To: dighton; one_particular_harbour; Orual; aculeus; Poohbah
"...Traffic stops, fireworks - these guys really know how to pick issues that resonate with the general population..."
# 22 by general_re
Little things matter, general_re.
Remember Mayor Guliani's enforcement of "un-important" laws like jaywalking and parking violations? Enforcing those little laws produced an across the board decrease in all crime in New York.
Don Matthews didn't have a lot of money. As you can see from the picture, his friends don't have money either. There is no way that they could influence national policies. Things are different at the local level, and even at the State level.
The problem is that at the local level all you have a chance to influence is "un-important" issues. If you believe that the most important problem in our nation is that our government is abandoning the Constitution, where do you start your activism?
You would start with "little" things like making sure that your city operates according to Constitutional guidelines. Making sure that your "protectors" have actually promised to protect you. Educating other citizens about what's happening in the nation, and what they can do locally to help bring back Constitutional government to the nation as a whole.
You would educate even local government officials as to what their responsibilities entail, and if that doesn't work, bring cases to court to force local authorities to operate according to the law, even if the judge dismisses most of your seriously thought out Constitutional complaints on the grounds that they are "frivolous."
Don Matthews was a hero up until this firefight.
I don't know what happened between Matthews and the police. I don't know if Matthews snapped or the police provoked him so badly that he felt that he had to defend himself. I do know that police can lie, I do know that every city has some corrupt officials, I know that police have been known to find excuses to kill "troublemakers," and I know that once police have killed, city officials and judges have been known to help cover up the abuses of their friends.
I will not accept the word of these police without question.
Uh huh. To what do you attribute his heroism? That as long as four years ago he said if he got pulled over for a traffic ticket, he'd kill a cop?
What's your standard for not having a lot of money? They claim that "over $200,000" worth of fireworks were "stolen" by the police. Dunno about you, but that sounds like a lot of money to me - they ain't talking about a couple of packs of Black Cat firecrackers here...
Think about that statement for a moment. If the cops pull you over for speeding, and you take off, and the police chase you--what on God's green earth could "provoke" you enough to pull a gun on a cop, Hmmmmmm? Unless you think the "traffic stop" is part of the "coverup" (re: your statement--"I know that police have been known to find excuses to kill "troublemakers," and I know that once police have killed, city officials and judges have been known to help cover up the abuses of their friends.")
Please be explicit in your statements and let us know once and for all:
a. Do you believe Matthews was justified in refusing to give the patrol officer his driver's license?
b. Do you believe Matthews was justified in running from the traffic stop?
c. Do you believe any conditions exist under which Matthews could have been sufficiently "provoked" into drawing his weapon on law enforcement officials?
These questions are not contingent upon further investigation. No one disputes that the traffic stop occurred, that Matthews ran from the police, and that Matthew drew his weapon.
Instead of being shadowy and vague in your suspicions, and grasping at straws to justify Matthews' behavior, why don't you just condemn his actions unequivocally?
i couldn't agree more, exodus.