If it happened in Cairo could it happen in California ?

[Duncan]

Police disappear from streets...
Gangs with machetes, knives run wild...

BBC News - As it happened: Egypt unrest day five

Death toll in Egypt's protests tops 100: sources | Reuters

Police shoot dead 17 attacking Egypt police stations | Reuters

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/world/middleeast/30-egypt.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

Egyptian army storms museum to protect from looters - CSMonitor.com


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dLAv0NklTg&feature=related]YouTube - The Doors - Break on Through (to the other side)[/ame]

 

[Bobby]

Yes! It already has happened. Remember Rodney King? What about Katrina, anyone? Gangs roaming and looting. Whole neighborhoods banding together for protection because the police were outnumbered and in some cases even joined in the looting. Human nature knows no geographical boundaries.

 

[melensdad]

Yes! It already has happened. Remember Rodney King? What about Katrina, anyone?

NO there is a HUGE difference between the events in Cairo and the events you are mentioning.

King/Katrina did not have the sympathy of the police, where the police actually took their uniforms off, as they did in Cairo, to join protests/riots. In both the King/Katrina events the police may not have been properly deployed, but they remained loyal to the government. Not so in Cairo.

 

[turnandshoot4]

No it wouldn't.

 

[Bobby]

NO there is a HUGE difference between the events in Cairo and the events you are mentioning.

King/Katrina did not have the sympathy of the police, where the police actually took their uniforms off, as they did in Cairo, to join protests/riots. In both the King/Katrina events the police may not have been properly deployed, but they remained loyal to the government. Not so in Cairo.

Good point. I thought that there were a few cases of police officers looting in Katrina but I could be wrong. Anyway, I was mainly thinking of the looting by mobs and the law-abiding banding together for protection which is common in all three events.

 

[indykid]

The police in Cairo took their uniforms off because the uniform was making them an easy target. The Arabs are smart enough to know not to wear a uniform in times of conflict. Just ask the members of our armed forces about how easy it is to figure out who the bad guys are.

It was so much easier in Germany and Japan when they were kind enough to wear uniforms so we knew who we could shoot.

 

[Hotdoger]

NO there is a HUGE difference between the events in Cairo and the events you are mentioning.

King/Katrina did not have the sympathy of the police, where the police actually took their uniforms off, as they did in Cairo, to join protests/riots. In both the King/Katrina events the police may not have been properly deployed, but they remained loyal to the government. Not so in Cairo.

Plenty of pictures and video of cops in N.O. looting, how is that being loyal to the government?

 

[PatriotPride]

Alot of optimism in here. Who knows for certain. People have always shared one common trait: stupidity. I'll admit it's less likely here in America, but the possibility still exists.

What I find most disturbing is how America is abandoning our citizens who are stranded there. Several other countries, including IRAQ, are flying their citizens out ASAP, and some are doing it free of charge. Fantastic.

 

[irishfan]

It would take something that really hit the middle and lower class hard and not just a bad economy to get something like Cairo. Americans for the most part are happy as long as they have McDonald's and cable television and won't cause to much uproar as long as their "needs" are met. Also, we have to much to lose in our minds compared to people who live everyday in a grind to survive. However, if you were to cut welfare and social security payments then I am guessing you would see things come undone in a hurry

 

[Lobo]

.

 

[John Galt]

There were a few dirtbags with badges who were looting, not the entire department. That hardly equals the vastly different situation in Egypt right now.

I recall the "looting" of firearms by the police during Katrina and the incredible ordeals that law-abiding citizens had to go through to get them back, only to find most of them in unuseable condition due to how they were "stored".
I went to LA after Katrina with my church group for a week right afterwards and it was surreal. No power, NO POWER, means you have NO WAY of getting ahold of the police if you needed them, as the land line phones were out and the towers were gone, which meant no cell phone service. No electricity for lights at night and no way to call your neighbors for help. This right here is one of the greatest arguments for the high-capacity "clips" that the Left is screaming about and trying to outlaw. When the mob mentality hits, it will be every man for himself (and family), I'm afraid.

 

[Lobo]

.

 

[melensdad]

There were a few dirtbags with badges who were looting, not the entire department. That hardly equals the vastly different situation in Egypt right now.

Exactly.

And add to that the fact that police officers from all around the nation volunteered to go down there to help.

Yes, there were also a few dirtbags among those officers too. But in Egypt there is film of whole groups of officers switching sides and stripping off their uniforms. They are not pulling their uniforms off so they can mix into the crowd and arrest people, they are pulling their uniforms off so they can join the anti-government protests.

 

[jedi]

Plenty of pictures and video of cops in N.O. looting, how is that being loyal to the government?

LEO like regular joes are human. & at it's core, mankind is nothing more than an ANIMAL that walks, talks, and is "educated". Strip the veil of civilization and mankind reverts back to it's basic wild form: an ANIMAL. That will kill, loot, and be selfish looking out for just itself. Yes that same animal does have the other traits of compassion, helping it's kind, etc. But unlike every other animal in the world the human animal will kill/loot/be selfish if it serves his/her purpose.

Thus with any group you will have bad apples who will be out for themselves to loot/gain power/get stuff/etc. The vast majority of the LEO in katrina remained loyal to the gov and tried to maintain order in whatever means possible.

You need to remember civilization for the first few days was NOT in Katrina. As such it was "the wild" so to speak.

It would take something that really hit the middle and lower class hard and not just a bad economy to get something like Cairo. Americans for the most part are happy as long as they have McDonald's and cable television and won't cause to much uproar as long as their "needs" are met. Also, we have to much to lose in our minds compared to people who live everyday in a grind to survive. However, if you were to cut welfare and social security payments then I am guessing you would see things come undone in a hurry

It's coming. It's call the SSA/MEDICARE/WELFARE train that has run out of money, will require benefit cuts and tax increase to maintain. Just wait until granny's SSA check bounces at the bank, the welfare queen's "debit card" shows a zero balance on the 1st and MEDICARE denies payment for treatment. The masses will up rises and it be greater than Cario. Look at the other Euro states that are on the brink of collapse as well due to this.