# Smapti is Pitted **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 21, 2014, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907 "2014-05-21T08:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 53
**Author:** ![stretch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@stretch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stretch)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1041 "2014-12-06T14:41:54Z")
> [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](#): > > Police Stand-off: Breaking News… Marry me. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1042 "2014-12-06T14:48:00Z")
I’m not sure the degree to which we should take this into account, but humans make mistakes. I just found that there are upwards of 780,000 cops in the U.S. Disperse them across the country and multiply by 365 days a year, and you wind up with an awful lot of interactions between police and the citizenry. And there are bound to be mistakes, accidents, bad calls, and yes dickhead decisions made by bad cops. Like i said, not sure how much this matters, but in reading some of the comments I started wondering just how rampant bad policing is, or just “unfortunate” outcomes. I do think we need to keep in mind that there are a whole lot of cops going about there jobs every day that do the type of job we all think they should be doing. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1043 "2014-12-06T15:02:09Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I’m not sure the degree to which we should take this into account, but humans make mistakes. I just found that there are upwards of 780,000 cops in the U.S. Disperse them across the country and multiply by 365 days a year, and you wind up with an awful lot of interactions between police and the citizenry. And there are bound to be mistakes, accidents, bad calls, and yes dickhead decisions made by bad cops. > > Like i said, not sure how much this matters, but in reading some of the comments I started wondering just how rampant bad policing is, or just “unfortunate” outcomes. I do think we need to keep in mind that there are a whole lot of cops going about there jobs every day that do the type of job we all think they should be doing. According to the Justice Department, [it seems to be pretty damn rampant in Cleveland.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-cleveland-police-probe-20141204-story.html) ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1044 "2014-12-06T15:12:15Z")
I’m a newcomer to this thread – I’d not noticed Smapti until he defended America’s off-the-hook cops – but some of the criticism seems unfair. On the issue of CIA involvement in vaccination, and the whistleblower who got the vaccination programs stopped, the anti-Smapti position is illogical. > [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Yes; now we are able to shut down the CIA’s sabotage of the effort, and might manage to wipe out polio despite their attempt to keep it alive. Is there any reason to think that vaccines given with CIA aid were not effective against polio? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1045 "2014-12-06T16:54:55Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > According to the Justice Department, [it seems to be pretty damn rampant in Cleveland.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-cleveland-police-probe-20141204-story.html) Eric Holder? The Head Racist? Please. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1046 "2014-12-06T17:21:22Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Eric Holder? The Head Racist? Please. You have just saved me the trouble of telling others that your opinion on this matter isn’t worth shit. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1047 "2014-12-06T17:49:26Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > You have just saved me the trouble of telling others that your opinion on this matter isn’t worth shit. Thank you. Glad to help. You need it. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1048 "2014-12-06T18:05:16Z")
> [@Doctor\_Why\_Bother](#): > > \ > > Mapti concluded his remarks by stating “This is a very difficult time for the local community, particularly for Officers Joker, Raptorman, and Animal Mother, who were not only placed in fear for their lives _but whose uniforms caught most of the splatter._ We urge the community to remain calm and to bear in mind that, if you think about it, this was a pretty stupid place to have a three year old’s birthday party anyway.” [my italics] Did Officer Smapti have any comment about charging the relatives of the 3-year-old criminal to pay for the [destruction of police property](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/15/the-day-ferguson-cops-were-caught-in-a-bloody-lie.html)? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1049 "2014-12-06T18:26:07Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > [my italics] > > Did Officer Smapti have any comment about charging the relatives of the 3-year-old criminal to pay for the [destruction of police property](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/08/15/the-day-ferguson-cops-were-caught-in-a-bloody-lie.html)? The above-described case is clearly an abuse of power and I have no sympathy for the police involved. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1050 "2014-12-06T18:28:15Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The above-described case is clearly an abuse of power and I have no sympathy for the police involved. Any comments on the Justice Department report? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1051 "2014-12-06T18:28:18Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Is there any reason to think that vaccines given with CIA aid were not effective against polio? The vaccines that were subsequently not given because the people who would have given them were murdered were not effective. The vaccines that were subsequently refused because the people who would have got them could no longer trust the people giving them were not effective. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1052 "2014-12-06T18:35:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Any comments on the Justice Department report? It is possible, and apparently factual, that Cleveland police have in the heat of the moment made errors of judgment that resulted in unnecessary loss of life. This does not necessarily make those killings unjustified; a person, even one with special training, may in the heat of the moment perceive a threat that does not actually exist and take action that would be appropriate to neutralize such a threat. If such action results in unnecessary loss of life, it is unfortunate and tragic, but it does not necessarily constitute criminality on the part of the perpetrator in the absence of recklessness or criminal intent. I would agree that the department needs to better train its officers on when and how to use force, and I believe the families of those unnecessarily killed should be in some way compensated; but I do not believe the officers themselves should be held criminally liable. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1053 "2014-12-06T18:36:46Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > The vaccines that were subsequently not given because the people who would have given them were murdered were not effective. The vaccines that were subsequently refused because the people who would have got them could no longer trust the people giving them were not effective. And as such, the whistleblower has blood on his hands, because now the people who need vaccinations have been given a reason to distrust doctors. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1054 "2014-12-07T00:15:32Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Eric Holder? The Head Racist? Please. LOL – liberals are the real racists, right? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2014, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1055 "2014-12-07T00:26:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And as such, the whistleblower has blood on his hands, because now the people who need vaccinations have been given a reason to distrust doctors. Shame to you is just a word other people use, right? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1056 "2014-12-08T14:55:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > And as such, the whistleblower has blood on his hands, because now the people who need vaccinations have been given a reason to distrust doctors. Most people mature from “Sorry I Got Caught” to “Sorry I Did It” before Mommy lets they use the computer. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1057 "2014-12-08T17:33:28Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Most people mature from “Sorry I Got Caught” to “Sorry I Did It” before Mommy lets they use the computer. Are we better off now that doctors are being killed in the Third World and conspiracy theorists are telling people there that vaccines doesn’t work? Is the current state of affairs preferable to when secret programs were kept secret? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1058 "2014-12-08T18:03:35Z")
Actually it was better before the secret plans poisoned the well. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1059 "2014-12-08T18:13:31Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Are we better off now that doctors are being killed in the Third World and conspiracy theorists are telling people there that vaccines doesn’t work? Is the current state of affairs preferable to when secret programs were kept secret? Weren’t these harms caused by the people who abused the trust associated with these activities to cloak their activities? Your position seems equivalent to blaming Woodward and Bernstein for a loss of trust in the US government in the 1970s. I think I need an interpreter here in order to understand this. Spice Weasel? ---
**Author:** ![Crazy\_Canuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazy_canuck/32/5282_2.png) [@Crazy\_Canuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazy_Canuck)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2014, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1060 "2014-12-08T20:35:05Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Well, it certainly sucks that a bunch of assholes assaulted you, and in such a violent way, but that’s got zero to do with with you might be—metaphorically—kicking someone when their down. If you don’t like being put into the same broad category of your assailants, you might want to reevaluate your actions. Your attack, vile as it was, doesn’t make you immune to doing the same type of thing. Again, _metaphorically._ Wow, did it take you a whole month to come up with that? As for my actions, I stand by them. I voiced my opinion that he’s a lying troll, which I still hold. At this point, I will consider the possibility that he’s just that fucked in the head, but I consider that less likely than he just knows how to push peoples buttons. The fact that a lot of other people had similar opinions is probably due to Smapti being a useless waste of biomass who has posted rather offensive and vile opinions. Also, I still think that comparing a message board pile-on to someone “lying on the ground having the shit beat out of him” is a fucking stupid analogy. Even if you stick the word metaphorically in there several times, it’s still a stupid analogy. So no, I don’t accept the fact that I’m capable of doing the same type of thing. I’m not going to say that words on the internet can’t hurt anyone. That said, voicing my opinion in the pit, even if others agree with me and it’s a full on pile-on, doesn’t reach that bar. Not even on a metaphorical level. So if you want to defend that piece of shit troll, you’re going to need to do better. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907.md?page=54)