Reply #264: You really don't get it.

[Bonobo]

It actually seemed to me that the "taseree" WAS making it a political statement.

He probably refused to show an id on principle, feeling that it was borderline fascistic. Now you can agree or disagree with that. You can call it petulant, snotty nosed, misguided, brave, foolish or all of the above.

But what you can not do, or rather SHOULD not do, is pretend that this is okay or business as usual. That level of force was not justified by any means - a fact that you have already agreed to I believe.

So what does this boil down to. My opinion is that you and the police have a similar point of view in that you saw the kid's behavior as petulant, spoiled, foolish, etc. I'm familiar with feeling that way towards younger men. You want to smach 'em, teach 'em, wipe the stupid smile off their face, etc. It's a very particularly male kind of feeling and I've flet it plenty of times as have you -let's be honest.

The difference is that the police are professionals who should not give in to that. They are armed with tools that can restrain or punish. Clearly, they are imparting a lesson on said snotty youth. To whit, "do not DARE stand up to our authority, BOY!" ZAP!

Agree or disagree with all or part of what I have said. I KNOW I am right about your attitude and that of the police. It is as clear as day from reading your posts.

This is no minor matter here either. By condoning this kind fascistic, authoritarian use of excessive force where none was warranted will bite you, me, your kids, and everyone else in the ass in the future.

You are a true participant in the decline of "moral values" if you can watch that boy scream like that and then just dismiss is with "he'll be okay" or "he's lucky he didn't get it worse" or "one day he'll learn his lesson".