Just In Time For RNC Convention, St. Paul Police Orders Tasers For Every Officer
ST. PAUL — St. Paul police are about to issue Tasers to all 370 officers on the force. Police say they are a safe way to stop a potential threat, but some people say Tasers are dangerous and sometimes deadly.
Police spokesman Tom Walsh says the Taser is stronger than a verbal order and less dangerous than a gun, especially in the case of a violent or unstable subject.
“It’s a safety issue for both the person being arrested and the officer,” Walsh said. “The bottom line is the Taser is an effective device that does not require the use of deadly force.”
Currently, 140 St. Paul police officers carry Tasers. The addition of another 230 will bring the total to 37- — one for every officer on the force.
The 230 new Tasers will cost $210,000 — paid for with money seized during drug raids or other special investigations. The St. Paul City Council will vote Wednesday on whether to authorize the purchase of the Tasers, which they are likely to do.
Four years ago, St. Paul police unveiled Tasers at a media event and now the Taser is in high demand. But questions about Tasers can’t escape law enforcement.
Last month, March Backlund, 29, died after being shot with a Taser in New Brighton, Minn. The exact cause of his death is still under investigation.
Scott Selmer, of the Urban League in St. Paul, believes Tasers could cause unnecessary harm if used too soon.
“Sensitivity training is critical,” Selmer said. “Have some thought that goes into any encounter (police) may have.”
Shortly after the new shipment of Tasers arrives in St. Paul, the Republican National Convention will come to town, and with it, protestors who may or may not get violent.
“Our hope is that no one will have to use any degree of force,” Walsh said. “If it becomes necessary, will that be one of the tools available to them? I suppose that’s safe to say.”
© 2008 Twin Cities Fox
“Our hope is that no one will have to use any degree of force,”
I can’t remember a protest turning so violent that the police could’nt control the crowd without tasers. They are starting to see a breaking point and are preparing for the worst. Many of the people who are being tasered are peaceful and weaker than the officer. Is our police force so pathetic that they can’t subdue a subject without tasers. It won’t be long and the citizens will have tasers. What happens when a police officer tasers your grandmother for protesting the war and you have a taser in your hand and the 10,000 people around you have tasers? This whole situation is about to break…….
Our experience tells us that the cops won’t wait until a protest turns vioilent befor using tasers and or chemical weapons.
Yeah . . . . But don’t worry because there is no danger. After all these are all an “Effective Device that does not require the use of Deadly Force.”
They said so . . . .
Exerpt from article: “The 230 new Tasers will cost $210,000 — paid for with money seized during drug raids or other special investigations.” That’s right wage and escalate your fascistic insane drug war to fund your taser torture toyz.
This another example of fascist Police State overkill..The psychology of manuefacturing consent and creating a subservient servile underclass of sheeple…Maybe it’s time to leave the Ununited States of Amerikka
Most meat-eaters expressing their concern about tazers see no problems in them being used against animals.
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/02/18/7121/
Meat-eating self-professed progressives are hypocrites.
“protestors who may or may not get violent.”
who has a greater history of violence: the police or protestors? (protestors, who can also be referred to as “peace activists”)?
they want to make us sound so dangerous, so they can crack down on us. they are afraid of us because we speak our truth, not because we “may or may not get violent.”
the real danger is police “who may or may not get violent.”
History may be about to repeat itself.
the following is Excerpted from an article about the Democratic National Convention, Chicago, 1968:
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/conventions/chicago/facts/chicago68/index.shtml
The Riots
Outside the official convention proceedings, anti-war demonstrators clashed with 11,900 Chicago police, 7500 Army troops, 7500 Illinois National Guardsmen and 1000 Secret Service agents over 5 days.
The violence centered on two things: the Chicago police forcing protesters out of areas where they were not permitted to be; and protesters clashing with police, and their reinforcements, as they tried to march to the convention site.
>> Free Speech Zones Anyone??
The violence began Sunday August 25th. Anti-war leaders had tried to get permits from the city to sleep in Lincoln park and to demonstrate outside of the convention site.
Those permit requests were denied, although the city did offer them a permit to protest miles away from the Amphitheater But the protesters were undeterred.
When the park was officially closed, Chicago police bombed protesters with tear gas and moved in with billy-clubs to forcibly remove them from the park.
Along with the many injuries to anti-war protesters, 17 reporters were attacked by police (including Hal Bruno, who was then a reporter for Newsweek and is now political director for ABC.) Throughout the convention, police would see the press as the enemy.
