I'm more disturbed at the actions of the other students then. How many people are in that video watching.
They did the right thing. If a student tried to intervene, that's active resistance and the police would have had carte blanche to club just about anyone they cared to into submission. As is was it was passive resistance, and not only were they able to get the police to leave by pure force of numbers and voices, but they started a national uproar because the police were shown as torturing a group of kids sitting on the ground in an attempt to provoke a response from a crowd of their peers. The group won, and the kids that got sprayed are heroes for their cause.
It is overreaction/unnecessary force like this that makes me fearful of a modern-day Kent State situation.
It could have happened yesterday. It would have only taken one of those students a few minutes in the wrong position while being carried by a cop to have died.
I've never really understood why it isn't a requirement for a police officer to advance past the lowest rank to have his character scrutinized by the people he would be protecting. I know their personal information needs to stay completely private but there must be someway to have officers be required to meet a standard set by the people who have to trust them.
Realistically though, how would you make such a standard? How would you trust the general public to set it? I don't see any way to do what you suggest at all.
Realistically though, how would you make such a standard? How would you trust the general public to set it? I don't see any way to do what you suggest at all.
I dont see a real way to do it without endangering the officers, it's really just one of the perfect world dreams. Although we trust the general public to elect officials and they don't carry guns.
Maybe if complaints and arrests were public to each badge number, but not the officers name.
Complaints, arrests, officers' names, and much, much more are public record under the Freedom of Information Act. Disciplinary files are also public records.
I had a vision. The perfect vision if someone were to make a manga about Occupy Wall Street.
The badass mayor (me) comes in and starts firing the cops who use violence. The commissioner and every cop who was caught on tape using violence gets fired. Then The cops get pissed and go on strike. Now you have people protesting on wall street and cops protesting city hall a few blocks away. The mayor calls in the national guard since no cops are available. The national guard ends up beating the cops with sticks. The awesome mayor just raises one eyebrow at them. The next day the cops are back to work and partying with the wall street folks.
I had a vision. The perfect vision if someone were to make a manga about Occupy Wall Street.
The badass mayor (me) comes in and starts firing the cops who use violence. The commissioner and every cop who was caught on tape using violence gets fired. Then The cops get pissed and go on strike. Now you have people protesting on wall street and cops protesting city hall a few blocks away. The mayor calls in the national guard since no cops are available. The national guard ends up beating the cops with sticks. The awesome mayor just raises one eyebrow at them. The next day the cops are back to work and partying with the wall street folks.
If basic human decency isn't going to keep them from spraying mace down people throats, I don't think irony will do it.
Police are not legally allowed to strike and are subject to criminal charges should they attempt it.
So if a cop beats me up, I just have to call the cops? I can't think of a single problem with that!
Jason means striking as in "The union went on strike due to unfair wages," and not as in, "The power-crazed police officer lashed out at the seated and harmless students, aiming to strike with both baton and military-grade pepper spray."
Jason means striking as in "The union went on strike due to unfair wages," and not as in, "The power-crazed police officer lashed out at the seated and harmless students, aiming to strike with both baton and military-grade pepper spray."
How about we talk about some shit that actually will fuck up the economy, like how the Super Committee will more than likely fail to make the required cuts and cause an automatic self-destruct?
So the super committee failed. I don't think that surprised anyone. But let's look at the insider perspective.
...The November 7 evening meeting, which lasted nearly three hours, offered the first glimmer of hope that the panel might succeed in reaching a deficit-cutting agreement to meet its mandate
...After a first meeting on September 8, the next three weeks were taken up with discussions over how many meetings should be held, and when and where. Murray and congressman Jeb Hensarling, her Republican co-chair, had to resolve who got to hold the gavel. In the end a compromise - something very rare in Washington - was agreed. They were to alternate it.
...When John Boehner, the Republican House Speaker, and Harry Reid, the Democratic Senate leader, met that week in Boehner's office, some thought they would launch an eleventh-hour rescue. The two met for just 15 minutes - and the work of the debt panel was barely mentioned.
It's nice to see that our elected officials take their responsibilities very seriously. The gavel issue is very important to Real Americans.
So, politics in this country seem to be fundamentally fucked. We can't even get 12 people to have a serious conversation about affecting real change. How the fuck can we get an entire country talking about it?
I don't know about the rest of the country, but I can think of two ways to get politicians to do things (to some degree).
