We've Lost Our HUMANITY...Students LAUGHED while he was Tasered

[spooked]

I am stunned that there was only ONE LONE VOICE crying out against the treatment of the University of Florida student at the Kerry town hall forum.

But WHAT REALLY SHOCKS ME is the student shown here in the background LAUGHING at a fellow student's anguish and pain!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bVa6jn4rpE&NR=1


IS THIS FUNNY!!!!!!????

Is is FUNNY to bomb innocent people too??!!!

Good God, WHAT has happened to our HUMANITY!!???

[atreides1]

1. Even Here Humanity has been lost

On this site the lack of humanity continues to rear its head every so often. It's kind of pitiful isn't it?

[Individualist]

19. It's yet another example of the sharp divide

between DLC supporters and progressives.

[Bonobo]

30. Yes, it is. Check the names of the posters. Lines up like a friggin graph.

[RangerRK]

62. same people that supported the attack on Rev Yearwood?

Do you really believe that people are actually this cold hearted or are they just running damage control?

[flying_wahini]

2. Kerry was there and didn't stop this??????????????????????????

WTF??????????????

Welcome to the police state, where not even ONE fucking
person does not step forward.

[spooked]

3. It's Unbelievable!! And Look what happened AFTER!

I CANNOT believe that KERRY just continues DRONING ON AND ON...

Our country is gone!!!


Then, after the cops led him away, they said he was "INCITING A RIOT"!!!!

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3ec_1190097717

[Name removed]

29. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sleipnir]

10. I know, and some want to call Kerry a "leader."

His failure to stand up for this citizen calls into question everything concerning Kerry.

When will Kerry issue a statement, probably never.

[brentspeak]

28. Yeah, ditto, ditto, ditto. Do I get my check for saying that, this week, or next?

[brentspeak]

24. Oh, my gosh! Kerry didn't stop this! I'm concerned/outraged/etc. Who else is with me??

[spooked]

4. These Cops would have Tasered PATRICK HENRY too!!

I am ashamed to say it was ALL FOR NOTHING Patrick Henry!!

[Bonobo]

5. This is sadly what happens...

It is the true meaning of moral decadence.

The weak-minded lose their souls easily when their leaders set a tone of moral bankrupcy.

The worst part is that DU is the BEST this country has and just look at some of us. Wow.

We have all been twisted in some way by these evil years. All of us have been affected. In ways we do not realize probably.

[spooked]

6. How Ironic the poor guy won a FIRST PRIZE Journalism Award

http://www.freewebs.com/newforum/bioandpersonalstories.htm

1st Place, Columnist, Sun Sentinel High School Journalism Awards, 2004

[in_cog_ni_to]

7. It's disgusting! The behavior of the laughing students, the behavior of the COPS and the behavior of

DUers DEFENDING JK, and the behavior of JOHN KERRY for letting it get as far as it got....just because he didn't want to answer the VERY GOOD questions the man was asking.:grr:

What have we become? Does anyone think for one second that ANY DUer would be defending ANY of this if it was a REPUKE who was giving the speech and being asked tough questions? HELL NO! No one would! Why is this acceptable because it was JK who didn't stand and fight for that kid???:grr:

Now I'm pissed.:grr: Baaaad way to start off my day.:grr:

[spooked]

8. Exactly how I feel!

I don't remember the last time I felt this ANGRY and SAD...

What's that sound you hear? The last nail in America's coffin!

:cry:

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. It's all so heartbreaking.

:cry: We are so freakin' screwed.:cry: When PROGRESSIVES start defending this crap....we can kiss our country good bye.:cry:

[Bonobo]

12. Kicked and rec'd. Hello to you guys, I feel better that you share my

emotions exactly.

I think THIS is the real death. When WE, the good guys, lose our humanity.

Whoever DID 9/11 really did win. He killed us, with Bush as an accomplice and the weak-minded as its unwitting tools.

I love you guys for sharing my pain about this.

:hugs:

[spooked]

17. and it's more that just a slow, steady loss of our freedoms...

With our silence, WE ARE ALL COMPLICIT with what happened at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo

[Bonobo]

20. I know. We are weak and complicit. Me too. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. I'm so disheartened reading DU today.

It's so sad. I never thought I'd see the day when Democrats/Progressives/Liberals would defend this type of behavior by ANYONE, but it has happened.:( I think I better go do some work before my head explodes.

