Rodney King Dead

Rodney King, famous for his beating at the hands of Los Angeles police in 1991 and the riots that resulted when several officers involved were acquitted, is dead at 47.

CNN reports:

Police in Rialto, California, received a 911 call from King's fiancee, Cynthia Kelly, about 5:25 a.m., said Capt. Randy DeAnda. Responding officers found King at the bottom of the pool, removed him and attempted to revive him. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital, DeAnda said.

There were no preliminary signs of foul play, he said, and no obvious injuries on King's body. Police are conducting a drowning investigation, DeAnda said, and King's body would be autopsied.

King's beating, captured on video, launched a trend of bystanders filming police behavior (and misbehavior), followed by the police's authoritarian and sometimes violent responses. The battle to record police officers, particularly when they are abusing their power, continues today. Just last week, a man in Rancho Palos Verdes (south of Los Angeles) was acquitted of charges of battery against Los Angeles County deputies after security video contradicted deputies' claims that he spat at them.

Tim Cavanaugh wrote about the 20th anniversary of the L.A. riots in April.

Comments

[Almanian...still]

The King is dead. Long live the King.

[juris imprudent]

He is no longer resisting.

[sloopyinca]

There's a joke in there about black people not being able to swim, but I won't be the one that makes it.

[Gojira]

True story: there was a school I was trying to qual for in the army, and one of the items was a swim test. I was in Ft. Lewis in Washington State at the time.

We all lined up on the side of the pool and jumped in. I didn't look until I had gotten out on the other side, but all of the black and asian guys had just plunged straight down to the bottom of the pool, whereas all the white guys had swam like fish to the other side.

A few of them managed to struggle through to the surface and make it across, but it was a very surreal moment.

[Tulpa the White]

The people who have easy access to swimmable water are either wealthy or in rural areas...both overwhelmingly white groups.

[Rainbow Puppy]

I seem to recall plenty of Black people in rural areas of my travels. Some in wealthy areas too.

[Tulpa the White]

Most blacks are not rural or wealthy.

[Rainbow Puppy]

Maybe in Jimmy Crow world.

[Mr. FIFY]

Jim Crow is dead and buried, never to return.

Bet that pisses you off, though, as that's one less thing your Team can use to scare the gullible masses.

[Tulpa the White]

So now I'm back to being Team Blue? Fuck, I need a scorecard.

[sloopyinca]

And I guess blacks don't have access to the ocean, lakes, rivers or public pools? Fuck me, Tulpa, you're either really dense today or you're just flat-out trolling..

[Tulpa the White]

Three out of four of those bodies of water are loaded with pollution and sewage and infested by predators and biting creatures.

That leaves the ocean which can be very choppy.

[sloopyinca]

Hear that, people? There is only one ocean, lake, river and public pool in the entire world.

[Mr. FIFY]

Will permanently-mounted wheelchair lifts be required on the beaches?

[Tulpa the White]

There is only one ocean, mapmaker's conceit notwithstanding. And in your rush to nitpick, you missed the joke I laid out for you.

[sloopyinca]

Oh, I got the joke. It needed more Sandusky though to get the full effect for predators and biting things. I give it a C+.

[Tulpa the White]

Leave Coach Jerry alone. If you had historic personality disorder you'd be boning kids in the shower too.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

I know anecdote /= evidence, but in my former city of residence, the population broke down to ~50% caucasian 35% hispanic 10% black and 5% asian.

Yet, the pink bodied kids in the public pool seemed to be outnumbered about 5:1. Either that, or there were some remarkably tanned caucasian kids.....

[Tulpa the White]

You realize you're opposing the opponent of someone who said blacks can't swim.

[WWNGD?]

I remember the YMCA and the city's public pools and those were not limited to wealthy white people.

[UCrawford]

Growing up I knew plenty of black people who went to the pool but relatively few who actually took swimming lessons. The swim test Gojira is referring to (which I believe I also took in the military) pretty much required technical proficiency to pass beyond being able to bob and the racial demographics for pass/fail there were similar. I was really surprised by it too until I talked to a couple of the guys who failed who were my buddies and they said they'd never had to swim the length of a pool and back without being allowed to touch bottom before (and certainly not in full uniform). Their parents had never sent them to swim lessons whereas I'd started getting swim lessons around age five.

