Micah Johnson, the suspect in the Dallas shooting of 12 police officers, of whom five died, was blown up by a police department robot bomb that had previously only been used by the military in war zones. Given that police agencies around the country have been equipped with similar hardware, look for remote-control murders by police to escalate. Next up, obviously: killing enemies of the state using drones.
Robot Bombs: A One Time Thing, Right?
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
6 Comments. Leave new
yeah, sure.
Agreed, the bombbot thing is ungood.
But … if we armed ’em with tasers & tear gas, *robots could be a good thing. Consider – they’ve got video cameras so everything is recorded. The cop can no longer say “I thought his cell phone was a gun” because the cop is not in any danger even if the perp does have a gun. It could save the lives of innocents and good cops both. (I’m none too worried about the bad cops.)
*robot: or more accurately, a teleoperated device with a human at the controls.
A robot bomb is merely a drone without wings.
Expect special deliveries by drone from both Amazon and your local PD.
May 13, 2015 “marks the 30th anniversary of a massive police operation in Philadelphia that culminated in the helicopter bombing of the headquarters of a radical group known as MOVE. The fire from the attack incinerated six adults and five children, and destroyed 65 homes. Despite two grand jury investigations and a commission finding that top officials were grossly negligent, no one from city government was criminally charged.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/5/13/move_bombing_at_30_barbaric_1985
Philadelphia is the obvious choice for the 2016 Democratic [War] Party National Convention.
Philadelphia’s PD, like Hillary, has “relevant” experience (Iraq, in Hillary’s case) of bombing civilians with impunity.
Under the Obama Doctrine of “Look Forward, Not Back”, Hillary and Philadelphia’s PD are safe from prosecution for past transgressions, since only future crimes are eligible for prosecution.
But Glenn, I had thought Ms Clinton’s relevant experience was gained dodging bullets at the Tusla aeroport back in 1996….
Henri
Ah, yes!
More “relevant” experience.
Her resume is of so fine a construction.
Like CBS chief Leslie Moonves said of Donald Trump’s run for president, might it yet be said of the week’s violence that “It may not be good for America, but it’s good for CBS,” ?