Sergeant Thomas Is A Hero
Thanks to John Young and Aoine for posting this video in the comments. It deserves its own post.
Most importantly, thank you Sergeant Thomas for your continued service to our country.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9HvJhilJzo[/youtube]
Tags: OWS
A hero, yes. But I got the sick sense the police were not listening, but were simply waiting and hoping for an excuse to tase him.
they probably were. My favorite is Officer Peckerwood marching up with his megaphone. What a great image. A bunch of weasely little cops being dressed down by a war hero. Notice you dont see this kind of police presence at a TeaParty…. where they DO have guns.
Excellent Post
what I saw was the NYPD officers NOT looking him in the eye, looking down and looking ashamed and looking nervous – as well they should…
Of course, by virtue of his build and his courage, he is a man to look UP to!! on all accounts.
Keith Oblerman had him on as well. way to go Sarge!
thanks for taking notice Pandora!
Aoine is right — I watched this twice last night, once watching Sergeant Thomas and the other watching the NYPD. Their body language was astonishing for cops on duty — they can hardly look at him, they are looking at each other (trying to figure out how to react) and they give him (mostly) plenty of room. And they picked up en masse and *left* their assigned area.
It’s pretty inspiring to watch clear moral authority at work.
The cops were doing a great job leaving the guy alone. You have to give them that.
they were doing a great job recognizing there were too many cameras around to mace everyone.
Oh trust me, they dont care about camers that much – not when there are that many of them to cover and conceal activites.
Its all in the body language – he had the clear high ground here, like Cass says and they knew it – he posed no physical threat and they knew it, and had they gone for him – he’d have taken someone with down with him, and they know that too
Make a martyer of him and holy hell would have been unleashed – and the USMC with it.
“If you want to hurt people, go to Iraq.” Some hero.
“if you want to hurt people, go to iraq” Some Hero”
WOAH! totally unpredictable! i just figured you’d say something BEFORE lunch.
So, you agree with Sergeant Thomas? I guess urging people to go to other countries to hurt their citizens constitutes some kind of “service” but not one that anybody should be thanked for.
Thanks for Abu Ghraib, Sargent Thomas.
so YOU agree with the cops in riot gear all decked out to mace some hippies. or maybe you’re just racist. supporting the white cops and not the black marine.
BTW, a1, your game is SO fun to play.
a1 2010 = david duke 1999!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Knibb HIgh Football Rules!!!!
I just asked you a question, SB. Do you think that Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been yelling “If you want to hurt people, go to iraq,” too?
Just because someone has some medals on their chest and can scream loudly doesn’t make them a hero. Sometimes it helps to listen to what they are actually saying.
Thus shat A1
i heard what he was saying. I heard him asking armed police officers in riot gear why there were ready to use violent force to stop a peaceful protest. According to your logic that you demonstrate here every day, everything Sgt Thomas says is wrong and evil, thus making you on the side of the cops.
DONT SUPPORT THE A1 ENDORSED POLICE STATE!!!!!!!!!
SB – A1 shows logic here? I never noticed. I always thought it was justthe rantings of a blathering idiot.
sorry MJ i should have written that ” “logic” ” (s) He is at least consistent in his/her totalitarian hatred of us armed forces, rational debate, views that deviate even slightly from his/her own. you can pretty much know when he/she will respond with some bumpersticker quip about anyone who chooses to be in the military might as well want to blow Hitler.
SAVED BY THE BELL 1993 = EMPTY BOTTLE OF CRYSTAL PEPSI 1990!!!!!!!!!!
Would you still say he is a hero if he said “if you want to hurt people, go to a gay bar” or “if you want to hurt people, go to Harlem”?
It is always easier to criticize me then it is to address the point I am making. There is nothing heroic about yelling “if you want to hurt people, go to iraq.”
But, hey, let’s ignore that and agree that anonone is an idiot.
but there isnt an active conflict at a gay bar. you act like there is nothing at all going on in Iraq…..OH MY GOD! I HAD NO IDEA THAT THERE HAS BEEN A WAR GOING ON THERE!!!!!!!
you’re right if he DID say ‘go hurt people at a gay bar, id be pretty confused…. mostly because he was just defending the first amendment rights of US citizens…. something you clearly oppose.
But he wasnt. He was stating a fact that people dress up in battle armor and shoot at each other in Iraq…… right or wrong, whatever the reason, it happens there. feel free to ignore that like you ALWAYS do. you know how wrong you are, but your ego wont let you admit it. so i leave you with this.
Performance of Beethoven’s 9th 1845 = crumpled up 2 dollar bill in the gutter of my old appartment complex covered in leaves 1982!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How about this, A1. If the cops want to be in a dangerous situation that may actually justify using violence, there are actual warzones that they can volunteer to serve in.
see, LG always finds a quicker and smarter way to say what i blather….. btw LG are you as excited as i am about the Rum Diaries?
