My Brother Is At U Of F And Spoke With Andrew Meyer A Couple Of Weeks Ago

[Hissyspit]

http://jimi45.livejournal.com/49964.html

http://www.imgred.com/

http://www.imgred.com/

"I spoke to Meyer at about 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, 6 September, while he was distributing business cards promoting his web site at the Plaza of the Americas on the University of Florida campus. He struck me as outgoing and gregarious, but quite rational. He commented on a book of investigative journalism was carrying at the time, When the Rivers Run Dry and asked me about it. I outlined why I thought wars over water issues could potentially eclipse our current (and future) spate of petro wars, and he commented on the irony that that, at an institution that is supposedly a center of education, I was so much better informed than most.

Meryer's been reading, among others, Greg Palast. While Palast is a conspiracy theorist, he's a serious and respected investigative journalist."

[cali]

1. Promoting his website.

What a surprise.

[Warren Stupidity]

47. That has got to be some sort of crime.

anyone who promotes their business is basically tase-worthy.


The excuses for fascism come in a variety pack of 24 flavors, soon to be available from my website: ItsTheFascismStupid.Com.

[nashville_brook]

51. yeah, wouldn't want a free exchange of ideas on a college campus!

what a surprise, actually, that a real live college student isn't an apathetic piece of shit, caring only about his frat and marketing degree.

[ThomCat]

64. And what part of promoting a website is a crime?

:shrug:

[sasquatch]

2. But he made a senater look embarassed and policeman feel bad

:sarcasm:

[cali]

7. really? Senator Kerry was embarrassed

Methinks you are projecting.

[sasquatch]

12. The way he lied about the incident afterwards I say he was

[LittleClarkie]

16. Which lie was that?

He said he was willing to carry on, and later said he thought he could have handled the disruption without the cops, and regretted the interruption.

What part of that was a lie?

[sasquatch]

21. The part where he would say that he didn't see what happened

and "The room was too large to see what happened".
:eyes:
Come on John, don't piss on my face and tell me it's a sea mist.

[LittleClarkie]

24. You've been to the auditorium in question?

Because those who have say it's huge, and that no, Kerry wouldn't have been able to see.

Don't piss in your own face and blame it on Kerry.

[jgraz]

27. That would be one crappy auditorium if you couldn't see the seats from the stage

It would mean that the people in the seats couldn't see the stage. Kerry, as usual, is shading the truth in order to deflect blame.

[LittleClarkie]

32. Have you been to the auditorium in question?

Then so are the people who have been there and have said that it was huge and that he couldn't have seen what was happening in that area of the auditorium.

To my knowledge Kerry is not the one saying he couldn't see, except maybe second-hand to his staff members. Mostly it's been others who have been explaining why he didn't intervene.

Whether he could see would also depend on exactly where the tasering incident actually happened. Without knowing the layout and without specifics, I have to take the word of people who've been there.

[kikiek]

46. Naw just repeating word for word what Randi Rhodes said today. I don't know if I will even listen to

her again. What did anyone expect him to do? Jump off the stage and get arrested himself for interfering with the police? Who knows why they intervened when they did. For all anyone knows, including Kerry, the police they had a report he had a gun. If he did see what was going on (which I doubt) he reacted properly. The guy "talking" to Kerry acted irrationally. Had he left when told it wouldn't have happened. There wasn't any violation of his 1st amendment rights he knew the time restraints and agreed to them by participating. He is an ass. The heroes people choose says a lot about them. But the real stupid ass part about this is does anyone really believe John Kerry would try to suppress free speech? Has he ever said or even acted like he is against it ever? What a bunch of stupid asses to go after a guy who has done nothing but support progressive causes. He doesn't deserve this attack from "liberals, and I question who really started this whole flap. Unfortunately the sheep just follow irregardless of what side of the fence they are on. Apparently Air America had nothing else to talk about. Is that stupid or what? The scent of Rove lingers.

[LittleClarkie]

55. Can't you just see it? "Former presidential candidate tasered by campus police"

Film at 11.

