Superman had a mean streak.
Posted on 01/17/2007 1:22:47 AM PST by burzum
A samurai sword wielding vigilante has come to the rescue of two Police officers when they were attacked by an armed gang in South Shields, England.
A group of men had forced their way into a house and were ransacking the place when passing plain-clothes officers were alerted by a woman inside screaming.
The criminals outnumbered them and were armed with a hammer, knives and chains and attacked the Police officers.
As one of them stabbed at a Policeman with his knife, a mysterious do-gooder appeared from nowhere and attacked him with a samurai sword.
One of the burglars began running away but was stopped by the stranger who struck him on the arm with the sword.
Two of the criminals were arrested, but in true hero style the samurai disappeared before police could speak to him.
A third man was arrested later and two more are still being hunted.
Superman had a mean streak.
Yeah, he apparently pretended to be an Army Ranger. Not cool. Now, I have to question if it really is faster to run someone through with a sword than to shoot them!
Where's Monty Python when you need them
Spiderman has no cape and you don't think he's a Super Hero? But Batman is because he does? Not much difference between them. What about Aquaman and Wonder Woman? They don't have capes. Nor does Green Lantern, or any of the Fantastic 4, or many others. The only reason Superman has a cape is his mother had extra leftover materials from his rocket.........
No Capes!
They might have to hurt you.
Yeah, but they're from DC, so they don't really count as "superheros."
Mark
But not as fast as using one of these for self defense, especially against a assailant weilding fruit!
Mark
The Samurai was in violation of the 4" knife rule in Britain.
So you'd also disqualify The Flash, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman?
And why the League of Nations let them go I have never been able to figure out. Idiots!
But to be fair the UN would probably release Kim Jong Il and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad if Superman delivered them today.
But one note of good news is that apparently Batman is hunting down Osama bin Laden. And we all know that Batman sometimes has 'accidents' occur.
too true, the nanny state fear rugged individualists who do the right thing for no reward.
you're kinda cute
Thank you.
Pshaw. We need skill, but tied to a moral code and a commitment to democracy.
We don't need Samurai. We need Jedi.
But what if he'd had a pointed stick?
The U.S.A. is a republic...
I just knew that picture had to be amongst the samurai photos!
It is, to be precise, a constitutional democratic federal presidential republic.
Constitutional: We have a formal written arrangement that restricts the powers of the government, even if the majority approves of them. The Constitution can be amended, but not easily, and that is by design.
Democratic: The people vote and their votes count. It is not a binary value. Governments can be more or less democratic depending on how closely their actions track to the popular will. Some democracy is always better than none, but more isn't always better than less. A cooling deliberative process is often better than a process that turns with the oublic whim.
Federal: There are distinct levels of government with powers and responsibilities defined for each, to wit state and federal. The Swiss cantons and the German Lander have a similar arrangement. Federalism is originally, but not uniquely, American.
Presidential: The chief executive is elected independent of the legislature. This is distinct from parliamentary democracies, the more common form also known as the "Westminster model," in which the head of government is chosen by the legislature. Britain did not vote for Tony Blair; it voted for Labour, and got Blair.
Republic: That's the most difficult word to define. Its derivation is from "res publica," Latin for "a public thing." And in popular usage, it's about that precise. East and West Germany, North and South Korea, and all the component parts of the USSR are/were self-described "republics." , A lot of Americans have invested the word "republic" with a lot of fanciful meanings that aren't inherent.
In the Founders' time, the popular usage of "democracy" was synonymous with mob rule, and that's how the authors of the Federalist used it. Over time, the use of the word, like almost every word, has evolved.
President WIlson talked about making the world (more particularly, Europe) safe for democracy, and President Bush talks about bringing democracy to the Middle East. I don't think they were singing the praises of mob rule. I don't think that the model for democracy in Iraq is that the Shiites should have free rein to kill all the Kurds and Sunnis if enough of them vote for it.
Sorry to be long-winded and pedantic about it, but I invested a lot of time, money and effort into my poli sci degree, and it doesn't all fit on a bumper sticker or a matchbook cover. The "republic, not a democracy" jazz annoys me with its glibness, especially when there's someone behind it like Neal Boortz, who should know better.
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