Wednesday, March 24th, 2010
- Obama’s promise not to tax the middle class takes another tumble. Turns out, he won’t tax you so long as you don’t smoke or frequent tanning salons. Should have said, “I won’t raise your taxes so long as you engage in activities approved of by the federal government.”
- Three little-used airports in Rep. Bart Stupak’s district received big federal grants two days before health care vote. Grants amounted to $27 for every passenger who actually used the airports in 2008. Pure coincidence, I’m sure.
- Via the comments, check out the comments to an article on the Jonathan Ayers case posted to this police-oriented website. Troubling, to put it mildly.
- Canada’s lack of respect for free expression is contemptible. But Ann Coulter is still a twit.
- I’m not a video game person, but this game looks deliciously wicked.
- India weaponizes hot chilli.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, March 24th, 2010 at 11:31 am by Radley Balko
and is filed under Police Professionalism.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
TheAgitator.com
Radley,
I understand your point about the increase in taxes, however I think his statement implied as was widely understood to mean your federal income taxes due in April.
To append my first post, I think increasing (or having taxes in the first place) on smokes and tans is bullshit.
I have to say, though, Stupak’s statement made me laugh.
Full statement can be found here.
visted the police orientated website, and wow, just wow…
Very telling in those comments. They seem to boil down to saying this to an innocent widow of an innocent man (was never even a suspect, though they’re sure trying to shovel plenty of posthumous dirt on him):
“Awww, poor widdle baby. Did your hubby-wubby go and get killed by the cops? Suck it up and shut your damn mouth.”
Pretty nice contrast to what happens when a cop gets killed. I guess marital vows are trivial nothings compared to the bond between co-workers.
Why does Obama hate tanned people?
Anyway, on a different topic. This article screamed “Radley” at me as soon as I read the headline. In Georgia Clayton County (not that far from where Ayers has been murdered), more than two dozen cops invaded a house because the owner kept more dogs than permitted by county regulations, and in the process caused the owner to miscarry (according to her lawyer). No word on the dog death count yet…
http://www.ajc.com/news/clayton/attorney-dog-busting-cops-397172.html
#3
LOL! I guess sanctity of life extends to the deer also.
I think the tanning tax was aimed specifically at Boehner. And as a smoker I don’t give a damn about the smoker tax. I need to have my ass kicked for smoking anyway. I have always laughed at the definition of the cigarette given by Kurt Vonnegut. “A fire at one end and a fool at the other” A far as I know Vonnegut remained a chain smoker until his death at age 84
Sorry hamburglar007. Obama campaigned on not any taxes going up for people earning under $250,000 though he and Biden bounced that number down to $120,000. Sometimes he even campaigned to cut taxes, but like Clinton, he raised taxes from the start.
And you can bet that when the Bush era tax cuts expire, he’s not going to reinstate them for people earning under $250,000.
The comments at policeone.com are indicative of the contempt most in law enforcement have for the general public. Remember, contrary to popular myth, the policeman IS NOT your friend.
Re: Ann Coulter. I have read other reports that it was Coulter that canceled, not that the event was canceled. And saying she is a twit, is being rather nice.
Why does Obama hate tanned people?
Because he watched Jersey Shore?
The comments on Police One read like the police are entitled to kill people. Maybe that serve and protect on cruisers doors should be changed to harm and kill.
Not that it matters to anyone, but there’s no Constitutional authority for the federal government to tax tanning salons. They’re not even pretending with commerce clause.
The odd thing about Coulter and Ingraham is that they tend to date leftists. I wonder how much of their books and shows are just shtick.
The other issue with the policeone article – and this is *very* common in the mainstream media in general – is that they repeat the allegation in the lawsuit but don’t do the 5 minutes of work to find out if it’s true. The end result is that they push their own bias by making an easily verified or negated piece of information look disputed. Note the headline:
Suit says Ga. cop wasn’t certified when he shot suspect
Okay, the “suit” says that. What’s reality? Can we call the peace officers’ certification board and find out? One news organization did just that and found out that the “suit” was correct.
PoliceOne is another manifestation of the irrevocable schism
between cops and “people.”
25% of the worlds’ inmates and no end in sight.
What do other countries’ Constitutions look like, such that they never ended up like us? 20, 30 , 40 Rights instead of just a measly, post-colonial 10? Times have changed; can’t we get a re-draft?!
Where is the Idol Blogging? Us proletariats demand Idol Blogging!
it was coulter and the university, which is a private entity that decided to cancel the gig. it was cancelled due to the massive amount of people outside protesting her bullshit.
also, we don’t do hate speech up here… which keeps idiots like beck and limbaugh off the airwaves. now if you’ll excuse me, i’m gonna go water the nine plants in my backyard that the police don’t care about.
Cig and tanning taxes are just a couple nails in this coffin for individualism. Not sure if that metaphor works or not, but you get my point.
“Sin” taxes are nothing new, but THOUSANDS of new sin taxes are set to get stacked on top of citizens now that pervy Uncle Sam controls your health care.
You can forget about any doctor/patient privacy. If Uncle Sam wants to know what’s in your colon, he’s gonna look.
Why do I say these things? Because every slippery slope of eroding privacy has turned vertical.
Stoopid metaphors.
I absolutely heart Coulter. Sure, she’s got the whole “Bride of Skeletor” thing going and she’s a nasty, petty little viper of a woman. But in instances like her Canadian speaking tour she’s perfectly suited to bring attention to the hypocritical and bizarre notions of an entire cadre of other nasty, petty little vipers. Folks like government officials, university presidents and the “progressives” who regard free speech as a fungible and malleable concept.
Sometimes useful idiots are not only actually useful, but they’re highly entertaining as well.
What we really need is for academies to start teaching the philosophy of Ben Parker rather than the “Every non-cop is a scumbag criminal, hiding some criminal activity, and a threat to your life” stuff.
Maybe then, some of them would realize that when you have the power to jump out of an unmarked vehicle and blow away the scared driver of a car that bumped you, you shouldn’t treat the power lightly and expect criticism when you use it carelessly.
Hamburglar,
The promise was not limited to income tax. In no way shape or form did he even use those quotation mark hand gestures while saying “taxes”.
Not that anyone believed him at the time nor does he care what you think now.
Of course, they are also planning on hitting “unearned income” hard with taxes. What the hell is “unearned income”? If I’m getting it, I earned it, right? No. The State will define things as best suits the State (see Department of Defense when we haven’t been in a defensive position in some time).
I’d be very interested to see the correlation between how much an Obama campaign promise increased governmental power and the likelihood of it being fulfilled.
Things I thought I would have seen by now:
Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.
Guantanamo Bay closed.
US troops out of Iraq in 3 months.
The end of raids against medical marijuana dispensaries.
From the PoliceONE comments:
nevermind my husband was having relations with a hooker, and hanging around drug activity while he was a minister…
I guess they would have crucified Jesus, too.
“Awww, poor widdle baby. Did your messiah-waiyah go and get killed by the Romans? Suck it up and shut your damn mouth.”
@16; Boyd
It’s not just the proliferation of sin taxes we get to look forward to, but an increasing number of restrictions on non-sin activities that will either be taxed directly or require us to pay for supplemental insurance.
When I lived in the UK and took up skydiving I had to purchase a British Parachute Association membership. A large part of this fee was to secure supplemental insurance as the NHS wouldn’t cover injuries incurred from a skydiving accident. And while I realize that skydiving is regarded as being inherently more dangerous than other recreational activities (despite my being more worried about my safety while driving to the DZ than while actually falling), the obvious conclusion is that anyone who skis, rides a snowmobile or motorcycle, surfs, SCUBA dives, rock climbs, goes mountain biking, etc. ad nauseum *might* want to start budgeting for the mandatory membership in a federally approved organization that will provide similar supplemental coverage for them. Because the instant our new program starts running over budget it’s exactly those activities, and scores of other ones, that will suddenly disqualify us from seeking treatment on the .gov’s dime.
The airport money is a bullshit issue. If you look at the chart of Airport Improvement Program dollars, it’s clearly doled out without respect to party affiliation. Lansing, Michigan, which has a Republican representative, got over a million; Grand Rapids, with another GOP rep, got over four million.
Meanwhile, the GOP Senators are threatening to vote against the House amendment bill to health insurance reform, mere days after their brethren in the House complained about the “Cornhusker Kickback,” the “Louisiana Purchase,” and other crap that the amendment bill would fix. ROTFLMAO.
“I won’t raise your taxes so long as you engage in activities approved of by the federal government.”