[UCrawford]

Although I did know at least one white guy in the Army who couldn't swim at all, but his problem was that he had some kind of pathological fear about the water. He took the Ranger swim test where he had to swim 25 meters with rifle, uniform and combat rig and he couldn't do it...he just freaked out. But most of the time from what I could see swimming proficiency just came down to whether or not you got lessons as a kid. Those who did were usually fine, those who didn't usually struggled.

[Tulpa the White]

Wow. Ken Shultz got to you too?

[BakedPenguin]

It's odd that a lot of people at the time mocked his "can't we all get along?". I thought it was a good question, myself.

[sloopyinca]

It's odd that a lot of people at the time mocked his "can't we all get along?".

Not odd at all. The world has been (and still is) full of racists and badge-lickers that viewed him as worthy of the beating he got.

[General Butt Naked]

Dude, I have a news gadget on my google home page and it usually links to CNN stories. Jesus, man the commenters there are fucking animals. They don't even try to hide their racism at all. Straight up.

And any crime reported on CNN the comments go straight for the prison rape. No matter the severity of the crime. There was a HS principal in Fla that got arrested with meth and about half the comments were some variation of, "The only meth this degenerate will get now is bubba's penis, in jail, raped HA! He deserves it for breaking arbitrary laws. Coon."

If you want to make a youtube commenter look good put him next to a cnn commenter.

*I actually went to the story to find some of the worst ones but they've been deleted. The guy posting some real garbage wondered why and of course the chorus rang in, "Because the libtard pc police a afraid of the truth" Yeah, that's it, retard.

[CockGobbla]

Shouldn't prison rapists be raped too? And what about the rapists of the prison rapists? And their rapists? And their rapists? And so on, and so on.

[sloopyinca]

Dare I say it's rapists all the way down?

[CockGobbla]

a Sandusky Paradox?

[?J?? de ?guila]

"Liberal" Big "Bill" Lockyer, former elected Attorney General of the largest and one of the most "progressive" states in this country feels that prison rape is appropriate punishment. So much for cruel and unjust -- Law and Order, High Taxes, Free Welfare and a Dick up the Ass.

[Mr. FIFY]

Actually, some people deserve prison rape.

Child molesters, for instance.

Sorry, I just have zero compassion for kiddie-diddlers.

As long as they're 100% guilty, that is.

Oh, and many politicians deserve it, too.

[?J?? de ?guila]

Should the prison rapists be compensated by the state for dealing out punishment that is condoned by the state???!! Hell, even some judges joke about this. Fuck our fucked up justice system!

[Mr. FIFY]

IMO, if you murder or rape or theft people, or become a Congressman... you deserve to be locked up.

As long as you're 100% guilty.

What else are we gonna do with the dregs of society?

[sloopyinca]

What else are we gonna do with the dregs of society?

Hire them to work for the TSA?

[Mr. FIFY]

Too late for that, sloop.

[General Butt Naked]

Then one day an unassuming middle aged man living in the suburbs of Buffalo NY is visited by an dark suited man.

He answers the door and the dark suited man hands him a paper. On it the middle aged man sees a print out of an internet website. Upon closer inspection he sees that it has a comment that he made on the CNN website years earlier. He barely remembered it, but the story had something to do with an eighteen year old kid that got caught smuggling pot in from Canada.

The righteous indignation he felt that day came back, rising in his throat like sour bile. He was a goddamn law abiding citizen, and who were these degenerates that would dare break the laws the we the people voted on. It was a crime against him and all he stood for, he knew what should be done to the dredges of society. The pot smokers, the ladies that left their kids in the car while they shopped for wine coolers. HE didn't need wine coolers to get through his day, why should SHE the whore. All that trash out there, the illegal Mexicans, the rich nigger rappers and their whores, all of them should feel the focus of his rage for having the gall to upset the norms that WE VOTED ON, it's MY SOCIETY NIGGER and you're RUINING it!

So it wasn't without some pride that he listened as the dark suited man read his comment back to him.

[General Butt Naked]

"Take that hippy, ten years, don't drop the soap. LOL you gat wat u derservd!"

The man in black read.

