Originally Posted By Mr X For Christ's sake William, watch the video (I know...you're at work). If that guy was a terrorist, I'm a freakin blue meanie from that Beatles movie. PERSPECTIVE, PEOPLE!!!! (it's one thing to mention the couple of examples of celebrity attacks...THAT, I can at least reasonably understand and talk about...but this stupid terrorist angle is just, well, stupid)
Originally Posted By Mr X ***If he had been a terrorist and he hesitated, we would be spending today complaining about how a cop blew it and cost lives...*** Fine, I'll even indulge your ridiculous terrorist angle. Even if he WAS a bomb-strappin terrist, NO nobody would be spending today complaining about that cop. Why? Because as the video clearly shows, he was trying to chase him down (in an obviously less-than-threatening situation, to boot). If this fictional bomb-wearing terrorist had blown himself up...there would be nothing but PRAISE for that poor police officer who was chasing after him and trying to subdue him. AND YOU KNOW THAT! Don't you? Be honest.
Originally Posted By DAR <a href="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5164889" target="_blank">http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/...=5164889</a> A little update on the situation. And did you know the next night a 34 year old man ran onto the field, but wasn't tasered. Much to the disappointment of the Phillies fans.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 The man, Thomas Betz, of Warminster, Pa., was arrested and taken off the field without incident by team security personnel. He faces charges of marijuana possession, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and other counts. After he was released Wednesday night, Betz said he wanted to apologize to the Phillies as well as to friends and family. << OK if you are stupid enough to run onto the field, take the illegal drugs out of your pocket....
Originally Posted By DAR I'm guessing 34, running onto the field, drugs in his pocket, something tells me he's not employed.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Much to the disappointment of the Phillies fans*** Are you actually citing sports fans? Seriously? You know how the sports fans back in the days of the Lions felt about the Christians, don't you? This feels more and more kind of like that, actually. WTF!?
Originally Posted By ecdc >>OK if you are stupid enough to run onto the field, take the illegal drugs out of your pocket....<< That's the irony: If you're stupid enough to run on the field then you're probably too stupid to think to take the drugs out.
Originally Posted By Mr X ****OK if you are stupid enough to run onto the field, take the illegal drugs out of your pocket....*** OR ELSE THEY'LL SHOOT YOUR DOGS! (sorry, couldn't resist)
Originally Posted By wahooskipper If you were being chased by several people, including a cop, and you knew you were just pranking and likely to get caught...why not just drop to the ground? I'd put money down that a major celebrity is going to get hurt or killed again while on the field/court/course by some crazy lunatic. And, it is going to be some loony fear that we have to protect the knuckleheads that it won't be prevented. The 34 year old that ran out the next night should have been tased twice. He darn well knew what the ramifications would be if he went out there and did it anyway.
Originally Posted By DAR Around here when an unruly fan is escorted from the game chants of USE YOUR GUN USE YOUR GUN tend to eminate from the bleachers.
Originally Posted By DAR Last year I was at a game and a gentleman was being escorted from the premises. He was jawing with the cops the whole way as their leading him up the stairs, he took a swing at one of the cops, and two seconds later was sucking pavement. It was grrreat.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***If you were being chased by several people, including a cop, and you knew you were just pranking and likely to get caught...why not just drop to the ground?*** Cause you were "just pranking"? Just a guess. I really dunno, I've never felt the urge to run onto a football field or whatever. But that seems to appeal to some people. I guess they should be killed (or have their balls burned off, or whatever). ***Around here when an unruly fan is escorted from the game chants of USE YOUR GUN USE YOUR GUN tend to eminate from the bleachers*** Christians. Lions. Boy, is America ever bloodthirsty these days or what!?
Originally Posted By Mr X ***he took a swing at one of the cops, and two seconds later was sucking pavement.*** Assaulting a police officer is a serious offense. I'm not surprised he was subdued. ***It was grrreat*** Glad you enjoyed it. Did it satisfy your blood-lust for a while?
Originally Posted By skinnerbox America doesn't run on Dunkin. It runs on schadenfreude. And judging from these recent threads, our country is totally addicted to it.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Oh how I wish for common sense to return to our society. Run a red light...get a ticket. Hit a cop...duck. Jump onto a ballfield...expect to be in some pain at some point. Spill hot coffee on yourself...get some ointment. Got to Disney on spring break...stand in the long lines and shut up. It isn't about bloodlust.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox They're only "teachable moments" if the person is capable of learning from the situation. The guy "sucking pavement" from swinging at the cops is probably an alcoholic. He will only learn from this if he gets therapy and gets off the booze. But our society doesn't treat the disease of alcoholism or drug addiction very well. As a nation, we'd rather label them as criminals and throw them in prison. If you have any doubts about that, listen to the archived broadcasts of Rush Limbaugh BEFORE his maid was caught drug shopping for him. He wanted drug addicts thrown in jail FOR LIFE. Well... he is/was a drug addict himself, who did ZERO time in jail for the same sh*t he was criticizing others for. And the majority of his listeners completely sided with him on it, and forgave him. DAR... you enjoyed the fact that this alcoholic was "sucking pavement" because he acted out in his drunken stupor and got caught by the cops. That is schadenfreude. No compassion for someone who's probably ruining his life, his family members' lives, and other individuals who are forced to interact with him, like at ball games. I can only imagine what his personal, private life must be like, if this is how he conducts himself in public. When I see SOBER teens and adults without mental health issues acting like jerks, then I quietly applaud police intervention. Yes, I'm just as guilty with my own schadenfreude issues. BUT... when I see someone who is not sober and acting out, I feel more compassion for them. They need help to turn their lives around and they're obviously not getting it. Some people have the most difficult time getting off booze or drugs, I know. Addiction is a tough nut to crack. But our society makes it nearly impossible to win that war unless you're a celebrity and/or have plenty of bucks to afford the rehab like Robert Downey Jr or Robin Williams. If you're poor or a working class stiff, good luck. The deck is stacked solidly against you.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 ***You really think he meant it literally? Come on.*** <Yes.> Then I think you're letting personal feelings cloud your vision. I've met SPP a couple of times. He's a great guy. I hope next time I'm in LA or DLR we can get together again. I think you might actually like him if you ever hung out. You'll probably BOTH hate me for saying this, but I think you're quite alike in one important way: you can both be very blunt and don't much give a rat's patootie if you offend someone with your bluntness. When you're in agreement (say, on the idea of letting Sarah Palin anywhere near the White House), you don't mind the bluntness or don't even notice because you're in agreement. When it's on a subject you disagree on, you butt heads. Of course, you probably don't give a rat's patootie about what I just had to say on the matter...
Originally Posted By DAR <<DAR... you enjoyed the fact that this alcoholic was "sucking pavement" because he acted out in his drunken stupor and got caught by the cops. That is schadenfreude. No compassion for someone who's probably ruining his life, his family members' lives, and other individuals who are forced to interact with him, like at ball games. I can only imagine what his personal, private life must be like, if this is how he conducts himself in public.>> No it's one of many drunk idiots that fill the ballpark on a Friday or Saturday night that are escorted from the game.
Originally Posted By ecdc I'm with you, skinner. I'm not excusing all behavior and there are plenty of people that need to be physically restrained and imprisoned. But I just don't get this, "It was great!" attitude. It's this inability to see beyond one's own experience. "I'd never do that, so anyone who does must be a bad person and gets whatever's coming to them." How simple-minded. The United States has the largest per-capita prison population in the world. Some Christian nation we are. Rather than soberly dealing with these issues and their root cause, we ignore them, then cheer and applaud when a wrong-doer gets revenge exacted on them. It's pretty barbaric and childish.