The world always looks upside-down to this anarchist, so here goes:
؛ǝq ןןıʍ ʇı ʍoɥ noʎ ןןǝʇ ǝɯ ʇǝן
˙ǝɯ ɹoɟ uǝǝʇǝuıu ‘noʎ ɹoɟ ǝuo s,ǝɹǝɥʇ
‘uɐɯxɐʇ ǝɥʇ ɯ,ı ǝsnɐɔ,
˙uɐɯxɐʇ ǝɥʇ ɯ,ı ‘ɥɐǝʎ
؛ʇǝǝɹʇs ǝɥʇ xɐʇ ןן,ı – (؛ɹɐɔ ‘ɹɐɔ ɐ ǝʌıɹp noʎ ɟı)
؛ʇɐǝs ɹnoʎ xɐʇ ןן,ı – (؛ʇıs ‘ʇıs oʇ ʎɹʇ noʎ ɟı)
؛ʇɐǝɥ ǝɥʇ xɐʇ ןן,ı – (؛pןoɔ ‘pןoɔ ooʇ ʇǝƃ noʎ ɟı)
˙ʇǝǝɟ ɹnoʎ xɐʇ ןן,ı – (؛ʞןɐʍ ‘ʞןɐʍ ɐ ǝʞɐʇ noʎ ɟı)
‘ןןɐɯs ooʇ ɹɐǝddɐ ʇuǝɔ ɹǝd ǝʌıɟ pןnoɥs
˙ןןɐ ʇı ǝʞɐʇ ʇ,uop ı ןnɟʞuɐɥʇ ǝq
‘uɐɯxɐʇ ǝɥʇ ɯ,ı ǝsnɐɔ,
˙uɐɯxɐʇ ǝɥʇ ɯ,ı ‘ɥɐǝʎ
http://www.sevenwires.com/play/UpsideDownLetters.html
Let’s go to the archives, shall we –
Nope. Nothing implied that he only meant income taxes.
Oh yeah, the link.
I’m disturbed that I am so unsurprised by the comments on the police board. I saw plenty of sick excuses in the facebook group for the three officers who beat Pittsburgher Jordan Miles. 1400 people in an outrage that those men were on paid leave, leaving comments like “the hooligan” got what he deserved. That’s how it works, honor’s student musicians quickly become hooligans the moment the police feel the urge to pick on them.
But to be fair, Miles was a black teenager who only got a beating. It’s still a little impressive that a dead minister provokes the same faux sympathy and real outrage on behalf of the cops.
Coulter “told the crowd that Muslims should be banned from airplanes and instead use ‘flying carpets,’ ” Macleans reported. When one Muslim student asked how she should travel, as she didn’t own a flying carpet, Coulter told her to “take a camel.”
Ann Coulter. Winning hearts and minds to the conservative cause all over the world.
@25: Maybe he’s trying for a nuanced “depends on your definition of up” explanation?
Who am I kidding. I didn’t have a lot of hope going into his administration. A lot of his promises were, at best, naive. As his presidency plays out, I’m still not sure if it was naivety or just outright lies.
#29 | Jay | March 24th, 2010 at 1:36 pm — “As his presidency plays out, I’m still not sure if it was naivety or just outright lies.”
If you still don’t know, then I can answer it for you.
It’s both.
It’s your naivete and his outright lies.
Re: Coulter
What many people don’t know is that Coulter dated a Muslim in the past. It was only after that that she started her whole ‘kill Muslims, invade their countries shtick’.
It’s really funny when you think about it, just like her.
http://freep.com/article/20100323/NEWS15/100323057/1285/News15/Did-deal-sway-Stupak?-He-blasts-claim
I don’t particularly want to defend Rep. Stupak, but it does seem as if these grants were in place and part of a much larger picture rather than just an attempt to buy a vote for this specific legislation.
“Canada’s lack of respect for free expression is contemptible. ”
Excuse me? Is not protest free expression? Anyone who threatened her should of course be charged but chastising the protesters? I honestly thought better of you on an issue like this Radley.
Made me think of this:
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/1610/barricade20copy.jpg
Wavemancali, I imagine Radley was referring to this kind of thing:
“…Frances Houle, the vice president and provost of the university, sent Coulter a letter warning that “Canadian laws for freedom of speech differ from those in the United States,” Macleans reported. “He advised that before arriving at the University of Ottawa campus Coulter should ‘educate [her]self as to what is acceptable in Canada’ and to ‘weigh [her] words with respect and civility in mind.”