"Are you 'ProudAMERICAN1776' and did you write this?"

The man asked.

"Yes", said ProudAMERICAN1776, "I wrote every damn word of it, with PRIDE! Who the hell wants to know?"

The man in black took off his ebon jacket and held it in his right hand, and said, "My name is Bubba and I work for the Prison Rape Administration, my only interest is justice, can I come in."

The middle aged man let him in knowing that the next hour was going to be unpleasant.

[Killazontherun]

An unpleasant hour? I guess that is possible if the guy was inexperienced with disposing with the corpses of people stupid enough to show up at his door, his literal home turf, for the purposes of violence, but with the right knowledge of butchery techniques and solvents on hand, it really shouldn't take more than fifteen to twenty minutes to do get rid of Bubba.

[General Butt Naked]

First of all, ProudAMERICAN1776 has never had a violent confrontation in his life.

Secondly, Bubba is a government agent working under the color of law to ensure a completion of the rape cycle. If there is one thing that ProudAMERICAN1776 has reverence for it is THE LAW.

And yes, one day Bubba will get a knock on his door and it will be another Bubba. Every Bubba knows this but they don't allow it to interfere with the pleasure they derive in the execution of their duty. They truly are American heroes.

[Killazontherun]

So this is a rape fantasy then? Strange way to go about illustrating the just deserts earned by sick minds.

If I had to worry about every person or group of people (hello Tulpa, hello Tulpa's fellow Catholics) I ever offended with prejudice and postjudice (hello, Muslims) I would be wearing a butt plug shaped Taser at all times. And you know what? You would be too.

It's all about the motes and the planks, baby!

[General Butt Naked]

It's not about anything, fuck.

Christ man, I just had my fill of CNN commenters for the day.

[Killazontherun]

You're right. I shouldn't of held that gun to your head and made you read those CNN comments. If it makes you feel better, I did something equally stupid. I flipped on This Week just in time to see Katrina Van Hoovervac-lips gloat over Jeb Bush's remarks. I haven't watched a single segment of that show or an talking head show for that matter in over a year, and that is the moment I randomly chose. I deserved it for wading back in.

[Killazontherun]

BTW, I think she still looks pretty damn fuckable though I've seen others describe her as a former beauty. Maybe she has had some work done, or I just like 'em rougher one.

[General Butt Naked]

Look man, I commented above how some people think that any minor transgression is worthy of prison rape and CockGobbla mentioned that the prison rapists should then be justifiably raped and you end up with a fractal of rape. The Sandusky paradox as CG coined it.

Then I thought about a weird world where butt rape was the punishment for everything, including making stoopid comments about rape on cnn.com. Because, paradoxically, the people commenting on cnn stories are the ones voting and making the laws, and they really love the idea of prison rape.

So you end up with this government agency that sends out 'Bubbas' to dispense justice. Oh yeah, it's the future and the etymology of 'Bubba" isn't well understood, but looking at it from here we know what it means.

[Killazontherun]

The thing about rape is you got to nip it in the bud early. Or else, there will be quite a few sore asses running around that go well beyond what is justified through just retribution. You start out with the eighteen year old hippie getting raped, and then those who support prison rape on the principle of law and order getting raped for a higher principle of turnabout ironic justice. Of course, Bubbas will rape other Bubbas given their propensity, soon after, rape becomes so pervasive and unmoored of its judicious purpose due to common acceptance that you wont be able to bend over to pick up the newspaper without getting one up the butt.

'Good one, Bob! I'll get you back tomorrow, just you wait and see.'

That is why 'an eye for an eye' doesn't work in conflict resolution.

[Mr. FIFY]

Sorry, Killaz, but I can't think of a more-fitting demise for a truly-guilty child-fucker than being raped.

My compassion levels for scum are pretty limited.

[General Butt Naked]

Yes, but who rapes the rapemen?

I'm just going to go ahead and be courageous and say that I am against rape.

When you want to get all rapey on a molester remember all those set up in the 80s and 90s by viscous prosecutors and psychotherapists pushing satanic daycare centers and repressed memories.

And it's not about compassion it's about having a justice system that is above the worst offenders. If rape is systematic and allowed it essentially becomes part of the punishment. Punishment for whom?