Subsequent battles between police and protesters occurred nightly in Lincoln Park and Grant Park.
Also present that first night and throughout the convention were the famous Beat artists Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs and French poet Jean Genet. Most events and protests featured speeches from Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin.
The worst day of protesting was Wednesday, and was dubbed the “Battle of Michigan Avenue.” Protesters were stopped in their march to the convention site and the media recorded graphic violence on the part of the Chicago police.
>> “Kill ‘em All and let Ghod sort out the Guilty”
Many innocent bystanders, reporters and doctors offering medical help were severely beaten by the police.
Many hotels where the delegates were staying were affected by the riots. Fumes from the tear gas used by the police and “stink bombs” thrown by the protesters drifted into the buildings. (One of those affected was the Conrad Hilton, the headquarters for the Democratic party and the press.)
Another major clash occurred on the final day of the convention, when protesters tried once again to reach the convention center. They were twice turned away. A barricade was put up around the convention center to prevent anyone without credentials from entering the facility.
When the convention was finally over, the Chicago police reported 589 arrests had been made and 119 police and 100 protesters were injured.
The riots, which were widely covered by the media, led to a government funded study to determine the cause of the violence. The study was led by Daniel Walker, a Democratic businessman from Illinois who would ran successfully for governor in Illinois in 1972.
The study placed most of the blame on the Chicago police. Mayor Daley disagreed with the report and issued the Chicago police a pay raise.
The last imperial kaffeklastch in New York was an appalling display of violence, a new low in a process that has morphed from anything close to democratic. It’s a subtle shift, but before too long, one can see water canons or Russian style fentanyl gas attacks to subdue the shrieking proletariat. McCain is a trembling, angry old man. Some kind of mob scene would only make more people vote for him.
McCain is a trembling, angry old man.
Wow, sounds just like the Soviet Union before things came unglued…
Cops don’t make laws, write policy, decide court cases, determine foreign or domestic policy, balance of the branches of government, do intellectual heavy-lifting of ethics and values, etc. 1968’s protests didn’t get us out of Vietnam.
What’s the definition of a “successful” protest?
Without the application of rigid discipline, Cops can make their own laws, ignore written policy, plant evidence to decide court cases, but cannot balance the branches of government nor are capable of the intellectual heavy-lifting of ethics and values, etc.
1968’s protests helped get the US out of Vietnam.
(Without visual/vocal expressions of public abhorrence to government policy, who else would create the winds necessary to turn the political weather vanes in DC?)
The definition of a successful protest is the completion of the act of exercising your right to free speech.
I say we all have tasers. Then when the protests begin, lets see how they like it!
Let’s face it, without Tasers there would be no way to discourage Islamofascist terrorist infiltrators from escaping from Secure Free Speech Zones and wreaking havoc on innocent Republicants. They hate us for our freedoms, y’know.
And besides, there are all of those rowdies and hoodlums who congregate at political conventions just to party and get high. I’m referring to the uninvited folks without hotel rooms, of course.
Did the City Council also appropriate money for the agitators that will intentionally foment violence at peaceful rallies and marches?
Or does that money come from a federal program?
To locust: “Did the City Council also appropriate money for the agitators that will intentionally foment violence at peaceful rallies and marches? Or does that money come from a federal program?”
The federal funder is called the CIA.
WHERE ARE THE M.I.T. GRADS WITH THE “COUNTER MEASURES TO FASCISM” GADGETS????
HERE ARE SOME OF IDEAS THAT RATTLE AROUND IN MY HEAD..IF YOU CAN BUILD IT..SEND ME ONE..PLEASE..
1.) SMALL (SUNGLASSES SIZE) L.E.D. THAT OBSCURES YOUR FACE FROM SURVIELLANCE CAMERAS..I HAVE HEARD THE “RED LIGHT” CAN DO THIS..EVEN WITH SOFISTICATED EQUIPMENT..BLURS YOUR FEATURES A LITTLE..
2.) AS PER THIS ARTICLE..WHERE IS THE ‘TASER GROUNDER’ A DEVICE ONE COULD WEAR UNDER THEIR CLOTHING OR A VEST OR THE LIKE THAT ‘GROUNDED’ THE CHARGE FROM A TASER, OR RENDERED IT MUCH LESS HARMFUL..
