I was giving him a chance. As it was (with "than") the joke wasn't funny. but if he really meant "then" and just didn't finish yet, well, there's still opportunity for hilarity there.
The setup alone is kind of funny, on the one hand the hypothetical person would not only ask Kerry some questions but follow it up with a cruise around the block with Ted Kennedy...I mean, who would do that? and on the hother hand, what could the alternate activity be that would be as dangerous or bizarre? eating pretzels with Bush then hunting with Cheney?

Yeah, asking a question at a town hall meeting. How wild and crazy that was.

Duly noted for the record that I obliterated the chance for the recovery of hilarity. Just please don't tase me, Bro.

John Kerry? JOHN KERRY?

WHO CARES?!

Psst ... Canucks can own firearms (excluding fully automatic weapons) ... just sayin.

They can? Damn.

NRA is lying to me again.

Holy god! I think I just felt the ground drop a degree or two.

I understand and agree with that... but typically, not following the rules doesn't get somebody tasered, it gets them expelled. Speaking of which, did he? I haven't read anything that has answered that.

Am I the only one that heard, at 1m 21s into the video (1:02 if it's counting down) the kid say, "Just let me up and I'll walk out,"? Yet over 30 seconds later, they taser him anyway. Was the kid being a dick? Yes. Could it have been handled differently? Yes.

I don't think it was police brutality, but I do think it could have been handled far better than it was, and I definitely think it could have been handled without tasering the kid. Also, I didn't glance at the surface - after hearing about the video, I did my own research.

Maybe he did... but due to the actions of the officers, they brought the inquiries and publicity on themselves, too.

For me it's not so much patriotism, as it's just being glad that I live in a country with a much smaller population, so such things don't happen as often as they do in the States.

Cops fuck up white people too! Hooray.

Wow, this whole thing makes me sick. It doesn't matter what the kid was saying, there was no reason for him to be "escorted" out of the building. People trying to argue that this isn't about free speech are forgeting the simple fact that the kid asked a few questions and was physically pulled towards the exit.
You want to call the guy stupid? Go ahead! I'm with you. Dumbass shouldn't have been screwing around. A guard tells you to move, you give him the finger and start moving.
But hey, he got tasered, and now he's got one hell of a lawsuit he can work with. Instant celebrity, and instant cash. The all-american dream.

That kid was an idiot. The cops overreacted, yeah. Police brutality? For sure. How many cops were there? They had the kid pinned to the ground...I'm sure they could've gotten cuffs on him without the taser. Here's some more police brutality. Also, these cops drove cars into the bikers. Oh, and by bikers, I don't mean Hell's Angels. I'm mean hippy environmentalists. Awesome, huh?

Of what? I didn't think those words could be truthfully placed in the same sentence anymore.

Well, I take that back. It's a bit mean-spirited. I guess it depends on what you're proud of...of what you're proud...depends upon the issues you regard with pride?

the kid was tasered because he resisted arrest. plain and simple. should he have been arrested? probably not. what was kerry doing about it? nothing. what would the police have done had anybody in the auditorium moved towards kerry to appeal him to exercise some authority over the situation? shot them with a real gun. why didnt kerry exercise any better authority? because he has none. why are the police like this? because 9/11 got deep inside everyones little first-world brains. why didnt the kid just be quiet and leave the auditorium? because he was trying to make a point. did he make his point? thats up to you to decide. i dont think he did, other than the diversion probably allowed a real threat an unobstructed path to kerry. so, were the police doing their job? probably not the way they should have. are the people who removed their advertisements from the school newspaper spineless scumbags? you betcha', and undoubtedly in someones pocket. but hey, advertising dollars run the world, and we should alter our thoughts accordingly. i mean, without advertising dollars, would the www ever have enjoyed enough popularity to present this to you via youtube? the mass media, in the pockets of corporations? NO. say it aint so. an irreverent kid getting tasered by a gaggle of dipshit cops? sadly, the lesser of two evils.

Erm, what? From the story and the video:

'As two officers take Meyer by the arms, Kerry, D-Massachusetts, is heard to say, "That's alright, let me answer his question."

As Kerry tells the audience he will answer the student's "very important question,"'

And Kerry, as the head speaker, is supposed to have done what exactly, beyond telling the guards not taze the student since he'll answer his question? Specifically and pragmatically, what should Kerry's precise course of action have been, and why would 'fuck Kerry' been a cogent response to this course of events?

easy question. he should have appealed to the officers to let the young man up and let him leave unobstructed. 'the young man poses no threat to me officers. if he is disrupting the forum to an extent that you must remove him, please do so in a quick and orderly fashion. no tasering will be necessary.'

makes sense, right? of course the kid didnt help his case at all. but if i had been one of the officers, i could have then easily responded ; 'sir, were escorting you out of the building, because you are posing a disturbance to a civil and peaceful gathering. if you resist, you will be neutralized, arrested and removed in cuffs.'

is it unreasonable? that almost happened, but not quite.