[kikiek]

57. Tasered and arrested! He would have been in the paddy wagon they could have talked then.

Like Kerry can stop and control the police in any city he goes to. Just plain ignorant.

[jgraz]

76. At least Kerry would have shown some stones for the first time in a long time

[karlrschneider]

34. A crappy auditorium is one in which the people on the stage CAN see the audience.

:eyes:

[LittleClarkie]

37. Not exactly the point, is it.

To make sure the performer can see the audience.

Generally the lights are a little bit in your eyes anyway, aren't they?

[karlrschneider]

38. Yup.

...

[jgraz]

41. Clearly spoken by someone well-versed in stagecraft

:eyes:

The house lights were up. If you don't know what house lights are, you can look them up on BasicShitYouShouldKnowBeforeYouComment.com.

[LittleClarkie]

60. Basic shit you should know before you comment is what the auditorium looks like

You still haven't said if you have ever been there.

Those who have say that they believe Kerry wouldn't have been able to see where the guy had been taken.

[Apollo11]

83. Have you seen the videos??????

The kid was not "taken" anywhere until AFTER he had been forced onto the ground and tasered in the central aisle right up in the rear of the lecture room.

Kerry was loving it. Using the opportunity to deliver his stand-up comedy routine.

"Unfortunately he is not available to come up to the stage and swear me in as President"

That was Kerry's joke about 2 seconds before the cops used their taser on Meyer.

Nearly as good as that joke he made about "if you don't - you get stuck in Iraq".

The statement about not being able to see what was happening is nothing but SPIN.

Maybe he could not see exactly what the cops were doing to Meyer.

But for Kerry to claim that he had no idea what was happening is a stretch.

[WildEyedLiberal]

20. I don't think Kerry's "embarassed"

Why would he be? He didn't do anything wrong and everyone rational knows it.

[Festivito]

39. Kerry LOOKS embarrassed to un-rational SWING VOTERS.

And those same un-rationals swing elections.

This is indicative of the kind of level of deception the right-wing attack machine effects.

To the right-wing brainwashed, this makes Kerry look like he should be embarrassed. This is how cognitive dissonance works. They assume Kerry simply refuses to show his embarrassment. They will look no further, rational is stopped, and their vote follows.

Keep those wild eyes open.

[sasquatch]

3. B ut he made a senater look embarassed and policeman feel bad

:sarcasm:

[RufusEarl]

4. Another 15 minute man!

[Rick Myers]

5. He certainly is full of himself...

I can't believe he's not offering his services as a back-hoe operator.

"Real-life documentaries?" Are their some other kind???

I guess we SAW his stand-up comedy yesterday!!! Pretty funny...

[jimi_45]

8. perhaps...

...but i don't think he's so much "full of himself" a young and inexperience man desperately trying to promote himself from any angle he can.

[Virginia Dare]

13. I think the "The" in front of his name is a dead give away..n/t

[jimi_45]

74. theandrewmeyer.com...

is a logical choice when http://www.andrewmeyer.com is already taken. sure, he could have gone with "andrewmeyerarts.com" or some other name but "the" as a sort of surname is in vogue, and so doesn't necessarily denote an inflated ego.

[Enrique]

6. he's our generation's Gandhi

his awesome website proves it.

[Dr. Strange]

9. No he's not!

He's our generation's Rosa Parks!

[XOKCowboy]

11. The Dalai Lama should bow in his presence.

:puke:

[LittleClarkie]

17. I hear that MLK rose from the grave just so that he could weep for John Kerry's arrogance

and anoint our new savior. All hail! Huzzah!

[question everything]

63. Your generation has a sorry future

if he is your Rosa Parks!

You know, when Martin Luther King Jr. and others marched in the streets of Selma, when many young students went to the south to register voters in the summer of 1964, they were ready to be arrested and some were murdered.

Later, many who protested the Vietnam war were ready, too, to be arrested.

But it appears that your "hero,' like your generation, is a wimp who can sit behind their keyboards and computer screens and pretend to be somebody, but when face with the consequences of your actions, you cry to mommy.