3.) WHERE ARE THE LIBERAL MILLIONAIRS WHO COULD DONATE A THOUSAND ‘RIOT SQUAD OUTFITS’ TO THE PROTESTORS..CAN YOU IMAGINE THE HILARIOUS CONFUSION IF THE PIGS MARCHED UP ONLY TO BE FACED BY THEIR DOUBLES ACCROSS THE LINES…AHHHHAHAHAHAHA..THAT WOULD BE GREAT..WHERE IS IT?
4.) WHERE ARE THE SMOKE GRENADES FOR THE MASSES..SMOKE CONCEALS..IF THEY CAN’T SEE YOU, THEY CAN’T PEPPER BALL YOU OR THE LIKE..
5.) WHERE ARE THE RADIO FREQUENCY JAMMERS AND SCANNERS FOR THE PIG COMMUNICATIONS..WE NEED TO JAM AND RECORD ALL THEIR RADIO TRAFFIC..EVERY PROTEST HAS ILLEGAL PIG NOTIONS AND ILLEGAL PIG TACTICS JUST FLYING AROUND IN THE AIR..JUST NEED TO GRAB IT..BELIEVE ME..THE SHIT THEY TALK ABOUT ON THEIR LITTLE PIG RADIOS IS..WELL..INFLAMATORY…
6.) MAGNETS? CAN WE USE SMALL POWERFUL (50LB PULL 1/2″)MAGNETS TO DISSRUPT AND CONFUSE THE PIG THUG RUNTS..WHAT WOULD THEY DO IF ALL OF A SUDDEN THEY HAD THESE..”THINGS” STICKING TO ALL THEIR METAL PARTS? USE FEAR AND CONFUSION AGAINST THEM FOR A CHANGE..
AND MORE AND MORE AND MORE..
GET TO WORK!
AND DO NOT PAY YOUR TAXES..TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION IS THE CURRENT STATUS..SO DO NOT PAY! YOU ARE PAYING FOR THE ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES OF THIS GOVERNMENT..YOU ARE PAYING FOR THEM TO BUST YOUR HEAD, TO SPY ON YOUR EMAIL TO WAGE AN ILLEGAL WAR..IF YOU REALLY WANT TO “RESIST” THEN DO NOT PAY! HOW FAST DO YOU THINK THINGS WOULD CHANGE IF 100 MILLION PEOPLE JUST..”DID NOT PAY” THE WHOLE CORRUPT CORPORATE FASCIST THEOCRACY WOULD GRIND TO A DEAFENING HALT (PICTURE THE SOUND OF A 20 CAR FRIGHT TRAIN FULL OF PIGS SLAMMING ON THE EMERGENCY BRAKES..”SKKREEEEAGHHHHHHHHOIIIINKKKKEREEEEEAKKKKKKK..”
FIGHT THE OPPRESSOR
the police will infiltrate and harrass to help raise the pack rat mentalities of crowded protests. in this way they always win. unless every single person in the twin cities shows up, there will be arrests, beatings and abuse.
In most cases if the police are close enough to use a taser they could use a net. The Romans found nets to be very effective weapons in gladiator contests. Many cultures use nets to restrain excited or dangerous animals. I guess this is just too low tech a solution to restraint of agitated people, and not as much fun as zapping them. So, a few die… collateral damage I guess.
All that has to happen is a Republican gets tasered. Fuggedaboutit, they’ll be outlawed in a nanosecond.
As far as I’ve been able to determine, all the necessary
permits have been or will be granted by the time the convention convenes. I live in St. Cloud, about 65 miles
from St. Paul. I intend to be there as I was in 1968, in
Chicago. There is always that slim chance that the St. Paul
police will join the protesters.
jcrumb:
I don’t know about that stuff, but since being swept up in the running battles with thousands of cops during the FTAA protests in Quebec City, I don’t go to a protest without:
1. A few bottles of water to clear eyes, nose and throat of tear gas for me and other protesters.
2. Swimming goggles for tear gas.
3. Good quality gas mask for tear gas, like a painter’s mask.
4. Handful of bandanas, to hand out to others that didn’t bring anything for tear gas.
5. Digital camera and digital video camera- 21st century protester’s first lines of defence.
6. Running shoes for running the hell out of a situation.
7. Good quality gloves to protect hands.
8. knee pads. you may get knocked to the ground from behind.