Canada doesn’t have a First Amendment level of protection for speech, and as far as I know, like so many other places, they have hate speech laws. Old Coulter seems more than likely to violate them.
I went through that a while back, wondering how I could possibly be so enormously cynical to be fulling expecting such blatant, psychopathic evil.
When I realized that all that evil was entirely due to simply people being people within a system that rewards evil, that stopped. Now I’m disturbed by the system, and disturbed by the people within the system, but my expectations of both are entirely rational, rather than cynical.
Good point, Scott. My use of “sin” was meant to cover pretty much every activity not represented by a sizable lobby.
Lift Ticket Health Tax
Indoor Rock Climbing Tax
French Cuisine Eatin’ Tax
Ice Cream Tax (not really, dairy has a huge lobby)
Hell, they’ll even tax your running shoes since activity to make you more fit can lead to injuries. So there’s the “fucked if you do/fucked if you don’t” tax.
Oh…NEVER READ COMMENT BOARDS!
@#25
I’m waiting for the presidential candidate who says “Let me be clear. I will give every man, woman and child their choice of a new pony, car, or boat. I will then grant every wish anyone ever makes and bring back dead loved ones and family pets. Because you’ll believe anything I say and once elected you won’t hold me accountable.”
I’m still not sure if it was naivety or just outright lies.
All things considered I still think he is doing a pretty damn good job. But as I have admitted before, I am an unashamed O-bot
And your other choice was a below average pilot in the early stages of Alzheimers teamed up with a former beauty queen who always reminded me of Peggy Hill.
Keep hope alive.
These badge lickers are partaking in the usual “blame the victim” bullshit. This is the same as calling a rape victim a slut. Slander this guys reputation because he was trying to help those who needed help the most. It just goes to show that no good deed goes unpunished.
I’m not religious by any means, but the fact that a bunch of southerners in the Bible Belt would be bad mouthing a preacher in a such manner really shows that law enforcement has no respect for anyone. It’s times like this I really wished there was a hot place where these assholes would spend the rest of their post mortal existance.
I could live with the tax increases if there were sizeable spending cuts to go with it.
As I have said before, borrowing is just a tax on the future.
However, Barry and the Dems seem intent on spending the US into a full-blown hyperinflationary crisis.
Of course, its part of the plan. Hyperinflation is the only way to get out from under the debt we owe the chinese. Hyperinflation will leave china holding the bag for US excess – a win win situation.
“And your other choice was a below average pilot in the early stages of Alzheimers”
Wow, pretty shameless indeed. A great example of blind loyalty superceding rational thought.
Yes, those taxes will be coming, including for the middle class. What else did people expect with trillions in debt and deficits? Compared to Canadians, Americans have had it way too good and have only paid a fraction of the municipal, provincial and federal taxes Canadians are burdened with.
mmmmmmmm bacon-n-cheese mug……
http://thechive.com/2010/03/23/10-meals-that-make-your-heart-scream-redrum/
Who do those people think they are, Bush and the Republicans?
From PoliceOne:
“The infulx of negative comments about other folks comments comes from this article being linked by Libertarian blogger Radley Balko (here: http://www.theagitator.com/2010/03/24/lunch-links- 58/). While Balko himself doesn’t seem overy crazy and writes some good articles sometimes, the same can’t be said of his followers as you can see from the comments that have popped up after his linking. These kinds of crazies (like mister “street justice” man) exist guys, lets all be careful on the job.”
I hate pigs. I do.
#46 claude
“….lets all be careful on the job.”
Translation: be sure to turn-off/erase dash cams, confiscate witness cameras, call for back-up and get your stories straight.
“….lets all be careful on the job.”
Im not registered to post over there and wont be anytime soon, but ya know… if they were “careful on the job”, that thread wouldnt even be there.
Lucy,
I think it’s polite to warn someone the laws differ in our country when you know she’s spoken out in ways that would get her fined or jailed under the law. Hardly contemptible.
Looking at some Anne Coulter quotes the only one that I can point to that might get her in trouble is one she made in 2001 when speaking on Islam.
“We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. ”
In Canada, this would be considered hate speech against Islams.
I applaud the people that made the effort to protest her, If she was speaking at an indoor venue, anyone creating a disturbance during an actual debate could easily have been ejected under trespass laws.
If she was speaking at an outdoor venue on public property, her right to speak is no more relevant than any protester at the same venue.
