I am a big joke to my old friends.

[misombra]

You should turn off your television and get outside more often. And vote next Tuesday.

I do not own a television and there is not one present in my house.

[VincenzoG91]

I do smoke pot without harassment, and have donated to NORML in the past. Go back and read what I said earlier about them being corrupt and brutal etc., it said nothing about smoking pot, I don't recall mentioning pot until you showed up, haven't checked through the thread though. I agree that martial law and anarchy would be more unpleasant than coping with police, and don't recall ever saying we shouldn't have them. Doesn't mean I have to like or support them. I hate those that abuse authority, and in my experience, most do...power corrupts.

There are a lot more criminals than cops, and the criminals don't have an internal affairs department monitoring and regulating their behavior. So odds are, most people are going to suffer more from the actions of criminals than from the actions of police. I personally have just gotten tickets for speeding and running red lights in the past. But criminals have stolen from me repeatedly, and I have known several women who were raped. I wish there were enough cops to prevent crime instead of just make arrests afterward. I realize that cops are people, too, and some of them are corrupt or brutal, but that corruption and brutality generally pales in comparison with the criminals that they arrest.

[BackUpOrGetStng]

Okay, so you have now changed the subject, yet again. This argument was about cops, and now you're making it about criminals. I think any corruption or brutality by law enforcement is as bad or worse than that of a criminal because the police are tasked with protecting us, while such behavior is to be expected from violent criminals. Which brings me to another point that I brought up earlier, the distinction between violent and nonviolent criminals, which our system doesn't generally make. It's not that there aren't enough cops to prevent crime, do you think they should be on every street corner watching everything all the time? Still wouldn't prevent crime. The only way to truly drop the crime rate would be to relieve the social strain the drives the engine of crime. I don't know if you realized my true position on police, but I said I think they deserve whatever they get..meaning, they deserve to suffer(or enjoy) the consequences of their actions like everyone else..not get a pass like they often do, which is where a lot of my bitterness comes from.


This has gone way off topic, and since you seem to believe everything you've been told blindly(your vote counts, internal affairs departments stop police corruption/brutality) and are just regurgitating it, I'm done. You change the subject every time your argument gets shut down(every time you make one). You have yet to address any of my responses to you with a defense to your argument or a counter to mine...you make me look a lot smarter than I am.

[VincenzoG91]

I did not change the topic, and you have not shut down any of my arguments except in your closed mind. Without crime, there would be no need for cops, so it is completely useless to discuss cops without discussing their purpose in society. You have been lucky in life: you live in a democracy where your vote does indeed count (if you actually vote) and you live in a society so safe that you are more worried about cops than criminals. Your cynicism doesn't prove anything except that you have a bad attitude.

[BackUpOrGetStng]

There was never any argument as to their purpose in society.

What am I supposed to think, when I provide a counterpoint that rips your argument apart, and you don't respond to it, but instead change the subject? None of your responses address my previously raised questions or responses to your argument. You just deflect with personal attacks.

[misombra]

no kidding. don't watch tv and go vote is not an argument.

[VincenzoG91]

"Go vote" is relevant to the discussion, because BackUp is whining about unjust laws. Don't like the laws? Participate in our form of government by at least voting, or else shut the hell up.

[VincenzoG91]

There was never any argument as to their purpose in society.

What am I supposed to think, when I provide a counterpoint that rips your argument apart, and you don't respond to it, but instead change the subject? None of your responses address my previously raised questions or responses to your argument. You just deflect with personal attacks.

You said that you laugh when cops die. Until you retract that statement, I have no respect for anything that you say.

[VincenzoG91]

"Police officers DIE trying to protect people and do their job, they deserve our respect"

I'm pretty sure they knew the risk going into it, I have zero sympathy. You try to take someone's freedom, you deserve whatever happens, IMO. Not saying I'm taking the side of criminals, but they take away the freedom of nonviolent offenders everyday and I put cops and criminals on the same level..I laugh when cops die. Individually, maybe some do deserve our respect, but as a whole I don't agree. Personally, I think they deserve whatever they get...if thats a medal of valor and a promotion, fine...if it's a bullet in the back of the head, also fine.

Just wanted to quote you on this before you do any editing. I did put the extreme part in bold.

[BackUpOrGetStng]

I'm not retracting a true statement, and I laughed out loud at the fact that you think I would edit my post to make myself look "better". I'm a fan of irony, and I like when things don't turn out like "they're supposed to". Cop got shot in the head in a dunkin donuts in Philly a couple years ago, you gonna tell me that's not comedy? They go to work everyday, and for the most part(in my experience) they're just bullies that do as they please and have no consequences. I laugh when someone kills them, because it's a reminder to them that they're not invincible, not to mention they knowingly put themselves in that situation. I can't feel sorry for someone that knows the possible consequences of their actions and chooses to ignore them, or act in spite of them. I don't care if you respect what I say or not, but if you're going to argue lets try to keep it on topic rather than avoiding points you can't win, or just don't argue.

[Mish]

For those who argue that legal drug alcohol is much milder than the illegal drugs, here is something to think about

[url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210]BBC News - Alcohol 'more harmful than heroin' says Prof David Nutt[/url]