Which was exactly the point Sergeant Thomas was making. Thank you, LG.
LG, I can appreciate the intention of what he was doing, but I found those words repulsive. Police-work also involves being in dangerous situations that sometimes requires using violence. However, “wanting to hurt someone” should never be a motivation for becoming a soldier or a police officer (although unfortunately it too often is).
Sadly, we have become so profoundly dehumanized and desensitized to the point that yelling things like “if you want to hurt people, go to iraq” at police is seen as heroic, as if there is a difference between hurting Americans and hurting Iraqis.
That’s what I was trying to point out.
That isn’t the point he was making, pandora. The point that he was making was that is was OK to hurt Iraqis but not Americans, so go to Iraq if you want to hurt people.
He should have said “if you’re going to hurt people, you should be in jail.”
Sadly, I can’t believe out of everything Thomas said those words are what you’re focusing on – actually, I can believe it. Thomas is a soldier. He comes from that perspective, and deserves the benefit of the doubt.
Honestly, is there anyone pure enough for you?
God, you’re dense. Actually, what he was doing with that line was challenging their manhood. He was mocking their tough guy stance by one-upping them. The line was a taunt intending to shame them.
A1 – As you know, people in the heat of battle (in this case, I think the Marine’s interaction with the police qualifies) say sometimes questionable things. While you may assign some particular meaning to that phrase, it doesn’t mean that Sgt. Thomas intended what you think he intended. In fact, if you listen to the whole thing, your interpretation is inconsistent with the rest of the message.
I have seen almost everyone that comments here get into a “battle” with someone else and say things that didn’t come out right. And that is in the relative comfort of sitting in an office chair on a broadband link. To stand and deliver like Sgt. Thomas did here in imminent danger of pepper spray, batons and tazers (not to mention firearms) is truly a feat of daring. I’m not going to indict the whole of his delivery for a single poorly worded sentence.
Feel free to do so, but recognize that you are passing judgment on someone that performed an act that most of us would be incapable of. Demanding perfection from his impromptu defense of the huddled masses is pretty low of you.
SB – yes, the Rum Diaries should be awesome. Perhaps we can get a group of us together for OccupyCinema.
I don’t have any kind of “purity standard,” pandora, although people here (and no place else) like to play that ad hominem card. I just say it like I see it.
Those words stood out for me because they are so utterly and profoundly dehumanizing. What doubt does he deserve the benefit of? If you were an Iraqi, how would you feel about that statement? How would you feel about Americans?
You lost this argument at 1:41 by employing your typical unreasonableness. You demand perfection. What Thomas did/said was awe-inspiring. The fact that you focus on one thing (making it the sole point) says a lot about you.
Nothing/no one is ever good enough for you, so yeah, I see a purity standard.
LG, had he used a different ethnic or religious or racial group or nationality, then you probably wouldn’t be giving him a pass. But because he said “If you want to kill or hurt people, then go to IRAQ,” it is OK?
I don’t think so, particularly after the American military killed and wounded so many innocent people and after we all saw what we did at Abu Ghraib. You and pandora seem to be arguing that he should be excused because he is a soldier, and I am saying that being a soldier makes those words even more inexcusable.
No, Pandora’s and my interpretation of what he meant is just as likely to be correct as yours, and probably more likely given the rest of the delivery. But keep up the fight, brother. I’m sure that someone that has really polished prose will come along and talk sense into the NYPD without making a single error that infuriates you.
I swear, if Dr. King were alive today, you would be tearing him a new one every week.
Really, pandora?
Cornel West was just arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court. He is one of my heroes, even though I don’t agree with everything he says. But he is about recognizing the basic worth and human dignity of all people, even those he profoundly disagrees with.
The statement “If you want to kill or hurt people, then go to Iraq” is atrocious. One does not need any sort of “purity standard” to recognize that. I think it is sad that you want to defend it.
That is ridiculous, LG. Martin Luther King, Jr would never have said or condoned the statement “If you want to kill or hurt people, then go to [Vietnam],” and he faced fire hoses, batons, police dogs, and jail. In fact, King was outspokenly against war and the war in Vietnam, in particular.
“Perhaps we can get a group of us together for OccupyCinema.”
im in! why not?! buy the ticket, take the ride!
Martin Luther King was not a marine just returning from active duty. comparison fail
doesnt make the statement any less true. Someone who wishes to engage in combat for their country should join the army…. where they will be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. Can your megalomania accept that statement?
again. here is your a-hole disclaimer…… im not saying it is right, or just, or anything like that…. just that it is a fact. If you want to go to war…. there are certain geographic locations that currently cater to that desire. He was pointing that out…. Im also curious why you arent supportive of the other 90% of that video where he rails against the police state. IS it because you support a police state a1?
MLK used his particular strengths; Sgt. Thomas uses his.
WTF? When did this soldier ever imply that he’s MLK? and the OWS turn away from economic justice to a pacifist movement?
Jeebus, quit with the projecting.