I wouldn’t be so sure. That would imply that the killing was a product of incompetence or negligence.
Careful can’t cure anger or malice, which is where a lot of these types of incidents seem to come from (hard to tell for sure in this particular one, though).
Re the police site: the US vs THEM mentality is horrifying.
I will agree with the cops that there are some nutty commenters on the agitator site.
That said, can the police explain why the general population is losing confidence in the objectivity and fairness of law enforcement? How about the commenters on this site? Mostly a bunch of middle class, conservative white males in favor of gun ownership (to generalize). Y’know, if the cops are losing THAT demographic, perhaps, just perhaps, there is something wrong with law enforcement.
“Careful can’t cure anger or malice, which is where a lot of these types of incidents seem to come from (hard to tell for sure in this particular one, though).”
Point taken.
As the one who originally found the PoliceOne thread that Radley posted above, I’m proud that I caused an influx of negative comments. Hope, however, that their link back doesn’t get them posting here.
The general reaction of other officers to a story like this is why I have full confidence in myself when I say “there’s no such thing as a good cop”. I never thought that I’d end up teaching my daughter not to talk to or trust police in any situation… but I feel like that when the time comes (she’s only 11 months old…), that’s what I’ll have to do to fulfill my duties as a parent.
“…lets all be careful on the job.”
Yes, because the commenters on this site are the ones driving around in big black cars, popping out and shooting people.
Oh wait…
Ben (the other one):
And, in a rare move, the GOP is doing exactly what it should. The Republicans should offer no cover to the Democrats on this. If the Democrats are so interested in de-sliming their baby, then the same coalition that passed the bill itself without GOP support should be willing to pass the cover-up bill. And, to be clear, the “fix it” attempt is a cover-up, needed because so many shenanigans were used to pass this monstrosity that it offended even people whose general opposition to more government-run health care was weak. The Dems should have to face the electoral music for the bill they actually passed, and the Repubs have no reason to help them hide it.
Moreover, the GOP would be damned fools to participate in the cover-up bill. It would indicate that they really have no clue that the grass roots opposition to the original bill was really more principled than just disgust at the corruption and trickery used to line up votes. Embarrassments like the Cornhusker Kickback, the Louisiana Purchase, the union tax exemption, et cetera are all great sound bites. But an amazing amount of discussion from the grass roots opposed to the bill focused on the practical and Constitutional flaws in any scheme claiming to make something more affordable by increasing the involvement of the federal government, the least financially responsible entity on the planet. If the GOP lends post facto credibility to this pig by signing on to the cover-up bill, they will be back where they were in 2006, with everyone who actually favors limited government feeling that they have no options and wondering why they should bother going to the polls.
So, instead they’ll put up meaningless resistance that gives them the appearance of caring about fiscal responsibility, the Constitution, etc. Actually, that’s been their m.o. for a long time now, so I don’t see why it won’t succeed for them this time, too.
With regard to the comments from PoliceOne:
There is a very good reason for LE having their current nickname (pigs) and not some other, more pleasant choice.
Unfortunately, Dante, the current nickname demeans the good name of actual swine.
First thing, I think cops need to take some kind of English and spelling course. Have you ever read one of their reports? Common words are hard to even recognize. Punctuation is non-existent. The reports are usually just shy of illiterate. After reading the PoliceOne comments, I was reminded of this.
“nevermind my husband was…hanging around drug activity while he was a minister… ”
Although it is hard to choose, this “wins” the comments on police one.
And shame on a minister, ya know, MINISTERING.
That’s where you’re wrong, dave. It says very clearly in the Bible that Jesus only hung out with good and pure people. He shunned anyone who might’ve done anything bad.
In fairness to the cops doing the commenting, the AJC article they’re commenting on seems pretty slanted. The article basically says, “minister, while having affair with drug dealing hooker, is shot after attempting to run police over and refusing to stop when they show their badges. Widow sues.”
With the AJC version of the “facts” the lawsuit does sound ridiculous.
One word on Coulter…bitch!
The Window War has begun.
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/03/24/20100324health-reform-threats-to-democrats.html
SCOTUS has granted a stay of execution to Henry Skinner
“Canada’s lack of respect for free expression is contemptible. But Ann Coulter is still a twit.”
Simple answer – then stay the hell out. We don’t want your Coulters, Palins, Oreillys, Limbaughs, Becks or Fox noise in general. We’ll take our socialist health care & live longer safer lives without American diahrea mouths coming up here with their crap views.
