It's not funny at all.

agreed. not funny. he sounds really scared. I guess the word 'bro' is sort of funny in almost any other context though.

isn't a cop supposed to inform you of what you are being arrested for if you ask?---eh? I've always thought they're supposed to let you go without any formal charge. can the mercury legal experts look into that for us---free of charge? thanks!

It's interesting how you can hear Kerry in the background saying that he'd answer the questions and trying to defuse the situation. I wonder if he ever did.

fuck john kerry for not doing shit.
fuck all the bystanders that just sat there and did/said nothing.
fuck those kids that were smiling and laughing.

we live in a police state.

No, I agree... Don't taze me bro is really funny. Some loud mouth resisting arrest under the guise of free speech... be as loud as you want, just don't try to get away from the cops. Struggling is trying to escape. Hold still and yell whatever you want, just don't try to get away! For all the cops know (which isn't much for the most part) homie is about to go all Travis Bickle and shit. What did he accomplish, nothing. If that jackass had just turned when they rushed him and said, I AM ASKING A QUESTION WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS and continued to shout things like, HE SAID HE WOULD ANSWER THE QUESTION or even addressed Kerry directly like WHY ARE YOU LETTING THEM DO THIS SENATOR KERRY, shit, saying that over and over again... it would have meant a lot more than just dancing around screaming OW looking like a kook.

A little funny? Give me a break. What did the guy do wrong? Was he trespassing? Did he break a state law about talking too long (one Kerry would have been in violation of as well). Not at all funny in the context of the abuse occurring.

There is nothing funny about this.

Can too-cool-for-school hipster irony give way to displaying emotion and caring about shit? Just like, this once?

the tasing looked brutal, not funny, to me.

but the guy was disrupting an event for *everyone*, not just for his own amusement. how long was he at the microphone? did other people want to ask questions? given how many questions i've seen it written that he asked and the time it took him to get to the point on just this one, it was quite a while. the videographer edited that out.

do people saying "fuck john kerry" think that only big loud men with no sense of boundaries who fight security officers deserve a chance to speak?

yeah not funny

i watched another youtube video that made the whole thing look fake, so here's some more background i found:
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/channel-08/2007/09/kerry_responds_to_taser_incide.html?hpid=topnews

also, the "don't taser me bro" facebook group:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=5779218759

tasering: not funny. but "don't taser me bro" is a hilarious rallying cry.

To provide some background, the event coordinators had informed the audience that the person in front of the guy on the clip (Andrew Meyer) would be the last question or comment they had time for. Meyer became upset about this and Kerry allowed him to ask his questions. He went on for quite a while and was interrupted by police for a moment before saying, "He (Kerry) went on for two hours, I at least get two minutes." There's a longer video available on the web that trails him being led out and down the stairs in handcuffs before an officer finally bothers to tell him that he's being arrested for "inciting a riot." WTF? Several students also follow them out and shout at the police, while telling Meyer that they will provide eyewitness accounts of the incident.

What is this, communist China? Oh yeah, and the pigs will get away with it. What a gas!!

Er, Jonny, I think you mean TOTALITARIAN China. Communism and totalitarianism go hand in hand no more than capitalism and democracy. Let's not sully communism's good name.

There is absolutely nothing humorous about this whatsoever. This is the 2nd video I've seen in the last week in which an American citizen has been taken down by police in an overt and unnecessary show of force.

In this video a reverend trying to attend the Petraeus hearings is taken down by 6 cops and had to be hospitalized. The reason is about equal to this college student, only the reverend does not resist at all.

WTF?

I vote for funny.

And I vote for this guy being a tardfuck. Some self-aggrandizing haughty prick that wouldn't shut up, went way over his alloted time, was asked repeatedly to wrap up and move on, got combative, got disruptive, and generally acted like an all-around jackass, like some drunk guy who runs onto the baseball field naked and wonders why he's tackled by a phalanx of security guards.

Not everyone is a martyr. Some of them are just self-righteous pricks.

Can't it be 99 percent unfunny, and a tiny bit funny? Or is that against the law of moral outrage?

You think that was funny? You would have loved all the fun they had in the Rhineland in the '40s.

it probably sucks to get "tased", but "don't tase me, bro" is totally funny! i laughed when i heard him say it on the news and i laughed even harder when i read it on the blog. i think i would even laugh if it had been my best friend who said it- and they would laugh about it later when they realized that the word "bro" had been used in such a situation. hysterical!

and i'm all down for free speach and everything, but dude kinda seems like a fool...

smirk, you cannot be serious in your comparison of Genocide to some jackass being tazed. don't do that to yourself. it just makes you sound silly.

Did you all watch the same video I did?? This numbnuts was clearly resisting arrest. He saw the cop with the tazer and continued to resist. He got what he deserved. Regardless of whether or not he had a right to speak he struggled against 5 officers for over 2 minutes and everyone is so "shocked" that they zapped him. If it had been someone like ... oh lets say... The grand wizzard of the kkk or something, everyone would have cheered. But since it is some college student we are all outraged. Its simple DONT RESIST ARREST. If you have a problem for the reason of your arrest, take it up with the judge.

Oh and you were right it was deffinately not funny... It was FREAKIN HILARIOUS

Hmmm, subdued on the ground, surrounded by 6 cops minimum, oh yeah no doubt about it, a clear danger to the public and in dire need of being taken down. Jack Booted Thuggery at it's finest. Wonder if there's any openings at Gitmo or China for their kind?

On a side note... At a recent expo i attented there was a Tazer booth offering a chance to "get tazed" for free. They had to turn people away because so many signed up they ran out of legal forms.

Hey steve... Anyone stupid enough to continue to resist 6 cops after he sees he is about to get tazed may be a danger to the public. At the very least he is a threat to the gene pool.

I vote funny. Normally I wouldn't, but, that jackass was just all about drama. I can't help but feel like he actually wanted the situation to get worse, I think the cops gave him exactly what he wanted.

I used to have a friend, a guy who would have created that kind of situation too, who loves to play the martyr and would have actually, in a weird way, loved being tazed, and who would have worn the experience like a medal of honor and annoyed everyone with his story of police brutality for the rest of his life (always ignoring the obvious, like why didn't you stop physically fighting the cops.) If you don't have that person in your past, the one who has a knack for creating bad drama all around them while always being "innocent", then good for you. Maybe that shmuck in the video isn't like my ex-friend, but he sure does remind me of him.

That was cool! Friggin' free speech idiots. I tell ya, you give these "citizens" an inch and they'll take a mile. I can't wait to see what they do when they get rid of the rest of people's rights! Maybe they can have public hangings for bad thoughts! That would be Awesome!!!

I would like to have been there with a giant red can of pepper spray to open up on the pigs. Then I would have kicked their asses and had the crowd join in. Now that video would be FUNNY!!

there is nothing funny about Bro. i used Bro for years and it nearly ruined my life. at first it was just something i would do with my friends for fun but eventually i was using Bro every day and in every situation. i used it when i was happy, i used it when i was sad, and i even used Bro when i was angry. it was an addiction. so have pity for the poor tased student not just because his aggressive sense of entitlement has left him with no respect for social convention or sense of responsibility for his actions- pity him for having lost his ability to control his use of Bro.

Citizen: "What am I being charged with?"
Cop: "About 50,000 volts."

It's brutality. Locally, Portland should implement a law regulating when tasers are allowed to be used, in addition to cleaning house on dumb thugs we have for cops these days.

It's coming out that that guy is a notorious prankster at the University and an attention seeking idiot. He was hogging the mike. He had his turn and refused to step aside. He then began fighting with police and being a giant ass. Did he deserve to get tazered. Hell yeah. He was non-compliant and for all the cops knew could have broken away and endangered someone else. After Virginia Tech, I say no taking chances with looney tunes students. So, taze him BRO!

