re: #65 Charles

The second video I just posted above shows that these police were in absolutely no danger from anyone.

And by the way, the reason I won’t allow police to be called “pigs” at LGF: as bad as this video is, and I agree this looks very much like brutality to me, the vast majority of police are decent people, doing a difficult, often thankless job, and they don’t deserve to be dehumanized with a term like that.

No one deserves that kind of slur, and using it makes you no better than the ones you criticize.

A couple of thoughts on this:

First of all, thanks for posting the story, when I saw it and posted in last night’s overnight thread on it I was absolutely appalled by the behavior.
I would like to also mention that the story that I linked back then has a rather extensive photo gallery (click on the bubbles above the photo to page thru the images) that shows close-up images of the pepper-spraying as well as the aftermath of the actions.

theaggie.org

I understand, and will abide by your rule. Dehumanization from any side is bad.

That being said, I will take some issue with your statement that the vast majority of police being decent people. Majority, yes, but an overwhelming majority? Not from my experience. This is a case that is especially true in rural areas that I have lived in, where Sheriff departments and Police forces are staffed more via nepotism, versus hiring the “best and the brightest”. Many of these rank-and-file are essentially high school bullies with a gun and a badge. Unfortunately, it goes right up to the top in many of these areas. I’d be willing to say that there honestly are more “Sheriff Joe Arpaio” types around here than ones who are not.

Can we at least call these individuals above-the-law thugs?