9. Helmet like a bike helmet.
10. High-energy snacks.
Other rules of thumb, pee when you can: Often there is no place to pee and public urination during a protest can get you locked up. Go in a group, keep eyes peeled for cops and undercover cops dressed as protesters. Write the phone numbers of local legal aid agencies with a permanent marker on your arm. Trust your instincts. Good luck to those going to the conventions!
The Bush administration has been busily constructing their authoritarian state of total surveillance and control brick by brick for the past seven years. Of course it began over 100 years ago with the Haymarket and Ludlow Massacres: cops, national guard, Texas Rangers, etc.etc.etc. The “lawbreakers” are always the people who are try to exercise their free speech and assembly rights and workers rights. The most effective method the Bush Regime has to quell dissent is to criminalize it.
abe w goodman. Amen to the list. Don’t go to a protest, without prep. Also a layer of outwear you can shed.
Many blessings to those who meet the culture of fear with courage. May peace follow the equal rights and justice long overdue in this land that is much worse off than ever with the current system of oppressive government. Protect your self and family first, unite your community, be positive, never lose hope.
“Police spokesman Tom Walsh says the Taser is stronger than a verbal order and less dangerous than a gun”
This is a pretty startling admission of what I’ve actually seen - the tazers are used instead of talking. And no mention of the potential lethality of the tazer.
It seems to me it should be a fairly simple matter to find clothing that would either stop the tazer barbs or short-circuit them. Aluminum foil underwear? Put your thinking caps on…
Thank you abe w goodman and hopeful brewer. Proactive, constructive, hopeful advice and thoughts. We have to build something better, starting right inside our own hearts and spiraling out through the RNC and beyond.
Criminals might just shoot the cops before they get tasered. Most of the video I have seen on TV shows little effort to do anything but taser. The student in the library that was tasered looked easy to control in some other way.
How appalling, spending monoey on tasers to jolt peace activists. And what will happen is our Bill of Rights will be totally destroyed. Perhaps these cops should be reminded that we American citizens have a right to free speech and peaceful assembly. Seems like these tazer happy cops should be shipped to Iraq where they can taser insurgents. But of course, with Bush still at the helm, what else can we expect but to have our right to peaceful assembly utterly destroyed, along with some losing their life.
Once the anger subsides and people begin to think, they realize that slaughter, killing, torture never work more than a short time.
this fight has been going on for centuries.
from pure thuggery, through monarchy, to capitalism, and totalitarianism. all the people want is not to be manipulated–the things we state, and agree upon, in the declaration of independence. that direction is the inevitable tide of history. it is the essence of human evolution.
The taser is a scam. nothing will protect a cop like being one with the crowd. one with the future. and nothing will protect the politicians inside the stadium like being on the side of the people.
to get there easily cannot be impossible, because it is the only way to get there permanently. it has to be easy, kind, generous of spirit, and full of empathy.
Someone said, this is the dawning of the age of empathy. Think about it. Bring the cops a donut and hot coffee. inquire as to their families. sit down. chat pleasantly.
you know they are a distraction for our intention, and any dissension outside is reveled in by the malcreants in the stadium conjuring up the next delay in human evolution. the next ripoff.
i wouldn’t say that cops are the targets–not at all.
only peace will change minds. for i wouldn’t want to wait around until people get tired of beating and killing each other, would you?
remember this one thinking point: peace is the opposite of war. power to the people.
On a local radio program the other night, I was listening to an interview with a local top cop.
During the interview, the host asked hiim about the dangers of Tazer usage. Officer “Fuzz’s” flippant reply was that “I love the smell of burning flesh in the morning!”
That remark floored me! I couldn’t believe the host didn’t call him on that; worst yet, there were only two, two irate calls made (one from me and another from a female college student)!!!
I see AMTRAC has just stepped up security with sniffer dogs and FULLY AUTOMATIC GUNS due to the Madrid Spain bombing in 2005…thats 2005, I said 2005. It is now 2008.
Yes FOLKS, the Republican FEAR dial has been officially cranked up and will peek in NOV.
Tune in to Fox News, drink 7 cups of strong coffee for the ultimate in fear/stress.
USAn, you found the nugget! Kudos!
To the rest of you, this is the salient point right here: Police spokesman Tom Walsh says the Taser is stronger than a verbal order and less dangerous than a gun, especially in the case of a violent or unstable subject.
It was my understanding (note the use of past tense) that verbal orders were things that were in the category of coercion and control. A gun, on the other hand, falls squarely into a non-intersecting circle of protection in the hands of a law enforcement officer.
