It’s almost 5 minutes of distilled police behavior.
I would have been reluctant to say it a few months ago, but jeez, I hate cops.
Although they do run an effective PR campaign, if their goal was to alienate everyone in the US.
Pharyngula
Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal
Jamelle Bouie shared this article: https://patrickwyman.substack.com/p/police-social-order-and-exemplary
It’s an interesting take on the police violence against protesters.
That was tough to watch the first time. Anyone who doesn’t know that’s a segment from an hour long Cody rant about racism and police brutality. Did you know this guy used to write for Cracked.com? He’s really funny and extremely sardonic and I can’t recommend his videos enough.
At 1:21 AM, the Brevard County FOP posted a Twitter post advertising for officers who were fired or resigned, specifically mentioning the 57 officers who resigned from the riot squad over the arrest and charging of the two cops that fractured an elderly man’s skull.
The Brevard County sheriff has since apologized for the union, but word is that entire department isn’t much of a great treat.
Has this entire country lost their fucking minds?!
Oh, Arizona department of health just notified all hospitals to put their COVID-19 contingency plans into operation.
Fuck.
111,007 dead and climbing, 1.9 million sickened. Nero plays the fiddle…
The most recent Existential Comics is also about police brutality: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/345
The text below the comic is important, too.
wzrd1 @ # 3: The Brevard County sheriff has since apologized… that entire department isn’t much of a great treat.
You understate the situation. Some years ago, a (white) Brevard-County-born friend of mine found it prudent to leave Brevard suddenly and permanently after having successfully escaped a rape attempt by a county deputy – and learning she was on a list for collective follow-up attacks.
wzrd1 I had to look.
An old saying is that bad news comes in threes.
It needs to be updated.
In our nearly miraculous future of 2020, bad news happens and keeps on happening.
This is really bad news.
Arizona is the home of a huge number of old retired people, the main target of Covid-19.
The plan here is what?
AFAICT, it is to order some refrigerator trucks so when the dead bodies start piling up, there is somewhere to store them.
I would say, Red State, so what.
Except that what kills in Arizona, Covid-19 virus, doesn’t stay in Arizona.
@#3, wzrd1
You’re asking that now? What, have you been asleep for 30 years?
Arizona. Yeah red state, but take note
– Kyrsten Sinema
– Raúl Grijalva
– Mark Kelly (up and coming)
(Arizona)
Also to note how this is hitting First Nations, Navajo in particular.
The thing that so ironic is that if the police had just responded with the bored indifference they exhibited at the right-wing anti-shutdown protests instead of becoming a rioting mob bent on punishing and hurting everyone who dared criticize them the protests would most likely have failed. Instead, by demonstrating on video over and over again that the police are not only a criminal protection racket (nice city there, pity if it was looted because you didn’t let us kill black people) but driven to petty random sudden acts of violence just because they like to hurt people, the police in a few days have completely erased that popular image as protectors and the good guys that shielded them for so long. If they’d just been able to restrain themselves they would have got away with it. It reminds me of the parable of the scorpion stinging the horse carrying it across a river so they both drown -why’d you do it: “It’s my nature.”
Brevard County Sheriff’s Office has its own issues concerning death of someone who had been taken to jail. People are asking for relevant footage to be released:
https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2020/06/02/the-widow-of-a-combat-veteran-will-speak-at-rally-in-rockledge-on-saturday/5308386002/
This video, and others that I’ve seen over the last days, haven’t surprised me at all. I’ve hated the cops since I was 15. 1968, to be exact. That summer, I was an exchange student in Mexico City. My friend, Beto, was murdered by the Mexico City police in what came to be known to history as the Tlatelco Massacre, along with a number of other high school and university students. I can still remember the blood on my skirt and the light dying in Beto’s eyes. He had just turned 16 a few days earlier. What the cops are doing here in this country is totally expected, and totally in character.
The Vicar@7,
Are you pleased all those old people in Arizona are going to die of Covid-19, because a lot of them will have voted for Trump or Biden, or sorry they won’t be around to suffer even worse when the “inevitable collapse” arrives?