I see. Wait, which law did he break? Attention seeking? Idiot? Or was it the crime of "had his turn and refused to step aside?" But certainly, after Virginia Tech, this heavily armed student... wait, what was he armed with?

I think this comment copied from the Slog breaks it down well (watch the video link):

This video doesn't show the whole context.

He had been at the mic for about 90 seconds rambling. They cut his mic so that Kerry could respond. He stayed there and started yelling. The event orgnaizers tried to peaceably remove him. He started running around and screaming.

After that the police tried to remove him with slightly more force. He then resisted a lot. He was then tased.

He was up and walking and talking about 30 seconds later.

Watch this:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=3ec_1190097717

That shows what happened after he was tased. Dude turns out to be not so good at reality.

He's convinced that he is about to be disappeared by the local cops.

This is not about a lack of freedom of speech. This is about a disruptive jackass being removed from a town hall debate. That's all it is.

And for the people blaming Kerry, did Kerry say, "Hey jack-booted police thugs, would you kindly taser and arrest this person who is finally showing light on my misdeeds?"

The "Don't taze me, bro!" plea resonated with me so much that I put it into a blog post and designed a line of merchandise featuring the plea. If nothing else, you'll find it worth a look.

Little Andrew is no different from some joker running naked onto the field at Giants stadium with 'BUSH LIED' painted on his buttcheeks. He should be treated as such.

His entire goal for the day was to be on TV. It has nothing at all to do with free speech and very little to do with the 2004 election.

I must say it was an excellent career move for a young journalism student. Probably they will give him an editor's job at 'Time' magazine.

PS DON'T TAZE ME BRO!!! HAHAHAHAHA

That's damn funny!!!! 100% funny with no qualifiers at all!

OK, what it really comes down to is that the guy resisted arrest (as others before me have said). Given the cops were a little quick to jump, and the situation could have been handled better from the beginning, but once you RESIST ARREST you are considered an endangerment to the cops, and the people around you (no matter how many cops. Hell he was giving them all a hard time, and he could have pulled a knife or a gun).

1) He should have given up the mic when asked to, not doing so and then continuing to interrupt the discussion is just being a disruption at a public even, and trying to draw attention to yourself.

2) Once the cops started to apprehend him he should have settled down and not fought against them, once you fight they have every right to put you in cuffs (as I said who knows if he is going to pull a weapon).

3) If you watch the video and attempt to hear the cops you can see the warn him about being tazed. So why the hell would you continue to resist once they say that? Answer: stupidity

IMO the guy got what he deserved in the end, and it's hands down hilarious that he used bro. If that makes me an amoral ass, so be it. At least I'm not some idiot drawing attention to myself at a public event, and getting tazed in the process.

That dude was a prick. Disturbing the peace is against the law and if you break it and resist arrest, you will probably get zapped. Also, had it been a Portland city council meeting, they probably would have been more lenient but you pull some crazy shit with a guy of John Kerry's stature then be prepared.

Don't taze me, bro is fucking funny.

What a douche. I say taze the fuck out of him- hell, throw in some clubbing, boot kicks and whatever else. Feed it to us on YouTube for a hearty chuckle. This disruptive douche bag deserves it and that's coming from a man with a strong distaste for John Kerry. No, you don't get to go in there, go off as you see fit, throw a child-like tantrum when removed from the mike and piss & moan about it afterward. If I were in charge, Dick Cheney's hunting buddy would be in much better shape than this dude. "Don't taze me, Bro!" Okay, how about a 12 gauge slug to the head, you whiny fuck! Sounds good to me, but I digress.

This tasing proves, yet again. that the world is better with David Hasslehoff.

This tasing proves, yet again, that the world is better with David Hasslehoff.

Don't taze me bro t-shirts

It **was** funny and the tasering was pretty much fair. The guy decided that he could hog the mic and nobody could deny him the "right" to hog the mic. When he was asked to let go of it, he should have. From tehn on, he was simply escalating the situation. (On purpose, it seems ... he made sure soemone was taping it for him so he could put it on youtube.)

Look Jerry, Let's see. He was warned before he was arrested. He broke the law when he disrupted an event that everyone else there had a right to witness. You infringe on other people's right to witness an event and ask questions as well, then you resist officers who are trying to make sure the event can go ahead for everyone not just this jerk. Hmm let's see, that's called disturbing the peace and resisting arrest and failure to comply with a police officer's lawful order. That's against the law. Period. What about the other students' right to ask questions? What about their right to hear the answers? This selfish ass didn't care, and evidently people like you with knee jerk anti-police attitudes, don't either.

Bottom line: He wouldn't have gotten arrested and tazed if he'd acted like a rational decent human being and not broken the law.

The police had no idea what this jackass was hiding in his pockets or his waste band, and he was clearly acting irrationally. He could've been a danger. And since dumb ass American liberals refuse to take away people's so called "right to carry weapons," than we never will know if wingnuts are carrying guns in a given situation. so I say take his ass down.

Lol, and yet another internet era catch phrase is born - "DON'T TASE ME BRO!"

This is going to RULE 4chan

Haha, oh wow! This is the funniest thing I have ever seen!

funniest thing ive seen since "cant we just all get along"! how melowdramatic. cant wait to get the t-shirt. that kid reminds me of all the, "get up and change the world, because proffesor 'never had a real job', ispired me" type kid! his questions were hysterical, and have been answered endlessly for a long time. FUCK SMUG COLLEGE STUDENTS! they feel that they can do anything cause theyre just starting to learn. sad thing is, he'll probably get laid cause of this because 19 year old chics are even dumber. "hey, arent you the kid who said dont taze me bro, that was hot, you are soooo popular right now"

Sorry, but this is NOT funny at all. He didn't do anything to be arrested or tasered. No crime was committed. You wouldn't like it if this happened, so try putting yourself in someone's else's shoes. Freedom of speech is becoming a thing of the past, and nothing is funny about that.

Come on now! you can't make this stuff up people,DON'T TASE ME BRO! lmao PRI$ElE$$.

You can't make this stuff up people,DON'T TAZE ME BRO! lmao PRI$ElE$$.

the tazing may have been uncalled for but it is funny as hell seeing a pot somkin hippie get messed up. the guy was looking for attention in the same manner as britney spears, paris hilton,bill maher, and ann coltier

What's with all the lame T Shirts?? There's only one tshirt that calls for the revolution we need!!! Freedom of SPEECH!
These tshirts are really coolest....
"Don't Taze Me, Bro!" T SHIRTS
http://www.cafepress.com/dont_taze_me

his cause would have been noble had he not resisted. this shows me that my fellow young ppl may have deep beliefs and hard questions for our political leader , but have little knowlge of how fair minded discourse in a public forum

freedom of speach is not the issue

ghandi never got tazed and he practiced NON-VIOLENT RESISTANCE but i guess ther wasnt tazers then

it only could of been funnier if the dude would have pissed himself

Wow, you guys can argue all you want about if it was funny, or not, but there is a real tragedy here and that is that everyone is ignoring the question he was asking Kerry. How could he concede the election amid all the voting irregularities. Kerry would have answered that there wasn't enough evidence to contest the results, but the point is that Andrew Meyer brought something extremely critical here, mainly that there are cracks in our democracy, and there is nothing funny about that. Breaking to the front of the line may, or may not have left himself in a legally justifiable position in terms of free speech, but Kerry was willing to invite his question grudgingly. But even if he was not legally justified, he was certainly morally justified and I'm proud of him, even if it was engineered-all the more power to him for going that far to make his point. In fact I strongly feel that the time for civil discourse may be coming to a close and that we as a nation may be required to do whatever it takes to ensure that the laws of the state cohere with the laws of the people.

