Combat! - Page 156 of 406 - A blog by Dan Brooks

Cop’s counterpoint: If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me

By Dan Brooks in Fascism August 20, 2014 0 Comment

Mug shots of four LAPD officers acquitted in the beating of Rodney King

Yesterday in the Washington Post, LAPD veteran and professor of homeland security Sunil Dutta published an editorial titled I’m a cop. If you don’t want to get hurt, don’t challenge me. Black Post subscribers throughout the nation dropped their newspapers and froze. A few were shot between one and 19 times. But that wasn’t anybody’s fault, because the cops are under a lot of stress—mostly from dealing with us all day. As Dutta puts it, “It’s not the police, but the people they stop, who can prevent a detention from turning into a tragedy.” Losing my goddamned mind after the jump.

Freedom isn’t free, also does not mean free

By Dan Brooks in Public Discourse, Uncategorized August 18, 2014 1 Comment

The Freedom Tower, formerly named for world trade

Remember when the word “freedom” described the power to act without restraint and not, you know, whatever else the speaker might like? Me neither. I know I said I’d never forget, but I said that all the time back then. Anyway, “freedom” now refers to what we get for being American, plus aspects of American culture such as commerce, religious devotion, muscle cars, whatever. It’s a rhetorical trope. In the 21st-century United States, saying “freedom” will hypnotize a small percentage of your audience, much as you could manipulate people during the occupation of Paris by humming La Marseillaise.

Friday links! Old friends edition

By Dan Brooks in Friday Links August 15, 2014 1 Comment

Curt and Kathleen’s roof, which is my roof now, suckers

What would we do without our friends? I’ll never know, because my friends are thoughtful and compassionate and ensured that I did not spend an evening alone in New York all this week. It was great, and one way I know it was great is that I hardly looked at the internet at all. Luckily for us, my friends outside New York are great, too. They sent me a steady stream of interesting articles, which just goes to show that you should stop following the news and do what my brother says. Today is Friday, and I get by with a little shelf for my pens. Won’t you enjoy support beyond your merit with me?

Naked bike ride draws near, signaling end of morality, freedom

By Dan Brooks in Uncategorized August 14, 2014 0 Comment

An image from the 2007 World Naked Bike Ride in London

Missoula’s Bare As You Dare nude bike ride is this weekend, and debate has finally reached its most mature form, with each side accusing the other of not being from here. We’ve also seen the familiar trope of someone claiming that another person’s ostensibly immoral behavior infringes on his rights. Here’s Missoula financial advisor and naked cycling opponent John McFarland:

There is also my right to free speech and my right to be on public property. And for those that say, ‘Well, if you’re just not interested, don’t go,’ that’s infringing on my rights to be at a public area at a certain time. That’s illegal. So she’s discriminating against me because of my beliefs.

There it is. Another person who does something you don’t want her to do is discriminating against you based on your beliefs. If she weren’t such a discriminator, she would do as you say. You can probably guess my opinion of this sort of busybody behavior, or you can read about it in my latest column for the Missoula Independent. We’ll be back tomorrow with Friday links, fully clothed.