"Don't Taze Me Bro"

My twenty-something son and many of my students tell me that the Youtube sensation of the young guy being "tazed" at the University of Florida during John Kerry's appearance has provided the new slogan for a generation. Just as the baby boomers had "Tune In, Turn On, and Drop Out," and "Give Peace a Chance," the current youth movement now has: "Don't Taze Me Bro."

After viewing several versions of the ignominious moment when this pathetic 21-year-old student had his free speech rights tazered out of existence I couldn't help but think the new slogan, "Don't Taze Me Bro," is somehow fitting. Their baby-boomer parents have totally failed them.

Instead of the promise of a new, more just and humane world that the young idealists of the 1960s looked forward to building, they have bequeathed to their children George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, Tony Snow, and so on.

They've dumped in their children's laps a debilitating occupation of a sizeable Arab nation with all of its concomitant disasters; a political system that is drenched in money and corruption and unresponsive to the citizenry; a looming economic meltdown with an outsourced manufacturing base that has put the United States in hock to foreign investors; an approaching ecological catastrophe the likes of which the planet has never seen in the form of climate change; a deteriorating infrastructure and dilapidated schools; a media system dominated by a handful of right-wing corporations; and a fragmented, polarized nation that lacks the ability and the will even to provide elementary health care for its citizens.

"Don't Taze Me Bro."

Instead of imagining a better world where peace and justice reign, we've got Thomas Friedman's asinine "Flat Earth" combined with Samuel Huttington's "Clash of Civilizations." People the world over hate our president, our government, and our gluttonous consuming of far more than our share of the world's resources.

We have the worst Administration in our history. We have the most corrupt political institutions we've had in decades. The gap between the richest Americans and working people is wider than it ever has been, even surpassing the obscene inequality of the "Gilded Age." The "military-industrial-congressional-prison-complex" is devouring our young.

Just look at the photographs of the young kids who are having their lives cut short or horribly disfigured in Iraq. Eighteen-year-olds, nineteen-year-olds, twenty-year-olds - It's obscene.

"Don't Taze Me Bro."

The boomers from both political parties lack the wherewithal to stop the bloodletting. Those who hold stocks in Halliburton and other corporations profiteering from the war reap the financial benefits.

The children only asked of their parents that they leave the world in a slightly better condition than when they inherited from the "greatest generation." And the boomers answered them by giving them Bush and Cheney and Enron and Tom DeLay and Larry Craig and Fox News.

"Don't Taze Me Bro."

Comments

[V4Vigilance]

"when this pathetic 21-year-old student had his free speech rights tazered out of existence"

Joseph,
I'm a fan of yours and typically agree with and respect your opinions but I have to take a pass on this one. Hyperbolic statements such as the one above trivializes the REAL abuse and repression occurring in the world and efforts to end it. I've said before and I'll say it again, this guy getting tased had NOTHING to do with the First Amendment, fascism, Gitmo, Abu Graib, Nazis, blah, blah, blah, and EVERYTHING to do with a very predictable outcome to fighting with cops who are attempting to eject you from an event you've been asked to leave. Please refrain from feeding the Right's "loony left" propaganda machine by embracing this narcissistic fool as some kind of modern day Freedom Rider or placing any more significance on his experience than to say "if cops are escorting you out of an event, don't fight with them, you might get tased".

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

See Joseph A. Palermo's Profile

Friedman has been proven totally wrong on everything he ever writes about -- especially "flat" earth. He's a billionaire who sees the world through the eyes of the wealthy global elite, and then extrapolates from there that globalization is good for everyone - read Naomi Klein's new book Shock Doctrine and read Mike Davis's book Planet of Slums. Then tell me what you think of Friedman.

[waiguoren]

Woah there, Bro...
Speaking for Boomers everywhere ( they said I could ) I didn't bequeath any of those jokers to anybody !

[Halsey]

While I find the young man's behavior ridiculous...I also find it hard..nay, impossible to believe that 3 or 4 or 5 police officers couldn't have extracted him WITHOUT the use of a taser...

The "boomers" had Kent State as a rallying cry against abuse of power.... and yes...we so friggin blew it..young men burned their draftcards; yet look at the uproar over moveon's "betray us" ad. We (boomers) had a chance..and let it slip away...

Maybe there's still hope for GenY (the x'ers aren't doing so well)

[larstein]

Lighten up, people - why can't we all get along? The 60's were FUN!! the only way to live is to accept reality and move forward, keeping your eyes open and staying high. "Don't Taze Me Bro" is a rather defeatist sentiment. I thought "Bong Hits For Jesus" to be a far more serious, incendiary, and intelligent message of peace and fun, but I guess the two can co-exist as the sad/happy clownface of the theater we call these times.

[DarthTaser]

In Florida, the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) has declared Andrew Meyer a "Threat To Society." Is this the same as being a terrorist?

YOUTUBE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7km5HUdsdI

Increasing militarization of police in the US employs mass intimidation to the exercise of Free Speech when an entire group is witness to the delivery of writhing pain to one group member by police using overwhelming force.

The number of agencies using TASERS in the US is up from 500 to an astonishing 11,000 during the years of the Bush administration largely due to federal cuts to the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) program. This step backward has effectively moved funds away from CRIME PREVENTION into the more draconian practice of CRIME CONTROL. The TASER allows enforcement agencies to employ preemptive military tactics against "suspected" law violators.

The Bush administration targeted the COPS program for budget cuts every year since 2001. In fact, in 2003 Bush proposed eliminating COPS altogether. In 2005, Bush sought a staggering 86 percent cut for the COPS program with none of the remaining funds set aside for hiring officers causing massive layoffs. This policy has left law enforcement weaker at a time when national security should have called for more funds for COPS prevention and more police on the streets.

