A lesson in politics

FluffyMcDeath

FluffyMcDeath

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FluffyMcDeath said:
Here is a very graphic lesson in why politicians don't speak out and how petty tyrants try to make sure of such things only, in this case, the voice of the opposition was willing to take one for the people.

Sounds like he may have been roughed up a little too (and not so surprisingly because he is probably gonna cost the police department some money). Hope he doesn't "get depressed" in jail.
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Wow that could have been down here! We have at least one city with red light cameras in place and many others rushing to put them in. The tickets are fines imposed by the city, not department of motor vehicles. Of course it has been exposed that anywhere these cameras get installed, the length of the yellow light magically gets reduced. Rear end accidents also go through the roof. What a bunch of greedy bastards :x
 
redrumloa said:
Wow that could have been down here! We have at least one city with red light cameras in place and many others rushing to put them in. The tickets are fines imposed by the city, not department of motor vehicles. Of course it has been exposed that anywhere these cameras get installed, the length of the yellow light magically gets reduced. Rear end accidents also go through the roof. What a bunch of greedy bastards :x
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Speeder cameras were ruled by the MN Supreme Court to be against the MN Constitution. They had to be pulled out and fines returned. Strangely some police thought red light cameras would be different? They too had to be pulled out and refunded.

City tickets supposedly don't exist here. Instead they are warnings with a mandatory administration fee you can't fight in court. This is of course now under the State's eye. As income is low they're seeing the cities as stealing away the $175 State speeding ticket for assigning a $60 local admin fee warning instead. This should be interesting....
 
's funny. Both of you replied concentrating on the red light camera part of the story which I thought was only incidental to the most interesting part of the story, to wit: the political dynamic.

Here we have, writ small, everything that is wrong with politics and how hard it is to stand up to the system even from inside. This is a city of less than 40 thousand people and the amounts of cash being passed around are pretty paltry in the grand scheme of things. Imagine how much greater the political pressures and consequences are when you are talking about 300 million people to milk for trillions of dollars.
 
You're obviously right Fluffy, but this story probably isn't over yet. There's quite possibly going to be a backlash here. Curious to see how it develops.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
's funny. Both of you replied concentrating on the red light camera part of the story which I thought was only incidental to the most interesting part of the story, to wit: the political dynamic.
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I kind of figured that was your point, I have mixed feelings on it. While I agree with the councilman's point and think his arrest was BS, it seemed his actions were well rehearsed and injures were not caused by police actions. This guy's showboating aside, it does raise many troubling points. You almost have to expect gov to work like this now, expect them all to be crooks.
 
redrumloa said:
While I agree with the councilman's point and think his arrest was BS, it seemed his actions were well rehearsed and injures were not caused by police actions.
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Well rehearsed? As in considered before hand, i.e. thought about. I wouldn't doubt that he had spent time contemplating before going down this route. Most people would, and most people would then choose to go with the flow, not rock the boat and keep collecting their cheque. That's the point.

When you are faced with the choice, speak up or be arrested, then most people won't speak up and that is how lies win. Yes, everything is crooked and we know it but it can't possibly be because if it was someone would say, right? But self preservation kicks in early for most people - why talk and ruin my comfy easy life when it isn't something that's gonna cost me a lot if I just let it go? That's what the system is and that's what the system does - and going through with arresting the guy sends a message to the rest of the people : don't try this at home!!!

Now the people of that city get to decide whether he's fighting for their rights and they should back him, or whether he is "just showboating" and they should leave him to twist in the wind. Most of the people will look to their "leaders" to tell them their opinion on which of those things to believe. And their leaders are the problem.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
That's the point.

When you are faced with the choice, speak up or be arrested, then most people won't speak up and that is how lies win. Yes, everything is crooked and we know it but it can't possibly be because if it was someone would say, right? But self preservation kicks in early for most people - why talk and ruin my comfy easy life when it isn't something that's gonna cost me a lot if I just let it go? That's what the system is and that's what the system does - and going through with arresting the guy sends a message to the rest of the people : don't try this at home!!!