When in Rome. She was explained the rules & if she can’t do one speech without crapping on someone or some group so bad that she violates the rules then she truly is pathetic.
@Americanadian: I know it sucks…but if you want the US to continue to produce the kind of people who have opinions and ideas that are controversial that you support, you’ll kind of have to put up with the ones you don’t. Well, to be fair, I suppose you can continue to tune out people you don’t agree with…but we’re still going to produce speakers on multiple sides of issues. If Canadian universities keep inviting “American diahrea mouths” to speak, the results shouldn’t be that hard for them to deduce…regardless of the rules.
Sure, we have commentators I’d rather not listen to completely banned from other countries…but I’m glad they can still speak out here.
That PoliceOne site has the most disturbing crew of commentors I’ve come across in a long time. I bet that Officer Cassius1 would NEVER ever abuse his power, especially against ‘so called Libertarians’. Cuz ya know, we’re all just anarachists. I mean, what says Anarchy more than a strong belief in property rights? Last I looked ‘so called Libertarians’ like myself actually like laws, we need them in order to have a society we ‘so called Libertarians’ espouse. We just think we only need a few, and those few laws should be taken seriously and as fairly as possible.
Again, I’m babbling I guess but it’s hard to understand how a strong belief in the rule of law == anarchy.
Freedomfan:
Yeah, good luck on that.
In the era of the Internet, globalization, routine international travel, MRIs, etc., the GOP has decided to aspire to be the party of agrarian 18th century America.
Actually, that’s not really true. There weren’t any statesmen back in the 1700s who are quite as clueless as the GOP right now.
Ann Coulter wouldn’t be half as controversial if she’d just admit what she i
What the heck? Screen cut me off there.
Anyway, if you look at Ann Coulter as a comedian with some periodic bursts of brilliant social commentary and a provacateur extraordinaire, I think she makes way more sense.
But hey, keep commenting, and one day you too could be on a special list.
http://www.injusticeeverywhere.com/?p=2025
The King County Washington Sheriff’s Office announced yesterday that they want to create a specialized multi-agency task force to identify and track people they suspect of showing risky or threatening tendencies towards law enforcement and is seeking federal funding to use this as a pilot project for law enforcement agencies across the US.
King County Sheriff Sue Rahr says she would like to staff the task force with detectives from agencies throughout the Seattle and Puget Sound area, along with mental health workers and criminal psychologists, and have them evaluate people who they suspect are a danger to police, judges, prosecutors, or even public defenders. The department claims this effort is in response to the fatal shooting deaths of four Lakewood WA police officers who were ambushed by a convicted felon from another state, though most admit that it’s unlikely this kind of task force would have prevented that incident. [more at link]
“But Ann Coulter is still a twit.”
I don’t know if it’s even possible to say THAT too often. : )
re “and have them evaluate people who they suspect are a danger to police, judges, prosecutors, or even public defenders”
Guess we’re gonna get evaluated, ey wot?
My fave literary line is in Lord Of The Flies
“…kill the pig, kill the pig…”
Weaponization of chili–well, they just wasted a lot of money. Chili is, by definition of the Geneva Convention, on a par with poison gas if taken externally. (Epidurmatically, that is.)
And I say this as a man who LOVES chili. In my digestive system.
Chili is already weaponized: its called pepper spray (aka capsaicin, bear repellant, etc)
@ #71 Bill,
“Anarchist” is not a pejorative, it is a compliment.
What are the odds of a policeman having read the works of Rothbard or others in any of the various anarchist movements? None. They do not hold even a beginning understanding and they are not alone.
Read a little about anarchists and then engage someone in a discussion on the topic. You will see they have very, very strong opinions about something they know absolutely nothing about. That’s pretty much how people go through life (with rare exceptions).
The fact that most libertarians know little about anarchist philosophy is surprising.
re: the Seattle idea posted above by Michaelk42… are the officers who are a part of the task force going to wear regular police uniforms, or are they just going to wear the brown uniforms with swastika armbands?
There weren’t any statesmen back in the 1700s who are quite as clueless as the GOP right now.
Amen and a thumbs up just ain’t enough.
Anybody who still believes you get limited government with Republicans is too fucked up to have a conversation with anyway.
*cough*
How about a few delegates to the Continental Congress who insisted on maintaining the South’s “peculiar institution?”