[Zodiak]

92. What an obnoxious post! n/t

[Dr. Strange]

102. No way, man! Your generation just doesn't get it!

It's not about voting or sitting in the front of a bus. It's about freedom, man! The freedom to force people to recognize that your question is the most important question. The freedom to shout the question, and go on and on, and not let the person answer, 'cause who cares what the answer is--I just want all the attention!

How can you say he's NOT a hero? He's got a website, man! With cool colors!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

10. He's Still An Asshole. n/t

[jgraz]

29. Sweetie, you'd better hope it doesn't become illegal to be an asshole

:rofl:

[The Vinyl Ripper]

31. LOL.. good one.. n/t

[nashville_brook]

52. best. post. all day.

[Apollo11]

84. Dam right!

:applause:

[Whisp]

100. zing! oow ow oooooow!

:rofl:

[brentspeak]

14. Doofus Meyer

[Bongo Prophet]

15. Andy Kaufman meets Phil Parlock. Get the Tshirt.

Some folks been punked, will never admit it.

Some saw it a mile off.

"Don't tase me, bro- I'm just promotin' myself! You'r not going to KILL me r u?"

[Annces]

25. Lenny Bruce comes to mind too n/t

[LittleClarkie]

26. That's too kind. I admire both Kaufmann and Bruce.

It's more like an episode of Jackass. Let's see if I can get myself tasered. Get that camera ready!

[WildEyedLiberal]

18. My God he looks like a DOUCHEBAG

I don't even have to know anything about him to know he's a douchebag, just by looking at that picture. My god!

[jgraz]

40. So it's a GOOD thing your idol stood by while he was tortured

Is that what you're trying to say?

[kikiek]

50. And how would your "idols" have reacted? Why would you accuse someone of idolizing

him because they defend him? Is this your definition of free speech? Sounds like you're attempting to suppress their thoughts on the incident though intimidation and name calling. Same thing you're loosely accusing Kerry of. How ironic.

[lateo]

56. For someone to be one of my idols..

they must act in the face of injustice. Kerry did nothing and JOKED about the young man after he was removed.

[kikiek]

58. I bet they all wear capes with a big S on them. Oh that evil Kerry I bet he owns kryptonite too.

[lateo]

59. 2 things...

Shut

Up

[kikiek]

61. Wow that encourages free speech! Thanks for proving my point!

[lateo]

91. Help! Help!

You are being repressed!

[jgraz]

69. If Kerry wasn't prepared to uphold the Constitution, he shouldn't have taken the oath

Or did he get specific exemptions for the 1st, 4th and 8th amendments?

[kikiek]

86. If the guy wanted a real chance to talk to Kerry he would have been there from the

start. He wouldn't have barged in as the last person, who waited patiently for their turn to speak, was talking and shoved them aside. He actually was stealing someone else's opportunity for free speech. Wrestling the cops and making a break towards a US Senator will get you shocked. Anyone defending this clown has no common sense and doesn't want to hear any. Your rage is misdirected and silly, you lost credibility ignoring the facts. Go find a real cause.

[jgraz]

70. Yes, my disagreement with you is EXACTLY like allowing a student to be tasered

There just isn't a smiley where the eyes roll back far enough for this one.

[kikiek]

87. Believe me I don't need pictorials to envision your eyes rolling back in your head. Explains it all.

[LittleClarkie]

62. Except that he didn't.

What are you expecting? Some sort of super Skull and Bones secret power heretofore not utilized?

"That is not the student you are looking for."

"This is not the student we were looking for."

"You will be on your way."

"We will be on our way."

[jgraz]

71. What did I expect. From Kerry, pretty much exactly what he did

From someone with actual honor and political courage, I would have expected them to speak out. To demand that the cops let the student go.

At the very least, I would NOT have expected them to stand like an idiot on stage and then make jokes while the student was wrestled down and brutalized.