Just know, Bonobo, you aren't alone in your feelings. Our country has been destroyed and reading some of these threads here today just confirms it. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED....by whomever attacked us on 911. This was exactly the purpose.

Hang in there for what's right!:hug:

[ShortnFiery]

35. You're not alone.

I send my warmest wishes for a pleasant and relatively stress free day. :hug:

[Zodiak]

41. Why don't you put them on ignore?

Seriously....it is always the same DLC-loyalists and authoritarians that start these huge flame wars. I don't know if they crave all of the attention, or are honestly in here to change minds, or they are paid, or they are just jerks, or they have borderline personlities, but it is always the same people. About 50 of them in total, actually.

You can do a lot towards your sanity and curtail the depression by simply turning them off. They are so predictable that you don't even need to read what they write anyways. It is like a broken record, and if they lose a debate on one thread, they go to the next as if the debate never happened.

Well, that is my take on it. The ignore button (which these same people HATE by the way), can restore your faith in progressives, because I do not feel these people are progressives. But they are demoralizing.

[Individualist]

47. Good advice

I might suggest for those who choose not to use the ignore option that the best response to those bullshit posts is no response at all. Replying to their posts just kicks them back to the top where they get more attention.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

39. HUH?

He shouldn't have been tasered. So? The police are going to have to answer for that. It was wrong.

However, why are we suposed to be upset because some guy grabbed a mike, and started hogging it? Not even letting Kerry answer? Heck, if he was familiar with Kerry, he would know that Kerry sometimes thinks before he speaks! His style is not the rapid fire screaming of this young man.

He did NOT have a free speech right to do what he did. No where in the Constitution does it say that a person can disrupt an event. Democracy is not in peril because he was stopped.

If you will notice, the vast majority are against the tasering! So why is this the death of our humanity?

Sorry, but I don't think free speech or democracy has been harmed by this fellow. He's a jerk who stood on a street corner with a sign reading "Harry dies." He's either a jerk or has a mental problem, in which case I hope he gets help.

[Zodiak]

46. Well, maybe people are upset

because they can see themselves getting that tazer for being upset at a public event.

Empathy.

And free speech AND democracy are hurt when a person is tortured for trying to have their say. Even if that person is a "jerk" or "has a mental problem". Force escalation should be used when there is a hreat. I saw none here.

Now if getting a little upset and acting out at a political Q&A gets you a potentially deadly jolt of electricity while no one does anything to stop it, then yes, free speech and democracy have taken a blow.

And you should sign up for Bill Frist's medical school with your ability to diagnose from afar.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

53. Most people "are" upset that he was tasered

and believe the police acted wrongly.

However, I believe a number of posters seem to think our democracy is at peril because he wasn't allowed to continue speaking - that the cops shouldn't have stopped him. Sorry, but that's just hyperbole. He had NO RIGHT to go beyond his alloted time. It's not a free speech issue. It's not a democracy issue.

This is what many of us are arguing about! Not whether or not he should have been tasered! Yes, that does chill speech. However, let's be clear about what we're objecting to.

We have people on the right trying to take away our real free speech rights, and people on the left defending rights that have never existed! Geesh

ETA - In fact, since he cut in line and grabbed the mike, he shouldn't have been allowed to speak at all.

[Zodiak]

54. What I object to is the taser

Tasering a heckler.

But I do believe people with unpleasant questions or a tendency to ramble still have a right to be heard. Should they cut in line? No, but mind you, some will (people fall on a belll curve) . Not everyone can fit in th box when they are overwhelmed with passion. The cops should know tht....hecklers come with just about every public event.

Democracy is often ugly, chaotic, and disorganized.

And what I saw there wasNOT Democracy, and it will have a chilling effect in townhalls. Often the toughest questions are brought up by those that have less of a "filter" than the rest of us.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

56. NO ONE has a right to be heard

The right to speech is not the right to be heard.

You can preach your gospel on the corner all day long, but I don't have to stand and listen to it. The people who were in line to speak had more "rights" than this fellow.

Watching this guy, do you not get the strong feeling that he would have hogged the mike for quite a bit longer? What about others' rights?

And having a mentally retarded child, I know all about the bell curve. The bell curve just doesn't excuse this kind of behavior unless he was sincerely mentally challenged or mentally ill in some way.

