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Bill Maher: "This country is becoming a police state, it is very troubling to me" (Original Post) damnedifIknow Apr 2013 OP
LOL rightsideout Apr 2013 #1
Very interesting point -if they wanted him alive, then spraying bullets midnight Apr 2013 #2
He's got valid points about the militarization of police Warpy Apr 2013 #3
Why are you posting this under a different title? sheshe2 Apr 2013 #4
When people are shocked or in shock, they tend to reaction emotionally and not rationally. TalkingDog Apr 2013 #12
Bill Maher doesn't know everything. Was he Cha Apr 2013 #5
Good point ... Wernothelpless Apr 2013 #16
Bill Maher is a funny BaronChocula Apr 2013 #6
And you prefer; greiner3 Apr 2013 #9
I Agree With Bill Maher supercats Apr 2013 #7
From Radio to "The Man Show" on Comedy Central jakeXT Apr 2013 #10
At least Jimmy Kimmel was willing to take responsibility. tclambert Apr 2013 #8
I love how it's always "we" allowed this. ctsnowman Apr 2013 #11
Today's cops look like Bonejackers from "Freejack".... Spitfire of ATJ Apr 2013 #13
The police also used excessive force on the Occupy movement. JDPriestly Apr 2013 #14
You would have loved Chicago in 1968. xtraxritical Apr 2013 #15
I remember. JDPriestly Apr 2013 #17
1/2 the photos may be Nat guard? tomtharp Apr 2013 #18

midnight

(26,624 posts)
2. Very interesting point -if they wanted him alive, then spraying bullets
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 10:40 PM
Apr 2013

into the boat was unprofessional.

Warpy

(110,912 posts)
3. He's got valid points about the militarization of police
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 10:41 PM
Apr 2013

and their unprofessionalism in opening fire en masse on that boat. They knew the position the kid was in, one gun would have done the trick, they didn't need 20 or 30 or however many they had. That was a mob and that is unacceptable.

Note I don't fault them for firing, they honestly did think the hand that came out from under the tarp had something in it.

However, the big brotherism of cameras on the street is something I find acceptable because I'd much rather have a confused mugging scene be decided by video tape than eyewitness accounts. Eyewitnesses often have poor memories and are very suggestible and have put more than one innocent man in prison.

sheshe2

(83,343 posts)
4. Why are you posting this under a different title?
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 11:39 PM
Apr 2013

You already posted it here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022770189

Why not just update your original OP with the video.

As I said before, as much as I like Bill Maher. He is wrong. Please come to Boston one and all. Talk to the people that live here. That lived through it. That are still recovering from the grief. Please talk to the ones that are going through counseling for the horrors that wittnessed that day. It will be a long time before the pain receeds for us.

Please come to Boston and talk to those that lost loved ones. Talk to those with missing limbs. It was 14 in all that have had or will have limbs amputated. Oh sorry it might only be 12 people, since a few had double amputations!

With our loss, you are trying in two OP's to say we are a police state? Why?

You have no idea who and what Boston is!

TalkingDog

(9,001 posts)
12. When people are shocked or in shock, they tend to reaction emotionally and not rationally.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 10:49 AM
Apr 2013

Emotionally, from a place of fear/anger/etc you feel the police were doing a good thing. Protecting you.

This kind of numbed acceptance is the very basis of Shock and Awe Doctrines. Shake people up and they are much more accepting of things that "stabilize" their environment, even if it impinges on their civil rights and freedom.

The view from the outside (rationally) notes that it has all the hallmarks of a militarized event.

It doesn't mean all of you are wrong. It means from the outside it looks very, very different.

(Haven't seen the video, so I'm not agreeing with Maher, I'm just responding to your post)

Wernothelpless

(410 posts)
16. Good point ...
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 01:59 PM
Apr 2013

I'd imagine nerves were pretty thin by the time they took this guy into custody ... and they didn't know if he was armed or not ... they didn't know if there were other accomplices ...

I still question video of the girl in the yellow jacket walking behind the youngest brother wearing a heavy backpack that matches the older brothers ... identical backpacks? ... we've never heard a word about this girl/woman? ... why is that? ...

I'd think that anyone intending to do harm would take away from this situation is "Don't FUCK with Boston" ...

That's an appropriate message ...

Did the police shoot at the boat too much ... yeah, probably ... so what? ...

BaronChocula

(1,458 posts)
6. Bill Maher is a funny
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 02:34 AM
Apr 2013

drama queen. He keeps making comparisons that suggest "because cops don't carry guns in other places, the people are much cooler." I think it's the other way around. English cops don't need to carry guns because culturally, the population is more adult. I don't think it's always that simple, but he actually forces me to agree with Robert Traynham.

 

supercats

(429 posts)
7. I Agree With Bill Maher
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 04:27 AM
Apr 2013

Yet again!! Though I have never found Jimmy Kimmel to be funny, ever. How the hell did he get a TV show?!

tclambert

(11,080 posts)
8. At least Jimmy Kimmel was willing to take responsibility.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 06:54 AM
Apr 2013

Think anyone actually involved will say, "Yeah, maybe we fired a few too many bullets right there. We might have temporarily forgotten we wanted to take him alive."

ctsnowman

(1,903 posts)
11. I love how it's always "we" allowed this.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 09:26 AM
Apr 2013

Most of us have had zero say in any of the policies that have been put into place. Welcome to the grand illusion.
And the defenders seemed to have missed Maher's point. How did having and AFV help capture the suspect? It didn't.

JDPriestly

(57,936 posts)
14. The police also used excessive force on the Occupy movement.
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 11:29 AM
Apr 2013

They should have just let the Occupiers be. They really weren't hurting anything.

That was sick. We will look back on these events the way we look back on the McCarthy hearings now. Excessive. Just sick. Sadistic. Downright mean.

Aren't there any grown-ups in the police forces any more?

 

tomtharp

(30 posts)
18. 1/2 the photos may be Nat guard?
Mon Apr 29, 2013, 06:41 PM
Apr 2013

I basically agree with Bill. I live in a crime free rural area, yet our police have flak jackets and assault rifles, all they do is try to pull over drivers to ticket and hopefully DUI to make money for the county to buy their toys.
Bill, 1/2 those photos look like National Guard, in green ?
Bill, if in England the citizens were armed to the teeth like us, the police would need guns.
Aside to gun nuts: your little guns will not stop government tyranny. The government will tear gas your compound, drive through the wall with a tank, or kill you by drone, etc. Good luck fighting the government with a gun. If you want to fight the government, grow your food tax free, ride a bike tax free, get a computer, study law, use encryption, use bitcoin, etc.

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