Nice wisecrack but for the fact I already said I would have convicted the officers of “excessive force.”
Problem is, they probably did have a reasonable belief he was on PCP. So, it’s more like crocodile wrestling than arresting a normal suspect.
I amended nothing; that was my position from the start.
To quote your own words, “Also, if you can’t stand a bit of hyperbole like that offered by Airman in this case, then maybe you should stick to GD.” I have no doubt that Airman is not seriously advocating police beatdowns as a matter of course. He was, IMO, expressing frustration that Rodney King continues to walk the streets and commit crimes, seemingly with impunity.
[quotThe only inference i can draw from this sentence is that those who oppose violence against King must therefore be in favour of his beating of his wife.
[/quote]
That’s some mighty tall stretching for offense there, Tex. I have no doubt that you are firmly against vioolence to women, But I am equally convinced that your reverence for the minutiae of legal procedure may blind you to the actual moral weight of a case.
You’re allowed to have disagreements with him, unfortunately, they have nothing to do with his board behavior or me. I also don’t think your defense of christians has any bearing on this either-you’ve stood up for AD, personally-Not as a bystander standing up for Christians. Huge difference from my point of view.
Nice dig with the literacy comment, but I still don’t see whereyou said “You’re right, you can say whatever you want”. You’ve yet again imposed the condition that I can’t say something like “You must be a miserable person IRL because you’re such an asshole on the SDMB”.
Instead I’m now supposed to qualify every comment about Airman because you know him personally. Now I’m supposed to say something more like this: “You’re such a miserable person online Airman, but I’m sure you’re a fucking swell dude in person”.
Also, I never asked for a character reference, I’m not giving him a fucking job, so lay off it. I don’t care that you or MsRobyn will vouch for him. Hell, he could airfreight me his fucking cheesesteaks and no matter my love for a good cheesesteak(trust me I do have love for the cheesesteaks), it still wouldn’t change my opinion that he gets diarrhea of the fingers and shits all over the board with them.
Don’t like it? Well, to paraphrase you, blow.
Sam
So which is it then?
Well, gobear, i’m sorry that my aversion to police brutality constitutes excessive concern for minutiae in your view.
It’s interesting that you accuse me of moral blindness, but are apparently willing to let Airman slide because he makes a good cheesesteak. What is also interesting is that the only part of my argument that you failed to address was the most important part–the interpretation of Airman’s OP. You continue to maintain that you know what Airman meant, and your apparent refusal to counter alternative interpretations suggests that you believe that no other interpretation is possible. And all this despite the fact that i’m far from the only person who has interpreted the OP as tacit support of police brutality.
Your continued insistence that Airman was “not seriously advocating police beatdowns as a matter of course” is touching. This claim would carry a little more weight if the OP himself had actually taken the time make such a clarification. So far, however, he’s been rather silent on the issue.
And, as I have said several times already, there’s no reason why it should. You may say anything you like about his posts
I’m not imposing a condition, I’m clearing up a misconception. You do not know what he is like in person, you’ve never met him. How can your opinion be worth anything when it is based on ignorance?
Let me repeat: you can hate his guts, go right ahead, but you do not know what he is like in person, so your opinion on his IRL behavior, as opposed to his online behavior, isn’t worth very much.
Things aren’t that simple, IMO. You are arguing that two positions which are not mutually exclusive, are.
Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t need your pity, and neither does Aaron, or the rest of our family. Yes, Airman loves to argue. Yes, he says stuff that I disagree with. A lot of stuff, actually. However, to condemn him to assholery because of what he says on a message board is really stupid. Argumentum ad hominem, anyone?
gobear, thanks for the character references. Second cheesesteak at Dope-A-Ween’s got your name on it. (After our host’s, of course) 
Robin
Not implying they are mutually exclusive.
I think it’s silly to say using those drugs always end up in violent confrontation, because anyone could see that Rodney was getting the living shit kicked out of him, and was putting up zilch of a fight.
Who cares if the cops though he was on whatever drugs, the beatdown was not justified.
Why is it stupid? What the fuck else could we judge a poster on?
Ok everyone. Take a deep breath…now let it out…relax:D
Once again, I am not asking for a character reference. I don’t care that you love him so much. As mhendo said(which you’ve ignored), his online self is a reflection of his IRL self to people who’ve not met him. To the rest of us who’ve not met him, what we see is what he types. Hyperbole is allowed and I’m sorry you’re so thin-skinned about it.
Let me clear up a misconception you have here. I think he’s an asshole, I do not hate him. Hating is for guys like you and he to do. Your opinion on his IRL behavior isn’t worth much to someone who sees what he spews on a daily basis online, either. He may dress up as santa clause and give gifts to terminally ill kids, but that still doesn’t excuse his behavior, nor does it change my opinion.
Sam
Dude, are you serious? Tell me what’s “facetious” about this statement by Airman:
He’s advocating vigilantism, plain and simple, and you seem to be agreeing with him. We all saw the tape - King was lying on the ground, and they beat the shit out of him. Those fuckers only got off because they moved the trial to Simi Valley, the biggest collection of rednecks this side of the Mississippi.
No, what a man who beats a woman deserves is to be prosecuted according to the law. Airman seems to think it’s O.K. for cops to administer a little street justice, as long as the guy “deserved” it, and you defended him. Now you’re trying to say “Just a joke, folks.” Don’t fucking piss on our leg and tell us it’s raining.
