[smokinjoe]

> This is bad but it definitely isn't proof that we've turned in to some sort of Stalinist police state.

That's kind of a super-extreme isn't it? He said first glimpse of tyranny creeping up. I took it as an implication that the wheels may be beginning to turn.

Social unrest has also happened quite a number of times throughout history, but are we not allowed to be shocked in seeing weapons trained at civilians? Snipers? Vehicles of this stature? I mean, this is a town of 21,000 and utilizing this equipment was deemed appropriate?

Fortunately, the death and violence and hate aren't on par with lynch mobs and the like, but are you trying to say we should just brush this off? If you could perhaps elaborate on how the concept of Police Militarization is being polarized and preventing a resolution?

I don't see this particular resolution in the first place. We had the President decry weapons or war and then the Pentagon give 'em out. I don't feel like there is a resolution in place to be prevented.

[williamcotton]

A sobering voice of civility is exactly what everyone needs to hear right now. Getting pissed off about things solves absolutely nothing. That's what everyone is doing right now in Ferguson. Getting really fucking pissed off at one another.

Anyone feeling the same is as guilty as they are. They just don't happen to be in possession of an armored vehicle and riot gear. If they did they'd probably be out somewhere knocking heads together.

Someone needs to convince the people who elect these Sheriffs that they should put someone in charge who isn't going to buy 50,000 rounds of tear gas.

You know what's really going to end our democracy? Everyone abandoning it because they think it is too hard to go out, interact with people, and maybe start a real dialog about how we're governing ourselves.

Getting angry, pointing fingers, and inventing some sort of "us vs. them" mentality does nothing to prevent things like this from happening.

Tyranny is "super-extreme". We're nowhere near it. Implying that we are is irresponsible and most importantly, is a type of language that is hard to reconcile. The goal is conflict resolution. That doesn't mean that the actions are condoned just that there are plenty of ways to respond to situations like this.

We quite clearly have a lot of remaining issues from our past. Slavery, segregation, civil wars... it's been a fucking shit show. But so has basically everywhere else.

I'd say that events in Ferguson are more a reflection of our traumatic past than evidence of some sort of paranoid future of oppression. The oppression is behind us, fading away. Fear and mutual misunderstanding is what will lead us back to that bullshit.

[danudey]

> That's what everyone is doing right now in Ferguson. Getting really fucking pissed off at one another.

Sure, but if you look at the situation: a black kid was gunned down in broad daylight by a police officer, shot at point-blank range and then shot repeatedly while he was trying to escape, without any evidence of danger to the officer or even wrongdoing.

Now you have that same police department rolling in military kit, tear-gassing film crews and assaulting journalists.

I think it's pretty legitimate to be pissed off at the police in this case, but I don't think the police have any justification for their actions.