My Commie Cab Ride

none ^ | Now | Me

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

Sometimes, because my wife is six months pregnant, I must take a cab to work. Today, I had the "pleasure" of having a commie taxi driver. Our conversation started with my referring to the fact that the bank I work for is closing. He told me that you'll see more of that with a Republican administration in office. He told me how Highway 436 was filled with vacant shops during the Reagan Eighties.

I asked him: "Doesn't that fall on the role of the Governor?"

He said: "Ok. Nationally we were left with the biggest deficit ever under Reagan."

I told him: "Only because the Democratic Congress went back on their word to cut spending to balance the tax cuts."

He went on to blame talk radio because "It is easy to push the hot buttons of people."

I replied: "Talk radio is 'right wing' is because left wing shows fail every time."

He changes the subject: "It's like Iraq. We have no business being there."

I said: "He has nuclear and chemical weapons."

He said: "So do twenty-five other countries."

I said: "He's used them on his own people."

He said: "That's their own business."

I said: "With that kind of attitude, there would be no Jews in Europe."

He said: "If Irag attacks Tel Aviv, Israel will take care of it. Besides, that's not why we attacked the Germans."

I said: "Yes, I know that. We joined World War Two because they attacked our allies. Israel is one of our allies."

He said: "It was a different world then . . ."

I said: "It's the same world."

I couldn't look at his face. He had nostril hair long enough to braid. He also had lots of crusties, so that his nose hairs looked like stalagmites (or are those stalagtites?)

He said: "America of today is like Germany of 1930. Our civil rights are being eaten away with Homeland Security."

I asked angrily: "Are you comparing our President to Hitler?"

He worriedly shot back: "Uh no, Hitler was nuts."

I asked angrily: "Are you going to comapre the World Trade Center attack to the Reichtag fires?"

He worriedly shot back: "Uh no . . ."

He says: "I am just worried about my civil liberties. There was a case in Florida were a family were held in handcuffs and their dog shot just for being suspected of a crime."

I asked: "Would you rather that a cop gets shot?"

He said: "If it protects my civil liberties, yes."

I asked: "Aren't police officers there to protect you from crime?"

He trailed off: "Yes, but . . ."

He started to praise Clinton and how he was attacked by a "vast right campaign" started by right wing radio, while Reagan was given two presidential honeymoons because he was shot.

I asked: "Are you blaming him for that?"

He said: "No, It wasn't Reagan's fault. But he left this country a mess and Bush Jr. is taking away the rest of our civil liberties . . . "

We got to my destination. He is ranting on about his civil liberties and how Bush is taking them away. I really need to get to work. I pay him. (Yes, I did give him a tip even though he's a commie.)

I asked: "Do you like Lincon? Do you think he was a good President?"

He said: "Yes, He was pretty good."

I asked: "Did you know that during the civil war he suspended Habeus Corpus?"

He had no answer but kept on his Bush bashing rant. I told him: "Save your arguments, I've heard them all before." I got out of the cab and wished him a good day.

[Tijeras_Slim]

how about when tied to a Bagdad bound bomb?

I'm the wrong Slim to answer that...

[walkingdead]

"...implying that taxing the rich to death is fine because they want too much anyway."

I always ask the person if they think it's right to punish success. They always say no, and I leave them with "isn't that what taxing rich people harder than the rest is?!"

[Gargantua]

"I asked: "Would you rather that a cop gets shot?"

I asked: "Aren't police officers there to protect you from crime?"

Actually, cops can only try to apprehend and prosecute a criminal after a crime has been committed, and they'll only do that with 2 pre-existing conditions:

1. That they actually find the real perp.

2. That it isn't another cop who committed the crime.

;-/

[nycgal]

A friend and I were threatened with a tire iron after getting into a cab after asking to be driven to downtown Brooklyn from Wall Street(about a two mile drive). He took us on a terrifying ride through Manhattan and we finally were able to escape from the cab by the Hudson River piers.

I had the presence of mind to take down his license number and call the cops. The guy was a Haitian who later forced his wife to lie for him when she testified at the T&L Commission hearing that he was with her that evening. He was found guilty on 5 counts.

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

The 4th Amendment was put into the Constitution due to the RedCoats habit of illegal search and seizure during the Coloniel times. The idea of the "right to privacy" was created in the Supreme Court case of Mapp v. Ohio (1961) http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=367&invol=643 (Read the Black dissenting opinion.)

Yes, I would be naive to think that corruption of the law never happens, but it rarely happens. There are enough safeguards to protect us. The Government is a series of checks and balances.

At least, The Cubans are alive to fight. Rest assured, freedom shall always prevail. It may not be today, but it will. Remember the fall of Russia and West germany. Cuba, china, North Korea, and all other tyrants will fall.

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

The moto is "protect and serve." They protect us from criminals by arresting people who commit crimes.

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

uh, East Germany.