You're an enlightened guy so you draw the line at kiddy fuckers, but rapists in prisons and the guards that allow such behavior probably don't make distinctions between selling weed and molesting kids. Any kind of idea that the man who rapes another and the guard that allows it are performing some sort of noble justice is sick. They're psychos getting their rocks off and if you want to be in on that action, go ahead. Count me out.

And this idea that because you don't want the worst for the worst, whether they be child molesters, terrorists, rapists, murderers, etc, that you somehow have compassion for them, or side with them, is a cheap rhetorical trick. If you want to get down to their level and get your hands dirty go for it, but don't pretend that you're any better than they are.

[TELLMOFF]

The U.S.A. is more full of badge-lickers than ever before. Watch for my use of this term in future comments.

[Mr. FIFY]

And Big Sis will be watching for your use of the term, as well.

[Killazontherun]

I have a pal and cousin who just got a new job a few weeks back clerking at a quicky mart/gas station. He was told by the owner (a cool Indian dude nicknamed Chocolate 'cause his skin is black and then some) that the restroom is not for general public use. No exceptions. About a week in, a cop comes in who asks to use the bathroom facilities, and my cuz tells him 'no.' His manager, a short fiftyish white lady rushes out of the back and escorts the cop to the bathroom. After the cop leaves, she fusses at my cuz.

'What do you think you are doing?'

'Chocolate said no exceptions.'

'He's a cop!'

'It's immoral to treat people differently based on social status.'*

'He's a cop!'

* yeah, he has a degree and this is the best job he can find right now.

[jester]

A cop taking a shit is one less cop on the street breaking balls.

[Anonymous Coward]

I prefer the term "cop-sucker." "Badge-licker" lacks the undertones of rage and vulgarity that I enjoy in my insults.

[?J?? de ?guila]

I don't know, "badge-licker" is plenty vulgar and would sure cause rage in a badge-licker that was accused of being the same.

[Mr. FIFY]

Cops think they're better than regular people.

So do politicians.

[PapayaSF]

I think the mockery is partly because the answer is: "Because the world has too many dimwitted career criminals who drive drunk and get into high-speed chases and then fight with the police once they get stopped."

[jester]

'fight with police'

my hero!

[Troy muy grande boner]

Yeah, what moved me is that despite the beating, despite the "justice" system failing, he didn't have the animosity to want all that shit go down. YOu know, something Christ would do. And for his christian act, his christian nation mocked him.

'Mericuns, you really are a special class of piece of shit all to your own.

This species ain't going to make it. God I wish I could be alive when it nukes itself.

[CockGobbla]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS403We_e3g

I'll just tuck this away right here in case anyone's interested.

[John]

The LA riots, where in response to a black man being beaten by white police, a mob of mostly Mexicans burned down a bunch of Korean businesses.

[CockGobbla]

It was a proxy war.

[PapayaSF]

They burned down a number of black businesses, too, including a retailer who was a customer of the business I worked for at the time.

[sloopyinca]

Not to downplay the severity of the King beating, but I just watched the video and that kind of brutality by the police is chronicled on an almost daily basis in America today. The only difference is that police unions and the obeisant lackeys who negotiate their contracts on behalf of taxpayers have ensured that police will no longer be subject to even the mockery of a state trial these monsters went through.

[PapayaSF]

Well, there is a certain amount of context left out of the video everyone sees, which is the end of a long fight. If you just see that part, it looks totally unjustified. But if you watch the whole video, it looks a bit less unjustified. Yes, the cops should have stopped hitting him after a certain point, but in a long and dragged-out fight, it's not surprising that adrenaline causes people to be aggressive longer than they should.

Again, this fits my perception that many victims of police brutality could have avoided the problem by not fighting with police in the first place. I have total sympathy for people who (e.g.) are sitting at home and a SWAT team bursts in, or are walking in a peaceful demonstration and get clubbed, but if you are a drunk driver and get into a fight with the cops once they catch up to you, you're a jerk and a dangerous idiot, and you get at least some of the blame for whatever happens to you.

[TELLMOFF]

Sober drivers kill more people than drunks- that is an accurate statistic. There is a small risk when driving. If you can't tollerate that risk, stay out of cars. Don't turn our roads into police dragnets.