One of the funniest things I have seen in a long tine !! Clearly this jackass went to the forum intending to disrupt it in anyway possible, but didn't count on getting tuned up by a tazer. Afterwards he sounded like a 6 year old that just got stung by a bee... which made the whole thing look completely staged!!He's lucky I wasn't one of the cops because I would have considered a rubber bullet in the forehead.

Hopefully I'll receive my "don't taze me bro" T-shirt on FedX tomorrow. I can't wait to hear all the comments from the far left Libs when I proudly wear it in downtown Seattle :-)

But what about this guy's question to Kerry!!! Do any of you know what he was asking the former Democratic candidate?

Jenny and Eric. Oh boy, where do I start. First Jenny you say I wouldn't like it if this happened. That's a moot point because I wouldn't go on a rambling screed for 3 minutes, then refuse to step aside and let the question be answered or let other questioners have a turn. The crime was ignoring event staff who told him to step aside for everyone's sake, then fighting police who tried to keep the place from turning into a zoo, then continuing to resist them when all you had to do was leave after said repeated warnings. I clearly heard police warn the guy in the video that he'd be tazered if he continued to resist. He didn't. We all saw what happened. No one denied his freedom of speech. If anything he denied Kerry's freedom to answer the question by continuing to ramble on. Then he denied the freedom of speech of the other questioners with his idiocy. Freedom of speech is everyone's right not just self-righteous pricks.

To Eric. What the hell good is it to ask a question then refuse to let the person answer? For all that idiot cared, Kerry might as well not have been there. I frankly would've liked to have heard his answer, but the idiot kid wouldn't just step aside and let him answer. Also, maybe a really good question could've come from another student. We'll never know because a selfish wanker took it upon himself to F that opportunity up so he could play the martyr on camera. He did nothing commendable. Whatever insight could've come from the question is lost in the insanity of his behavior.

There's no question about Andrew's behavior being a bit unruly. According to some reports I'm reading he broke to the front of the line. In such cases civil discourse has no obligation to respect those individuals who break with civility. But Kerry did invite his question and 20 seconds into his first question is when he was interrupted for the first time. From there it all seems to go down hill. But in light of the question he is asking, I do see clear moral justification for his disobedience. If the 2004 campaign had serious voting irregularities, and if Greg Palast's writings have any validity, then it time to stand up and fight for what we believe in. Thomas Jefferson made it clear that we may come to this point. Maybe we should all get tazed!

Are you guys too naive to address Andrew's references to Armed Mad House, or just chicken sh**?

As for you, "taze him bro", you don't understand that I'm saying, civil discourse is becoming useless in the the shadow of the executive pulpit, which is using its vast war-time powers to limit our civil liberties. The events that brought this sinister entity into our government may have been crooked from the beginning and that it may be time for a significant section of society to do what Andrew did and break to the front of the line to be heard.

I think it's hilarious and he deserved what he got. He was clearly attempting to make a scene. He tried to hog the mike and blather endlessly. Why did he think he was entitled to ask multiple questions? If he wanted unfettered freedom of speech, he should have walked outside the room and exercised that right at will.

He willingly decided to push his luck after he was asked to get to his question. He insisted that he was going to first "inform, then ask my questions." I'd taser him twice.

Joke's on you pal. The nation is outraged by what happened to him and he probably was pulling a stunt, whether, or not he thought he might get tazed. But can you imagine what our campuses would be like if when someone asked too many questions that we could be shocked with electricity? There's always some jack ass who goes to far in asking questions. What's wrong with dealing with those kinds of people in more humanitarian way? Kerry said himself that he could have handled Andrew just fine on his own.

I'm disappointed that none of you can engage in a discussion regarding Andrew's statements and questions about the writings of Palast in Armed Mad House. If you knew about Palast's writings I think you would understand why Andrew's situation was in such jeopardy. Andrew was contesting the 2004 elections and I have to think that it burned some of those police too hard for them to ignore.

good night

I think it was incredibly funny. The man was out of hand WELL before the campus security began to apply force. You can see in the video that he starts rampaging about as soon as the officers even begin moving towards him. He displayed aggression, and the officers simply moved in on him in response.

Wow what a little fag.

Look maybe you need a black guy's perpective hear. I have seen real black folk get abused and you have too and watched cops get off and it got no where near the amount of protest and self righteous free speech debating I see this prankster getting. All that aside I CAN NOT STOP LAUGHING. Sure it looked painful but this white dude wanted that to happen especially knowing it would promote his website. I bet OJ simpson wish he wouldn't had some cops and media with him equipped to tasers during his sting. DONT TASE ME BRO to the black and female minority goon squad showed the new Rodney King of America in 2007. Just like King, he said something funny and witty, and his attackers have enough friends who justify their excessive force to make it safe to say they wont lose their jobs. So buy the tshirt and discuss his beatdown in class BUT PLEASE stop making this white boy Rosa Parks.

The questions or the point he was getting at seems to have missed most people. That there really isn't a choice in elections that they are just for show. That this Democrats vs Republicans is nothing more than a pretense. Why else would Kerry have conceded so quickly even though there were disputed votes in a key state that would have changed the entire election.
tasering: not funny. but "don't taze me bro" is a hilarious rallying cry.
http://www.cafepress.com/wobbly_rooster/2247507

Oh boooo! He was a loud antagonist and was tazerd for none compliance to police orders. Yes, there is a point where the police must inform you of the charges, however, the first priority of police is to get control of the situation. This is not a free speech issue. It is a decorum issue. According to some news sources, he was asked to stop talking after his time had expired (yes Virginia, you only have 2 minutes because there are 300 of us in the freaking room who would like our turn), then asked to leave, then escorted (that's when he resisted), then he was tazed ... I spent the day LMAO ... "Don't taze me, Bro.!" Sure he was scared ... and ... He was stupid. Don’t confuse real free speech issues with the result of being stupid when the police roll up on you.

Peace out Bro.!

have you people heard the DANCE MIX???

Don't Taze Me Bro Dance Mix!

have you people heard the DANCE MIX???

this link works:

Don't Taze Me Bro Dance Mix!

This is great. I only wish they would have use pepper spray on him too. I love it.

Point is Eric I do get what you're on about. I just happen to disagree. I've seen the video must be five times by now. The dude never shut up. Kerry can be heard trying to take on the question while that idiot went on yelling and jumping around. How about the other folks? What they don't have a right to ask questions? This guy and his issue are more important than them? How "democratic" is that?

As for the Armed Mad House thing. I've heard Palast interviewed on the radio and I've read some of his stuff. Some of it's good other stuff not so much. His whole point about shenanigans in Ohio in 04' is interesting, but to me beside the point. The real issue is why was the election close enough that electoral funny business could have taken place? Kerry was clearly smarter, much better qualified and we'd be better off with him than with Bush. He should have blown Bush out of the water. So why did 60 million people still vote for Bush? Why is half the US in a state of virtual retardation? Did they not see Bush's abysmal record over the previous four years? No all these jokers cared about was that somebody was going to take away their guns, or god forbid, dudes might marry each other or something super important like that. Bush is just a symptom of a bigger problem. The US has become a laughing stock around the world. That's the issue. Not a few thousand ballots in Ohio, or Florida for that matter. in typical fashion American liberals like to blame other people for their own inadequacies. The conservatives have been kicking their asses for years and instead of trying to win over those 60 million bird brains, they'd rather bitch and moan and run around like baboons at public events, get tazed, then act like the state is repressing them. GIVE ME A BREAK.

It's interesting that you say this makes you mad that people stand around and do nothing all the bystanders just watch this is just like the holocaust Germans did nothing to stop hitler same thing here happened just a few years ago whites would kill blacks and think it was funny. THIS IS NOT FUNNY AT ALL!

