Wednesday 15 April 2009

Sickening

Thomas Paine has a soul withering post here.

The whole system really does have to be ripped down and restarted, does it not?

Update: TDM transcends satire again.

9 comments:

JuliaM said...

"Look at the face of the police officer in the film as he casually slaps a young woman in the face with the back of his hand. Have you seen such an expression before? The casual, confident thuggery? The absolute sense of entitlement? "To whom is he referring? The police officer, or the screaming harridan he is forced to deal with...?

Mark Wadsworth said...

Yes it does.

Obnoxio The Clown said...

Sorry, Julia, but screaming harridans don't merit that kind of treatment. She is obviously trying to provoke him and the casual slap was the mark of a thug, not a professional.

Her behaviour might have merited a slap from someone in the street, but the police are supposed to be selected and trained not to respond to provocation like that.

The police is a breeding ground for casual thuggery in the name of the law.

JuliaM said...

"...screaming harridans don't merit that kind of treatment."Why not? Because she's female?

And, when she repeatedly approached the officer, refusing to move back as told, what was he supposed to have done?

"...the police are supposed to be selected and trained not to respond to provocation like that."They are also trained in crowd control, and the need to ensure that one protestor doesn't incite the others to a situation that escalates out of their control. Sometimes, the sudden application of force is the only way to do that.

"The police is a breeding ground for casual thuggery in the name of the law."I've had my issues with the police, their targets culture, their PC-ness, etc.

But in the end, if I'm burgled tonight, I'll be calling them. Not a scruffy unwashed fishwife, or Shami Chakrabati. Them.

Obnoxio The Clown said...

They are also trained in crowd control, and the need to ensure that one protestor doesn't incite the others to a situation that escalates out of their control. Sometimes, the sudden application of force is the only way to do that.Well, it didn't look like it worked to me. ;o)

But in the end, if I'm burgled tonight, I'll be calling them.And I hope your crime number makes it all worthwhile. :o)

JuliaM said...

Hurrah! Blogger has fixed its HTML problem.. ;)

"Well, it didn't look like it worked to me. ;o)"Oh, the unwashed whined, and protested, and howled imprecations. But they moved back, didn't they..?

JuliaM said...

Gah! No, it hasn't.... :(

Obnoxio The Clown said...

I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this one. I have no great fondness for the yogurt-knitting community, but I found the policeman's behaviour stomach turning.

It's one of those "can't they both lose situations."

Anonymous said...

When you see behaviour like this from the police at what look like peaceful demonstrations you begin to wonder what the point of peaceful protest is if you're just going to get beaten up.