Quote:
Originally Posted by El Nino
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2009AD
Quote:
Originally Posted by El Nino
we live in a friggin police state
Sure we do. :screwy :screwy :screwy :screwy :screwy :screwy :screwy
OK, fair enough pal... but next time you get pulled over and a cop wants to search your car, and you tell him "no" under the guise of your 4th Amendment privacy rights; take note what happens, please.
Bad example because the delusion that driving is a privilege and not a right.
Otherwise I am inclined to agree with you, the only reason why anyone cares about this story is because the professor is a famous professor from a famous university. Had this happened to any "average" middle class or working class American, of either sex, either race, or either political ideology, this would have never made the news.
I would consider a defining element of a police state to be allowing cops to beat up and/or punish anyone who offends them. Not only is this standard operating procedure in the United States, but its often defended by Americans themselves.
Example: all the people who thought it was a big fucking joke when the "don't taze me bro" tazing went down. A joke? The guy was being tazed simply because he was being an asshat punk. Not only was there nothing criminal going on, but the politician whose lecture was disrupted wanted the police to leave him alone so that his questions could be answered. Inflicting pain on someone simply because they were rude, when they broke no law, and then joking about it, is not a characteristic I would find common to a country that is NOT a police state.