Breda linked to it first, then Tam; one video in particular caught my attention.
What we have here is small-town[1] police, done up in their bestest riot gear and looking a bit self-conscious about it, sent out to "control" a crowd of Tea Parties outside a venue where POTUS is holdin' forth. Now this unruly mob is a) standing around, b) waving signs critical of FedGov, the President and various gummint actions and c) singing patriotic songs -- inflammatory stuff, like "America the Beautiful;" they are the kind of crowd that takes one (1) policeman to control, using clever sworn-officer tactics like saying, "I need all of you folks to get up on the sidewalk, this side of Maple Street," or better yet, having their own leaders tell 'em.
That's how it went down, too, while the LEOs in helmets and heavy vests stood in a line like a Greek chorus, only silent, perspiring and kinda embarrassed. It was their Moms wavin' signs over there, or the nice ladies from church or the guy that runs the gas station. And it was the Secret Service or some worry-wart minor offical nervous about bein' in a flyover State that sent 'em out geared up to take on rock-throwin' WTO protestors. It worked out; one non-riot-geared officer and a guy with a bullhorn later, the Riot Squad marched away.
But keep it the hell up, idiots, and you will buy this country a mess. It stunk out loud when Presidents Clinton and Bush (respectively) instituted and maintained "free speech zones" at their appearances; now we're callin' out the local muscle over protesters not merely outside the building where the President's at but across the dang road from it and well-behaved to boot -- nary a flung pie or rotten vegetable to be had, let alone an effigy dangling from a pole (Mr. Bush and Mr. Clinton inspired plenty of those; consider their absence, the next time some marooon[2] snerks "racist!" about the current round of protesters).
It worked out okay this time; hooray, us and by "us" I mean both sides, the boys in (very very dark) blue and the sign-wavers. Hey, maybe it'll work out next time, too. And the time after that. But how many times must goofily disproportionate force meet well-behaved amateur protesters before some nitwit slips up?
And after that, what next?
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1. Quincy, IL; very like the place where I grew up, give or take a major waterway, a good-sized river bluff, a clockmaking school and an abundance of bars.
2. There'll be some ijit shows up an' tells me that term's racist, too. Ask Bugs Bunny; I got it from him and his writers used it in contexts where the implication is clearly one of stupidity. Color in that outline yerself, maroon.
BUILDING A 1:1 BALUN
4 years ago
12 comments:
In the "Fly-over Country" state, be it noted, that the Won being protested is nominally from. ("Nominally" in the sense that, while he was not born there and so far as I can tell did not live there until he reached adulthood, he, um, nominally represented it in the US Senate, not in the sense that I question whether he was Born in the U S A...")
He lived in Chicago, not Illinois. :)
If the muscle gets all, you know - muscly - someone with a flip cam will catch him going upside grandma's head and load it up on Youtube quick as you can say "Bob's your Uncle."
This isn't Ruby Ridge, and it isn't 1994.
Bugs also coined the term "Nimrod" referring to Elmer; those who had no idea of the tower-of-babel king biblical reference assumed it meant "ijit". So it's stuck, and in retrospect, based on who Nimrod was, it kinda fit, too.
WV: feribly. A word Bugs would use today to describe how well the feddle governement does it's job.
I was surprised to note that riot/SWAT gear came in small, short, portly sizes to fit the politically correct small town police force.
I was not surprise to note that a squad (barely) with someone counting "left, left, left, right, left" couldn't get all on the same foot together. Back to Gestapo classes for all of them!
Imagine the losses they would have suffered had the blue-hair brigade charged them, the riot squad (well if not a riot at least they made me chuckle softly) was vastly outnumbered by the Medicare Mafia.
I left a longer comment on Breda's post (a fact explained only by she coming sooner alphabetically) but I agree with this being excessive and unnecessary. Further it is some comfort that the spaceballs had the grace to look embarrased for what they were doing; when that stops the trouble starts.
Jim
Thanks, loved the video, think I saw some people I know in the group.
"He lived in Chicago, not Illinois. :)"
I think you win the Internets today with that one. Being from downstate Illinois I know that most of the rest of the state agrees with that statement and many snobby Chicagoans would too.
And this is why you bring a video camera.
Just like Borepatch says, document and distribute.
Gatewaypundit shows the advantage of having multiple cameras
http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/2010/04/oops-quincy-pd-releases-bogus-statement-lashes-out-at-violent-granma-protesters-forgets-about-army-of-videographers/
As a former Federal Officer who did riot training at FLETC one thing jumped out at me: the officers were not carrying shields or batons.
My theory: They were there 'cause the chief got a call from DoJ who mentioned "federal funding."
After it was all over I bet the cops and protesters met down at the IHOP to compare notes and photos.
I bet those cops in riot gear were embarrassed to be there. I did not understand the purpose of them and their formations. It did not make sense to this big city cop.
If something did go down I wonder what kind of orders they would follow. It seems to me the chief wanted to show his feds that he spent the money.
I wonder how many "oath keepers" were in the formation(s).
A lot more drama is being read into this in many quarters than it warrants.
Personally, I'm pleased as punch that it happened, because it Looks Bad On Film.
Too bad that the media is so in the tank for the current administration; can you imagine the stink that would have been made in the MSM if this had happened during the previous administration?
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