[Mr. FIFY]

Actually, in light of the Rio bullshit, we could kill two birds with one metaphor by banning ALL driving.

Tony and MADD would be proud, though the latter would have nothing to do if no one can drive, drunk or un-drunk.

[PapayaSF]

Let's not go overboard. Are you both arguing that police should not have the power to stop drunk drivers? I don't mean with dragnets or roadblocks, but when seeing a drunk driver (which I believe is how Rodney King got caught).

[Mr. FIFY]

We have no choice on the dragnets, TELLM. They are going to happen no matter what we do or don't do on the roads.

[Apatheist ?_??]

There is a legitimate libertarian argument to be made that drunk driving in and of itself should not be illegal but it is an admittedly on the fringes. I think at a minimum that you shouldn't be able to get a DUI/DWI without probably cause that you are driving impaired. Not only no roadblocks but if you are pulled over for anything other than driving recklessly you shouldn't be tested for alcohol.

[jester]

One should never be tested for any substance in their system. The camera in the police car will provide all evidence of recklessness. Reckless driving can be caused by any number of reasons: picking one's nose, masturbating while driving, looking at maps, eating, daydreaming, applying make up, smoking, engaging a seatbelt upon seeing a cop, texting, sexting, ad infinitum. The driving faux pas should be the standard. What caused it is immaterial. Tort law should govern it.

[Tulpa the White]

Sober drivers kill more people than drunks- that is an accurate statistic.

That's because there are way more sober drivers than drunks.

Swimming pools kill more people than lightning strikes, too...that doesn't mean pools are more dangerous than lightning.

[Mr. FIFY]

There'd damn well better be a PERMANENTLY-MOUNTED wheelchair lift anchored next to those pools. Because portable lifts = Jim Crow.

/liberal stoopidity

[jester]

Swimming pools kill no one. Inexperienced or impaired swimmers (non-swimmers) eliminate themselves. You fell into the old fallacy of...okay, there has to be a name for it.

Sober drivers of course may be sober but they can be distracted. Why is a person distracted by inebriation any more guilty than a person distracted by any other distraction?

[Tulpa the White]

While you're right about the context and the effect of adrenaline, that's not an excuse for the cops in any way. They're supposed to be professionals. If they can't control themselves they shouldn't be wearing a badge and empowered to coerce with the full backing of the State.

[?J?? de ?guila]

Strange isn't it, sloop, that the situation has gotten worse rather than better since the King beating? Oh well, Homeland Security and Public Safety.......and near total immunity for the faceless fascist protectors of the State.

[Tulpa the White]

that kind of brutality by the police is chronicled on an almost daily basis in America today

Oh please. Exaggerate much?

Yes there is a problem, not an isolated one either...but daily, no.

[Virginian]

Uh I think on any given week reading Hit and Run I see at least 3 "cop beating citizen/cop shooting dog/cop committing crime" stories.

So it's every other day for reported stuff. How many times does a cop slip a little blow out of the evidence room with no one the wiser? How many times does he tune up some ghetto kid that no one's going to listen to?

[XM]

Three stories about cops beating up on citizens do not a trend make. You can probably find 3 instances of illegal aliens ripping off the government or killing citizens, maybe 7 stories about someone in the private sector ripping someone off, or a dozen stories about the police saving someone's life by doing their job properly, which doesn't make the news.

I could get shot down by an illegal immigrant in a rough neighborhood. One of my illegal friends (over 30, alas) could get rounded up by ICE. A militarized police could mistakenly bulldoze my house. These things actually happened in the past. But what are the chances?

A lot of this is sometimes cathartic. Both sides play that game.

[sloopyinca]

You can probably find 3 instances of illegal aliens ripping off the government or killing citizens, maybe 7 stories about someone in the private sector ripping someone off, or a dozen stories about the police saving someone's life by doing their job properly

Then you won't have a problem providing link after link after link for these occurrences, will you? God knows I'll never run out of stories of police brutality. Like I said earlier, there's a fresh crop of them every week.

[jester]

You obsess about illegals, those poor folk who commit a misdemeanor to try to better their lives by selling their labor after realizing that there is no way to enter otherwise. Welcome. We need a new Lonewacko to ostracize around here.

