M Bell from Canada writes: The comments to stories like this one
always make me laugh. Conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork
like cockroaches when the lights go out. Suddenly the police are
murderous thugs who can't be trusted; power-mad megalomaniacs who are
telling us propagandized tales of terror and chaos to try and subdue a
population bent on rebelling and overthrowing their authority. Give me
a friggin' break! This whole story is so one-sided it's sickening.
We've heard so little contrasting opinion on the RCMP officers'
situation that it's virtually impossible to form an informed opinion,
and yet everyone seems to have one. The RCMP is not made up of a bunch
of thugs. They are not secretly conspiring to deny us our rights. They
are trying to do a difficult job fairly and equitably. If this
situation had ended with the man being hauled away kicking and
screaming in handcuffs and leg restraints, we wouldn't have heard a
word of this story; it would be just like any of a thousand other
instances across the country every day. But in the same way, a plane
crash is news, and any of the thousands of safe flights a day are not.
Perhaps these officers behaved improperly, perhaps they didn't.
Jumping on a bandwagon saying that the RCMP are out to get us would be
dismissed as paranoia at any other time, yet suddenly people agree.
People are suddenly advocating that the police begin beating unruly
people with batons?? Are these people serious?? Jeez, if the video had
featured the police doing THAT, and then the man died, we would be
calling for their heads and asking why they didn't use the taser. I
have had my share of unpleasant run-ins with the RCMP. I have received
speeding tickets I'm sure I didn't deserve, and experienced the
bitterly unfriendly officer at a roadblock. But I know they are human
beings trying to do a very difficult job, a job I sure as heck
wouldn't be able to do without breaking someone's skull. Give them a
friggin' break already

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071122.wcomtaz11...

On Fri, 23 Nov 2007 06:50:36 GMT, "Barry Booze" <bbo...@remand.net>
wrote: