tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post909357432794124205..comments2024-03-21T18:54:06.548-07:00Comments on Old Enough to Know Better: The Truth Waits for Eyes Unclouded by LongingSteve Perryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-33292417746681810722009-03-21T16:03:00.000-07:002009-03-21T16:03:00.000-07:00Yep, and I've done commuting by bike and car and h...Yep, and I've done commuting by bike and car and have nearly run down a loon on a bike several times, which is why I pretended I was an invisible car when I was on two wheels, too.<BR/><BR/>But my comment stands, too. A woman pushing her bicycle along the sidewalk is not a threat to public safety. If we have to parse resources because money is tight, that one is down at the bottom and they -- and you -- know it.<BR/><BR/>Day before yesterday, a car thief smashed into several cars whilst on the run from the cops, put a couple people into the hospital in critical condition. When they finally caught him, he had a rap sheet as long as the Jolly Green Giant's arm. That's where I want to see my tax money spent, keeping guys like him off the street, not old hippies who don't like police. <BR/><BR/>Everybody knows the law is applied selectively, and the beat cop and patrol guys pick and choose when they hand out tickets or bust somebody. They don't build good will and support for namby-pamby shit like this. I respect the thin blue line, but when they step stupid, they need somebody to point it out.Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-26851466774500406482009-03-21T15:33:00.000-07:002009-03-21T15:33:00.000-07:00I stand by the position that Freedom Child is to b...I stand by the position that Freedom Child is to blame for her own arrest. "I don't like police" and running into her house after they identified themselves? What did she think was going to happen?<BR/><BR/>This exactly why I didn't address my comments to Nataraj. If his story read the exact same but ended with 'then I was pulled from my car and arrested' I'd be thinking 'hmmm, how did you react to the cop? Did you cop an attitude about it all?' (pun intended). Given that he was sent off with just the ticket for the headlight (which I agree was an asinine thing for the cop to do) I'm inclined to think he probably dealt with the officer at least somewhat politely. Again, people who make bad choices like to blame others.<BR/><BR/>Ironically just after writing my earlier post I was driving in the inner East Side and had to hit the brakes when some rocket surgeon decided to run the red light on his bike. Who gets protected and served when the cops enforce traffic laws? All of us. Portland has a bike community that, in general, likes to be vehicles...when it suits them, pedestrians...when it suits them, and some special law exempt paragon of the new world anarchy...when it suits them.<BR/><BR/>I spent most of a year bike commuting before, following the traffic laws isn't that freaking hard and the extra minute to wait for the light isn't going to kill anyone. Running it just might. It's too much trouble to wait for the light but they expect drivers to brake for them. Morons.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-75150635197249898172009-03-20T14:16:00.000-07:002009-03-20T14:16:00.000-07:00Sure, a mad bicyclist threading the lanes is dange...Sure, a mad bicyclist threading the lanes is dangerous and apt to get run over in Portland. <BR/><BR/>But you got a ways to go to convince me that a middle-aged woman pushing a bike along the sidewalk at ten in the evening is a threat to public safety. Especially when, if somebody steals your car and you call the police, they don't send anybody out to take a report any more, they do it over the phone' and if they happento come across the vehicle during a traffic stop, they'll grab the thief, who will be out before the sun comes up because there isn't room in the jail for such riff-raff.<BR/><BR/>Something wrong with this picture.<BR/><BR/>No, they might have been legally in bounds, but it was not using time wisely. Protect and serve -- and who got protected in this case? Not me.Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-47981033959700640942009-03-20T11:14:00.000-07:002009-03-20T11:14:00.000-07:00Many (most?) people who think they are vicims of '...Many (most?) people who think they are vicims of 'police harrasment' or 'excessive force' are really vicitms of their own rudeness/poor judgement/ attitudes.<BR/><BR/>Sure, we can say that it's not right, police should be held to a higher standard, yada yada yada. Let's be real, cops are people and react like people (usually). <BR/><BR/>Note for Nataraj Hauser, this isn't directed at you; sounds like you got either an asshole or somebody having a bad day.<BR/>This is directed at Freedom Child. Her version only makes sense in the context of bad choices on her part.<BR/><BR/>Also, being in the Portland metro area, I tend to think cops should spend more time talking to people about bike lights. Sure, there's lots of responsible riders out there but PDX has far too many people who think the laws shouldn't apply to them. F-ing road hazards. A little natural selection could go along way...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-66868650656848627212009-03-20T09:43:00.000-07:002009-03-20T09:43:00.000-07:00I used to be a private eye, and I learned very qui...I used to be a private eye, and I learned very quickly when I was approached by a cop checking to see why I was sitting in my parked car in a nice neighborhood to see how many times I could use the word "Sir" in a thirty-second span.<BR/><BR/>The man (or men) to whom I was talking when I said that had a holstered gun and a proclivity to pull it. If I wasn't around to argue the point, there was a good chance he could get away with shooting me if I decided to get lippy.<BR/><BR/>Once I flashed my own badge and ID, things usually went fine -- cops watched Rockford or 77 Sunset Strip and figured I was on their side, sort of, but I never forgot the power equation in those situations. <BR/><BR/>It wasn't right, but that's how it was.Steve Perryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12079658447270792228noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29640480.post-27618540327848995792009-03-20T08:17:00.000-07:002009-03-20T08:17:00.000-07:00The LEO's behavior seems more like small town stuf...The LEO's behavior seems more like small town stuff. Years ago I was driving my pickup to the local shooting range (which happened to be <I>in the basement of a Baptist church!</I>), and so had my Colt M1911 unloaded and cased with me. I also had a headlight out, and knew it. It was <I>daytime</I> but I had my headlights on anyway - safety first. So I get to the road leading to the gun club and am less than 1/2 mile away when I get pulled over. LEO asks me if I know that I have a headlight out. I say yes, and I had just stopped to purchase a new headlight, see here it is with today's date on the receipt. Of course he is checking my license while this is going on, and he is getting progressively belligerent as the conversation continues. He eyeballs the gun case in the jump seats and inquires. I respond politely and accurately. We're coming up on 10 minutes of grilling here, and it is clear he really wants to <B>get</B> me for something, anything. Then he says my license requires corrective lenses. I reply that I have contacts in. He smirks and says he can't see them, take them out. I look in horror at my filthy hands and say I'd rather not. Hand on sidearm - I kid you not - he insists. I pop one out and display it to him on my raised middle finger.<BR/><BR/>I then sit through a 45 minute vehicle inspection.<BR/><BR/>At the end he writes me a ticket for the burned out headlight. What a prick. It's been 20 years, and I still think he was a complete asshole spoiling for a fight. It is one of my three personal defining opinions of LEO's, and none of them is favorable. It's what I think of whenever I hear one of my nationalist-leaning coworkers mutter something like, If you're not doing anything wrong you don't have anything to worry about.Nataraj Hauserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02795048392262165344noreply@blogger.com