@#13, KG:
Not exactly pleased that Trump/Less-Abrasive-But-Just-As-Bad-Pseudo-Trump voters, particularly since they’ll probably take innocent people down with them, but not wasting my time on theatrical public sympathy, either.
After the convention (or whatever equivalent happens instead), I think I’ll start a betting pool. Assuming Biden wins (if he loses, all bets are off), how long will it take for Biden to do The Big Thing Which Will Make The Overwhelming Majority Of People Who Voted For Him Realize That They Just Made A Huge Mistake, and/or what will it be? (A return to his lifelong super-strict anti-abortion stance? Doubling down on Trump’s backing of the police attacking protestors in accordance with… pretty much every view he has ever publicly stated, including within the last week? A demand for even greater austerity coupled with more military spending, just as he consistently wanted while in Congress? More tax cuts for the rich to show that he can “work” with Republicans? Sending troops to Syria in accordance with the Centrist Democratic/Republican “foreign policy” consensus? So many choices!)
(Another fun pool would be: what will the October Surprise be? Actual security footage of Biden committing rape? Direct evidence that Hunter Biden’s job with MBNA was an accepted-but-legal bribe? Post-2008 recording of Biden being a bigot? Recording of Biden flat out admitting that poor people who vote for him are fools because he’s entirely loyal to the rich? All these and so many more are completely plausible, given his history. Reuben Bolling was mistaken: Joe Biden basically is Ronald Hump — but apparently that won’t stop people from voting for him.)
When I first saw the image from the video, I thought: “Hey, he looks a bit like that guy,” and then it turns out to actually be that guy.
At 3:52, did that cop just fire a flare into the guy’s face?
there two things that make this happen this way now. this reaction by the police has always happened this way from long before i was even thought of this is how police act. there are two things that are different this time however that are magnifying the reaction to it. One is the massive proliferation of quality cameras and to go along with that a ready and insatiable media that wants the images. the other thing that I think plays no small part is “the lock-down” masses of people who would otherwise not be home have been so for weeks now they have been frightened and increasingly angry at the reasons things have gotten to this state. They have little to do but watch this stuff happen and the digital domain is eager to supply it and often without the “establishments interpretation”, every f’n day there is another or 3 “Edmund Pettus Bridge” to watch on gory and intimate detail
uncle frogy
But you’re rooting for the quickest possible collapse, although that as well would take innocent people – in far larger numbers – down. As for the rest of your ludicrous tripe, even if Biden were as bad as Trump – and you know perfectly well he isn’t, you just lie about it – it would still make sense to vote for him rather than Trump, because that will inevitably, whatever Biden wants, open up political space during the contest between his cronies and Trump’s. Whether you’re really too stupid to see this, or are actually in Trump’s pay, I admit I don’t know.
With all the panels in the video I had a hard time keeping up with it all and processing. Sensory overload.
I was horrified and disgusted by this yesterday:
https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/06/06/philadelphia-police-officer-hits-student-protester-head-orig-ko-mg.cnn
And the brave soul Martin Gugino who was slammed to the ground by thugs on parade…our piece of shit “president” tweeted offensive unsubstantiated conspiracy crap about him and the GOP Senators are unsurprisingly spineless:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/politics/trump-buffalo-protester-set-up-tweet/index.html
Well Romney, who has marched himself, seemed just a bit more critical of Trump:
“Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was critical of the tweet, however, telling CNN, “I saw the tweet it was a shocking thing to say and I won’t dignify it with any further comment.””
I think police departments should be demilitarized, money reallocated to social and mental health programs, and police unions and fraternal orders disbanded. Those organizations seem to be where much toxicity stems from:
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-ne-brevard-chapter-fraternity-of-police-apology–20200609-vzt6lv3zwrhiripnvrvxscqyoe-story.html
I’m reluctant to support dissolving police and sheriff departments in general. Maybe the one in Minneapolis. I don’t see what you replace them with. I suppose the idea of having police is too engrained in me. The alternative seems weird.
hemidactylus,
Have a look at Marcus’ blog for some ideas.
The post is on the sidebar right now (Stderr).