……Including the large numbers who were major slave owners, including Jefferson and Washington
I should have qualified “clueless” with “politically” – vs. “morally clueless”, which is how I would characterize the pro-slavery delegates to the Constitutional Convention.
Today’s GOP, by contrast, has adopted political positions – no compromise, ideological loyalty tests, etc.- that will win it the enduring love and affection of the tiny and shrinking minority of voters who long for a return to the dysfunctional antebellum model of American democracy. These are morally questionable positions, too, but their great cluelessness is political.
Just to set fire to an apparent straw man, I never said I had any confidence that the GOP, at the end of the day, would end up doing the right thing here. And I certainly never said that their history is consistent with their sudden interest in fiscal restraint, legislation that might actually address a problem, or working within the limits set by the Constitution.
I only said that the GOP giving cover to the sliminess that got this bill passed would be a mistake and that their current stance against that is the correct one. Unfortunately, I would hardly be surprised if they struck a deal tomorrow to support a still-disastrously-flawed version of this bill or even came back the next day with a plan that was as fiscally, practically, or constitutionally irresponsible as the one they are fighting today. Please avoid the fallacy that agreement with some current GOP rhetoric should be taken either as an endorsement of past action or as confidence in future follow-through.
Nevermind the fact that that is what our Lord did when He ministered to hookers and tax collectors (the drug dealers of 1st century AD Judea)**
**As a conservative Christian, I will give Ayers the benefit of the doubt on the charges because I’ve known quite a few good men and women who have ministered to such broken people and who, in his position, would be accused of shenanigans as well by these law enforcement apologists.
This comment is going to sound incredibly naive to most of you, but so be it.
I’m 41, father of 4. My dad was a career Air Force office. My step-dad was a homicide detective. Grew up, naturally, with a healthy respect for authority, especially of the law enforcement kind. I considered it axiomatic that it was best to defer to LEO’s. All the officers I knew personally seemed like good folks, they all must be. After all, who would put up with the crap they do, if they didn’t already have a heart for public service.
Like I said, naive. Deal with it.
Having been a periodic reader here for a few years, of course, the sheen on the proverbial shiny badge has long since been removed. The ignorance, disdain, even hatred behind those comments… those statements have knocked me off my feet. I’m stunned. I expect this sort of talk in private… that they’d say these things in a public forum causes me to question what things they say amongst themselves in truly private moments. Furthermore, I now question everything I ever knew or believed about LEO’s. Fair or not.
I feel like the 8 year old who just learned that mommy and daddy were lying about Santa Claus all these years.
Tax me for tanning? Boys and girls, I can’t speak for anyone else but this sounds to me like the beginnings of socialism. The government wants to punish us for doing things they don’t deem appropriate? What is that all about? How long is it going to be before there is a urine tax coming down the pike (no pun intended)?
“Let me be absolutely clear,” said Obama, “if you are a family making less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes go up. Not your capital gains tax, not your payroll tax, not your income tax. No taxes. Your taxes will not go up.”
Well? Have any of those taxes gone up? My understanding is that 95% of all Americans have actually received tax cuts.
#90 You’re right. But these folk are trying to have a crap-on-the-state party, the last thing they want is to have to deal with reality.
Kiril and MikeL, what part of “No taxes” is not clear? If any taxes go up for under $250K families, that statement is violated. That’s the reality. Pretending that the only way one might see a discrepancy between Obama’s statement and the policy is if “these folk are trying to have a crap-on-the-state party” is just silly.
BTW, I have apparently missed it, but I am curious which legislation Obama has signed that has lowered taxes (presumably among payroll, income, or capital gains taxes, since those are your working definition of what he was talking about) for 95% of Americans?
Wake up and smell the hope and change. You may not be left holding your noses like the rest of us, but don’t pretend it’s rose petals either.
King County Sheriff Sue Rahr says she would like to staff the task force with detectives from agencies throughout the Seattle and Puget Sound area, along with mental health workers and criminal psychologists, and have them evaluate people who they suspect are a danger to police, judges, prosecutors, or even public defenders. The department claims this effort is in response to the fatal shooting deaths of four Lakewood WA police officers who were ambushed by a convicted felon from another state, though most admit that it’s unlikely this kind of task force would have prevented that incident.
The “task force” is utter bullshit, no doubt about it. Nothing good will come from it.
The attitudes of LEOs are a symptom though, not the problem. One problem continues to be that whenever something unpleasant happens, people decide “there oughta be a law.”
