Colbert Celebrates The Tasing Of Soccer Mom, Man On Tractor (VIDEO)

Stephen Colbert celebrated tasers last night in a segment he calls "current events." He explored the recent tasing of a soccer mom in front of her children by a police officer who claimed she was going 5 miles over the speed limit, as well as that of a man helping out in a local parade by driving a tractor. It's all pretty disheartening until you hear that Brody Jenner was also tased, restoring your faith in humanity.


WATCH:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Current Events - Trucker, Soccer Mom and Taser X3
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Protests

Get HuffPost Comedy On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[up420oz]

Are you planning on coming to Vancouver for the Olympics?

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/West+police+officer+pleads+guilty+assaulting+newspaper+delivery/1801491/story.html

West Van police officer pleads guilty to assaulting newspaper delivery man

VANCOUVER - The Crown asked a provincial court judge Friday to send a West Vancouver police officer to jail for six months for initiating an unprovoked assault on a newspaper delivery man last January.
The police officer, Griffin Gillan, 25, pleaded guilty Friday to assaulting Firoz Khan, who was delivering newspapers outside the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Vancouver after 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 21.
Prosecutor Ralph Keefer said Gillan was initially charged with robbery with violence in regard to the theft of Khan’s cellphone. But considering his extreme level of intoxication and the specific intent required, the Crown was not satisfied Gillan had committed a theft and decided to accept a plea of simple assault.
The court was told Gillan consumed as many as 25 drinks, including shots of hard liquor, and had no memory of his disgraceful behaviour.

Another day in paradise.

[jdrourke]

This segment was both funny AND upsetting. Though it did feature a 3-way Taser gun. We could zap Hannity, Beck, and Papa Bear all at the same time...

http://jdrourke.wordpress.com/

[CessnaDriver]

The idea of the Taser is a "less-than-Lethal" alternative to using a gun.

The LAPD went over to the Taser following the shooting of a psychotic woman wielding a screwdriver who attacked an LAPD officer who tried to confiscate her shopping cart.

Instead of using the Taser as an alternative to using a gun, the Taser has become a weapon of compliance. Citizens are being electro-tortured for simply disagreeing with law enforcement officers.

We need to get back to the use of Tasers as weapons to be only used as alternatives to using a firearm when the officer is in danger.

It's "easier" to use a Taser to subdue someone than to use other methods. Who ever said that police work is or should be an easy job?

Of course, reducing the use of the Taser will cost Taser, Intl. a lot of sales.

[farmgirl10]

exactly.

[Balzac]

Good one Steven. I was especially amused by the clever juxtaposition of "Don't tase me bro!" and "Shock the monkey!" Vintage Colbert.

[Skullbussa]

Am I the only one who cheers when these people get tazed? That enormous woman climbing out of her enormous car...drunk with her oft-exercised command from being a parent, gets put in her place. I love it.

Just because you have 38 children packed into a SUV does not entitle you to disobey the law.

[buckbuck11]

Yeah, "soccer mom" didn't come off to me as all that sympathetic either. I suspect that she should have been more concerned about the example of respect for authority that she was setting for her children in mouthing back to a police officer. She didn't seem to think at all about her impressionable children until she had crossed the line and was about to suffer the consequences. I suspect she was told to stay in her car by the officer and disobeyed him, which gave him every right to "put 'er down."

[JoeBlough]

Sometimes, telling an officer once isn't enough.

[JustAThought56]

You and Skullbussa need to get professional help.

First, Skullbussa, your negative attitude towards this woman because of the size of her body reeks of sexism and misogyny, and has nothing to do with the rightness or wrongness of her position. Second, buckbuck11, your "suspicion" has no evidence to support it, including a lack of any claim on the part of the police officer that he made such a request. Quite the contrary, in fact - look up the story and you will see he never asserts that he told her to stay in the car. The fact that you are so eager to side with the officer based on the pure fiction that you contrived between your ears and then rely on it to rationalize his obvious lack of professionalism does not say positive things about your mental health

The officer was obviously not doing his job very well. He should have backed down as soon as the woman was able to effectively demonstrate his error that she was talking on a cell. Instead he upped the ante by accusing her of speeding without being able to back that up. He tased her not because she was a threat but because he was annoyed that she challenged him on his claim, which he obviously could not support. It was a completely inappropriate action on his part, and the city of Syracuse can ill-afford the lawsuit or settlement that will inevitably stem from it.

[up420oz]

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/29/gibbs-is-steele-rooting-f_n_303305.html

[phatosas]

I couldnt stop laughing, Colbert is very funny

[AsUWish]

Funny Stuff!

"A riot that could turn into a riot, if that happen the police would have called the police." - Colbert

[espressobeans]

I love Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart but I'm beginning to wonder if they aren't doing us a disservice. The problem with jokes about really disturbing news is that it neutralizes the news, it softens it, it absorbs our outrage, provides an outlet. There is way too much tasering going on, and going on against women or frail people who can't be said to realistically pose any physical threat but they have somehow offended the police officer who shows them whose boss.

[roch20]

Take your news from a different source, then you can have a laugh with their sarcasm, which is all there is, sarcasm!

[olympus6]

Falls under the ol' stand-by: "If you don't laugh, you'll surely cry."

[Megan97401]

I don't think so. I think it actually raises awareness. I had heard the "soccer mom" story previously but not the guy riding the tractor incident. I think many people don't follow these news stories but catch them on Colbert or Daily Show and then look into them, talk about them with others, maybe even actually do something about it at some point.

The fact that they're brought up with humor makes it more palatable and interesting, but the content is basically the same-- the message just gets out easier.

I can't really see much of a downside to either Colbert or Stewart's shows.

[Imago]

I understand your point, but I don't agree.

I think both Stewart and Colbert operate in the same way that the political/social commentary of jesters has for thousands of years -- they can, through humor, bring up very ugly aspects of our society to our attention.

Humor does not equate to lightness -- it dances with the obscene, with the dark, with death, and so on, all the time. It softens these things only enough so we can actually look at them rather than pretending they don't exist.

[OldTart]

Bingo!

[Hopster1]

You have to wonder what is going through the mind of a Police officer when, instead of calling for backup or looking for another way to resolve a dispute, they somehow come to the conclusion that using the Taser will be the best solution. It's like they are thinking, "Well, I can't use my gun for almost anything but maybe I can justify shooting people with a Taser gun. Just as long as I get to shoot someone with something even if its in front of children, that'll be OK with me. Needs a serious suspension or lose the Badge. It's an embarrassment to the profession.

[ILuvBubbles]

Since when do the police "resolve" disputes? More than often they actually escalate or out right cause disputes simply because of their ego's.

[DonCosenza]

Exactly. They know the situation doesn't call for lethal force, but they've got this trusty "non-lethal" method sitting on their belt, and they're just itching to use it. Someone gives what they perceive as offense, and blammo. I think a person would be justified to unload a can of pepper spray right in those officers' faces.

Of course, I am not talking about the many respectable officers who know how to do their job, but those who get drunk with authority. I'll let you form your own opinion about what that ratio is.

[brooklyncitizen]

they aren't interested nor apparently trained to resolve disputes. THey are more an more trained to function as military- shoot first and maybe ask questions later. Too often they get it wrong mor ethan they get it right. THere is an intelligence deficit in this country.

[RachelMc]

oh wow