I don't know if Andrew Meyer was joking when he instigated this incident, but I'm not laughing either way. I'm sick and tired of the corrupt neo-cons and there's no time to laugh and no time for apathy. It's time to fight. All this waiting around to ask your politically correct questions in a polite way is over. The American people don't deserve to have peaceful discourse if they are so ignorant as to elect Bush two times in a row, someone who cares very little about checks and balances. In a democracy the people who elect their leaders are ultimately morally responsible for the actions of their leaders.

But to Rudy Rios, Andrew was interrupted by police before his two minutes were up, so they were a bit antagonistic considering that Kerry called on him. There was wrong doing on both the part of Andrew and the police since Andrew broke to the front in the beginning- but it would have been more constructive to let Andrew finish. No student that anxious to speak should be tackled and tazered.

"Taze Him Bro", I agree with what you last posted. Totally agree. Democrats are weak! As far as I'm concerned its too late for them to buck up. The conservatives are usually very organized, so a third party might hurt the Democrats, but I'm not sure if this two-party system works anymore. But I do know that the American people are responsible for their leaders.

Taze him bro, But those police shouldn't have laid a finger on Andrew after Kerry called on him. They should have taken him out of the building when he broke to the front in the beginning. After Kerry called on him, he had the right to speak. After all, who was the one with the authority in that room? The police may have the responsibility to keep order, but the highest official in the room was Kerry and the police were negligent to let such a small situation turn into such a big situation. All the more power to Andrew. He's a smart kid and look what he pulled off.

For Christ's sakes sometimes we need to heckle. when there is a fire in the building, you bet your ass a good heckle is needed. Well there is a fire and its in the White House.

These people all deserve each other. DTMB was acting like a jerk and the campus cops acted like typical campus cops once they got their swarm on. DTMB got tazed and arrested (which he deserved) and the campus cops are getting roasted and will be investigated and ridiculed for months for overreacting to a loud mouth bozo (which they deserve). There is no need to pick sides, all participants behaved poorly. Two people run a red light and collide, and then argue about whose light was redder.

The rules in this forum were clear. Ask a question, get an answer. This was not the forum for a speech. He got out of control early on. They did the right thing.

It's frightening what a bunch of sheep we have become - this guy may have been slightly antagonsitic but College is supposed to make you think freely - not be a sheep following the crowd. He asked good questions and the campus rent-a-cops broke the law and his constitutional rights.

This guy hads EVERY right to ask a legitimate question - FREE SPEECH is a RIGHT. He did not resist, he was attacked by the rent-a-cops.

To the people who disagree with me - you must enjoy living in a gestapo state, just wait till they come after you.

CGC, Maybe they did their job, but they way they did it resulted in getting DTMB's message to the whole country. Do you think that DTMB will even care he got tazed after all this publicity. Hell, I want to get tazed now. In fact, I've tazed myself and have been tazed by others. Its really not that bad as long as you don't have a pace maker. Its funny that you think he got what he deserved. Well all he got was a bunch of publicity and now Greg Palast has been announced to the nation after an almost complete black-out by the American media. Why was Greg Palast blacked out? He's the one who uncovered the truth about Kathleen Harris's meddling in the 2001 election. It turns out that she through any person she could off the voter registration lists who had an African American sounding name that was close (not exact) to the names of felons in other states or in Florida. Blacks with misdemeanors were also thrown off registration lists, which is totally illegal. Greg Palast uncovered evidence that the 2004 elections were also stolen and now he has evidence that Republicans have plans to steal the 08 elections.

First, the police are not subordinate to a visiting Senator. Kerry is not an executive official the police answer to. They had every right to stop bro-man from disrupting the event, regardless of whether Kerry wanted to talk to him. They were right not to reward him for managing to push his way to the front and get Kerry's attention over others who also had questions and were following the rules. Second, watch the video again. He was not submitting. He was struggling and trying to get free, taking advantage of the smaller female cops who were lawfully subduing him for disorderly conduct. They warned him he would be tazed if he didn't submit. He wouldn't have to say "don't taze me" if he intended to comply. He just had to sit there, and he wouldn't have gotten tazed. This guy was obviously trying to make a scene and had planned it from the beginning. He has no right to monopolize Kerry's time at the expense of everyone else there who also want to ask questions. Third, it was indeed funny. The fact people around him were smiling was because they realized he was out of line and was just pulling a stunt. He has a personal reputation for this. Look it up. Fourth, for those who don't know, after the event he even admitted to the cops that he was wrong and that he realized they were just doing their job. Fifth, some people here need to do their homework. It's not a "police state" just because you can't get away with doing whatever you want at the expense of others. Learn the difference between a "police state" and a state with police. Want you apparently want is a state without police. You wouldn't last a week in such a state. Sixth, if people had the right to speak in whatever manner they wanted with no order at all, bro-man wouldn't even have been able to ask any questions at all at the event, because Kerry's right-wing opponents would have been able to shut the event down totally by rioting in the building, and under the rules you implicitly propose, this would be protected "speech."

Mike, your not wrong, technically, but your essentially wrong. Police walk a very tight rope. Perception is very critical here and when people see images of a young man getting tazed at a university for speaking, it just doesn't sit very well. Andrew is clearly the victor in the battle of perception. Police can't always worry about perception, but in a university they certainly should. But I still believe that the cop's chance to get him off the podium ended after Kerry called on him. It was bullshit that they started harassing him before he could even finish his first question, and notice that the cops start harassing him as soon as Andrew points out that the 04 elections were stolen.

Look at the big pic here Mike. Andrew was breaking the laws of a forum to point out that the Republican party is destroying our democracy. Again, when their is a fire in the building I shout fire. I would break any law to warn my fellow countrymen that our democracy is being lost. Andrew is a hero.

QUICK, everyone listen to Eric before he gets tazed too!!! We hear you Eric, thank you. You've really opened our eyes to the conditions of "our democracy".

Andrew's stunt was a call to action. Since there is no draft I don't expect the American people to all go out and get tazed, but it would be nice if they did.

But I'm frightened about the cracks in our democracy. Why don't you read Palast and see for yourself what you think. Americans don't get all the news they should. Who cares about Andrews stunt. Look at the stunt the President pulled off in the White House. That's the stunt we should be worried about. Talk about breaking to the front of the line! We should be outraged at the Executive Office, not the student who was our messenger. But opinion poles show broad support for Andrew anyway, thank god! I'm just upset that Bush got elected a second time. We have a bunch of ignorant people in this country. As free as our press is compared to other countries, our press has a definate biass to no rock the boat. The British have known for years that our elections were messed up. The election process in the United States is not as good as many third world countries and Jimmy Carter would be the first to point that out. The Iowa Caucus is a joke.

Excuse me to all the people who think this is funny and to make a mockery out of this.
First of all, Andrew can sue in every way for whoever made this video.
Secondly, even though he was being ignorant, he asked Why he was being tazered and yet the police didn't answer.
They have to answer.

Also, Thirdly, this guy got arrested for being a jackass? Why not arrest the whole world then. Everyone's a fucking jackass. Is it illegal to speak your mind. I'm pretty sure the Bill of Rights says we have Freedom of Speech.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

The United States is a republic not a democracy. If anyone thinks there is much difference between the Clintons, Bushes or Kerrys then they are incredibly naive. This kid was just looking for attention because he a spoiled kid from Weston, FL and mommy and daddy are probably proud because he made a scene. Kerry is a joke but there is a difference between freedom of speech and being a disruptive clown. I only wish the tasers had been cranked up higher. Andrew is an idiot.

Help! I'm being repressed!

Only a fool resists arrest when being threatened by six cops and being tazered.

He's lucky that they were only using tazers - Nightsticks are a lot more painful, so I hear.

Free speech is a right, sure. You don't have the right to hog a mike or filibuster.

