The Zong

A few quick thoughts on the Taser(tm) incident down at the U of F:

1. If you’re surprised that this happened in the United States, then you haven’t been to Florida in awhile. The use of non-lethal or not-necessarily-lethal weapons by cops all over the country is fast becoming a great way for Anytown’s Finest to get their jollies without the threat of going to prison, and in Florida, maybe this represents progress. Before the Taser existed, they probably would have shot the fucking kid to death.
2. To all the folks who think that it’s some sort of revelation that Andrew Meyer went into that Q&A with an agenda to annoy the shit out of everyone and so he deserved what he got, I say your revelation-muscle needs a little more action. The real issue here is that no matter how annoying someone is, if he isn’t actually threatening or hurting someone, It seems that there’s little justification to pump 50,000 volts into his body when you’ve got him outnumbered 6 to 1 and his only weapon is a book nobody’s ever read.
3. I think that “Don’t Tase Me, Bro!” is going to make one hell of a T-shirt.
4. This is just is one more example of what happens when people start to believe that the Constitution only applies when it agrees with them. I shouldn’t even have to say it, but it bears repeating that when a society gets to pick and choose where the right to free speech applies, it ceases to be a right. You dipshits.

Do yourself a favor and search the news headlines for Tasering(tm) incidents across the country. You’ll find, among other things, headlines about an autistic kid being Tasered in Orange County (California’s own little Florida) and some guy being Tasered for trying to run from police. I’m not saying it’s never justified to use these things, but if two or three cops can’t physically subdue a guy (or an autistic kid) enough to get handcuffs on him without electrocuting the shit out of them, then perhaps our nation’s police departments need to stress physical fitness a little more with their patrol officers. More than anything, it seems as if the officers in Florida–all 6 of them–wanted to teach Meyer a little lesson about free speech in Florida, and were rewarded with a paid vacation.

Speaking of the erosion of basic civil liberties, don’t forget how much your congressional representatives hate Habeas Corpus.

- M.G.