When the police put coercion and control and the deadly side of “protection” all on the same footing, then it is no surprise at all that a weapon (let’s not have any doubt that a Taser is a weapon, and I might further add that evidence supports the claim that it–like a gun or a knife or a heavy blunt object–can be a deadly weapon) like the Taser can/will/would become the weapon of choice…
…as long as it is permitted to be deployed. We must stop this. It’s not “non-lethal.” It’s not appropriate for coercion and control. We cannot expect police to tread the line between deadly force and non-lethal coercion, no matter what is on the books as far as escalation policy goes.
The Feds might say torture is legal, but local communities can have a big impact (via local elections) on whether or not this disgusting weapon is used by Americans on Americans. Make it a litmus test issue the next time someone’s running for chief in your city. This is choke-hold territory, folks. Draw the line against police brutality.
Right-wing skin-heads in police uniforms. Just like Chicago in 1968. If you don’t have an enemy, create an enemy!
jcrumb, Man those are some great ideas! I am starting work on your list NOW!!!!
So, knees are knockin’ in the GOP? Hilarious! The way conservative politics have damaged the US, the republicans must be urinating down their left legs.
Tasers ARE a lethal weapon.
They cause heart beat irregularities in some people. Those irregularities can be fatal without prompt treatment. (I am sure that the cops carrying tasers are NOT also carrying defibrillators). This is not a common event, but neither is it a rare one.
Tasers ARE a lethal weapon. Crowd control certainly does not require them, and cops should certainly not be allowed to carry them a matter of course.
1. Protests ARE useful, but they are a small continuing part of democracy so they are sometimes overlooked or discounted. There is a hell of a lot more to democracy than VOTING; imagine one way (who knows what the BEST is) to control power is to distribute it to as many people as possible…. now what power- no matter how small- do you have and how do you exercise it (or not)?
2. Police do not write the law, etc…. but they are the FORCE- they have the GUNS. I don’t like guns, but I do like a fundemental element of the 1st amendment: we have the right to guns in order to protect US from the GOVERMENT. (I’d gladly give up Presidents Day for a Bill of Rights Day)
3. I have personally known 2 kinds of police: the dedicated, smart and civil…. and the mean, egotistical, oaf who got his job through nepotism. Police departments are in a bind (at least with the 2 kinds I know); you enter the force for four generic reasons: 1. you are called to service of others, 2. it seems like the best job available, and you get a gun, 3. you’re former military so you’re “qualified”, 4. you’re a cop because your family are cops. The jerks give the rest a bad name, plus it is an entirely stressfull job.
4. A person is smart, people are not. Tasers give now give us a false sense of responsibility in a fight. You’re thinking changes when you have to use a gun vs. a knife- because a gun is a ‘remote’ weapon’, a knife is not. A gun uses ‘less skill’ than a knife. A 90lbs woman might not be able to take a 200lbs man in a knifefight, but the gun does even the odds. So tasers are ‘remote’ wepons that do not require ’skill’, plus they are ‘nonleathal’ for now (nonleathal is the key here) so we are way less dicriminate in usage. It’s a lot easier to taze than to shoot.
I wonder what would happen if all the police were given knives and swords instead of guns and tasers (of course, the people couldn’t have guns either). Violence would be a lot more personal, and IMO a lot less frequent.
Aside from federal police state theories and realities…. how do we view our culture in respect to tasers and the seemingly easy acceptence of violence and even suppression of dissent?
The point of protests are totally defeated if they are not seen, if they are not felt, if they are sectioned off into remote freespeechzones. With tasers, the police and ‘hired security’ (whom I’m most afraid of with tasers) can treat humans like cattle. What kind of divide does this create/strengthen between the haves(govt) and the havenots(protesters)?
What would happen if the citizens start tasering back? Furthermore, what happens when citizens use tasers on police in other situations, say being pulled over for a DUI? What kind of escalation will the goverment (or nervous officers) pursue?
Just how quickly do you see tasers replacing talking? You get in an argument at the bar, do the tasers come out? They’re not guns or knives… there’s no real harm if I just taze the jackass. When couples fight, will they wake up to a tasering?
Should tasers require permits?
(also, they are technically nonlethal, but responsible for several deaths so I have nothing to compare them to…. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
thewonderingyou: excellent!!! please keep posting- you’ve got a clear vison of the argument and speak clearly! (I’m not so great at that)
and this gem here bears repeating:
“…as long as it is permitted to be deployed. We must stop this. It’s not “non-lethal.” It’s not appropriate for coercion and control. We cannot expect police to tread the line between deadly force and non-lethal coercion, no matter what is on the books as far as escalation policy goes.”