[Bee Tagger]

He may have used vague wording, but still, almost daily != daily.

[Virginian]

OK, so only every other day in the land of the free does a jackbooted thug shoot a pet, commit a crime, or assault the people he's supposed to be protecting from assault.

Seriously, it's not that it happens. It's going to happen, because it's human nature. But it would happen a lot less frequently if the cops that break the law were treated like lawbreakers instead of like righteous heroes who happened to get a bit carried away in their thirst for justice.

[Bee Tagger]

I was replying to Tulpa since he was responding like Shackford wrote "daily."

[Virginian]

Dope sorry I should read closer before I speak.

[Tulpa the White]

A Rodney King-level incident isn't even monthly. You know how many fractures he had in his skull?

[sloopyinca]

You're right Tulpa. Their modus operandi today seems to be put a hole or two in them and move on to their paid vacation.

And you do read the links I post here almost every day about a cop or group of cops abusing someone, don't you? I could list a half-dozen stories where a cop raped, kidnapped or beat a person unjustifiably from just the past two or three days if you'd like.

By the way, I said "that kind of brutality," not "that exact level level of physical destruction.

[sloopyinca]

You're right Tulpa. Their modus operandi today seems to be put a hole or two in them and move on to their paid vacation.

And you do read the links I post here almost every day about a cop or group of cops abusing someone, don't you? I could list a half-dozen stories where a cop raped, kidnapped or beat a person unjustifiably from just the past two or three days if you'd like.

By the way, I said "that kind of brutality," not "that exact level level of physical destruction to another human being."

[Tulpa the White]

There are plenty of awful instances of police abuse that don't rise to the level of Rod King's.

Crying wolf isn't going to help your cause (which is my cause too, btw).

[LarryA]

Check out the Keep and Bear Arms blog. (http://www.keepandbeararms.com/) They post several bad-cop stories a day, Monday through Saturday.

[Tulpa the White]

bad cops != Rodney King levels of brutality

[Virginian]

Don't hurt yourself moving those goalposts.

[Tulpa the White]

Actually I'm moving the goalposts back where sloopy put them. But by all means keep up the brainless accusations.

[Tulpa the White]

I mean seriously, how the FUCK did correcting people who move the goalposts itself become "moving the goalposts"? It didn't of course, rather the people who can find no actual flaws in my argument reach into the bank of buzzword insults that the glibsters have deposited into.

[Cytotoxic]

I agree with Tulpa.

[sloopyinca]

A single bullet hole in a victim's back doesn't look as brutal, but I'd be willing to bet Oscar Grant would have taken a Rodney King-like beating over being dead.

So would Otto Zehm. So would John T Williams. So would Ramarley Graham.* So would Jose Guerena. Etc, etc, etc...

*Graham's killer left his arraignment to applause from his fellow officers.

[Tulpa the White]

sloopy, cops shooting people is not a new phenomenon. It happened back in 1992 as well.

And I'm the one moving the goalposts?

[sloopyinca]

I never moved the goalposts and I never said you had moved them either. I stand behind my statement that these types of beatings happen on an almost daily basis in America (and I would count a cop that shoots a kid for flushing weed or a guy 20 feet away with a carving knife or a cop that gets to cop a plea after nearly a dozen women come forward with concrete evidence that he raped them while on duty as this kind of violence). Do they always end with multimillion dollar settlements or in a national news story? No they don't. But that doesn't mean they aren't reported on. Open your eyes, man. You're a reasonably intelligent person.

[Banjos]

It is not necessarily police brutality that has gone up as much as it is video cameras becoming 100 times more accessible.

[sloopyinca]

It's been going on ever since men were given weapons and authority over other men. I was just noting that it's chronicled on an almost daily basis now. And yes, it's almost exclusively because of the availability of video recording devices. Unfortunately, for those beaten in the past and those beaten in the present without someone taping it, the word of the police is still considered as truthful as the word of God.*

*It doesn't help that they have a monopoly on investigating misconduct and have union contracts designed to protect officers as opposed to seeking the truth and justice.

[John]

Judging by the picture, at least he was able to change his name to Ray Lewis and go on to have a hall of fame career in the NFL.