[LittleClarkie]

73. Have you been to the auditorium in question?

If you haven't, then you don't really know what you're talking about. And since you haven't answered that question in the three times I've asked it, I will have to assume the answer is no.

Hence, you don't know what you're talking about, what Kerry could see, etc.

Meanwhile, do brutalized people generally joke with their tormentors later? Do they turn their screams on and off depending on if they have a camera pointed at them?

You've been punk'd, dude. Hail Andrew Meyers, prankster extraordinare.

[jgraz]

75. You have only the cops' word on what happened when the cameras were turned off

Yet you believe them without question. Says a lot about where your sympathies lie.

[LittleClarkie]

77. Why would they lie? Do you assume this JUST because they're cops?

I have no reason to be especially hostile regarding cops just because they ARE cops.

And I also have accounts from people who've been to that auditorium.

Which you haven't.

[jgraz]

78. No, I assume they lie because they are facing disciplinary action and possible lawsuit

They have strong motivation to lie. If they don't make the student look like a buffoon, they're much more vulnerable to legal action.

[Snarkturian Clone]

19. I might have to taser this guy myself...

for being a dumbass.

[WildEyedLiberal]

22. And for looking like a dumbass

I know kids who look - and act - like that at college too. Loud, stupid obnoxious assholes who are always brining attention to themselves by making bad, tactless "jokes" and pulling some stunt to get attention. I KNOW several Andrew Meyers at college and I hate them all.

[Snarkturian Clone]

23. When I was in college

there was a guy like this who used to go to fraternity parties naked and have his photo major friends photograph him while he would be hassled by guys who were trying to kick him out of parties he was not invited to. Then he had a college-cable-access show where him and his friends would sit around naked congratulating each other for being independent spirits. God I hated him.

[jgraz]

30. Good thing we have the police to protect you from people you disapprove of

Anyone else you'd like to have tasered?

[LittleClarkie]

33. Bill O'Reilly

See to it, won't you?

[Crabby Appleton]

28. What a flaming asshole. nt

[Gregorian]

35. I would expect these responses on Freerepublic. But not on DU.

For the first time since I've been on this forum, I'm shocked.

It doesn't matter what he looks like, or what he has to say, or what music he listens to. Or anything else.

He has just as much of a right to express himself as anyone else. The First Amendment, however irrelevant, does not discriminate.

[mondo joe]

42. Was this a first amendment violation?

I don't believe the first amendment gives you the right to monopolize an event put on by others.

[jgraz]

44. His question lasted less than 2 minutes

In what way is that arrest-worthy monopolization??

[mondo joe]

49. I don't think it was arrest-worthy.

And I think it was handled abysmally.

But I also think the organizers had the right to set the rules and evict whoever they chose.

[Gregorian]

65. I think it was a public area.

This sets a dangerous precedent. Do we start tasering people who dominate conversations? It's a state university. It seems to me that the very thing that would prevent this is something similar to the Bush town hall meetings where they prescreen the participants to make sure they are Bushbots. No dissent. No disruption. I don't claim to be correct. But this is how I am seeing it until I get more info.

[piesRsquare]

81. It was a by-ticket-only event n/t

[mondo joe]

95. Publically owned does not mean open to the public in every way.

Whether the auditorium is a state university or not, there are regulations on use.

I don't think he should have been tased, so no, I don't think we should tase people who dominate conversations.

And I do not think this is like screening attendees - that is forbidding access based on identity or thought. This is a case of requiring behavioral standards of all attendees.

[Gregorian]

99. Yes, I thought it was more intricate than it seems.

If this weren't a fine line, there wouldn't be so many posts on one side or the other.

But we know the bottom line. Thanks for the help in putting this in perspective.

[jgraz]

43. No, he dared to ask awkward questions of a DEMOCRAT

Didn't you know? It's not fascism when WE do it.

[LittleClarkie]

45. What, you think the campus cops gave a shit what question he was asking?

And if he was going to ask a question, why didn't he ask it instead of rambling all over the place.

Kerry was going to answer, and didn't appreciate the interruption. He thought he could have handled the guy.

