Hard to tell but is it a Coors ? Can't tell if that's his thumb or a logo.

It would be nice to live in a future era were neuro scans could be carried out to determine functioning, rather than rough correlates. Pretty good indication of sobriety if you can tilt you head back with someone pointing a gun at you and drink without losing your balance, imho.

Last time I was in Texas, their open container law was only for the driver. I remember when Louisiana failed to pass one. It was a close vote and one member of the lege thought it meant that he couldn't drink his iced tea on the way to an LSU game, and voted against, and the bill failed.

Likely Milwaukee's Be(a)st, unless the habits of locals and OIT students have changed much since I was (hic) there. Microbrews are for special occasions.

I may be a year off, either way, but this occurred about 6 years ago. The gentleman in question worked for the same company I worked for, although I did not know him personally.

I am curious why the officer drew his gun on a drunk man holding a beer. He obviously doesn't pose the kind of threat to warrant such action.

"The public expects the officer to wait until they see a gun. We are not trained that way, because if we wait until we see a gun, it's too late and someone is likely to get hurt and killed."

Which logic has been extended to the Abrams tank crew firing on the journalists' hotel in Baghdad in response to small arms fire. As we (if we) move out of the Gulf, troops blooded on our colonial adventures will move into policing, completing the circle. World cop? Martial law? We've completely blurred the distinction. The public has that perception because that used to be the training, based on the days when people who carried guns were held to that standard. There are well documented cases where a rancher realized that a hand was setting him up for a shot in the back, and shot first. They were tried for murder. It was only in the early '70s, that the police retooled their mission around the War on Drugs and policing being a 9-5 job. Back when, on the thread about policing, that was the point. The public still apply the old criteria and say, "when you go to work you don't have to worry about not coming home". In fact, under today's regime, they're as likely to come home as you or I. More, often. It s simply another example of our Norman heritage where the individual is subservient to the State. The Brits have shown us the next step. Officers rushing onto a subway train and emptying their weapons into a guy's head because the couldn't wait to see if he had a bomb. Turns out they were wrong, and should have known it, and were just rude assed sloppy. Oh well, cleared by committee. Back on duty. Suck it up. Your ass is ours now.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but they pull their weapon anytime there's a suspected felony. That might make sense if we didn't have so many statutory offenses on the books which, effectively, means that you are using the threat of violence to respond to something that was not violent. Oregon also has to enter the 21st century and not base the policy on the officer's feelings. Many only have an associates degree. I would call not going to college a major life decision. Given that they looked at that one and said, "naaaw, don't need it", I'm not exactly comfortable entrusting my life to their immediate perceptions. Besides, my surgeon is eminently qualified, and she can't make life and death decision without my permission, which gets to the heart of the matter. English speaking peoples live in denial, that law is about justice. Since the Normans our law has been about the will of the State, with enough justice thrown in to prevent a costly riot. You still cannot bring a criminal complaint before the courts (very few exceptions for some boating and environmental regs). When we lament the barbarity of honor killings, we fail to see that their justice system is more about justice, even when misapplied. The family brings or does not bring a complaint. Here you have no such right. The State prosecutes the crime. Next time you shake your head at a plea bargain, remember that it is the State versus whomever, and the DA represents the State's interests. Justice for you comes second, if it happens at all. Yeah, we elect DAs. When was the last time you heard that central point discussed?

We are a violent, crude, anti-intellectual society. It's institutionalized. Oddly, that means that the cop that interviews you is less likely to use physical force than in countries where the system is ostensibly about justice, but I take that as yet another example of the State being the only free actor. Incidents like this are cases in point. Our justice system is about State interests and our electoral process relies on one magic vote that allows us to discount the opinions of millions of Americans. What REALLY separates progressives from "I'm not a conservative" liberals, is willingness to reform those basic institutions. The rest are peddling dreams while fighting to maintain the status quo. Conservatives peddle nightmares while trying to maintain the status quo.

"Oregonians. We do love our beer - and socialism"

Odd...I didn't see this photo or story in the Herald & News, which I read every day. Someone's trying to stir up a stink...looks like it was successful.

Since nobody wants to talk about the local cops, how about the world cops?

"A Nato spokesman said last night that an air strike killed five civilians in Kandahar. A group of civilians was deliberately targeted in the mistaken belief that they were planting roadside bombs, but once the error had been discovered, first aid was administered and the injured taken to a Nato medical facility". - today's Guardian

"It's a way we had over here with living with ourselves. We cut 'em in half with a machine gun and give 'em a Band-Aid. It was a lie. And the more I saw them, the more I hated lies." - Apocalypse Now

"This will not be another Viet Nam" - G. W. Bush, with support of the Congress

<h2>How about the military metaphor for addressing policing has got to change, or the aforementioned abuses will only worsen.</h2>