Tasers were designed and are sold as an alternative to shooting suspects. However, they're increasingly used as an alternative to physically confronting or subduing suspects.

"This is all about screwing with a bunch of people who have wayyyyy too much time on their hands."

When someone make videos designed to mock particular people and builds a website for doing so, it strikes me as questionable to say the people being mocked have too much free time.

It does keep the nutbars at their computers, posting videos, and off the streets, at least.

Do you parrot everything you're fed, theo?

That was adorable...and ominous as hell. I like.

That's a hoot, and gotta love use of the New Pornographers.

It's a fan video, at that.

After the backlash started, Maines said, "As a concerned American citizen, I apologize to President Bush because my remark was disrespectful. I feel that whoever holds that office should be treated with the utmost respect. We are currently in Europe and witnessing a huge anti-American sentiment as a result of the perceived rush to war. While war may remain a viable option, as a mother, I just want to see every possible alternative exhausted before children and American soldiers' lives are lost. I love my country. I am a proud American."

Some time later, in an interview in the UK's Telegraph, Maines said, "The entire country may disagree with me, but I don't understand the necessity for patriotism. Why do you have to be a patriot? About what? This land is our land? Why? You can like where you live and like your life, but as for loving the whole country ... I don't see why people care about patriotism."

Emphasis added in both quotes.

Different audiences, different lines. This sort of thing used to work fine, but the media world is global nowadays. You say something to please one audience, then something else to please another, and the first audience will find out.

Now take someone like Tom Petty. The Bush camp approached him years ago to use "I Won't Back Down" for a campaign - and he declined. Then he played at Gore events. If an interviewer asks him what he thinks, he'll say it - and he'll say the same things to any interviewer - but he doesn't try to market himself with his politics. He doesn't play the martyr.

Disclaimer: I was never really impressed with the Dixie Chicks. Easy-listening country just isn't my thing, to be fair.

It's important to keep in mind that the Dixie Chicks didn't alienate many of their fans simply by speaking out. They did this by blatantly pandering.

The Dixie Chicks were apolitical in the US, but threw out anti-Bush remarks during concerts in the UK. When news of this got to American fans and a backlash started, Maines publically apologized for the remarks - but when they started getting sympathetic coverage, the band began to posture that they were bravely standing up for their beliefs.

It was effective marketing, but it really was rather transparent to many people.

Never played the game, but that's a confusing future history - 2070s as retro-50s?

They just weren't in a "weeee-oooh!" mood.

"...Like he has nothing to do."

(Well, aside from pardoning campaign donors and signing last-minute bills...)

But this is funny.

Yes, he was.

I'd say he didn't. This is exactly the same criticism intelligent leftists (who hate Bush just as much as theo does) have been making of the terror-apologists among them for years.

I oppose torture, and I believe waterboarding is torture - but this does not depict waterboarding as the CIA and US military have admitted practicing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding#Modern_waterboarding

Using this clip just gives the pro-torture side ammo. "That's barbaric Nazi stuff, that's not what we're talking about - nobody's getting dunked under water!" Then they describe the Khmer Rouge-derived technique (without mentioning its origin), and it comes off as humane in contrast.