Eric: Your weird interpretation the Bill of Rights of it isn't what matters to a cop, security guard, or bouncer. The next time you are given an order by someone authorized to use a weapon, demand your right of free speech - I dare you.

ok.. can any of you idiot liberals give me one example of what the cops were supposed to do in that situation????
Cops: ok, your turn is up
Student: No
Cops: ok please do whatever you want.... don't let us stop you...
What's next... just go ahead and loot the book store. apparently we're not allowed to do anything to stop you....
that a-hole got what he deserved and it's totally hysterical. I have that as my new ring tone....

holy crap....they have DON'T TASE ME BRO ringtones now?

they should have let him finish his questions...but his pain is for my edification, a 21st century liberal version of a crucifixion ...he got tased for my sins and now I can't stop laughing

it's so wrong but so right

Does anyone here read the news? Are you all twelve? This guy is a prankster. He ASKED his friend to video him because he WANTED this to happen. He has done it before. He planned this.

All this talk about our democracy or Bush for a leftist college prank is so unbelievably sophmoric.

The real threat to our country is the ignorant leftist children with no knowlege of history our universities are churning out.

It's very funny! This idiot is a moron that got what he deserved and no less for being a total jackass. They should have tazed John K while they were at it for good measure and being an equal dumbass.

Sure is nice to have a spoiled rotten 21 year old kid full of self entitlement explain how the world works to everyone. That rocks dude!

Why doesn't he just go back to his dorm room and spend the day getting high, listening to crappy sub-par jam and hip-hop bands while his folks pay all the bills. Didn't his folks ever tell him that provoking and fighting back at the cops will get you a spankin? Maybe some nice liberal organization will be happy to hire this guy when he graduates!

Nice...

First off to Brad. The Gestapo stuff is just rhetoric. If it were anything like Nazi Germany here, or Communist Russia, that forum wouldn't have taken place to begin with. There wouldn't have been discussion of electoral politics period because there'd only be one political party allowed. This online discussion wouldn't be happening, because totalitarian societies like China and Iran censor the internet. While, I agree we have to stay vigilant about our democracy, I think that kind of rhetoric is at best unhelpful and makes it easy for the right wing to write serious folks off as loopy.

To Eric. I actually think we're not that far apart on democracy and free speech. What I disagree with you on strenuously is that this guy rights were violated, that he didn't have ample opportunity to make his point, then step aside and let Kerry answer and also give other people a right to participate in the event. If any free speech was being violated, Tazer boy was doing the violating by denying other people their rights. The video has the dude going off for literally minutes without a wit of concern for anyone else.

I'll just make the point that a free society doesn't mean anything goes. I don't have a right to walk into your home and claim it for myself just because that's what I feel like doing. I don't have a right to walk into a public library where you're trying to study or read quietly and drop trow and run around the room quacking like a duck at the top of my lungs. Wait, I'm a taxpayer, you may say, and my taxes help pay for this library. Well, what about you trying to study and everybody else not acting like a jerk? Your taxes don't also pay for the library? If letting me or Tazer boy do whatever we want and damn everybody else is your vision of a functioning free society than let's hope your vision never comes true.

that lady fat cop just wanted to touch him

Too bad he wasn't a nig­ger, because I fuc­king hate niggers. Check out my site for some nig­ger-tazing action lol

"Don't taze me bro" is the catch phase of the year! How funny! He knew EXACTLY what he was doing. He provoked the police until they had to taser him. He even got fair warning. Reisting arrest is illegal folks. I wish they would sell videos of people gettign tazed. There is nothing funnier to see than some dope resisting arrest or threatening police gettting zapped! Ha! Ha! Ha!

"Don't taze me bro" is the catch phase of the year! How funny! He knew EXACTLY what he was doing. He provoked the police until they had to taser him. He even got fair warning. Reisting arrest is illegal folks. I wish they would sell videos of people gettign tazed. There is nothing funnier to see than some dope resisting arrest or threatening police gettting zapped! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Taze Him Bro,

No, I do realize that he gave up his right to free speech when he broke the rules of the forum by breaking to the front of the line. But it wasn't very good judgment on the part of the police to break into his first question once Kerry called on him. They had the right to stop his stumping. Tazing was a little heavy handed.

But the great thing Meyer did was to propel Greg Palast into national attention, a writer who has been all but blacked out from American media attention other than his books and two radio shows on Democracy Now. At the same time international media has learned of specific evidence in regards to the irregularities of our elections, which we, in the USA, haven't seen in the media. Like I said, American media doesn't like to rock the boat. Many American Election processes are outdated, or have serious flaws. As a result they don't suit the needs of a modern democratic society. When the laws of the state do not adhere to the laws of the people, then it is morally justifiable to circumvent some laws according to the severity of the correction that is needed. In affect Meyer was morally justified by drawing attention to himself and pulling off the stunt he did, so that he could bring much more serious accusations to light.

So, Taze him bro, while you strain to come to grips with this kid's breaking of some forum rules the Republican party is planning the coup of 2008. There is a fire in the executive office. Corruption is rampant, administration officials are blatantly lying to Congress and in affect shoving themselves to the front of the line of Washington Politics, thereby derailing the checks and balances of our government. Its good to know when to break the rules, and he did. If our country never broke the rules would we have ever gotten our independence from Britain? If Rosa Parks hadn't broken the rules, blacks may have waited longer for civil rights.

When people say that we have to wait for justice by keeping ourselves in line and waiting for our turn to speak, or wait for the next fixed election to vote, sometimes you just have to say "NO, I'm not going to wait, or sit down and shut up, or succumb to arrest". And yes we have to face the consequences if we fight injustice, but by no means should we always shut up when we are told.

And I would be honored Taze Him Bro, if you broke into my room in the middle of the night and started quacking like a duck, it would be just like my college days.

I've enjoyed reading all of your comments. Is the situation funny? Of course not -- it's tragic. But there's no question that the video itself and the circumstances involved (as well as the catch phrase) are extremely entertaining, particularly in our currently warped, reality-TV-obsessed society.

Please understand, I am not a liberal nut or a crazy conservative. I am a College professor who recognizes both the right to free speech as well as the right to maintain order within society. This young man conducted himself in an inappropriate way, whatever his motives, and brought undue attention upon himself in a public arena. The result of his actions and reactions, while harsh, were predictable. In today's society, if you go looking for trouble you will inevitably find it.

Frankly, I think Andrew Meyer is in desperate need of a psych eval...

So Al. . . .

I guess the kids at Kent State probably needed a psych evaluation too because they were running around like a bunch mad fools when they got shot by the National Guard.

And the protesters at the Boston Massacre were asking to get shot, because they got in the face of British soldiers who had guns.

Like I said, there are times to break the rules. He acted appropriately because he got you talking on this forum Al, but its too bad we're limiting our discussion to his actions and not carrying this over into the disaster we have going on in the White House. Its not time for complacency and the American people aren't about to start paying attention to some kid holding a book full of serious accusations without getting tazed. Has anyone gotten Armed Mad House by Greg Palast? It's a pretty good read. It jumps around a little too much since its meant to be read in any order. Its funny here and there. Check him out at http://www.gregpalast.com

"Don't taze me Bro" is funny.

The event and reaction of the University Police Department is not funny!

Sure, the guy is an idiot but his offense, being loud and inconsiderate of others, did not warrant being tazed. With their superior numbers and a little intelligence UPD could have easily controlled him (isn't this police are trained to do?) and not reacting at all might have prevented the episode escalating as Kerry was clearly willing to engage the guy and answer his question(s). Unfortunately intelligence is not an active part of policing.