[Zodiak]

59. Except this was a forum for people to be heard....

not a street corner. And everyone else was in line, so it is not like they wouldn't be heard...just delayed a bit.

And if he would have hogged the mike, you turn it off eventually. As was done. Hogging a mike still is not a tazing offense, nor is it a reason to manhandle someone. He wanted to be heard (and was willing to put up some civil disobedience in order for that to happen) and was tazed for it.

The cops should still know how to handle these situations. It is not like they didn't BEFORE the taser came out; instead they have have adopted the taser in lieu of good police work. And in lieu of the safety of the citizens and their basic right to speak without fear of physical reprisal.

[midlife_mo_Jo]

60. After refusing to step away from the mike several times

I do believe they had a right to use force. As little force as necessary. No taser necessary unless he drew a weapon.

He was hollering for people to resist and get involved. At that point, I believe the cops acted in their own self interest, which is somewhat understandable. (Still disagree with the taser, though.)

[Zodiak]

61. But that is not what happened, is it?

There was no "little force as necessary". At best, he should have been coralled and talked down (like I have seen MANY times). What he said is irrelevent because no one was responding to his pleas. If a riot was breaking out, then fine, but it wasn't.

"Force" nowadays starts with the tazer. Or being tackled. Or both.

I learned that force started with a billy club when I was 20....for not "moving fast eough".

[Beelzebud]

16. You aren't alone. I agree 110% with that.

God forbid the rabble ask a question about a secret boys club, where only the rich and powerful are allowed entry, and then once brothers in said fraternity, they both run for president at the exact same time.

[brentspeak]

23. "Oh, no! I'm so concerned about John Kerry!"

"I will lie and make up B.S. about Kerry's "behavior" at the event to get other people on DU to think badly about him! I'm so concerned!!"

:thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown: :thumbsdown:

[KillCapitalism]

9. The guy in the video laughing...

must have been thinking he was watching a rerun of Beavis & Butthead.

[spooked]

14. Yes,

or a live video game...

The sick truth is that it is other people's PAIN is now considered FUNNY ENTERTAINMENT!

[BuyingThyme]

13. It sounds very much like it was largely a Kerry Fan Club event.

The simple people were only interested in making things easy for their guy.

Too bad.

[Beelzebud]

15. America has become a shithole.

[Javaman]

18. The jackassing of society. pain is fun. stupidity is expected.

and public ridicule is the norm.

thank you repukes. you leave such a legacy behind.

[bbgrunt]

52. a succinct and accurate synopsis of the situation.

[LanternWaste]

22. it's not a stretch of imagination...

Well, as lot of people think it's great fun to kill prostitutes and cops in video games, it's not a stretch of imagination for me to think that the real thing (or a variation on it) may be as much (if not more) entertaining to watch for a number of people.

What disturbs me, what *really* disturbs me is that I'm simply not shocked by this anymore. Everyone raising their fists in righteous indignation calling for violent revolution (as soon as we finish downloading some tunes on our I-Pods, of course), harboring wet-dreams about baiting cops into a law suit inducing scenarios ('cause anti-authoritarianism is really trendy these days), and such.

I think it was when Jackass was the top rated movie for some weeks in a row that I simply gave up on expecting civility from this country. We are banal, amused by violence, quick to become offended, and value the Self more than the Us-- it's a bad combination.

I think it's been quite some time since we've "merely" tolerated violence in our midst-- now we market it, are entertained by it, purchase it, and wind up paying homage to it, and finally justifying the Cult of Violence to ourselves and to others.

Newspeak isn't practiced by politicians alone anymore.

No-- the video you posted is not funny to me. But neither is watching the "bad guys" getting blown up in movies, or pulling someone's spleen out on a video game.

Sometimes I think we deserve to be where we are...

[spooked]

26. great post....

and it also seems that someone or something intended for americans to become this way.
Just look at the "cartoons" being created for kids today.

[Romulox]

25. In my experience, young people are EXTREMELY conservative nowadays...

Even the ones who claim to be Democrats. Probably just a function of the times they live in, but conformity seems to be the most important characteristics to the <30 set.

[american_typeculture]

36. The sixties counterculture taught these jackboots some things.

That they need to control the message portrayed in popular culture. That's why all "New music" sucks and has no soul or meaning. They figured they could turn quite a few bucks and control the message at the same time. That's why we must endure the likes of Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake. Prepackaged crap designed on Madison Ave. for the express purpose of keeping the people's unquestioning heads in the trough and focused on the grind of capitalist blood dollars.