But really, why do you think the cops were in on some conspiracy to prevent John Kerry from answering a question? Like he prepped them beforehand, "Now, if someone mentions Skull and Bones, grab em."

The site is relevant in that it tells us what kind of person this was, and what he was after. I don't think it was answers.

[Warren Stupidity]

48. No. Probably the opportunity to Taser Anyone was irresistable. nt.

[lateo]

54. Indeed.

[Gregorian]

66. This is why the Bush townhall meetings were prescreened.

Keep the "riff raff" out. No disruptions. No REAL conversation.


You know what I make of this. This is who we are forced to behave when the president refuses to hear us. As in millions of people marching in the streets. So now we have to shout. And disrupt.

[LittleClarkie]

67. Kerry was ready to hear, however

The campus cops were not.

[lateo]

90. Indeed.

And it really makes my stomach turn to hear all these authoritarians on here saying he got what he deserved.

[KAZ]

68. Don't let the usual list of trolls surprise you. They're like ...

...the DU "terminators". That's what they do. That's all they do.

[Gregorian]

72. I'm very slow to catch on.

Almost four years, and I finally see that.

But what a fast track to social enlightenment it has been.

[DUyellow]

98. I expected the dems to kick ass in congress, but....

[progressoid]

36. "Palast is a conspiracy theorist" ? ? ?

Really? I've never hear that before.

[nashville_brook]

53. yeah, i saw that too...

this "event" is bringing the best out in DU

:sarcasm:

[Hissyspit]

79. Those are my brother's words and he is not a DUer. I don't think he meant the words in a perjorative

sense. He meant it in the sense of someone who theorizes about conspiracies, meaning conspiracies that actually exist.

[nashville_brook]

94. sorry.

i've become too accustomed to the perjorative in these threads.

[jimi_45]

103. not pejorative

yes, this is precisely the sense in which i meant it. people actually conspire to do illegal/immoral things. those who postulate hypotheses regarding this conduct and attempt to support those hypotheses are conspiracy theorists.

[Hissyspit]

80. See post #79.

[Ferretherder]

82. O.K. Umm, let me see if I understand this....

...An event is underway where a PROGRESSIVE elected official is patiently taking questions from his audience, most of whom are content to wait there turn to ask the POLITE and INFORMATIVE politician their query, and a very loud and obviously disruptive individual pushes his way past the people in front of him, rambles incoherently about several different subjects - not putting any one accusation or scenario into the form of a specific question, the PROGRESSIVE elected official still maintains his cool and attempts to address the individual - because that's what PROGRESSIVE, LIBERAL-MINDED people try to do, the campus police, whom this political figure has no control over nor attempts to second guess as they move to control the situation as they see fit, attempt to remove the person disrupting the event; the person strongly resists restraint and is completely un-cooperative with the authorities; the PROGRESSIVE, LIBERAL-MINDED official still tries to diffuse the situation by saying that he would STILL like to address the person's question - the person who is still struggling with campus police and refuses to cooperate in the context of the situation; the police remove the person in question from the main area of the auditorium - OUT OF THE VIEW OF THE ELECTED OFFICIAL - where they decide to use a taser gun ( definitely excessive force in this situation - I won't argue THAT point ) to stop the person from resisting..........




......and the PROGRESSIVE, LIBERAL-MINDED official is the asshole, and the loudmouthed, self-promoting, SELF-DESCRIBED 'MOST TWISTED MIND OF THIS GENERATION' is the new 'peace-in-the-face-of-violence' 'Ghandi' of our time.


Give.


ME.


A.


FUCKING.


BREAK.



I mean it, guys. Gimme a break.
John Kerry is not the 'bad guy' in this situation. Please tell me you can see this!



Please.

[Apollo11]

85. Get your facts straight

"OUT OF THE VIEW OF THE ELECTED OFFICIAL - where they decide to use a taser gun"

All the videos show that the cops used the taser gun in the middle of the room.

I'm not saying Kerry would have known they were using a taser on the kid.

But I don't understand why Kerry did not try harder to stop the cops arresting Meyer.

