What would you do?

[Truthiness Inspector]

Poll question: What would you do?

Pretend you are a police officer. If you saw your daughter or someone else's daughter/son being attacked?

[gateley]

1. Everything possible..... What prompted this question? nt

[Vincardog]

2. Do you have a point?

[sandnsea]

3. Shoot first, ask questions later

Isn't that what you're looking for?

[Occam Bandage]

4. Use of pain to force compliance is torture.

Police should request assailant stop politely. If assailant does not heed request, police may then inform assailant of the emotional harm assailant is causing. If assailant persists, police may then employ raised voices or harsh tones.

Tasers are torture, after all, and nightsticks and guns are clearly more damaging, and hand-to-hand combat is not an option if assailant has so much as a knife. We must always be careful to respect the fundamental human right of violent disobedience.

[readmoreoften]

5. I would taze the person who was making the straw man argument. /nt

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Truthiness Inspector]

9. LOL

Glad you are here. :o

[readmoreoften]

11. No. No one makes cracks at my name. I've been here long enough that people know me well.

I could say the same about your name. Maybe if you used logic you wouldn't be getting cut with your own razor all the time. It's a clear straw man argument because no one is saying police shouldn't use force to stop real violence. They're just disgusted by police who use tasers like they used to use a strong tone of voice.

Are you always such a nasty person?

[Truthiness Inspector]

Strong tone of voice? LOL

Yes, that works tremendously. That's why police officers carry guns, TASERS, batons, OC, etc. LOL.

As far as your screename, it didn't register. I have a problem with your argument and position not your "name."

[readmoreoften]

16. I wasn't talking to you about my "name" (and why the need for scare quotes?)

I was talking to your friend who commented on my name. Yes. Strong tone of voice. It's called sarcasm. Meaning: cops are getting to the point where they taser people even in situations where they used to be able to control them with a stern tone of voice. I did not say that cops have no other weapons in their arsenal. I also never said that cops have no right to use force.

[Occam Bandage]

17. Ah, but see,

the OP did not claim that anyone had made such an argument. He was simply determining the boundaries of his opponents' positions, and inviting his opponents to explain what they believed the limits were to defense against violence. There may have been an subtle invitation to overgeneralize (that is, in hopes that the reader will think, "Oh, okay, I think tasering is good to stop violence, so I support it in all cases"), but that isn't a strawman.

A strawman is an argument against a deliberate distortion of an opponent's position. The OP:

A. Lacks an argument, and
B. Lacks an opponent's position, and therefore
C. Lacks a distortion.

Misleading? Perhaps. Strawman? Nuh-uh.

(finally, people have in the other thread suggested that tasers be disallowed in absolutely all situations. By suggesting that the opposition to tasers is limited to "disgust" at "misuse," you're committing a form of reverse-strawman.)

[readmoreoften]

25. What makes you think I'm calling it a straw man argument based on this post alone?

You are correct in that there is no explicit argument in this post. However, this poster has a consistent, ongoing argument at DU that force is always necessary by the fact that it has been used by an authority. I have never witnessed a taser thread at DU where he did not, in fact, argue that the officer was absolutely correct for doing so. His logic is based on 'appeal to authority'.

This poster is responding to the ongoing DU argument: While tasers are preferable to bullets, officers are using them in situations where no force is needed whatsoever: i.e. Best Buy Tasering.

The poster's deliberate distortion of the above argument is: DUers are saying police should not use force to rescue someone from an attack.

I have never seen a single post on DU where someone criticized a law officer for tazing a perp mid-attack.

(And by the way, my name is a reminder to myself that I should be reading books more often than surfing the net--which is what I'm going to do now. Thanks for reminding me.)

[ColbertWatcher]

22. Who is this straw man?

Does he know where the bomb is that is set to go off in a matter of minutes as we try to figure out how we can save an entire city...

[readmoreoften]

7. Am I any less likely to stumble upon someone's son or daughter being attacked as a citizen?

I've never seen one online video of a cop tazing someone for a rape-in-progress. Maybe y'all should start posting them and you'll get more public support.

[Truthiness Inspector]

27. You as a civilian don't get called to respond to such calls, cops do

And anything cops respond to re sex crimes they cannot post or disclose.

Maybe YOU should think a little bit.

[readmoreoften]

32. I don't know where you live. By the time the cops show up around here the beating is over. /nt

[me b zola]

33. Maybe you should put down your middle finger, george

You seem to have aggression issues.

[Truthiness Inspector]

28. You as a civilian don't get called to respond to such calls, cops do

And anything cops respond to re sex crimes they cannot post or disclose.

Maybe YOU should think a little bit.

[me b zola]

8. How about this choice...

I am the parent of a son/daughter being violently attacked by a police officer...what do I do?

[readmoreoften]

12. Get tazed for trying to save your kid's life. /nt

[me b zola]

35. That seems to be what TI would do

All in the name of "law and order".

Seriously, how many inside accounts have come out that have revealed that many police departments act like organized crime with a license?--too many to count.

I am so sorry that you were personally attacked for your views upthread by an police brutality apologist. You are a thoughtful, intelligent poster who does not deserve that. Wait until one of their kids is abused or murdered at the hands of police, then they will be singing a different tune.

[Truthiness Inspector]

13. You file a complaint with that officer's dept...and beyond that the city.

Or you consider the option that your son/daughter may not be a law-abiding citizen and save some money. Your choice, of course. :)

[Solon]

21. See, that's you problem, you think every victim of police brutality deserves it...

somehow, and that police are a magical force of people who are, for some reason, perfect.

[readmoreoften]

30. Magical goodness rainbow brite perfect-cops yeah!

I'll tell you what-- If the all-knowing magical rainbow brite perfect-cops were patrolling my neighborhood, I might love them too. Unfortunately, where I grew up two cops got busted forcing a stripper to get into their car after work and drove around in circles raping her. Maybe they ran out of magic perfect powder or an evil witch cast a terrible spell on them. :(

[Solon]

34. This guy would probably justify it because she was a stripper...

and deserved it, he's a piece of work, let me tell you that.

[me b zola]

26. I'd rather consider the option...

...that if people like you were tased then good citizens would not have to suffer abuse at the hands of "law enforcement".

[Hoof Hearted]

10. Since I'm not privy to whatever other argument you're involved in I will say

I would shoot the mother-fucker and worry about consequences later, if need be. I don't think anyone should have to worry about the consequences of protecting themselves, or family, or neighbors, or even fellow citizens if it is legitimate defense.

And I HATE, and I mean HATE, guns.

[readmoreoften]

14. The argument is whether or not cops should be able to taser loud women in Best Buy.

But this fellow has given us a lovely straw man argument.

[Truthiness Inspector]

15. What? Please quote me. n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

18. Compose a strongly worded letter? n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

19. No, wait, pull Bernie aside and thank god Bush is Pres? n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

20. First, finish the donut. n/t

[readmoreoften]

31. Savor the donut. First, savor the donut. /nt

[Make7]

23. I would get to a computer as fast as possible....

... and start an online poll to determine the proper course of action. Then I would return to the scene of the altercation to carry out the most voted for option.

- Make7

[NuttyFluffers]

24. bust out the Mancatcher +3 vs. evil deeds

no one suspects the Mancatcha!

[me b zola]

29. Other. I would tase you.