[AbsoluteJustice]

Sorry had to jump all over this one. Inquest, who do you know personally that is in litigation because their Civil Liberties have been stripped? Furthermore long before this the Gov. was always able to investigate you and know everything about you long before 9/11. Ever heard of credit reports and Social Security Cards? Extreme circumstances requires somewhat extrememe measures. Absolute freedom creates absolute mayhem. CIA/FBI pre 9/11 had their hands tied down so tight out of fear of the next commie ACLU lawsuit concerning Civil Liberites that they could not even investigate a known terrorist out of fear of the next whack job lawsuit. Tie all of this in with affirmitive action and the hiring of incompetent unqualified individuals to position of leadership not based on performance and this is what you get. Please spare me the great Gestapo. We are in good hands now.

[dead]

I asked angrily: "Are you going to comapre the World Trade Center attack to the Reichtag fires?"

Do you really believe that your commie, nostril-hairy, cab driver had any idea what you were talking about?

[Gunslingr3]

1) I don't care if they know what i buy on the internet because I buy nothing illegal.

Since the federal government has assumed the power to declare anything it pleases legal or illegal, how do you know your purchases won't end you up in hotwater later? If you have a president who has shown no compunction about leafing through the FBI files of political opponents, and using the IRS to punish suspected enemies, would you want them able to read your mail?

I don't see the ATF busting down my door anytime in the future.

As we speak law enforcement is currently compiling anonymous tips collected during the sniper spree. They're using these tips to check gun owners for 'illegal weapons'. And that's just people they intend to target, nevermind the victims of 'no-knock raids' on the wrong address, etc.

I'd rather be safe than dead. Like I said, The dead have no civil rights.

Not exactly a fan of Patrick Henry, eh?

[Gunslingr3]

1) I don't care if they know what i buy on the internet because I buy nothing illegal.

Since the federal government has assumed the power to declare anything it pleases legal or illegal, how do you know your purchases won't end you up in hotwater later? If you have a president who has shown no compunction about leafing through the FBI files of political opponents, and using the IRS to punish suspected enemies, would you want them able to read your mail?

I don't see the ATF busting down my door anytime in the future.

As we speak law enforcement is currently compiling anonymous tips collected during the sniper spree. They're using these tips to check gun owners for 'illegal weapons'. And that's just people they intend to target, nevermind the victims of 'no-knock raids' on the wrong address, etc.

I'd rather be safe than dead. Like I said, The dead have no civil rights.

Not exactly a fan of Patrick Henry, eh?

[inquest]

The 4th Amendment was put into the Constitution due to the RedCoats habit of illegal search and seizure during the Coloniel times.

So in other words they outlawed it because it was illegal. Why was it illegal? That's the point I'm getting at. Was it because the colonists were having such a hard time getting away with breaking the law?

There are enough safeguards to protect us. The Government is a series of checks and balances.

"Safeguards" don't protect us by virtue of their own power. We have to be willing to protect ourselves. That means standing up and speaking out when government oversteps its bounds.

Rest assured, freedom shall always prevail. It may not be today, but it will. Remember the fall of Russia and West germany. Cuba, china, North Korea, and all other tyrants will fall.

Russia, Cuba, China, and North Korea are all places where there is still very little freedom, and the prospects for improvement look rather slim. Human history shows that tyranny can survive for quite a long time, even if it's not the same group of tyrants who are always in charge. And if freedom does prevail, it can only be because people put a value on it such that they'd give their lives for it, instead of regarding it as a mere convenience that they can take or leave.

[smith288]

Notice the commie is driving the cab and the conservative is working for a high paying bank job. And the beat rolls on...

[SkyPilot]

I thought you did fine, and you kept your temper. Good job, and all the best to your wife and unborn child.

I avoid cabs as much as possible. These were my last 3 cab drivers. Now you know why.

[inquest]

A lot of straw men in that little piece. I had to wonder if you were even talking to the right person. Anyway, just to bring you up to speed, Big Rusty was saying that he preferred safety to freedom (no one said anything about "absolute" freedom, btw), and I was showing him where that attitude would get him and us. I don't know if you have anything you'd like to add to that...

[inquest]

The 3rd one didn't look too bad.

[Big Guy and Rusty 99]

1) Until a Howard Mcghee CD is made illegal, I am safe.

2) Wrong address cases get thrown out of court in a hardbeat. The guilty are punished, the innocent absolved.

3) I am more of a Jefferson fan.

[Mr. Bird]

He told me how Highway 436 was filled with vacant shops during the Reagan Eighties.

He lied even about the smallest things! I had the misfortune of watching 436 turn into a traffic nightmare (thanks to the economic boom) in the "Reagan Eighties".

[Teacher317]

Of all his statements, I have to agree with his concern for civil liberties. They are being eroded, and have been for many years. The "no knock" raids by ninja suited drug warriors come to mind, certainly.

There are a few areas that most Democrats (uber-liberals excepted, of course) and conservatives do agree on... and are still ignored by the legislature... Term Limits, holding LEO's accountable for injuring innocents (especially federal LEO's), taxes are too high, government is too large, free citizens should not live in fear of the IRS, the US has troops stationed in far too many foreign nations, race should not be a qualifier for college, jobs, or programs... maybe now that we have the House, Senate, and White House, we can get some Dems to come over to our side using these issues.