And I think another problem is that police work and corrections attracts the sorts of people who self-select for the ability to assert power over or inflict pain on others. Or sociopaths. And it seems to be an option of last resort for people who have no other vocational options and but for luck or grace of god would be in prison themselves. Or they are former military and enjoyed the adrenaline surge too much to forego a chance to dress up, carry weapons and push people around. Or the effects of such jobs over time transforms people into scared trigger happy or callous assholes who lost any humanity they had.
@hemidactylus #21, it’s more a case of stupid training. When I was at Delaware County Community College, there was a police academy in session. It was all about war on crime, anyone you interact with likely is a danger, cops vs enemy, pure distilled paranoia drummed in day in and day out. Add refresher training and experience in pretty much only seeing citizens at their worst possible moments in life, plus burnout and shitty pay, entirely predictable.
I’m retired military and I’ll just suggest that putting on Kevlar is on the bottom of my list of things I’d want to do, right under sliding down a ten foot razor blade to land in a pool of iodine. They’re heavy, hot, hot, hot, heavy and fucking hot and heavy. Got a few broken ribs in two events, both with fragments striking my ESAPI plate, causing it to shift and cause injury. Beats getting the fragments through my chest though!
Oddly, we weren’t paranoid and shooting up the place, as most of the locals were either quite neutral or downright friendly.
Oh, that F.O.P. president was placed on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation into WTF, over. As he’s a lieutenant, they’ll probably promote him.
@20- John
Thanks. Pretty long, but comprehensive. Some interesting points about Japanese cops and aikido. Also not outrunning a radio and the stupidity of “hot pursuit” that puts bystanders in unwarranted danger. That the newish notion seems partially predicated on the creepy CCTV panopticon is disturbing, but I don’t suppose we are reeling that back. Beats militarized SWAT teams, though that was my favorite show as a kid. That and ADAM 12 hooked me early and socialized me to revere cops and at the wrong time as COINTELPRO and other stuff was still fairly recent.
they do run an effective PR campaign, if their goal was to alienate everyone in the US
Oh, don’t be so modest. They are doing a fantastic job of alienating and discrediting the USA all around the world.
Fucking hell. I don’t want to live on this planet any more.
nah for me it is becoming worse. i do not want them to live on this planet any more
And I know that when choosing gets going I would not be able to tell who the “they” were any better then they can.
uncle frogy
I love how much harder and harder it is becoming for The Vicar to do their usual “_____ would be just as bad as Trump!” routine while still trying to appear like someone who should be taken seriously.
Premising that I think the moral course of action, for those who can, is to vote for Biden*:
https://twitter.com/ShaneGoldmacher/status/1270691611576500227
You can’t make this shit up.
Top comment: “Really pumped to vote in this November’s national Republican primary.”
But please realise that it’s only to not have a fascist in charge while you protest, riot and strike, since they are the only things that actually threaten the upper class.
Or force the Dems to overhaul their primary system, but I’m not sure it’s practical.
Force the Dems to change the primary system to what? Something less democratic? Because the voters choose the candidate. Maybe bernie supporters could learn to run an effective campaign that doesn’t alienate everybody except a few hardcore fanatics who do not even vote.
To be clear my point is unless we leftist developbsome self reflection and own our stupid mistakes we will never get what we want out of our politicians.
Logicalcat-
We could make it so the primary us the same day everywhere, or a rotating schedule as to not prioritize incredibly whote states super early in. We could change from first past the post to ranked choice to get more of a consensus candidate, instead of one where you get a plurality that the majority does not like. We can make them primaries and not caucuses and open the voting times.
There are structural improvements that would get better candidates.
We were on the road to making them primaries instead of caucuses, then Bernies coalition put a stop to that. I dont understand what you mean by ranked choice and how it would give us candidates that people actualy liked. The one who got the most votes is the most liked. Or am I wrong on this? I dont see any evidence that this will help (other than getting rid if caucuses). Right now my attitude is about having leftist and berniecrats have some self reflection. Bernie made some huge very stupid errors. Self reflection hasnt failed me as far as im concerned. I admit that Im pretty ignorant on a lot of what you said. I just want bernie supporters to actually provide somensubstance instead of blaming every one of their failures on democrats.
@logicalcat
Are you fucking stupid?