Don’t place the police in that kind of bind!! We still need police, and I for one want them to be the best kind of police for MY needs.
And YES to the ballot initiatives on tasers, and YES to keeping the taser conversations going.
Also, don’t forget to keep in the discussion the massive security/defence industry’s stake in arming every rent-a-cop with a taser.
I agree that the police are not the enemy and also that they are an enemy.
It definitely depends on the person. Are they a decent person who just needs a job, or are they a psychopathic bully who wants to drive fast and push people around?
So, try to interact with them as people, but prepare as in Abe’s list.
The streets belong to the people, not the cops. I don’t care if they’re armed with cannons. If the people wish to take to the streets in a peaceful demonstration against this convention of 4-more-years fascists and ugly bow-tied knowitalls, then we have every right. We have to defend what’s left of the First Amendment.
The cops aren’t the enemy. Its the ones who sign their paychecks. If anything they are as much victims as we are. Its a twisted circle of pitting worker against worker. As for Tasers, they should be banned.
dustinchicago: thanks for the compliment…you’re not so bad yourself.
I kept thinking about this coercion-versus-force thing for a bit. I think it’s really important. Guns, knives, Tasers, clubs…these can all also be a part of coercion, but only if they’re never used! Physical force is where coercion stops and violence begins. We are now living in a culture where that line is either ignored or erased. The cover-up for this shift is the constant debate by those who wish to cross it that it is necessary to do so: F.U.D. in the simplest terms. The fear of a more dangerous world is in fact the very thing making the world more dangerous.
We can see this on all levels in our society, from irate drivers on our roads to “tough” (cowardly, in reality) cops at peaceful protests and minor offense situations, all the way to the top: pre-emptive military aggression without first trying diplomatic solutions. The forums for coercion are being dismantled, from the rigged ballot box to the hamstrung United Nations.
But human culture is always changing. From the deadly might of the Roman Empire through Inquisition and genocide and Cold War and now global fascism. Is this any different than before? Does this truly bode worse than any other time? I believe it does, but I could be convinced otherwise. And though I try not to succumb to sounding like a neo-Luddite, I believe it is technology that serves as the catalyst. We have ways of harming and killing each other now that far surpass anything else in history. It’s too easy now. I’m not comfortable talking about “compassion” but indeed that seems to be a bit behind “aggression” in terms of our cultural evolution. I don’t see a solution, just ways to minimize the damage. The question is whether or not we even want to.
The Roman Empire wasn’t concerned with minimizing the damage. Neither was the Spanish Inquisition nor the Cold War powers. It took their eventual demise to end the insanity. We may just have to wait this one out. It could take months or decades.
dustinchicago,
Again, cops vs. protesters is “situational” — whereas our country’s ills are endemic, political, cultural, and structural. There is probably no victory to be gained by taking an argument to a cop, including arguing about a parking ticket. Even for that you need to see the judge.
I’ve protested in the past myself, and found it useless. Probably much more useful would be to organize consumer boycotts, lobby groups, support existing groups, etc.
THE WONDERING YOU — questions “Is this any different than before? Does this truly bode worse than any other time? I believe it does, …”. And so do I.
The USA leads the world in so many ways, and our proclivity for violence (against each other and then exporting of) is symptomatic of the increasing perceived erosion of the illusion of morality at the core of organized religion, which is now so co-opted into the corporate power structure.
¿ Why is this happening ?
Of course, if we shortsightedly believe that the terrorists are causing us political, oil, and financial crisises – then why not over generalize the underlying angst – and blame them implicitly for our lack of spiritual connection with nature and woman too? We now condone (as a country) terror, torture, and the emaciation of inalienable civil rights – as justified by what?
Perhaps the fear, loathing, and hatred of others (outside of us in the world) is really just the externalized expression of the our own erosion of what was left of our spiritual center? Perhaps we feel powerless to act, and project the pent up anger of our misplaced perceptions upon everything else but ourselves. Perhaps POGO was an optimist, and we truly do hate our enemy, which is really just our misplaced selves. Perhaps Dorthy was always able to get back to Kansas, as she always had the power within her, as we all do.
Perhaps our spirit rule, or otherwise we become fools (chasing after mere physical things)
Namaste … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Mahatma Gandhi … … … … … … … … … …
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