As a graduate of UF I can, from experience, attest to the abusive, power tripping, rent-a-cop mentality of the University of Florida goon squad. Viva la police state…

The only thing NOT funny is this big punk masquerading as a MAN. His pathetic and futile attempt to incite the crowd to come to his aid, that was funny. Screaming like a little girl, THAT was funny. “Don’t taze me, Bro”... REALLY funny.
And the night he spent in jail had to be real funny. Not to him, but definitely to whoever had him bent over his bunk, listening to him plead “Don’t fuck me, Bro...”

When they tazed the unruly college student
I remained silent,I wasn't a student anymore

When they tazed that black guy on TV
I remained silent,I wasn't black

When they tazed that indigent guy down the street
I remained silent,I wasn't quite indigent

When they tazed the guy at the library, who was making a fuss
I remained silent,I was docile

When they tazed me,there was no one left to speak out

Don't quit your day job.

"Don't Taze Me Bro" is hilarious. I laughed pretty hard the first time I heard this. I have been tazed, and it makes you pretty cooperative. I didn't cry like a three year old girl though. I just dropped to the floor. I think that this type of exercise of inapropriate public behavior will eventually help do-away with freedom of speech. That my fellow Americans will be a sad day.

"Don't Taze Me Bro" is hilarious. I laughed pretty hard the first time I heard this. I have been tazed, and it makes you pretty cooperative. I didn't cry like a three year old girl though. I just dropped to the floor. I think that this type of exercise of inapropriate public behavior will eventually help do-away with freedom of speech. That my fellow Americans will be a sad day.

DONT TAZE ME BRO totebags now on sale online, oh of course!

Ok: apperently hes an ass, (I hear this all over BUT!) being a young white ass and asking REALLY INTERESTING QUESTIONS of Kerry about Iran, Impechment of Bush, his role in the stolen elections, and Skull & Bones is not a crime!

not like murder.

"the cops thought he was going to hurt the senator"
is that the excuse for crazy overkill here?
He wasnt doing crack, or pulling it out and wacking off or urinating at the senator.

He asked what a lot of folks want to ask.

I think he took entirely too much time getting his courage and balls up to actually ask the hard stuff, a bit of pomp and fluff, but I also think he was excited, and getting a load of attention, and hoping for approval and back up from his peers ... or perhaps even a real genuine moment of connection to Kerry, who knows? LETS ASK HIM.

"Why didnt anyone get up and start telling the officers off when they first picked him up"
well... would YOU?
I think we are all entirely too chicken to resist bad bad things we see happening right in front of us. We just watch, conditioned to stare at images of horror by movies like SAW etc... his Blood or Vomit could be running down, and would we all just watch it passivly?

"But hes just an asshole"
Yeah sure, he could just be an asshole, but I dont care. I dont want the cops to just come Taze ANY of us for being asses.
They have to show more restraint, and learn engagement and psychology. They could have just let him rant, Kerry could have just answered "I dont know why I didnt do anything." or "I was frightened - they said theyd kill my wife and I." etc etc ..or he could have left, even pulled "we'll arrange a private meeting with the senator for you sonny" etc etc.

"He was trying to get the students to Riot!"
He was a loudmouth, but what caused them to fear he could incite a riot? was he trying to actually incite a riot? Was he known for this sort of thing? Is he that popular at his school? The others sat there and didnt help him much.

!very very interesting!

OTHER NEWS OF GESTAPO-STYLEE GOING ON HERE:
Rev. Lennox Yearwood attacked, arrested, and hospitalized:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiradcejA6o

We met this Reverend in Washington DC at the last couple of peace rallys with Cindy - hes with the HipHop Community and a cool guy, and was NOT resisting arrest and they hurt him. Incredible...
no actually
its very credible that the cops would hurt a Black Reverend... SOMEONE shot Rev. MLK Jr in the brain back on April 4th 1968, after all.

I'm sure Florida has similar if not identical statues in place. These are taken directly from the New York State Penal Law. Here is some "education" for all of you out there who "know your rights!".

1. Disorderly Conduct NYSPL 240.20 subdivision 4.

A person is guilty of disorderly conduct when, with intent to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof:

1. He engages in fighting or in violent, tumultuous or threatening
behavior; or
2. He makes unreasonable noise; or
3. In a public place, he uses abusive or obscene language, or makes an obscene gesture; or
4. Without lawful authority, he disturbs any lawful assembly or
meeting of persons; or
5. He obstructs vehicular or pedestrian traffic; or
6. He congregates with other persons in a public place and refuses to
comply with a lawful order of the police to disperse; or
7. He creates a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act
which serves no legitimate purpose.
Disorderly conduct is a violation.

2. Resisting Arrest NYSPL 35.27
Justification; use of physical force in resisting arrest prohibited.
A person may not use physical force to resist an arrest, whether
authorized or unauthorized, which is being effected or attempted by a
police officer or peace officer when it would reasonably appear that the
latter is a police officer or peace officer.

3. Obstructing Governmental Administration NYSPL 195.05
Obstructing governmental administration in the second degree.
A person is guilty of obstructing governmental administration when he
intentionally obstructs, impairs or perverts the administration of law
or other governmental function or prevents or attempts to prevent a
public servant from performing an official function, by means of
intimidation, physical force or interference, or by means of any
independently unlawful act, or by means of interfering, whether or not
physical force is involved, with radio, telephone, television or other
telecommunications systems owned or operated by the state, or a county,
city, town, village, fire district or emergency medical service or by
means of releasing a dangerous animal under circumstances evincing the
actor's intent that the animal obstruct governmental administration.
Obstructing governmental administration is a class A misdemeanor.
(any bystander interfering with the officers would also be arrested and charged with this)

This isn't even remotely funny. Was the guy an asshole? Probably. But was the tazing justified? Not even remotely.

This was a John Kerry event, and Kerry even said to the cops "no, no, let me answer that" and the cops CHOSE to taze him and arrest him anyway.

To Eric. If you're saying the electoral college is an 18th century relic, I'm right there with you. If you're saying these close elections have pointed up some real shortcomings in the election process, still with you. If you're in any way comparing what Tazer did to Rosa Parks, that's where we part company. Unlike this jerk, Parks disobeyed an immoral law with quiet dignity and when the police came to arrest her she didn't flail about, scream and act like a nut at a public event. Huge difference.

If tazer boy had been at a demonstration or at a student rally having his say then let him go on to his heart's content. But problem is, he wasn't doing that. He was attempting to disrupt and take over an event, which everybody else there had come to take part in. Those students were there to hear Kerry and to ask questions and listen to his answers. Tazer boy refused to allow that to happen. As a result we were all robbed of the opportunity to hear Kerry respond. Tazer boy went on forever, resisted when told to give other people a chance and then escalated the event way out of control. The tape shows them warning him that he would be tazed if he didn't stop resisting. He chose not to comply.

Back to the election thing. My point is that a whole lot of work needs to be done to educate the electorate and get them involved. Do you realize how much boring drudge work went on in the civil rights movement before Rosa Parks made the symbolic gesture to resist? A whole lot. The Republicans couldn't pull off what they pull off without a whole lot of conservatives hitting the streets, knocking on doors and getting the vote out in the bible belt on conservative issues. That's why they keep winning. The election funny business is to me a side issue, not particularly important if you ask me. The liberal left hasn't had anything resembling that kind of grassroots work for decades. They're pretty good at whining after losing elections, but that's about it.

Taze him bro,

There aren't just some shortcomings in the elections. According to Greg Palast 94000 African American and Democratic voters were purged from the voter rolls by Kathleen Harris with the help of a company called Choice Point, which has been receiving very large contracts from the Federal Government for the war on terror. Greg Palast, who claims to have investigators who work, or have worked in this company, writes that 95% of the names on the voter rolls were not examined to ensure they were removing the right people by comparing their social security #'s however, race was on the list. Pretty convenient huh?