Like seriously, I just posted about empathy and jesus rollerfuckingblading christ you can’t be fucking serious.
The winner was determined already before half of the voters could even cast the vote so yeah, start making them vote in a single day.
Then maybe pick a vote counting method less idiotic than first-past-the-post plus the rest of the baggage.
Then maybe allow people to vote without risking their lives due to Covid or stand in line for hours.
For being “Democrat” you (and the Democratic party) suck at democracy.
But yeah, your candidate is to the right of Mitt fucking Romney, so Democracy (TM) was done I guess.
But probably you are still convinced that you can vote away your problems.
You can’t.
Black people are showing you how it’s done and you’re still clutching your pearls.
Like FFS, Trump oversaw the death of hundreds of thousands of USians, had people rioting in the streets and the list of his villainous incompetence is endless, even some Republicans are starting to question him and THE SYSTEM YOU ARE DEFENDING STILL MANAGED TO PICK SOMEONE WHO HAS A SIGNIFICANT CHANCE TO LOSE TO TRUMP.
You cannot possibly imagine a better system than this, really?
Jesus fucking christ the world is fucked.
Saad@27,
It’s certain that the fascists, the white nationalists, the misogynists, the homophobes, the transphobes, the theocrats, Fox “News”, the III%-ers, the Heritage Foundation and kindred “think tanks”, don’t think Biden is just a “Less-Abrasive-But-Just-As-Bad-Pseudo-Trump”. Nor, in fact, does The Vicar: on another recent thread, he made clear he wants Trump to win because Biden might postpone the (supposedly) inevitable collapse into chaos of the USA long enough that the older people who voted for Trump or Biden wouldn’t be around to suffer as much as he wants them to:
KG,
There’s something interesting that jumps out in that quoted part:
Why just “in the primaries” for Biden? Hmm…
The race was determined before it even started? Yea big citation needed because that sounds like conspiracy theory bullshit to me. But keep blaming thebdemocrats for your own incompetence. Its worked in the past amirite?
And you call me stupid? Lol. Bernie fucked his very real chance to win with his stuoid campaign strategies of focusing on his base when he should have been building coalitions. They did this because they were stupid enough to believe that the moderate vote would remain fractured throughout the entire ordeal and he burned the only bridge that could save him (Warren).
And speaking of empathy i guess all those black people who voted for Biden dont matter huh? Because they didnt chose OUR guy.
My bad you said beforenhalf the voters were even counted, not before itnstarted. My point stillnstands tho. Thats a big claim. Its been wellndocumented that Biden won because he had the biggest lead and unless abmiracle played out would still be the nominee. So dont give me that “oh the systembis unfair” bullshit. We lost cuz we suck. Period.
Also ive yet to see any evidence that the predominantly non voting base of leftists would benefit from these changes. Sounds like moving goal posts to me.
We have first past the post- the one with the most votes win. That doesn’t mean that the majority necessarily support the candidate, ie 50+ people, it means that a plurality support a candidate. What ranked choice of other alternate methods do is instead of giving you ygr option to vote for one canidate, you “rank” your choice. So instead of just voting “Biden” or “Sanders” you can say “1st choice Warren, 2nd choice Harris, 3rd choice Sanders” etc cetera. So the votes get tallied up, and if a single candidate is 50+ first round great! They’re the candidate. If not, the person with the fewest 1st round votes gets dropped and the 2nd choice votes acts is if they are their new vote until we get to 50+. This builds consensus candidates- you will generally end up with someone who, if not your first choice, is at least A choice as opposed to someone you hate.
CGP Grey has a great informative playlist on this if you would like more detail.
antigone10:
If only. Nope.
I’ve been voting here in Oz for over 40 years, we have such a system, and I can assure you I’ve never ever voted for anyone, other than in a technical sense.
My method (I’m probably not unique) is to put the candidate I dislike most last, the next-most disliked second-last, and so forth, until I put my least-disliked candidate first.
Since you are there, go back and check where I’m crying about Sanders.
Because I don’t.
Sanders and Warren are petty idiots, still better than Biden.
Buttigieg would have been better than Biden.
So the 7 hours of queues for voting didn’t affect the outcome?
