Hopefully, The Last Word on John Kerry's "Online Comic"
Revised completely in light of new information.
For actual webcomics-related things, see the next post. Honesty obligates me to lead with this for the next 24 hours.
There's no getting around this: I was naive in the last draft of this post, and I was wrong. The police action taken against this "online [comedian] comic" on campus was indeed inexcusable, there has been an organized protest from hundreds of students, and the officers in question have been placed on leave.
This video makes it pretty clear that the audience initially applauded his removal, because he was being kind of a d**k. [Asterisks because you never know when my mother will be reading.] Their applause gradually dissolved to mostly paralyzed horror as his attempts at resisting arrest were met with increasing and unnecessary brutality.
So, an open and shut case, right? Rodney King for YouTube? Eh, I'm not satisfied.
It should be disquieting that people were viewing this video with amusement, as the latest entry in the questionable genre called taser porn. And it would be disquieting, except that evidence is mounting that Meyer planned all this as a form of performance art (see the end of this piece). So is amusement actually the appropriate response? I don't know. But the more I think about it, the more I feel Meyer is manipulating me. That's a feeling I don't like.
Does that excuse the police officers? No, provoked brutality is still brutality. But it does make Meyer less of a victim... and let's not call him a hero. Attack questioning in a public forum may make you feel good and produce a rush of attention, but it's an ineffective way to provoke real change, because it makes people dismiss the source. For examples, I refer you to 90% of all Internet forums in existence.
Oh, and a few words about John Kerry. I can forgive a group of figuratively stunned students for not knowing how to react to this situation, but Kerry-- this would have been a good time to show some leadership skills, instead of clucking his tongue in disapproval as Meyer was carried off, and jetting off to the next event without checking up on the civil rights issue developing right under his nose. [Yeah, I don't like linking to Fox News, but those are Kerry's own statements they're providing.] Cripes, no wonder we ended up with four more years of Bush. Kerry's gonna get a lot of blowback from this, and you know what? He deserves every foot-pound of it.
Well, whew: That was a lot of writing about a subject that I initially mentioned as an example of something NOT appropriate for this blog. Sorry about that, folkses, we'll be back to our usual format after this.
For actual webcomics-related things, see the next post. Honesty obligates me to lead with this for the next 24 hours.
There's no getting around this: I was naive in the last draft of this post, and I was wrong. The police action taken against this "online [comedian] comic" on campus was indeed inexcusable, there has been an organized protest from hundreds of students, and the officers in question have been placed on leave.
This video makes it pretty clear that the audience initially applauded his removal, because he was being kind of a d**k. [Asterisks because you never know when my mother will be reading.] Their applause gradually dissolved to mostly paralyzed horror as his attempts at resisting arrest were met with increasing and unnecessary brutality.
So, an open and shut case, right? Rodney King for YouTube? Eh, I'm not satisfied.
It should be disquieting that people were viewing this video with amusement, as the latest entry in the questionable genre called taser porn. And it would be disquieting, except that evidence is mounting that Meyer planned all this as a form of performance art (see the end of this piece). So is amusement actually the appropriate response? I don't know. But the more I think about it, the more I feel Meyer is manipulating me. That's a feeling I don't like.
Does that excuse the police officers? No, provoked brutality is still brutality. But it does make Meyer less of a victim... and let's not call him a hero. Attack questioning in a public forum may make you feel good and produce a rush of attention, but it's an ineffective way to provoke real change, because it makes people dismiss the source. For examples, I refer you to 90% of all Internet forums in existence.
Oh, and a few words about John Kerry. I can forgive a group of figuratively stunned students for not knowing how to react to this situation, but Kerry-- this would have been a good time to show some leadership skills, instead of clucking his tongue in disapproval as Meyer was carried off, and jetting off to the next event without checking up on the civil rights issue developing right under his nose. [Yeah, I don't like linking to Fox News, but those are Kerry's own statements they're providing.] Cripes, no wonder we ended up with four more years of Bush. Kerry's gonna get a lot of blowback from this, and you know what? He deserves every foot-pound of it.
Well, whew: That was a lot of writing about a subject that I initially mentioned as an example of something NOT appropriate for this blog. Sorry about that, folkses, we'll be back to our usual format after this.
Labels: Metablog
Posted at
11:00 AM
6 Comments:
You're right that there are details about tone and body language left out - but it's also unclear at this point if the guy was handcuffed already when he was tasered (according to your linked article). If this was totally legit,why would Kerry ask the cops to let the kid go and ask his question? Why would the cops be placed on leave? Why would 350 UF students protest?
Congrats, Michelle, you've made me reassess this completely.
Everyone else: if you're reading this and are confused, Michelle is responding to an earlier draft of this post which should have been researched better.
As far as the cops knew, he was becoming violent and unreasonable. Tasering is a pretty standard procedure for situations like that.
The police brutality claims are bogus.
Uhh...he was a lanky kid without any weapons and there were six fully armed policemen, some of them rather big, all around him.
Seriously, you've gotta be some kind of brownshirt if you think that not only was this kid a danger, but that putting a fuckton of voltage into someone already pinned on the ground and subdued was merited.
I feel like I won some kind of award. :)
So you dont want any noncomicy things on your blog? Is that why this topic is inappropriate for this blog?
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