The similarities between the protests on college campus' during the Vietnam era and now are startling.
A college student in Florida was tasered during a visit by John Kerry. Whether or not this student was a known prankster or not does not invalidate his right to express his opinions and views.
What do you think?
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 49
http://www.starbanner.com/article/20070918/NEWS/70918007/1053/BREAKING_NEWS
Anywho, let's try this again.
http://www.starbanner.com/article/20070918/NEWS/70918007/
1053/BREAKING_NEWS
The obvious answer is he didn't die, his leg didnt fall off, so its a non issue.
Are you serious? Please read the website I posted. I believe that the young man wanted this to happen and that he possibly is a media whore.
And, like most other times, history is just repeating itself...
I am not saying he didn't have a right to be heard. But he didn't have a right to make a scene, resist police, and carry on the way he did for publicity.
The officers were asked to remove him and he wouldn't go peacefully. I am all for free speech but there should be order instead of chaos in my opinion.
Yes, I did protest during Vietnam. I stopped after the Kent State shooting, as did many of my friends. As one who lived during that era, it scares me when "authorities" start getting agressive with protestors.
To me it matters not whether the guy was a prankster or jokester. It doesn't matter that he might have wanted the publicity. It certainly doesn't matter that he said - while in custody - that the cops had not done anything wrong. Lots of people say whatever the cops want while in custody. (At least my friends have.) It's what they say afterwards that counts. When they no longer feel threatened.
Many people are discussing it, making judgments, and they haven't even seen the whole context of what happened. It's the whole mentality, "Police Bad" bull.
I lived through the Kent State and Viet Nam era, too. I don't see the similarities with today myself.
I've heard them tie this incident to us supposedly losing our rights because of Bush. After all, we all know that everything bad that happens is his fault.
I know in Florida at the elementary schools, middle & high, there are 24 on duty sheriff's on all of the campus's and my daughter is in the best school district in central florida. The sherriff's carry tazers as well, this is a different world than back then. Kids aren't fighting for the rights anymore, there violating them. That is what they were trying to prevent.
The kid himself realized he made a mistake, move on. org. It happens!
Marilyn M., Right on! At least you haven't turned your back on what you once believed in.
I hope the above illustrates the difficultly in controlling an individual who is resisting without running the risk of inflicting serious and perhaps permanent injury. The taser may have been the only alternative to physical force that could have resulted in more serious and lasting injury to an apparently physically fit student who was succeeding in creating a scene. It certainly was preferable to using their billy clubs to subdue him or twisting his limbs and tearing a tendon or muscle in the process.
While the sound track from the videos suggests there may have been excessive use of the taser, that is a matter for investigation. However, for all we know the student's yelling may not even have been in reaction to the use of the taser, but a continuation of his efforts to create a scene.
they did give the kid every break,, and they weren't shooting bullets...
"I've heard them tie this incident to us supposedly losing our rights because of Bush. After all, we all know that everything bad that happens is his fault.
Lera (non-politically correct) M., Sep 19"
I disagree with those who think like that but I do agree that the Bush administration has held a downward pressure against any anti-war protest. I never would have believed our president would be so blantantly against the rights of citizens to protest by having them corraled away from his and the media's sight so it looked as if there were no protest at all.
Did anyone believe or think that something like the tragedy at Kent State would happen before it happened? I dont think so either.
We have a right in this country to speak our minds. We are loosing that right. We have a right to privacy and not having all of our phone and email conversations monitored. We are loosing that right.
I believe it may have been Hard Ball with Chris Mathews. It came to light that both political parties tend to do the same thing. They corral off all of the protesters to their own area.
I went to a Bush rally a few years ago and was not asked any questions about how I felt about the president before I could get in.
That would be me, Lori. Are you aware that there have been newscasters who have done stories on tasers and volunteered to experience what it feels like? I'm sure it's extremely uncomfortable and yet they allowed themseves to be tasered. What makes you think this guy cared if he was tasered? I still think he wanted it to happen for the publcity. He's causing all of this public discourse strictly for his own warped reasons. That's my opinion and I'm sticking by it until I see something that proves me wrong.
I found the police report online.
http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/09/18/offense.report.072274.pdf
Here is a small portion from it;
As Senator Kerry was ending his speech, a man disrupted the senator by screaming, yelling, and flailing his arms. The man moved his way down the aisle yelling, "Why don't you answer my questions, I have been waiting and listening to you speak in circles for the last two hours."
"These officers are going to arrest me". I didn't see any officer directly next to him until I noticed Officer Wise walking down trying to get his attention. The man was screaming and yelling obscenities until Senator Kerry told him to calm down and that he would take his question, but he needed to calm down. At that point, the man stated, "You will take my question because I have been listening to your crap for two hours". The man at that point turned to his friend and said, "Are you taping this? Do you have this? You ready?" The man was talking to a woman who was there to film him. Before asking the question, I had a chance to ask the man if he was a student and he stated, "I don't have to tell you." I the asked him if he knew the rules to the student code of conduct and he said, "What?" I informed the man that after he asked Senator Kerry the question that I needed to talk to him outside. After asking the question, the man would not let Senator Kerry finish his statement and kept badgering the senator about his beliefs, talking about "blow jobs", and yelling as loud as he
could as to sensationalize his presence.
By the way in my mind this thing is far worse then anything that happened in Vietnam. In Vietnam at least the men who fought could claim that there was a draft and if their country said they had to go, they would go. Plus if you joined you had the option of going where you wanted to, you did not have to go to Vietnam. In this war, not only men, but women (as if this is how women achieve equality with men...by fighting in wars) were all volunteers. They volunteered for this madness.
This is what I think. A lot of Viet Nam vets had a tough time when they came home and all of them had to fight to get some respect from everyone who sat home and enjoyed themselves while they let there sons do their fighting for them. Iraqi vets, let them stay in Iraq. I don't want them in my country or anywhere around me. In any case, they'll have plenty of "room" to live in Iraq, now that there are 500,000 fewer Iraqis. As far as the police go. Fuck the police and anyone who supports them or sympathizes with them!!! Sides have to be taken, I will not listen to any defense of the police. They are the enemy to me and to my country. I don't listen to anything that is said in defense of the enemy. Of course, if you are smart you won't fight with them, they've got force on their side but you might want to follow the well known Biblical tennet and try to get to know them, "Know thine enemy" My notion is if you get to know people before you decide what they stand for or who and what they represent, hopefully you won't ever "have" to fight them and even if you do, you'll know how to go about it the best way it can be done.
Seize the moment. Power to the people. Take back our country.
I really am that angry about what I said as I sound, but it was not my place to express that much anger in the discussion that was taking place here. It was out of place!
I am grateful to all for not posting until I had a chance to apologize.
Thank you.
Oh, I'd like to think that we're not going to use the National Guard for crowd control. That's silly.
..
U wishing you government-approved laughter
Something else I never knew was that although Kent State was all over the news and there probably wasn't a person in America who hadn't at least heard something about it, (I don't know the time sequence in relation to Kent State), but in Detroit, 50, read FIFTY people were killed by the police during the riots there. I thought this fact was pertinent even though the article is about Kent State.
and I hope that never happens again. There have been alot more violent things at
schools, even middle schools, than what happened at Kent State.