The states that didn’t get to vote didn’t affect the outcome?
The people who voted for a losing candidate didn’t affect the outcome?
The people who had to vote strategically didn’t affect the outcome?
Biden is indistinguishable from an establishment republican (like those Trump mopped the floor with at the Rep primaries), it’s a worse Mitt Romney, this November you are going to vote for a Republican and you’re not even asking yourself “how the fuck did we get to this point?”
@logicalcat
First of all, I must apologise because I’ve been writing like a total asshole.
It was unwarranted, counterproductive, and abusing random people on the internet is just plain trash behaviour.
I shall keep my behaviour in better check.
Second, I stoked a discussion about voting that I really don’t care about.
Voting is at best a patch to prevent the situation from worsening /faster/ and emboldening wannabe fascists.
Vote for Biden if you can, it is the right thing to do and I genuinely hope he wins.
The rest is irrelevant.
The only things that will improve the situation are things that genuinely threaten the ruling class.
The recent protests obtained more in two weeks than decades of voting, it’s still a pittance but they are showing us the way forward and our priority should be to support them.
Contact the organisations on the ground, ask how you can help, build your network of allies.
@John
Do you think you’d prefer first past the post?
I may just be a simple Canadian, but on election night:
There is no one worse than Trump.
Yes, please criticize your underwhelming selection, hold feet to the fire, reform the primaries, remake the system, engage in politics every single day, but don’t beat yourself up over voting for The Lesser of Two Evils; It’s just strategically the way you engage with that one day.
You’re not compromising; You’re putting yourself on better footing to fight your everyday battles for the next four years.
@FO
Apology accepted. Thanks.
Now as for the current voting system, I think its fine and people focusong on it well some are coming from a mindset of good intentions but some just want excuses for the lefts failures. We’ve accomplished much with the current voting system. This article helps.
https://benjaminstudebaker.com/2018/07/29/the-american-two-party-system-is-actually-pretty-great/amp/
Now if theres a better alternative sure, but right now none of the excuses I’ve heard here are actual impediments to getting the candidate we want. We took the house at the same time we voted in more minorities and women in office. And that was done by democrats voting. We even brought in a socialist as well (Ocasio Cortez). The left didnt do this. Democrats did and they did so by voting. By playing the system. We can too, but a lot of us don’t want to.
This is why I say leftism has a very bad problem of self reflection. Leftism has a big problem. Some are anarchist who dont believe in systemic change. Some actively want to sabotage the left (we all know who here is an example of that) . Some are well intentioned but got cought up in bad rhetoric formed by the other groups, and some are fake hipster leftists who dont actually care about changing anything. This has been my opinion as someone who left the movement in favor of Democrats but still voted Bernie of course.
antigone10 @45, definitely not.
I’m not disputing that it’s a better system, but rather that it ensures one gets to vote for at least some candidates one supports in some absolute, rather than relative way.
Unfortunately, we have a party system here too (seems to be a feature of representative democratic systems), but at least it’s multi-party, not just two-party. Even if minor parties don’t win, they can still get representatives elected, and so sway policy — and now and then, even shape the balance of power.
What I’d like is the ability to also vote for broad policy directions, not just for representatives. But I can’t see that happening. :|
—
PS sorry for the late reply, I missed yours.
@logicalcat 47
Candidate you want. For me it’s a candidate I’m tolerating and critisizing in addition to the other one. “We” is complicated.
He helped cover up torture. The words “serial sexual harasser” are an accurate descriptions and I can’t say I’ve heard it applied to Biden yet. I accept that you think the political left in the us has a problem but it’s the same problem as the political right from my view.
I don’t see how critisizing the left and right is a problem. Otherwise I’m on the political left too as far as I can tell. Maybe this isn’t a problem.
@Brony
Criticise all you want I just want it to be more honest. Calling Biden “just another republican” like a lot of people have tried doing. Its bullshit and ignores a lot of things including gay marriage which he pushed Obama to do.
@ keep in mind Brony Im not saying you do this. Im just saying in general some of the criticism has been either dishonest or cointer intuitive.
@logicat
That’s fair. I know you’re mostly talking to different kind of voter.