Now the people of that city get to decide whether he's fighting for their rights and they should back him, or whether he is "just showboating" and they should leave him to twist in the wind. Most of the people will look to their "leaders" to tell them their opinion on which of those things to believe. And their leaders are the problem.
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An excellent summary of much that is wrong with the world today.
 
FluffyMcDeath said:
redrumloa said:
While I agree with the councilman's point and think his arrest was BS, it seemed his actions were well rehearsed and injures were not caused by police actions.
Click to expand...

Well rehearsed? As in considered before hand, i.e. thought about. I wouldn't doubt that he had spent time contemplating before going down this route. Most people would, and most people would then choose to go with the flow, not rock the boat and keep collecting their cheque. That's the point.

When you are faced with the choice, speak up or be arrested, then most people won't speak up and that is how lies win. Yes, everything is crooked and we know it but it can't possibly be because if it was someone would say, right? But self preservation kicks in early for most people - why talk and ruin my comfy easy life when it isn't something that's gonna cost me a lot if I just let it go? That's what the system is and that's what the system does - and going through with arresting the guy sends a message to the rest of the people : don't try this at home!!!

Now the people of that city get to decide whether he's fighting for their rights and they should back him, or whether he is "just showboating" and they should leave him to twist in the wind. Most of the people will look to their "leaders" to tell them their opinion on which of those things to believe. And their leaders are the problem.
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Don't get my post wrong, I agree with you except his "injury" if it leads to a lawsuit.
 
Kinda along the same lines...

Texas police shake down drivers, lawsuit claims

TENAHA, Texas (CNN) -- Roderick Daniels was traveling through East Texas in October 2007 when, he says, he was the victim of a highway robbery.
Police in the small East Texas town of Tenaha are accused of unjustly taking valuables from motorists.

Police in the small East Texas town of Tenaha are accused of unjustly taking valuables from motorists.

The Tennessee man says he was ordered to pull his car over and surrender his jewelry and $8,500 in cash that he had with him to buy a new car.

But Daniels couldn't go to the police to report the incident.

The men who stopped him were the police.

Daniels was stopped on U.S. Highway 59 outside Tenaha, near the Louisiana state line. Police said he was driving 37 mph in a 35 mph zone. They hauled him off to jail and threatened him with money-laundering charges -- but offered to release him if he signed papers forfeiting his property.

A fine example of why we should always be suspicious of those with authority, and why we should limit their powers to the bare minimum required.
 
Glaucus said:
A fine example of why we should always be suspicious of those with authority, and why we should limit their powers to the bare minimum required.
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The original story from the San Antonio Express News 02/07/2009

Tenaha an East Texas town of 1,000 people seized property from at least 140 motorists between 2006 and 2008, and, to date, filed criminal charges against fewer than half, according to a review of court documents by the San Antonio Express-News.

Virtually anything of value was up for grabs: cash, cell phones, personal jewelry, a pair of sneakers, and often, the very car that was being driven through town.
...
in Tenaha, a town of chicken farms that hugs the Louisiana border, critics say being a out-of-towner passing through with anything of value is seen as evidence of a crime.

Tenaha Mayor George Bowers, 80, (who’s been Tenaha’s mayor 54 years) defended the seizures, saying they allowed a cash-poor city the means to add a second police car in a two-policeman town and help pay for a new police station.

Property seizures = piracy

Just like Obama, they're doing it for the greater good.
 
Just like Obama, they're doing it for the greater good.
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hahaha... ha... ha... HA!

What a pathetic attempt to shoehorn your Obama hatred into the discussion.

Does it really hurt that bad?
:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:
 
metalman said:
Just like Obama, they're doing it for the greater good.
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Does the mere fact that we might actually agree on something bother you so much that you have to turn it around and make it divisive?
 
@ Wilse & Glaucus

Which one of you is the pot and which is the kettle? :p
 
@Fade:

Your hate-filled, anti-Americanism is becoming wearisome. :banana:

This is fun.
Who's up next with another non sequitur?
 
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