My perspective in the matter is, as far as I know, unique.
I am the only person (apparently) in the Western hemisphere who only saw the famous videotape of Mr. King unedited, and from the beginning. And I only saw the thing after I knew the circumstances of King’s arrest.
He was struck (IIRC) 56 times in total. Findings at the first trial were that all but the last 5 or 6 blows were justified.
As far as I am concerned, King richly deserved the first fifty cracks on his thick head, and I am willing to throw the last six in for good measure. If he resisted arrest for his latest episode, I would hope and expect that he would be treated similarly. Not for wife-beating (although my contempt for a man who would raise his hand to his wife is deep and heartfelt) but for resisting arrest, which is what he got it for the last time.
This is a person who has demonstrated beyond any possibility of doubt that he is a dangerous, habitual criminal. Drunk driving, armed robbery, assault, wife-beating - can there be any doubt that he is a danger to the public, despite the millions he collected from LA in his settlement?
The LAPD has to deal with people like this all the time. And yet, if they cannot stop on a dime when it comes to subduing someone who continually jumps up from the ground and charges the police, they are excoriated as racist and thrown into prison.
The only people I can think of who deserved less blame in the videotaped beating were the other black guys in the car when King was arrested. Neither of them resisted arrest - and the police didn’t lay a finger on either of them.
And who got sent to prison? The guy who resisted arrest while on parole for robbery - or the police who arrested him?
What a fucked-up world we live in.
Regards,
Shodan
No, his onlone self reflects. . . his online self. I know this because he has posted opinions that annoy me yet he is a great guy IRL. Let me repeat, no matter how much of an asshole he is online, unless you have met him, you have no basis for judging his IRL behavior.
Again, you’re missing the point. I am not saying that his IRL bonhomie mitigates his online persona. What I’m saying is that his online persona does not tell you what he is like IRL. Online and IRL are two entirely separate critters.
I take it you do not perceive the disconnect between those two sentences.
Hate? I’m hating nobody. I and I got nothing but one love for all of Jah’s iration.
And once more you bear out my idea that you are not paying attention. I will even bold my remarks so they will be easy to read. I do not want you to change your opinion of Airman. I want you to understand that your dislike of Airman does not mean that nobody likes him in real life. Your comment, "I feel sorry for his family and friends is completely unwarranted. **
And agian, I don’t have a thin skin. I only take the energy to rebut your remarks to defend a pal. But you as a poster mean nothing to me.
Well, not to get into the thread since I don’t necessarily agree with the OP, but I do work in my parents’ bail bonding company and I can guarantee you that 3/4 of our clients who’ve been arrested for serious traffic violations are arrested for driving on a suspended operator’s license. Taking away their license doesn’t stop them from driving, it just means if they get caught, there’s more hell to pay.
I’d be willing to bet money that unless he’s in jail, King will continue to drive on his suspended OL. It doesn’t stop the others with a suspended license.
Ava
(emphasis mine)
Then why can’t you give Airman the benefit of the doubt? This was hyperbole, plain and simple. It’s a shame you’re so thin-skinned about it, however.
Well, la-de-fucking-da. Yeah, I know that we are judged on our posts on this message board. Yeah, I know Airman has posted some outlandish things. I’m not defending those statements. Lord knows I disagree with about 99% of it, if I had to assign a number. And you can think he’s an asshole all you want, because you’re not the only one.
That said, your original post, the one I quoted above, is flat-out unconscionable. I am a poster here, and have been for quite some time. Airman and I met on this board, in fact, and we’ve had a fairly public relationship since we met. Posting that you “feel sorry for [his] family” when his family also posts (and I’m including his sister, soccerbaby in here, because she lurks) is also assholish behavior. We don’t need or want your pity. Whatever your opinion of Airman is, it’s your opinion. Got it?
Robin
I think gobear speaks rather eloquently to the point under discussion.
Oh come now, it’s never stopped people from doing the same thing in my Pit threads. Why do you think they’ll show any restraint now? It’s not like Airman can call in a strafing run on them.
I know, I know. It’s just that the system is obliged to make some sort of move to curtail this fuckwit’s behavior. In the absence of legitimate conviction and incarceration, revoking his driving privileges would be a good first step. For one thing, the instant he was caught operating another motor vehicle, he could be taken into immediate custody. If the next judge has a single yet-to-be-excreted neuron still firing, a probationary condition that King never operate a motor vehicle again should be included as a condition of his release. There should be a minimum ten year suspended sentence left in place for at least five or more years so this guy can figure out a way to off himself without taking anyone else with him.
Great post, Raven! Any of this getting through, chique?
Did you miss the part where he charges at the officers? Or does that not constitute a “violent outburst” in your book? Leading police on 100+ MPH chases and operating another vehicle at speeds of 100+ MPH doesn’t demonstrate a reckless and callous disregard for human life? Have you and King been hanging in the same den?
Here’s an interesting observation from this site:
[sup]BOLDING ADDED[/sup]
No, sadly it’s not unique.
That’s the one sentence in your post with which I agree.
So you think that if I have a negative opinion of say, the Pope, that means I ‘hate’ him? I think the world is full of assholes, but that doesn’t mean I hate them.
I’m sorry you can’t separate more passionate feelings like dislike or assholishness from hate. I can.
As for the rest of your post…insert rolleyes smiley… here. There’s no reason to re-hash what’s been said by both sides at least 10 times.
Good day.
Sam