Don't Tase Me, Bro !!! It's Just a Diary.

Seriously, bro, don't. Hey, I'm not kidding here . . . AHHH! HELP!!!

C'mon, we shouldn't just let this Andrew Meyer / John Kerry thing fade out of our collective consciousness. There are too many interesting angles yet to be explored.

For, example, I'm intrigued by this take from that Republican rag, the Weekly Standard:

What really stands out is his pathetic wailing when the cops tase him. I've been tased before, the company's PR reps hooked me up for a three second jolt at our offices one day and it wasn't that bad.

Pretty damn unsympathetic . . .

But most interesting, Meyer's immortal phrase is becoming a touchstone of our cultural lexicon in the manner of "I've fallen and I can't get up!". The phrase reached 9th place on todays list of most googled terms according to Google Trends.

Further, the Meyer arrest video has received 2.6 million views and almost 40,000 new comments since Monday. In contrast, the much-talked about MoveOn.org's "Betrayal of Trust," anti-Rudy Giuliani ad received just over 171 thousand views and 59 new blog posts. And John Edwards' rebuttal to President Bush's progress report on the Iraq war received 114 thousand views and 43 new posts.

I'm looking forward to Meyer's Letterman appearance. Anybody know if he's been booked for that yet?

•  Don't tase me, bro. It's just a diary . . .

  by pdxattorney on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:11:34 PM PDT

  •  He's going on Letterman?

    Good for David Letterman for having him on.

    I agree with you - "Don't tase me, bro" could become the iconic phrase for this sad time in our nation's history.

    by Arlingtonian on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:23:10 PM PDT

    •  I smell a sitcom.

      by Rex Manning on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:50:32 PM PDT

      •  I smell....an emmy!

        by Hillbilly Dem on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 04:53:52 AM PDT

    •  What a shame

      that rhetoric and language are so degraded and unappreciated in this day that "don't taze me, bro" would become the contemporary equivalent of "don't tread on me."

      And that a a boorish, uncivil, and apparently self-promoting attention-hound should become an iconic figure for a progressive movement.

      Other generations had Ida Craddock, Mario Salvo, MLK, Ron Kovic...

      ... this guy is who we want to promote as an icon for our moment in history?

      Sad, indeed.

      by BobzCat on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 11:31:44 PM PDT

      •  I didn't say Andrew Meyer is an iconic figure

        "don't taze me, bro" represents something much larger than the man himself.

        Remember Rodney King's "can we all get along"? That was an iconic statement for a time in America when race relations were close to a nadir. (a stunning achievement of the Clinton years, by the way, is how easy it is today to forget where our country was in 1992...LA riots, Bensonhurst, Crown Heights, etc)

        "Don't taze me, bro" reflects the ease with which our nation has slid into acceptance of a speech-abridging government and society. See also: Dixie Chicks albums being burned, "free speech zones" at political conventions, Sally Field at the Emmys, and on and on. These aren't aberrations; it's a 6-year trend.

        by Arlingtonian on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 12:09:12 AM PDT

        •  Amazing article helps clarify:

          http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/...

          by LNK on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 12:51:26 AM PDT

        •  I'm still not buying

          that the whole Meyer thing is a first amendment issue or reflective of a "speech-abridging" era. The other examples you bring up are more salient; by contrast the Meyer event is more contrived.

          There are good questions for us to consider regarding the nature of protest and dissent, the difference between civil disobedience and uncivil unrest, and the role of public and private law enforcement.

          But there is a tendency, happening almost immediately, to find in such an incident a metaphor for larger issues.

          Thus, Kerry's response is viewed by some as a symbol of his weakness in 2004, the ineffectiveness of Democrats in general in the face of the authoritarian behavior, and so on.

          And Meyer's self-serving rant and the subsequent over-reaction by campus police becomes a metaphor for the suppression of free speech and the silencing of dissent.

          The article mentioned in the comment next to mine admits that it was mostly a well-designed media stunt, and reveals (to me) a guy who is very good at keeping the spotlight on himself, even as he now professes to be drawing attention to some larger concern.  

          Perhaps you're right. Maybe this is an iconic moment.

          In an era of "truthiness," maybe spinning the results of a contrived (and IMO, phony) act of "protest" by a narcissistic publicity seeker is just about as perfect a reflection of the times as we can ask for.

          by BobzCat on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 09:07:37 AM PDT

  •  I was only Tased once below the belt and gained

    a hell of an erection ! Lot of good that did me as I ended up in the holding tank all night surrounded by other pathetic slobbering drunks..A Larry Kraig moment missed..Thinking about purchasing a Home Tase Kit..When we are in the mood and unexpected company arrives, then what..Thanks honey, not tonight at least not till these burns heal up..Used to be the Headache Excuse..Tase me once shame on me, Tase me twice..WTF, where was I..Sleep,sleep

    by Johnny Rapture on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 04:00:18 AM PDT

    •  i'm just going to pretend

      that I did not see this comment and get odd visuals in my head.

      by AndrewOG on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 04:42:51 AM PDT

•  Move on ads and Edwards' rebuttal

  are political statements to an issue that unfortunately isn't likely to be resolved until Bush is out of office. The tasing incident has violence and is dramatic, more in line with news about OJ Simpson, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton.

  by acnetj on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:22:39 PM PDT

•  It freaks me out to see Kerry impassiv

  while this student was pushed around and tortured with electric shocks!  Amazing!