[ShortnFiery]

51. Bravo!

No truer sentiments were ever typed. :applause: Consolidation only makes the CEOs THINK that they control the people. Programming sucks when there's no competition. :(

However, don't worry about them controlling the message. One bright spot with these bloated CEOs attempting to control the media message: They have no sense of "The Average American" and absolutely no creativity. People are tuning out of Cable News and gleaning more and more from cyberspace.

[slowry]

27. It WAS hilarious, until the cops tasered him. Why do you assume anyone expected that?

The guy was being walked out for disrupting the event, ignoring the invited speaker trying to answer him. He just rambled on and on, until they finally had to walk him out -- at which point he started shoving cops, even hitting one in the face. So, they tried to cuff him. No go -- kid is flailing his arms around, and they can't get them on.

The tasering was uncalled for, absolutely. I hope he makes some money, and calms the hell down. The cop might have panicked, thinking some people might listen to the kid and "help" him. The kid was screaming "help me", and "do something", which is basically asking for people to interfere, perhaps violently, which is where the talk of "inciting a riot" comes from.

This would all be hilarious, if the kid had left peacefully.

[ShortnFiery]

31. Yes, up until that point, IMO, the cops acted appropriately - no slam downs - a slow but deliberate

take down. All they needed was THAT supervisor to have one more moment of patience. But then, if you listen closely you can hear him saying, "Tase him."

IMO, that's a shame because up until the tasing of this man, they were IMO, doing OK with removing a disruptive person from the event. :shrug:

It's just appears *too tempting* to use those tasers because USUALLY you are left with a "wet noodle" submissive blob of flesh. That was the ONE BIG MISTAKE - TASER - you can't dispense "punishment" on an already subdued subject - for that is for the judge and/or the jury ... well IMHO.

I blame the supervisor for making that call. Because I have friends and family who work in law enforcement, I would hope to not "follow through" with that order - but don't know - you listen to the orders of your supervisor - that order was just, IMO, WRONG. :(

[Romulox]

34. Actually, I disagree. 6 of them were unable to handle the situation that usually 2 men handle...

Surely, apprehending a "suspect" and getting him under control is a basic law enforcement skill. You grab the man's arm, put it behind his back, and thus direct him to where you want him.

These "police officers" seem to lack that very basic police training/skill. The issue here is not that they didn't have a right to escort the young man out, but that once they endeavored to do so, they had an obligation to do so in a competent and effective manner. They failed to do that, which is why they relied on a crutch (i.e. the taser).

[slowry]

38. Fair enough; still doesn't make this a free speech issue, as much as some people dream it to be. n/t

[ShortnFiery]

43. I would only suggest this became a potential "police brutality" issue due to the large presence

of officers BUT the supervisor's immediate default to "whipping out the taser" type-action. :shrug:

[ShortnFiery]

40. Excellent points. Yes, to clarify, I said "OK job" but should have said "adequate"

Yes, this situation could have been handled much better.

[Irishonly]

32. It's depressing

On Saturday I was proud of progressives when the soldier came forward and told the peace activists that this was what democracy was about and had the bushbot speak.

And then.....

I don't know why Kerry didn't try to stop it. I am in the camp that thinks he should have said or done something. I also thought the kid was being rude but I am an old and have to remember me in the 70s and how I was. I think a lot of baby boomers have forgotten how vocal we were.

As far as the tasing, it was wrong. I used to teach SED children (I am not calling the kid emotionally disturbed) and two of us used to be able to take a kid down who weighed more than my aid and I together. It seems to me the cops were inept and much too quick to use violence. Any fool could see that the behavior of the cops was causing the kid to escalate and there must be at least one hundred different ways to handle the situation.

As far as the audience clapping and laughing somehow we have not taught this generation empathy. You see the lack of empathy over and over and it's scary. Americans need to take a good, long critical look at what we have become.

[Virginia Dare]

33. I only see two people laughing and it was before he was tasered..

they were laughing in response to his screaming "get the fuck off me" to the cops. I saw nobody laughing after the tasering.

[spooked]

42. Look at the guy in the yellow shirt

He's laughing DURING the tasering...

[Virginia Dare]

45. You're right, I was looking at the other guy..

what a sick little fucker.