The result could not have been more predictable than if the Bush administration had planned it: The US has suffered a predictable increase (2%) in violent crime with firearms reportedly used 70% of the time.

This degrading trend is expected to create leaner, fewer and meaner police willing to overlook critical First amendment issues in order to stop even peaceful forums from escalating into the aggressive exercise of free speech on a college campus by political activists armed only with only a book and a rare opportunity to speak truth to power.

[realitytrumpsbull]

say it in one word: Impeach. What's REALLY
funny about the entire thing is that this whole
thing was supposed to have happened at John 'medals' Kerry's rally, and you would have
thought that at such an event, they would have
had somebody up on stage in a chicken suit with
a big 'impeach' banner or something, but
whatever...maybe all that ketchup money went
to his head...?

Free speech is what it is, and it's doubtful
that Kerry would be motivated by much of
anything to really just stand up and yell "IMPEACH!!!", so, that's why that kid
probably jumped up.

If you're inclined to add your voice, go to:

www.impeachbush.org

Maybe, someday, in 2010 or so, Kerry will change
his mind and sign on, too! LOL

[bethinCary]

Yes the "don't taze me bro" is an indictment of parents and older genre.
would our genre had such skepticism about the political,, social, economical outlook....
NO, I don't think so.
I HATE that the 20 somethings don't have clear leadership that appeals to them. I hate our system is broke.
I just want those people to know I am doing everything I can to bring about a restoration of our country. Don't give up. Don't give up on me. I won't give up on you.

[disintaGreatNation]

I was with you until you said "both political parties." Is that your version of the earth is flat?

[slg]

You can blame the boomers all you want but the truth is only about 15% had concern and sensitivity for exactly the same issues perplexing the world then as now. The other 85% of my generation were no different than any that followed: insatiable, ignorant, self centered and oblivious to the bs and suffering of their fellow travelers.

[DudeE]

Personally I think the "don't taze me bro" phenomenon is more an indictment of the current crop of college kids than it is of their elders.

The UF stunt was a parody of a 60s-era civil rights demonstration. Why this guy wasn't expending his energy at a *real* anti-war rally rather than sitting idly in a John Kerry Q&A is telling.

Yes there are already "Don't Taze Me Bro" t-shirts out there. It's all a big joke. Meanwhile more serious civil rights abuses are taking place under our noses while we lament this poor brat's snubbing at a private speaking event.

[charon]

The young man was ordered away from the podium after his alotted time was more than over. He resisted the officers' attempts to remove him after he repeatedly ignored orders to give up the mike. He was tazed when he struggled to get free of the officers and return to the microphone.

The ill-mannered young idiot has no right to dominate the mike. The forum had set rules regarding how much time each questioner had at the mike. It was taking time away from others who wanted to ask questions for him to exceed the set limit. He was stealing others' right to ask questions.

The officers were right to remove him, and when he struggled to get away from them after refusing to give up the mike, they were right to taze him. He was the one engaging in thuggery, refusing to give up the mike and play the rules everyone else was expected to play by. The officers were only enforcing the rules and preventing his domination of the floor.

He would not voluntarily leave when his time was up. He would not voluntarily leave when asked, and after, when told to do so. He resisted when attempts were made to physically remove him. He deserved what he got.

Surely gen-y or whatever they want to call themselves can find a better martyr than this rude and contemptible young man.

[rpence]

Amen to that. One of the best posts ever on Huffington Post.

[Atticus]

I concur 100%.

[MamaBird62]

Tasers were designed to replace guns, in the hope of reducing the number of people killed or maimed by police officers. Is this a situation where it would have been appropriate to shoot the student? If not, then he should not have been tasered. It was five on one. Those "cops" were beyond pathetic and I hope they get fired. He annoyed people and was obnoxious. So what? Ever been to a city council meeting in your town??
People have lost their minds.

[V4Vigilance]

"Tasers were designed to replace guns, in the hope of reducing the number of people killed or maimed by police officers. Is this a situation where it would have been appropriate to shoot the student?"

BZZZZZT! WRONG! LOGICAL FALLACY ALERT!

Tasers were NOT designed to replace guns so asking whether it would have been appropriate to shoot this guy fits the classic definition of a straw man argument. Tasers are less-than-lethal weapons that are designed to subdue people that police perceive to be a threat, either to the police or the public. While tasers can be used in lieu of guns, they can also be used in lieu of fists, feet, batons, flashlights or any other weapon an officer might have at his/her disposal. Prior to the advent of tasers I'd say the most likely outcome in a situation where a person decided to physically resist the efforts of several officers to eject him from an event would have been a severe beating. Given that scenario, I'm fairly certain that Mr. Meyer would rather the officer was wielding a taser instead of a nightstick or 2' long flashlight, I know I would.

[charon]

V4, you are correct. Without the tazer, the student would have had to have been physically subdued, possibly resulting in broken or dislocated body parts, or the riskier chokehold. Also, the officers would have been exposed to injury, such as scratches, bites, poked eyes, etc. It could have even involved batons. The young man was clearly out of line, and if we allow him to choose which rules he wants to follow, what if it's a group of skinheads next time? I don't like people to get tazed, but I would like a lawless society even less.

[technique4]

why is Friedman's flat earth asinine? or was that sarcasm that just went over my head.

[backhandpath]

"why is Friedman's flat earth asinine?"
Ummmm...the earth is round, or slightly egg shaped.
We figured that out a while ago and now need to move on to more pressing issues of global security and address Shock Capitalism that utilizes Shock Troops to Shock us into appeasement.
Tasers are shocking.

[DocSarvis]

Because capital, resources, technology, and information are not evenly distributed. The world is, as Richard Florida pointed out in the Atlantic Monthly, "spiky".