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Should he ever decide to move to a warmer climate, cowboy cop Todd Stanyon might consider south Florida. There ought to be a couple of openings on the campus security force in Gainesville.

Stanyon, he of the 2005 Tasering of a Jackson Demo Derby streaker and the 2006 kidney punching of another Derby streaker, would fit right in as a Gator baiter.

On Monday, a gang of University of Florida police throttled and then Tasered an obnoxious student during a question-and-answer session with U.S. Sen. John Kerry. The incident was well documented by members of the crowd and became an instant hit on YouTube, with more than 1.2 million viewings of the video as of this afternoon.

Naturally, somebody already is selling T-shirts on the Web with student Andrew Meyer’s famous plea, “Don’t Tase me, bro!” The folks living in the rodeo grounds shanties, traditionally the site of Demo Derby parties, ought to stock up for next year (hopefully, after the design is improved).

Stanyon, incidentally, is in court this week for a trial over another incident, at the Mangy Moose in March, in which a man he arrested allegedly kicked him in the knee. No word on how many gut punches Stanyon delivered during the cuffing and stuffing. (In fairness, a Mangy Moose bartender will testify that the man arrested, Robert Hulsy, 26, was belligerent and threatened bar staff.)

During Monday’s display of brutality, Kerry stood by helplessly, even answering the student’s question while the cops zapped the kid for several seconds with 50,000 volts. MSNBC has a good clip in which you can hear the Taser buzzing.

Was Meyer a self-promoting showman? Perhaps. But there was no reason for him to be bounced from a public forum, let alone piled on by a phalanx of officers and shot with a Taser gun while being held on the ground.

What paranoid times we live in.

Two of the UF officers have been suspended, pending an investigation. Stanyon, by contrast, was commended by Teton County Sheriff Bob Zimmer for what was clearly an excessive use of force in the 2005 Demo Derby Tasering.

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In another strange twist, Meyer was trying to draw Kerry’s attention to a book he held in his hand, Armed Madhouse, by investigative journalist Greg Palast. The book documents widespread voter suppression in Florida during the 2004 election.

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The bizarre incident in Florida unfolded against the backdrop of yet another scandal in Iraq, the investigation of the security firm Blackwater USA for shooting Iraqi civilians.

Some day, when the U.S. finally extricates itself from the Iraq fiasco, this militia-for-hire is going to come home.

During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, well-to-do New Orleanians hired Blackwater to guard their homes amid overhyped reports of looting.

How did we allow a corporate military, armed with helicopters mounted with machine guns, to spring up in our midst? Why are we helping build this rent-an-army with no-bid government contracts? Why are mercenaries protecting U.S. government workers in Iraq, instead of the U.S. military?

Imagine a future in which private security companies like Blackwater patrol the enclaves of those wealthy enough to afford them.

Yet another sign that our ever-more-violent society is spiraling out of control.

Posted under demo derby, paranoia, police, politics