I would be just as concerned as you are for the 2 precious minutes that were lost due to this stunt would it not have been for the massive derailing of our checks and balances in Washington as well as the lying to go to war in Iraq and the stealing of national elections.

The fact that this kid took the liberty to make a big scene and hold Greg Palast's book in the air at the cost of those other students is, in my opinion, a small price to pay, and in fact, had I been there, I would have yelled to let him speak. I'm not sure I would rush up to get tazed since I wouldn't have had much time to consider the idea.

But in answer to my bad comparison between Rosa Parks and Meyer, I'm sorry. It would be more appropriate to compare the victims of the Boston Massacre and the Kent State Massacre to Meyer since Parks was indeed making a descent moral biding act, while Meyer was taking liberties at the cost of others. But again, I support the liberties he took. I support the liberties the victims of the Kent State Massacre took, and I support the liberties that the victims of the Boston Massacre took.

I don't support the liberties that the Bush Administration and the whole Republican apparatus has taken. And there is also a lot more to the Republican campaign machine than street canvassing, such as the political participation of the right wing fundamentalist movement, which was provided to you from yours truly, Carl Rove. This was done through congregations as well as canvassing. I have street canvassed with the Democratic Party although the pay was terrible and I gave up my pay in support of the party, which has not traditionally received nearly as much financial support from their constituents as the Republicans have. Remember, the Republican party is the party of the Rich. This year seems to be different so far. Independents and people to the left are digging deeper into their pockets for the Democrats at the sheer horror of the neo-cons.

OK, this. is. Amazing. I actually found one thing to agree on with "Taze Him Bro" (sorta a revolting or saddning name for an internet poster, but hopefully not his or her permanent nome du plume :`D )

Rosa Parks MLK Jr and all the unknown others ...including the oft forgot Bernard Rustin... were very Smart and Organised.
They planned actions, trained demostrators in proper conduct, law, took strong and steady moral stands, prayed and fortified the people spiritually and emotionally - rehearsed what to do if dogs, guns, force etc became evident or happened to you at a demo...

They even went to jail singing & strongly praying, rightiously standing on well researched principals of action and what they wanted was very clear, and kept formost in their minds.

Is what we all want very clear, and kept formost in OUR minds, folks? no matter who or what you are, are you living the way that you want to live, and do you like, no - LOVE, your life?

No matter what your "political stance" please do check out some of the early sections of PBS/ BlackSide's "Eyes On The Prize" sometime.. it is mindblowing how much we have _ALL_ lost since those times, and how much we could gain with new technologies to share local information, logistics, law (and many recent changes to the law - we THINK we know our Rights indeed!)

HILARIOUS AS HELL

AmaMamma,

Gosh, I watched Eyes On the Prize as a child. My parents were school teachers and used it in their curriculum. But there were always small ordinances that small town officials could cite to arrest these folks. There's always some excuse we can drum up for how some protester was arrested. But we can't seem to find an excuse to impeach the President and arrest others like Harris who have degraded our democracy, an unspeakable act. Ok, so Meyer wasted time and resisted arrest to make a scene. It was still passive resistance, just as passive as chaining oneself to an old growth redwood, or handcuffing groups of people to park benches to prevent their being removed for lacking protest permits.

Eric, when you wrote
"If our country never broke the rules would we have ever gotten our independence from Britain? If Rosa Parks hadn't broken the rules, blacks may have waited longer for civil rights."

...I was like "Right ON" man.

and when you write
"When people say that we have to wait for justice by keeping ourselves in line and waiting for our turn to speak, or wait for the next fixed election to vote, sometimes you just have to say "NO, I'm not going to wait, or sit down and shut up, or succumb to arrest". And yes we have to face the consequences if we fight injustice, but by no means should we always shut up when we are told."

I thought - Are you ready to get hurt? cause as a dangerious mind, you might get cracked.
Good luck, all love power and peace with you "bro". seriously.
each one teach one, pass it on and help each other find the way back to America - whatever it might be now, this is NOT my America that I grew to love and know so well growing up.
We dont have to do this, people. We do NOT have to let them take it all away by claming to "Take Back America"

As many of us might say: "Take It Back to _where?_... 1937?
1954? or,
1984

It's our call. its always, after all, our call what to do with our lives.

AmaMamma,

If we are at the point where someone like me would be hunted down and punished, then its time to fight to protect our freedom and way of life. I'm not one that would eek out a life in my happy little box inside a totalitarian state. I don't think we're at that point. I think interrupting a question and answer period for two minutes is enough for now.

But I'm much more impressed by the massive demonstrations over the Jenna 6 who also acted with bad conduct in retaliation for hate crimes. I wish we could have even more massive demonstrations over the 2000, 2004, 2008 elections, as well as the Iraq war, and all the rampant corruption that has swept the executive office.

Okay, resisting arrest was not a good idea, but they should not have been trying to arrest him in the first place, I am a college student myself and there is alway one fuck who wants to ask dumb questions and take up the class time, but do they need to be arrested for it, tasered for it? I don't think so, I think that falls under the freedom of speech and press. I support the arguement by pointing out that John Kerry was going to answer the question...

It's really pathetic when some masochist nut is allowed to get their bondage fantasy played out on national television. Sick pervert.

That's pretty funny hot carl. I never thought of it that way before. But I can't say that Armed Mad House by Greg Palast is all that sexy of a read. Hope that's not a turn-off. I still think you'd like the book.

Anyway, I regret to say that I won't be within range of any power grid, much less internet for the weekend. I regret that I can't keep arguing with Taze Him Bro. But I'll be back!

Danielle- Read Armed Mad House. All of you should read it. I'm the only one in the whole forum who has even mentioned the book. I want to find out what Democrats think of the information that Meyer got arrested for. Does this book have any validity? Cause if it does, then this nation has a huge problem on its hands. We all know that the Military Industrial Complex has gotten out of hand, but when it gets to the point of stealing elections, then something has got to be done.

Don't just stand there in shock, or laugh at what Meyer did without understanding why he did it. Don't be afraid of information!

I must be a sick eff, it's been 5 days and I can't get enough DON'T TASE ME BRO...I knew guys like Meyer in Florida, big pussies that drank lots of Bud from the tap and smoked their chronic and listened to rasta music because someone told them it was cool (when Dave Matthews Band was more befitting their persona)...then at some point one of them decides to get all 'political' and stuff.....get....outta....here

The cops did overreact...they got sucked in by his taunting and when he mentioned Clinton getting the blow from that smoking hot butterhog I often masturbate about, that seemed to be the icing on the cake--they were gonna put a boot in his ass cos it's the American Wayyyyyyyyy

..the whole thing bcomes a religious experience for liberals--Taser Boy gets to be the Jesus, the cops are the Romans & Jews and those young Janine Garafalo wannabes are Mary Magdalene, Jesus' mother Mary, and a few others Marys (now if they can only hash out the ressurection aspect)

I think everyone siding with this guy isn't remembering the fact that he was resisting arrest. Officers of the law are afforded the right to use any non-lethal form of force deemed necessary for their own well being and the well being of the perp. He was given ample opportunity to concede. He didn't. The arresting officers told him what was going to happen, and then they did it. Is it funny? Yes, but only because he made it funny. Someone threatening to "tase" me, isn't my bro.

Better Shirts available here

http://www.printfection.com/CurrentAffairs

LOL

our mindless contrarian society leads people like the bro here to believe free speech means spouting mindless diatribes anywhere anytime. How about a karaoke (carry okey) bar? Try ranting there after your time is up. The internet has a created a society where every nit wit with a keyboard thinks they are the canary in the coal mine. They couldn`t do a hard days work like mining if they wanted to. Everybody else is to blame for them being aimless slackers.

