Libya

[HBARleatherneck]

ludlow massacre in Colorado comes to mind. Not to mention all the eveil Indians that were massacred. I guess they didnt count as citizens, since they were not Christian. "them damn godless heathens must die"

[StagLefty]

To my knowledge our government has never fired openly upon its citizens.

Kent State for one !

[BigMat]

To my knowledge our government has never fired openly upon its citizens. It seems likely to me that it would be a very difficult choice for many if that order was ever issued. Foreign wars have allowed the mentality of "US vs Them", which to me would make violent actions easier to live with.

Thankfully, not often, but it has happened, a few times, here are a few examples that I can think of-

WWI veterans, MacArthur and Paton were on the Gov't side of this one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonus_Army

Kent state
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings

Draft riots, Civil war
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Draft_Riots


To be fair, I think these are exceptions to the rule. I don't think what is happening in Libya would happen here, unless it was a left leaning revolution, then maybe, based on the trend these set forth. Depends on how divided our country was

[Lex_Luthor]

A couple years ago, I asked my friend who is a Marine, if he would fire on American citizens if he was ordered to. I don't think I got an answer from him. I wonder what he would say....

[Mobat555]

Never hurts to get educated, so I guess we can look forward to being shot at by kids.

[Hoosier]

Gaddafi gave an hour+ long rambling speech yesterday, from the compound that the US bombed in '86, which hasn't been repaired and left as a "Monument".

This guy is bat shit crazy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEA6qw471k There's some excerpt entries if you don't want to listen to lots of it.

Apparently the government no longer controls the eastern border with Egypt, several reporters drove through yesterday, many of the towns in the east of the country are held by civilians or army units that have defected.

IMHO Gaddafi won't be in power next week, he'll be lucky to have his head attached if he stays in country.

H.

[JoeT]

To my knowledge our government has never fired openly upon its citizens. It seems likely to me that it would be a very difficult choice for many if that order was ever issued. Foreign wars have allowed the mentality of "US vs Them", which to me would make violent actions easier to live with.

I just read this story this morning. . . I don't know if it's factual

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/2...official-says/

[Mobat555]

I just read this story this morning. . . I don't know if it's factual

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/2...official-says/

I just came back to post the same thing, beat me to it.

[Zundfolge]

Well its okay now, we have nothing to worry about.

The UN Security Council has officially condemned Gadhafi's actions, so I'm sure he'll stop it and everything will be fine now (they even expressed "grave concern"!). Nothing more to see here ... move along.

Now if we could get them to make some sort of declarative statement on the spelling of Gadhafi we could all get some REAL peace.

[2ndChildhood]

From that article:

One official in Indiana suggested over the weekend that riot police should use deadly force on those protesting Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker's plan to strip unions of their rights.
A Saturday tweet from Mother Jones reported on the likelihood that police would soon be clearing the Wisconsin Capitol building of demonstrators.
"Use live ammunition," a Twitter user named JCCentCom replied.
When confronted, the Twitter user stood by his words, insisting that the protesters were "political enemies" and "thugs."
"[A]gainst thugs physically threatening legally-elected state legislators & governor? You're damn right I advocate deadly force," he wrote.
Mother Jones' Adam Weinstein later discovered that JCCentCom was a deputy attorney general at the Office of the Indiana Attorney General.

Wow just wow!
This is the response of a public official to those peacefully exercising their right to free speech.

Who was it who said "I disagree strongly with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
I always thought that saying was fundamental to our American freedoms.

Edit to add:
Seems the story is real, here's a link to an Indiana news station's story on the subject.
http://www.theindychannel.com/news/26966614/detail.html

I just read this story this morning. . . I don't know if it's factual

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/02/2...official-says/