The cops would not allow Meyer remain in the room while Kerry answered his questions.

Kerry watched the cops remove Meyer from the room by means of physical force.

[lateo]

89. From the video that was taken by the front of the stage

You can see that the auditorium was very well lit and it would have been hard for Kerry NOT to see the cops dragging this kid away and then subduing him on the ground.

[lateo]

88. I don't see it that way.

So what if the guy was rude? Does that make him less of an America? Does that make him less deserving of his civil rights? For an elected leader to stand there and do nothing and later joke about the kid getting hauled away by goons is reprehensible.

[Apollo11]

93. Friends of Meyer say he's extremely political

The Gainesville Sun, September 19, 2007

Taser Aftershock

By JACK STRIPLING

Following the Tasering of a University of Florida student at a political event Monday, the university has been thrust into a growing national debate about the limits of free speech, the appropriate role of law enforcement and the politically charged environment of modern times.

The incident that has sparked such controversy took place Monday afternoon, when 21-year-old Andrew Meyer was arrested and shot with a Taser gun during a town hall forum attended by U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

Meyer had approached an open microphone to question Kerry, but his microphone was cut off when he used some salty language that drew organizers' objections. Shortly thereafter, UF Police Department officers tried to physically remove him from the University Auditorium, but resorted to the use of a Taser gun when he did not "comply," according to officers.

(...)

Speaking on behalf of protesting students, Benjamin Dictor told reporters that the UF incident was one of a series of recent incidents that indicate an erosion of civil liberties in the United States. Dictor described the silencing and subsequent Tasering of Meyer as an assault on free speech, adding that "our Constitution has been trampled."

"What happened in that auditorium was not only a physical assault but an assault on reason itself," said Dictor, a 20-year-old political science major.

(...)

Friends of Meyer say he's extremely political, noting that he has been passionate about the 2004 election, which he thought Kerry rightfully won.

"He's not crazy or anything," said Robert Campbell, a UF student and a friend of Meyer's. "The only thing he is is a little bit extreme with his views."

While some are critical of Meyer's ranting at the Kerry forum, others are embracing him as symbol of free speech. Huddled among a crowd of protesters, one wielding a sign that asked "who will guard the guards," Austin Flickstein rallied against what he described as the silencing of a young man who had a right to be heard.

"Yes, his questioning went a little bit beyond what some of the administration's ears are used to, but only because he was expressing some thoughts that haven't been heard for a very, very long time," said Flickstein, a 21-year-old UF student. "And then it was force that they used to suppress the free speech. The issue here is our suppressing of free speech. Yes, Tasering is unnecessary. But what is most creepy and scary about this is why did six cops need to tackle a man down and Taser him when he was already on the ground because he was asking questions?"

http://www.gainesvillesun.com/article/20070919/NEWS/709190330/0/sports

[FunkyLeprechaun]

96. Forgive me for looking a bit stupid

but I'm struggling to find the point where he got tasered in the video.

Just wondering.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

97. Oh I see...

I took a closer look and I see the taser now.

Sorry for using up bandwidth :-(

[tomreedtoon]

101. Can we agree that Greg Palast incited this?

I've read Armed Madhouse. In it, Palast keeps hammering at how hopeless everything is. Voting doesn't work; the machines are rigged. The rich and powerful will screw us and there's nothing legal that we can do about it. He ends the book by saying "What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it? What are you going to do about it????"

Well, given Palast's mindset, only picking up a gun and shooting people is about all you can do. I couldn't help but think of the socialist Emma Goldman, who convinced Leon Czolgosz to kill William McKinley. And given the way Psycho Boy was behaving, if I were a security guard worried about assassins, tasering a potential assassin was probably the nicest thing I could do under the circumstances.

Someone once said that suicide is the only unforgiveable sin, since it denies the hope that is God's greatest gift. Palast denies hope that we can turn this nation around. And for that I can't forgive him.

[Warren DeMontague]

104. I wonder if donttazemebro.com is taken, yet.

:shrug: