There is no free speech allowed when GDub, Laura, or the twins come to town. You have to get tickets. You can't get a ticket if you're a white Irish Catholic girl from the suburbs. Why is that?

I can play this game alllllll day long.

Exactly - "free speech" is completely irrelevant to this event, just like it is at a Bush rally, just like it is on a message board, blah blah chow meow.

This kid was a douche, he did something stupid, he got whacked with a taser. This is NOT some sort of liberal mind-melding or limiting of conservative free speech - this kid was as far left as the eye can see, way off the reservation. At a Bush rally, he would have been tasered outside instead of inside, and we would all laugh at the kid for being a whiny crazy douche who couldn't follow the simple rules and make his point within conventions. Just like we are now.

Well, most of us.

ALSO, this is SUPERB - the Internet is truly amazing.

You have me (and probably a lot of other people) at a distinct disadvantage, as I don't know the details. I've gone to both Democratic and Republican events (yes, I changed parties) which both required tickets and didn't require tickets. The only time I was asked about my religion was for a Kennedy event. I'm also a white Irish girl from the suburbs, but my religion is freely mocked.

See, I can play the game, too - which doesn't mean that I care to. I got out of the hard core nonsense a while ago.

In finally seeing a better shot of footage, with that many Officers surrounding him, and they could not subdue him? I am woindering what is wrong with this picture.

There is a difference in subduing and tasering.

That is used as a last resort before shooting a person.

Thank goddnes they did not do that!:rolleyes:

The very first national report of this did say that he was shot - that's what caught my attention.

Now that I know it was campus police, and not local police, it does put a different spin on things.

http://www.alligator.org/articles/20...mpus/savvy.txt

Meyer no stranger to controversy

By KORI FREDERICK, Alligator Writer
Monday's Tasering did not mark the first time Andrew Meyer has been surrounded by controversy.

On Sept. 11, he protested with a giant sign on Turlington Plaza that claimed President Bush was responsible for the terrorist attacks of 2001.

On March 11, 2005, he wrote a column for the Alligator detailing his love of being confrontational.

"I absolutely love the thought that some nonsense I wrote irritated people enough for them to take time out of their day to let everyone know how much they disliked what I wrote," the column said.


From the bottom of the column, and maybe the real reason all of this happened:
Meyer, who celebrated his 21st birthday Sept. 15, runs a Web site -- www.theandrewmeyer.com -- where he airs his views on music, movies and politics. The site has had more than 45,000 hits since the arrest.

Bush events require tickets. The people handing out those tickets are very reticent about who they give them to. I'm not talking about fundraising dinners (of course those require tickets!) but simple speeches. Here's an article from 2005 discussing the issue:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153720,00.html

I was denied tickets to events in 2004 on several occasions. I doubt it was because I am a white Irish Catholic girl from the suburbs - but I stated that to make it clear that I am not someone who appears to be a "terrorist" or of a race that (sadly) arouses suspsicion. In fact, when the twins came to Marquette, the rumor was that every member of the College Democrats was banned from attending.

While this is true, it pissed me off that Kerry's standing there saying "let him go, everyone calm down, I'd like to answer his questions," while they're dragging his ass outside for unknown reasons. Inciting a riot? Right. Yeah he's a douchey 21 year old but come on, I can't see the need for handcuffs and a taser when Kerry's standing on the stage willing to talk with this guy.

That other student taser video-I could see a reason for the eventual taser, but this one is just...ugh. If Kerry's willing to enter into discourse with the kid, I hardly see it as inciting a riot.
Of course that girl screeching in the background didn't help but I kind of felt the need to yell 'you guys are pigs' myself. Seriously, can't two big burly cops do the job? Did they need 5?

Sometimes they hit the taser to protect the kid from himself - if they're physically struggling, they can get much more seriously hurt than by being passive, and it's clear he was not cooperating.

Seriously, I'm not defending the campus cops - there were likely other methods they could have used, and we know almost nothing of the situation at all because even the best videos are pretty crappy - but yeah, there's a lot more going on here than a simple "yes/no" determination.

I think Kerry inadvertently made it worse by trying to be some sort of nice guy about it - the kid was making a scene, and while I'm glad Kerry wanted to answer about his time in the Skull & Bones, it's pretty superfluous and sort of dick to the rest of the crowd. This was pretty obviously calculated by Mr. Meyer, and I'm surprised Kerry's reaction was to diffuse it by prolonging the interaction.

I will agree with you on the calculated part, I was kinda wondering if he set it up so he could instigate whoever and see what happened, especially with his apparent history of recording his own practical jokes. I've never really been against tasers in my life, IDK, it just bugged me to see it used here for some reason. Guess that means I'm not a serial killer and don't enjoy watching people get hurt :P
You are right it is not a simple yes/no determination and freedom of speech certainly doesn't really come into it past cutting his mic :D

Nobody in their right mind considers this an issue of free speech. Neither conservative nor liberal.

The idiots who want to politicize this and turn this into something it's not need to concentrate on senators that have gay sex in Minnesota bathroom stalls and have nothing to stand on given the current administration's full court press on free speech.

-Rudey