  They do not have truth speakers on MSM!  They have OJ and the talking heads on to distract us from what the young man was saying.

  by GUGA on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:30:08 PM PDT

  •  If you've ever spoken in front of a crowd that

    size, it wouldn't seem so surprising. It's very difficult to perceive what is happening at the distance when the hall is full. It looks to me like he thought the campus police were just hauling him out - he says something about wanting to finish the answer and then the kid is dragged off. I guarantee you he had no idea - and no way to know - what was happening once the kid was down.

    by lorelynn on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:45:05 PM PDT

    •  Most of the cameras

      were closed up on him and the cops, but that's not the perspective Kerry could see from the stage.

      by acnetj on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 10:57:24 PM PDT

    •  No way to know once the kid moved away from mic

      Kerry couldn't see much of what the kid was doing while moving around, tangling with police....no clear sight line, many obstructions, too far....and waaay out of his control ......The organizers were in charge of the mic, etc.

      by LNK on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 12:48:28 AM PDT

  •  About Kerry's response....

    In America there are so many incidents where crazies pull out weapons and where crowds panic when there's any commotion ....and people get hurt in the stampede.........

    Kerry remaining calm and urging audience to remain calm was the BEST thing to do.

    The organizers in charge of the event are responsible for decisions, ditto campus police.

    No way would any judicious guest speaker on stage try to second guess and interfere with either the organizers or the police during such a confused disruption.

    To keep the audience calm was helpful.

    Read up on Mario Savio. He taught me the best of what I know about PROTEST.

    Read Malcolm Gladwell's book, 'Blink'

    by LNK on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 12:45:45 AM PDT

    •  In my view

      No way would any judicious guest speaker on stage try to second guess and interfere with either the organizers or the police during such a confused disruption.

      it was the police that interfered and second guessed Kerry in this instance. That made an uncomfortable situation into an incident out of proportion.

      Remember, Kerry saw that Meyer's demeanor was not the best, he figured that the questioning wouldn't be much different but decided  "I will answer his questions....." with a "go ahead sir...".
      That should have given the cops a hint. Let the guy speak, I will answer and then wrap it up and we can all go our ways. He never limited the # of questions to he would have been willing to take nor placed any restrictions on their content.
      Why did the cops took it upon themselves to limit time or think that skull and bones was a no-no or whatever?

      by Euroliberal on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 01:42:21 AM PDT

      •  I dont think you should be implicating that our

        men in Blue are not the brightest and the best..Certainly, not all cops are stooopid, are they..They shave their heads every day, the same as you and I

        by Johnny Rapture on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 04:07:22 AM PDT

        •  these are

          high voltage days. I wouldn't dare!

          by Euroliberal on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 08:52:08 AM PDT

          •  Note: ORGANIZERS cut the kid's mike and Kerry

            could not have seen what the cops saw.....If the organizers and the cops decided to move the kid out....that is their perogative and their responsibility, not Kerry's. Disorderly behavior in the audience is to be dealt with by those responsible for the event, not the guest speaker...he can only go so far.

            Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition.
            Perhaps the cops saved the kid from getting beaten up by those he bumped in line.......I still think everybody is on guard (and maybe a little jumpy) about erratic behavior in public places......

            A heckler who sits still is safer than one who is moving around.

            by LNK on Fri Sep 21, 2007 at 02:01:32 PM PDT

            •  NO

              you didn't get my point.

              Kerry did handle it well. The cops didn't.

              by Euroliberal on Sat Sep 22, 2007 at 02:07:39 AM PDT

•  A ploy to make it acceptable to tase you

  or use other similar means if you don't toe the line and behave.

  Tasing can cause long term health problems, btw. Of course the dude in the Weekly Standard might have gotten the tiniest little sampling, different when it's fully hooked up to ya for the full jolt. We're now in the process of being sold the sanctioning of torture in regular societal proceedings. I think that ought to be a cause for alarm and concern.

  by doinaheckuvanutjob on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 11:02:42 PM PDT

  •  The Weekly Standard guy is being disingenuous

    He got a staged carefully controlled sampling of what its like being tased, and is probably downplaying its effects for the sake of showing some manlyness or something. When you're bracing for it and expecting it, its probably not nearly as bad as when you get tased during the commotion of being confronted by 6 cops trying to remove you from somewhere.

    by PanzerMensch on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 03:20:53 AM PDT

    •  He should put his actions out here where

      his mouth is... let's get Goldfarb on Letterman or Leno and hook his ass up with a full-charged Taser.  

      What really stands out is his pathetic wailing when the cops tase him. I've been tased before... and it wasn't that bad.

      I want to see Goldfarb proved that point.  Come on Letterman, get Goldfarb on the show with Andrew Meyers.  Make Goldfarb prove it.

      If his lying words are the standard by which we are now to accept being silenced or else... let's see how nice and friendly a Tase incident really is.

      Our... constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds. Thurgood Marshall

      by bronte17 on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 07:47:47 AM PDT

•  guy from WS needs the taser hooked to his marbles

  n/t

  by demotarian on Wed Sep 19, 2007 at 11:21:11 PM PDT

•  And as many times as the video of the tasing

  has been seen I have to wonder if that violence, in effect has any affect on people. The more violence we execpt as normal, the more violence they{Gov.} will try to use.

  by Owllwoman on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 04:25:34 AM PDT

•  Context.

  I mean, beyond the reports that Meyer was being a disruptive jerk before the stuff captured in the video.

  I have to wonder if the West Virginia incident and subsequent criticisms of campus security for not doing enough might have been on the minds of the security guys during this incident.

  I haven't seen much commentary putting this incident in context with incidents involving folks being forcibly removed from Bush events for merely wearing message t-shirts that "security" deemed inappropriate.

  by sxwarren on Thu Sep 20, 2007 at 05:27:05 AM PDT