1) Limit number of terms/years for all members of each federal branch (including SCOTUS). 2) Remove financial incentives. This one is tougher to enforce, but I think it would do a lot of good to make their wages more in line with the amount of work they actually do, and then make it a felony to accept any outside money during their time in office (including direct family members). Won't stop them from helping other people get money, but it's a start.
In all seriousness, I'm fully considering leaving the country after undergrad, or at least completely reevaluating all my goals. The debt crisis means that the student loan bubble is ballooning out of control, and that means that attempting to become a doctor in the US would be financial suicide.
I don't know about the rest of the country, but I can think of two ways to get politicians to do things (to some degree).
1) Limit number of terms/years for all members of each federal branch (including SCOTUS). 2) Remove financial incentives. This one is tougher to enforce, but I think it would do a lot of good to make their wages more in line with the amount of work they actually do, and then make it a felony to accept any outside money during their time in office (including direct family members). Won't stop them from helping other people get money, but it's a start.
Except we've utterly fucked ourselves on all those points! Congress is too corrupt to enforce harsher term limits on anyone or to stop all that sweet, sweet lobbyist money filling their coffers, and our lack of direct democracy or anything like proportional representation or Australia's compulsory voting means that the voting public can't do shit about it. We simply can't get the huge apathetic portion of the country placated by McGangbangs and the wonders of DirectTV to turn away from their mission to eat themselves into a fucking diabetic coma long enough to punch a fucking ballot and roll their Rascal scooter over to a goddamned mailbox.
When everything is dust, when the US crumbles like all empires before it and we're just a tome on the shelf of history, it's shit like this that we'll be remembered for. Our greatest achievement will be that we perfected panem et circenses. The US perfectly engineered a system designed to lull all of its citizens into blissful apathy borne on the backs of cheap, tasty burgers and Jersey Shore. God Bless America.
Comments
Because that cop did that.
I've never really understood why it isn't a requirement for a police officer to advance past the lowest rank to have his character scrutinized by the people he would be protecting. I know their personal information needs to stay completely private but there must be someway to have officers be required to meet a standard set by the people who have to trust them.
Realistically though, how would you make such a standard? How would you trust the general public to set it? I don't see any way to do what you suggest at all.
Maybe if complaints and arrests were public to each badge number, but not the officers name.
The badass mayor (me) comes in and starts firing the cops who use violence. The commissioner and every cop who was caught on tape using violence gets fired. Then The cops get pissed and go on strike. Now you have people protesting on wall street and cops protesting city hall a few blocks away. The mayor calls in the national guard since no cops are available. The national guard ends up beating the cops with sticks. The awesome mayor just raises one eyebrow at them. The next day the cops are back to work and partying with the wall street folks.
Also, Robocop.
I always thought a liberal arts degree was for people who don't know what they want to do with their life?
No info on pay but lots of travel. Western CT.
So, politics in this country seem to be fundamentally fucked. We can't even get 12 people to have a serious conversation about affecting real change. How the fuck can we get an entire country talking about it?
I'm entertaining suggestions.
EDIT: Maybe we should start pushing for recalls in situations like this. I think there are 18 states that have recall procedures?
Wait a minute, why doesn't every state have recall procedures?
1) Limit number of terms/years for all members of each federal branch (including SCOTUS).
2) Remove financial incentives. This one is tougher to enforce, but I think it would do a lot of good to make their wages more in line with the amount of work they actually do, and then make it a felony to accept any outside money during their time in office (including direct family members). Won't stop them from helping other people get money, but it's a start.
In all seriousness, I'm fully considering leaving the country after undergrad, or at least completely reevaluating all my goals. The debt crisis means that the student loan bubble is ballooning out of control, and that means that attempting to become a doctor in the US would be financial suicide. Except we've utterly fucked ourselves on all those points! Congress is too corrupt to enforce harsher term limits on anyone or to stop all that sweet, sweet lobbyist money filling their coffers, and our lack of direct democracy or anything like proportional representation or Australia's compulsory voting means that the voting public can't do shit about it. We simply can't get the huge apathetic portion of the country placated by McGangbangs and the wonders of DirectTV to turn away from their mission to eat themselves into a fucking diabetic coma long enough to punch a fucking ballot and roll their Rascal scooter over to a goddamned mailbox.
When everything is dust, when the US crumbles like all empires before it and we're just a tome on the shelf of history, it's shit like this that we'll be remembered for. Our greatest achievement will be that we perfected panem et circenses. The US perfectly engineered a system designed to lull all of its citizens into blissful apathy borne on the backs of cheap, tasty burgers and Jersey Shore. God Bless America.