>^^^^^
> >CB: Also, it is not a crime to yell at a police officer in your house.
> >So, the arrest
> >was illegal. :>)
>
> yeah. it is. they call it assault. if you wag your finger at them, they
> call it battery...
>
> sociologically speaking, it boils down to this: the issue is about respect
> for the cops. if you show that you diss them, then how DARE you.
Usually I hate me-too posts, but this gets it exactly right.
In my town, cops have become so staggeringly arrogant that they won't even acknowledge that you exist unless they want to cuff you. Ordinary human interactions have become next to impossible. You ask a question and the cop stares over your head and pretends you're not there.
If you persisted -- if you said, "did you hear me?" and annoyed the cop -- you would ipso facto become a perp. You'd be cuffed and charged with disorderly conduct, just like Professor Gates.
Given a choice between the professoriate -- the custodians of the Credentialling Sector, and the cops, who run the sister subsidiary, the Incarceration Sector, I might reluctantly have to choose the profs.
At least they're not -- usually -- armed.
--
Michael Smith mjs at smithbowen.net http://stopmebeforeivoteagain.org