or narcissism – it’s a still- developing PREFRONTAL CORTEX, for crying out loud. Cops, you want to look for an electrical solution? Forget the Taser; give that kid an MRI.
I think the University is absolutely right taking a look at the whole Taser issue. There may be some disciplinary action called for. But getting older and having had mixed success at trying to do just about anything, one begins to have a little more tolerance for anybody else attempting same. Even the police.
I remember the "march" on the Pentagon in the late sixties. (I can’t remember what I ate for lunch, but I remember Hoffman and Rubin attempting to levitate a building forty years ago.). Having experienced prior demonstrations, the District of Columbia wanted to cooperate as much as possible to keep the thing peaceful and orderly. As our chartered bus pulled in, a police office entered and announced that to help us find our bus when the demonstration was over, they would be placing a big number 8 on the windshield. Somebody in the back responded, "Well, maybe 8 is a big number for a cop. But we’re college students." I still cringe when I think of that.
Virginia Tech jumpy and all, I'm willing to accept that, at worst everybody, including Mr. Meyer, made some bad calls. This isn't a "to the barricades" police state experience, much as we yearn for those. Of course, I wasn't the one tasered.
Oh, just one more thing: Prozac.