[Tulpa the White]

Nah, Rodney King never stabbed anyone to death.

I think Big Ben may be STEVE SMITH in disguise, though.

[Francisco d Anconia]

Rodney King, famous for his beating at the hands of Los Angeles police in 1991 and the riots that resulted when several officers involved were acquitted, is dead at 47.

Um...we had no officers in the vicinity at the time of the accidental drowning and we'd like to point out that Mr King's dog is still alive.

/LAPD

[sloopyinca]

Haha. Tiger is about to play the first three holes at +4. I wonder how long before the ass-kissers at NBC say he's out of it? My guess is when he's in the clubhouse at +10.

[sloopyinca]

I need barfman to respond to the e-mail I just got from the Obama campaign Caroline Kennedy. Here it is:

Friend --

I grew up in the White House. I remember as a small child visiting my father in the Oval Office while he worked.

But really, we could have been growing up in any American home. We were just children, happy to see our dad -- even if he was stepping out of a helicopter that had landed on our front lawn.

That's why, on Father's Day, I'm thinking of Michelle Obama and the girls, and the time they'll get to spend with the President as a family.

I can appreciate how long the days can be -- and how wonderful it feels to know that, no matter how full your father's plate is, you're the best part of his day and the most important part of his life.

Thanks for joining Michelle and others all around the country to wish the President a happy Father's Day.

Now, take a minute to watch a video she recorded about Barack as a father:

http://my.barackobama.com/Video-Fathers-Day

Thanks, and happy Father's Day to every dad out there.

Caroline

[Francisco d Anconia]

I'll fill in.

*barf*

[Killazontherun]

Sloop, you should write her back. Hey thanks, Caroline, for that video. Now that we are friends, I thought you may enjoy a video I've made for you. It's of me and my hot pregnant wife having sex. You're welcome to come down and visit when the baby is born. You'll have a friendly place to stay with a couple who would also like to have sex with you. Cheers!

[sloopyinca]

I always reply to them. Here's my latest e-mail to the obama campaign in response to a fund drive:

Ken Spicer
Jun 14 (3 days ago)

to info
Yeah, I have no interest whatsoever in volunteering for the Obama campaign. As a matter of fact, I will be actively campaigning to have Obama arrested for war crimes and impeached for killing American citizens and foreigners overseas without due process as well as for the countless murders of innocent adults and children that have either made no threat against the United States or lack the ability to carry one out.

Good luck, asshole. I hope you all burn in hell for your murderous ways.

Sent from my iPhone

[Tulpa the White]

I was totally going to cheer you on until the iPhone part. Blech.

[sloopyinca]

But I didn't send it from my iPhone. That was part of the fucking joke. I wanted them to think it was coming from one of their leftist Apple-loving minions.

Perhaps I over-thought it, but I thought it was a nice touch.

[sloopyinca]

You gotta be fucking kidding me...

[General Butt Naked]

You're gonna be a dad soon, I'd think that you'd want to be a good dad to your spawn. Maybe you should check it out.

Oh, and here's something for you; cop v cop.

[sloopyinca]

Holy shit.

FTA: "One officer has been injured by shrap metal and two police vehicles have been shot," Mettin said late Sunday afternoon. "And an armored personnel vehicle also was struck."

[jester]

Rodney King, RIP

It's sad to become famous for being a victim; but that's what he did. He wasn't capable of much else, but what he took, he took well. I'll give him that. I'll never begrudge Rodney King anything.

It is truly a tragedy (in the traditional tragedic sense) that he died as a result of his lawsuit awards. A swimming pool would never have been part of his former life; it occured as a result of his senseless beatings. Ergo, he is a tragic hero. Really, guys and the one or two gals who hang here.

So, using the circumstantial rule, like that being applied to Lance Armstrong (whom I'm indifferent to as a sports hero), the police are guilty of murder.

[Killazontherun]

Yep, RIP R. King. There was that day you had the weight of the world on your shoulders. I could feel it from my living room watching the television. You still managed to say the right thing.

[PapayaSF]

That's a lot of sentiment for a guy with a rap sheet like this, and that only goes up to 2001. We're lucky he never killed anyone. Well, that we know of.

[dickbird]

Black people have higher bone density and that decreases their buoyancy.