[spooked]

50. sad huh?

he was bowled over

[truebrit71]

37. Classic!!! Good stuff!!

...a lesson to ALL rethugliturds...DON'T FUCK WITH JOHN KERRY!!!

(this really shouldn't be necessary but :sarcasm:)

[ecstatic]

44. It's what happens when you place ONE man on a higher pedastal

than everyone else. Those who laughed are obviously blindly loyal to Kerry, and they believe that anyone who gets in Kerry's way should be destroyed. I hate that type of blind, dangerous thinking.

[Virginia Dare]

48. Or maybe they're just jerks and assholes too...n/t

[Deja Q]

49. The media culture and those who decide what to peddle deserve a fair amount of blame.

Lack of parenting too, but there are a number of factors involved.

[Enrique]

55. it's funny that you say it "shocks" you

[Beelzebud]

57. We are being conditioned to accept being treated as livestock.

[Evoman]

58. When did we have our humanity?

Gladiator battles, slavery, wife abuse, America's funniest home videos, cockfights....need I go on? We can't lose something that it seems we've never had.

[spooked]

66. sad and perhaps true, but

I don't think pain was EVER considered funny before....

Mmm...before what? When did this begin?

[republicansarewhores]

63. The Propaganda Machine (ABC News and others) are already spinning that the kid was a "threat".

If people don't realize what an important story this is they are asleep.

There was NO disruption, just a kid passionate about stating the facts and asking Kerry a question about election fraud and impeachment. Here's a FULL video of the entire incident from start to finish. The only "threat" the kid presented was ASKING AN UNCOMFORTABLE QUESTION that our FUCKING IMPOTENT ELECTED OFFICIALS aren't DOING ANYTHING ABOUT.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqAVvlyVbag


Don't ever ask a question of an elected representative in America that people don't want to hear or acknowledge or this will happen to you. Especially not if you are a student at a CAMPUS TOWN HALL FORUM asking about IMPEACHMENT.

And Johnny "Come Lately" Kerry is an embarrassment as a leader as well for not answering the question and stopping the violation of this kid's free speech rights while it was happening but "condemning" it now. No wonder he lost the last election. FUCK HIM TOO. I'm embarrassed I ever believed in him.

I've read some of Palast's book, and he's done the research to back what the student was asking.

How nice that facts are expressed about election fraud and this is how the kid is treated. This kid was completely within his rights as well as his anger regarding the continued lies and his questions. It's appalling.

Isn't it especially chilling to hear people CLAPPING as this is happening? I imagine it's the same kind of clapping and approval Germans gave when Jews were hauled off in Nazi Germany.

Local Florida "News" Coverage spinning what you just saw with your own eyes above.

********************************************************************

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A University of Florida student was Tasered and arrested after trying to ask U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., about the 2004 election and other subjects during a campus forum.

Videos of the incident posted on several Web sites show officers pulling Andrew Meyer, 21, away from the microphone after he asks Kerry about impeaching President George W. Bush and whether he and Bush were both members of the secret society Skull and Bones at Yale University.

"He apparently asked several questions -- he went on for quite awhile -- then he was asked to stop," university spokesman Steve Orlando said. "He had used his allotted time. His microphone was cut off, then he became upset."

As two officers take Meyer by the arms, Kerry is heard to say, "That's alright, let me answer his question." Audience members applaud, and Meyer struggles to escape for several seconds as up to four officers try to remove him from the room.

Meyer screams for help and asks "What did I do?" as he tries to break away from officers. He is forced to the ground and officers order him to stop resisting. Meyer says he will walk out if the officers let him go.

As Kerry tells the audience he will answer the student's "very important question," Meyer struggles on the ground and yells at the officers to release him, crying out, "Don't Tase me, bro," just before he is Tasered. He is then led from the room, screaming, "What did I do?"

Meyer was charged with resisting an officer and disturbing the peace, according to Alachua County jail records. No bond had been set. Meyer was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning, a jail official said.

It was not known if Meyer had an attorney.

Orlando said university police would conduct an internal investigation.

"The police department does have a standard procedure for when they use force, including when they use a Taser," Orlando said. "That is what the internal investigation would address -- whether the proper procedures were followed, whether the officers acted appropriately."

RAW

[alcibiades_mystery]

64. LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!!!!!

The #1 YouTube video at my university, according to Facebook.

[devilgrrl]

65. At what point in time did we ever have "humanity"?

I can't think of a time.