# The ambushed cops: So, it's all Obama's fault now? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 22, 2014, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867 "2014-12-22T00:46:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/121 "2014-12-22T22:56:34Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Use just enough force to complete the task. That’s what the cops were doing. He’s a big guy. They took him down the way cops often take down guys who are resisting arrest. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Choking people to death and shooting unarmed civilians is not acceptable. Garner was not shot. Nor was he choked to death. Tell me, do you have any desire to be truthful? Any desire to be factual? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/122 "2014-12-22T22:58:00Z")
> [@andros](#): > > Sick burn, brah. :🙇‍♂️: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/123 "2014-12-22T23:00:26Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Because Garner chose to resist arrest, he suffered heart failure. Garner made a poor choice. > > Obama is golfing in Hawaii. And **doorhinge** made another snide non sequitur. I assume you would be satisfied with nothing less than his resignation and suicide, but pray tell what beef you have with President Obama taking a Christmas vacation, if beef was indeed implied in your execrable post? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/124 "2014-12-22T23:05:01Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > That’s what the cops were doing. He’s a big guy. They took him down the way cops often take down guys who are resisting arrest. > > Garner was not shot. Nor was he choked to death. Tell me, do you have any desire to be truthful? Any desire to be factual? Do you have any desire to learn? He was choked, leading directly to his death. ---
**Author:** ![planetcory](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/planetcory/32/1032_2.png) [@planetcory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/planetcory)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/125 "2014-12-22T23:12:10Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Do you remember that video of the protesters chanting “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want it? Now!” ? You mean this [doctored video of protesters](http://gawker.com/slimy-baltimore-fox-affiliate-caught-faking-kill-a-cop-1674040381/all) actually saying no such thing? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/126 "2014-12-22T23:19:12Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Do you have any desire to learn? He was choked, leading directly to his death. You’ve claimed in this thread, multiple times that Garner was either murdered or choked to death by the cops. Both are false. Now you try to weasel a tad. So, there are three possibilities: A) You are a liar B) You are really so stupid to think reality does’ matter C) A and B Oh, and look up the word “directly”, you dumb fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/127 "2014-12-22T23:21:25Z")
> [@planetcory](#): > > You mean this [doctored video of protesters](http://gawker.com/slimy-baltimore-fox-affiliate-caught-faking-kill-a-cop-1674040381/all) actually saying no such thing? That is indeed pretty outrageous, but I’m pretty sure **doorhinge** meant [this video](http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/what-do-we-want-dead-cops-when-do-we-want-now-that-is-what-the-protesters-of-the-dont-shoot/question-4630714/), which I would agree is reprehensible. I don’t think they do their cause any service in chanting “we want dead cops.” ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/128 "2014-12-22T23:24:54Z")
nm, ninja’d ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/129 "2014-12-22T23:35:01Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > You’ve claimed in this thread, multiple times that Garner was either murdered or choked to death by the cops. Both are false. Now you try to weasel a tad. So, there are three possibilities: > > A) You are a liar > B) You are really so stupid to think reality does’ matter > C) A and B > > Oh, and look up the word “directly”, you dumb fuck. Is there no beginning to your intelligence? He would not have died without the choke hold. He died, therefore he was choked to death. No amount of childish Brickeresque word parsing from your feeble mind can change that. ---
**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 22, 2014, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/130 "2014-12-22T23:56:21Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Give it up. He was not choked to death by the cops. He was neck/chest compressed to death, then. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/131 "2014-12-23T00:07:28Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > … **doorhinge** meant [this video](http://www.sodahead.com/united-states/what-do-we-want-dead-cops-when-do-we-want-now-that-is-what-the-protesters-of-the-dont-shoot/question-4630714/),… (Post shortened to annoy) Won’t say I find the source questionable, but I might well wonder why anyone else wouldn’t. That aside, there is the problems inherent in the very nature of public protest. The public. You ask anyone who has ever organized these things or participated in several, they will all tell you the same thing: the bane of their existence isn’t The Man, its the guy determined to prove that he hates The Man more than you do. Back in the day, local anti-war protests were plagued by a clusterdumb of self-styled Maoists, Lord save us all. Shit disturbers. And they always got their picture taken. Local ministers, nuns, vets against the war were by and large un-photogenic. Assholes like that _always_ show up. There is no worthy cause that is not plagued by fanatical adherents. And judging a cause by them and their behavior is either short-sighted or self-serving. ---
**Author:** ![Donald\_Rump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Donald\_Rump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donald_Rump)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/132 "2014-12-23T00:13:13Z")
Would any of the cop idolizers on this thread persist in such a demented nitpick if the victim was an asthmatic overweight cop and the perpetrators were five black guys piling on him? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/133 "2014-12-23T00:20:13Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > So he suffered a cardiac arrest as a result of being in a choke hold rather than actually being strangled. Get yourself a cee-gar for that insight. Yeah, if that’s actually how it happened, it’s arguable that Eric Garner might have died soon anyway. Or maybe putting pressure on major blood vessels was contributory. Maybe Officer Pantaleo shouldn’t have his career ended over this. But if not, as a pragmatic matter, it is incumbent on the NYPD to make that case credibly in some way. If they can’t convince enough of the people of NYC that it was just a horrible coincidence, then they are going to have to rethink Pantaleo’s career and their own procedures. Because right now we have a man who died being arrested just because he was sick of being hassled over an infraction, and decided he was upset and not going to take it anymore–hardly a capital crime. And the department of stopping and frisking men for being mixed-race “mutts,” the department of “Togna Bologna the Vigilogna,” the department that racially profiles people from the “Muslim world” and hassles protestors against Wall Street–that department has a lot of bad blood to counter. They need to generate goodwill or they’re functionally just an occupying force. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/134 "2014-12-23T00:21:34Z")
> [@Donald\_Rump](#): > > Unfortunately, there is an authoritarian streak on the right bordering of fascism, according to which _any_ suggestion that the existing balance may be tilted too far in favor of the police is tantamount to anti-cop propaganda, a declaration of “open season” on the lives of police officers. Which is a self-fulfilling prophecy and a vicious cycle. Absent a widespread and defensible belief that the police self-police, outsiders will take it upon themselves to rebuke and retaliate against the police. Which will be used as a reason for more police brutality of the, “strike first strike hardest” kind. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/135 "2014-12-23T00:32:39Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Do you have any desire to learn? He was choked, leading directly to his death. No. What lead to his death was his prone position, obesity and asthma. In the video, the chokehold was applied for a couple of seconds, then released, and Garner was put in prone position. That’s when he actually says “I can’t breathe”. No throat damage shows up on coroner’s report, so it could not have been being choked that led to the death. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/136 "2014-12-23T00:33:45Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > He was neck/chest compressed to death, then. Don’t forget “prone positioned to death”. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/137 "2014-12-23T00:59:54Z")
Heck, loot at it a certain way, he was already at Death’s door! Might have been a lucky break for him, had he lived. If he realized he couldn’t bear up to some gentle admonishment by public servants, he might have resolved to a healthier life style! Might have been the cops intent all along! Or maybe it was a Heimlich maneuver gone terribly wrong! You can’t prove that it wasn’t, so that scenario should be accorded equal respect. (Post lengthened because there were a bunch of words left over). ---
**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 23, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/138 "2014-12-23T01:03:15Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Don’t forget “prone positioned to death”. Yep, that too. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/139 "2014-12-23T01:06:51Z")
According to actor James Woods, [Al Sharpton is responsible](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/james-woods-calls-sharpton-disgusting-pig-twitter-article-1.2053262) for the murder of two NYC policemen. Apparently it was a huge conspiracy. Funny how conservatives stop lecturing everyone about 'personal responsibility" when they can score some sickeningly cheap political points. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2014, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867/140 "2014-12-23T01:14:45Z")
Good news, Shaneka Thompson the ex-girlfriend of the NYPD shooter [is expected to survive](http://jezebel.com/ex-girlfriend-of-nypd-shooter-expected-to-survive-1674224521). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ambushed-cops-so-its-all-obamas-fault-now/707867.md?page=8)