I kind of feel like I'm arguing in circles here. But, nevertheless here goes again. The guy got tazered for acting irrationally and inconsiderately. His message would have been much more powerful if he'd asked the tough questions and let Kerry answer, then maybe organized his friends to get in line and ask other tough questions. He chose to be an attention grabbing nut case instead, waving the Palast book around like a ranting Southern bible thumper. His message got lost because he wasn't smart about it. He was an ass.

I agree that there are flaws in the electoral system. But Republican shenanigans are completely irrelevant when voters are paying attention to what the government is up to and making rational choices. I'll put it like this. If George W. Bush were Italian, Spanish, Canadian, British et. al., he wouldn't have been qualified to be elected dog catcher. Of all the major democracies, it's only America where such a mediocre man could be elected to the highest office in the land. Why? I think because of the utter failure of the American left to match the organizing prowess of the religious right. One can point fingers all one wants for one's own failures, but when eventually one has to take a long hard look at oneself. That's what liberals refuse to do.

Liberals won great battles with labor, civil rights, women's rights then went to sleep around 1975. They stopped fighting for social democracy and equality and got lazy. The Reagan revolution came, they didn't respond. So I just don't care about electoral cheating that much. The elections shouldn't be so close to begin with. If the left had any balls whatsoever they'd blow the Republicans out every two years. It's kind of sad to me that France's so-called right-wing President Sarkozy would probably be considered too liberal to be elected President of the U.S. That's the fault of the left for letting this happen.

Did the police have the right to make an arrest? I can't answer that...I wasn't there before the program started, because that's usually when the school administrators brief the police on the rules and regulations of the forum. Maybe the school administrators instructed the police officers to remove subjects who became disruptive due to heighten security? Then maybe when the student refused to corporate he was under arrest for "failing to obey a lawful order"...then as he proceeded to resist arrest, the officers used necessary force to restrain him. Hmmm...maybe they did that in order to protect all the other civilians in the auditorium...you know...the ones who stood by and watched or used their cell phones to video tape.
What if the police hadn't been there and the same idiot lost control and physically hurt someone? I bet a lot of people would be arguing that the police "are never there when you need them".
I think a lot of people are basing their opinions on the media...which tells me that it's not the cops that are the "uneducated morons" it's the people who believe everything they see and hear on television or the internet...rather than taking that extra step to research what really happened. Maybe that’s the graduate student in me or maybe it’s just common sense...but then again...I am "just" a cop..lol

I just finished reading Armed Mad House by Greg Palast.

Taze him bro, did you read it? What you last wrote is very close (in a nutshell) to what Palast describes in his book.

satanichandpuppetofthegop- Your totally correct . Meyer is Jesus Christ and Palast is God. lol

All I can say, after actually reading the book that this student waved in the town hall question and answer period, is that money has a lot of influence, a lot more than Palast and a lot more than Meyer will ever have. What's going on today is somewhat reminiscent of the House of Habsburg in Austria, an era that bore the very idea of liberalism when people realized that their leaders didn't give a shit about their national constituents, but more about the wealthy class on the other side of the national fence. When you see all that flag waving being orchestrated by the right wing, don't believe it!

This book changed my mind in big ways. For instance, before I read this book I thought Hugo Chavez was a complete jerk, hellbent on socialist dictatorship. Now I'm not so sure. Read the book! Chavez is trying to save countries from the neo imperialist strategies that are used by the Bush Administration through the World Bank to force third world countries to capitulate their raw resources.

The stealing of the votes thing??? Palast uses federal statistics, but he also was able to get what the Republicans call "caging lists" through some tricky meanouvering that he describes in full detail. He shows you the smoking gun of injustice in more than Florida. He uncovers vote tampering in Ohio, New Mexico, Georgia, Alabama, and even in California. He's also critical of Democrats who have done just what their Republican counterparts have done. Palast takes a shot at everyone, including us the voter

Thanks, Andrew Meyer, for the book suggestion. I am sorry you had to get tazed to make the recommendation. If you had acted like a decent citizen I wouldn't have noticed.

Is Palast some socialist nut??? I don't think so. He studied under Milton Friedman, so he's got that whole Chicago School of Economics thing down. This is no liberal cook. He's a meticulous investigator.

All he had to do is stop resisting and it would have been over instantly, he knew that but wanted to show off and act like was in charge of the forum. Bro should have tazed him again by "accident" just for being an ass

And all the better that would have been for the liberals. James, what you're not willing to admit is that you don't like the book he was holding up, and you don't like hearing phrases like "stolen 2004 elections". Because when it comes down to it, who would give a rat's ass about some student interrupting a question and answer period for two minutes?

If you're like "taze him bro" and think that the elections were indeed stolen, but it wasn't a big deal, then our country will indeed lose its Republic because there will be nobody to defend it.

I'm kind of done with this topic but, for the record Eric, I'm not sure the elections were stolen in '04. There was definitely enough to raise an eyebrow or two, but not enough solid evidence. In 2000 there is documentation to prove that Florida election officials were up to no-good. That's all I'm conceding. I do care about it and it needs to be watched, but it is way down on my list of priorities about what needs fixing in American democracy. Reference my earlier postings on the utter, embarrassing failure that is the American progressive movement in the early 21st century.

Well, if you're done then your done, but I'm not finished.

Greg Palast seems to be quite sure and in the book, Armed Mad House he presents his case. If you analyze his case that he presents and can dispute the credibility of his findings then I am all ears.

What I really want is for a lawyer from the Democratic Party to shoot some holes in his evidence. Kerry said on the day of the election that lawyers didn't have enough evidence to challenge the results, but would they challenge Palast's evidence?

I am shocked to find a "free country" unwilling to burn their hands on this "hot plate".

It's just all the more proof that "we're amusing ourselves to death" Neil Postman

Taze me bro,

In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but were there not federal prosecutors going after the voter suppression tactics used by the Republicans in Federal Court? And if I'm not wrong, Gonzales fired them all!

"Two of the fired prosecutors testified that they had been dismissed after resisting what they suspected were importunings to use their offices to help Republicans win elections. A third described what may have been a threat of retaliation if he talked publicly about his firing."

Taze me bro,

I don't want to spoil this book for anyone It's an incredible read. But I will add that Greg Palast, in Armed Mad House, writes about the new provisional ballots, which are designed to allow voters who are turned away at the polls, to vote "provisionally'. The problem is that there is no law requiring them to all be counted, or it is up to the discretion of State secretary of state to decide. So the Republicans in Ohio 2004 won by rejecting provisional ballots "that were cast overwhelmingly in Democratic precincts". In all the uncounted ballots stood at 676,676 .
He goes on to cover spoiled ballots and absentee ballots and voters barred from voting. He provides census maps of the uncounted ballots according to county compared to census maps by county showing the number of blacks.

This is still just the tip of the iceberg. Read the book.

yeah, I laugh when I see Andrew Meyer gets dragged out and tazered. I laugh with the joy of victory. Because I know that he exposed a book to the whole country, that would have otherwise been politically and financially censored from the airwaves. The bear bones truth is that America is catching up with China in terms of our authoritarian nature of rule, which fails to hold leaders accountable for their own actions, and we are also catching up with China in terms of our lowering wages and lack of social security (with a small "s"). That's what it really comes down to.

Is this what we need our forces to serve and protect us from? a loud mouth?

TO,

Yes, this seems to be how we treat people who get out of line when they are more than guilty of being a loud mouth. Andrew Meyer was politically hostile, bringing up stolen elections and impeachment. That makes people want to pull out their shockers.

I'm glad to see you found this forum so late? What caused you to look this up? Just looking for the video? Don't Taze Me Bro has been reworked so many times, it's hard to find one that runs full length. Search under Andrew Meyer. Don't Taze Me Bro. dont taze me bro, andrew meyer, University of Florida. hehehe