What has happened here in Western Washington lately, with so many LEOs being killed, is truly tragic and awful. But it’s also a statistical anomaly. This law is just going to make things worse, but its real purpose to make the public feel better. There oughta be a law; ergo, there shall be a law.
As for the LEOs themselves, well, some cops are assholes, some aren’t. And even the ones who aren’t assholes often buy into the bunker mentality. The thing is, our unbelievably draconian drug laws are not the only problem we face as people who value liberty, but they are precisely the #1 reason LEOs end up so marginalized from those they are here ostensibly to protect.
One of my childhood friends is a city Police Officer for one of the nastier ‘suburbs’ here in the Seattle area. I’ve gone on ridealongs with him a couple times, and after the last one, I won’t go again. It was scarier than hell. I won’t go into detail, but I can see where LEOs end up fearing for their lives–for some of them, they damn well should.
I did.
Drug prohibition has created a monstrous criminal underground, and that underground IS violent, powerful, and a threat to civilians and LEOs alike. It’s sad that LEOs end up taking such an US/THEM mentality, but the enormous contradiction of what they are tasked with doing makes that all but inevitable.
Which isn’t to say that the opinions expressed by LEOs on that website aren’t scary and despicable — they are.
But the real problem isn’t cops. “They don’t have to be cops” I hear some say. “They don’t have to buy into the criminalization of private matters,” and that’s true. But the thing is, without cops, those who profit from the criminalization of victimless crimes would perpetrate more violent crimes with actual victims. I’m not saying that’s right; all I’m saying is that railing against cops won’t change a single thing. Sites like the one Radley linked to, and those awful comments on it, won’t change at all until this immoral drug war ends once and for all.
THAT is the problem.
Most of the LEOs I know actually agree with that notion.
#90 You’re right. But these folk are trying to have a crap-on-the-state party, the last thing they want is to have to deal with reality.
Okay, I’ll bite . . .
Why is a crap-on-the-state party anything but appropriate? According to my scientifically rigorous double-blind (heh) observations, the ‘state’ creates 7.2 times more problems than it solves, and the ratio worsens every day.
With either party in power.
Taxes have increased under Obama, as has government reach. Just as they did under Bush Jr, and just as they have under each president since Taft.
Shame on anyone who’s surprised by the difference between what Obama promised and what he’s actually done, but shame as well on anyone who argues that it isn’t so.
Our government ceased being a force for good a LONG time ago.
Tax me for tanning? Boys and girls, I can’t speak for anyone else but this sounds to me like the beginnings of socialism. The government wants to punish us for doing things they don’t deem appropriate? What is that all about? How long is it going to be before there is a urine tax coming down the pike (no pun intended)?
The government has to do this. When the government decides that goods and services are “rights,” containing the costs of providing those rights becomes paramount. Now that the government is responsible for your cancer treatment (real or hypothetical), it now needs to create disincentives for you to engage in activities that increase the risk of cancer, or obesity, or whatever else. It’s why trans fats are banned in NYC, it’s why people want to ban corn syrup, and it’s why we tax the hell out of booze and (in some places now) soda and junk food.
This ain’t the beginning of socialism, it’s a rest stop pretty near the border.
Which I wouldn’t even grouse about if it could actually do what people think it will. I’m not opposed to socialism on philosophical grounds; my reasons are purely practical . . .
Simple answer – then stay the hell out. We don’t want your Coulters, Palins, Oreillys, Limbaughs, Becks or Fox noise in general. We’ll take our socialist health care & live longer safer lives without American diahrea mouths coming up here with their crap views.
When in Rome. She was explained the rules & if she can’t do one speech without crapping on someone or some group so bad that she violates the rules then she truly is pathetic.
When in Rome, eh? Hmmmph. That’s a common enough element of a lot of statements justifying some pretty unsavory laws and customs. Please don’t mistake a support for the rights of jackasses like Coulter, Palin, Limbaugh to say what they want as an endorsement of what they say.
Besides, how you gonna feel at some future hypothetical date when those enforcing the rules decide your political views are some sort of hate speech? Protetction against one’s views being silenced is why you want to err on the side of letting any dumbass say most any dumbass thing that springs to their dumbass mind.
Myself, I never know when I’m going to be the dumbass (yes, I just lobbed that up to the plate for you — swing away), so I’d rather not criminalize dumbassedness at all.