Thank you, UHP...

...for proving the point I was making in my last post. Trooper Jon Gardner's tasing of Jared Massey in September has been all over the internet. Rational people consider it dick-swinging, cop machismo. UHP, though, has completed its "review" and concluded that Gardner's actions were "reasonable." Of course as far as cops are concerned, anything they do is reasonable. Gardner could have taken a flame thrower to Massey, and that would have been just fine. Anyone still wonder why prosecutors shouldn't take their orders from cops?

Of course the real problem is that there are civilians who think Gardner's behavior was justified. Centerville's own Margaret Hale believes that Gardner was justified because Massey was "aggressive and confrontational" and "is not a humble man." Remember that Gardner tased Massey not once but twice and threatened more. Hale is undoubtedly a Relief Society member and so I suppose should be forgiven for believing that everyone is supposed to simply lay down and spread 'em for any male, authority figure who comes along, but it is truly disturbing how the Dominant Cultural Group here keeps assuming that everyone is going to think, believe, and behave the same as them.