June 22, 2005

my ass!

If we're going to pass stupid laws that can ruin a person's life for one mistake (and we've got PLENTY of them), then I believe that EVERYBODY should play by the same rules. But that's not how it works. Congress regularly expempts itself from law it inflicts on "ordinary" people (read: proles) and police evidently play by a different set of rules, too.

Just read this and tell me if it passes the smell test.

"Our officers received a suspicious vehicle call in the Cedar Park post office parking lot," Cedar Park Police Sgt. Jeff Hayes said.

But that vehicle, a green Ford F-150 belonged to Austin Police officer Daniel Armstrong. Cedar Park Police Officer Chris Joost says he found passed out at the wheel, the engine still running.

"After making contact with him, he believed him to be intoxicated," Hayes said.

The police report shows Armstrong was unaware of his surroundings. When asked how much he had had to drink, he replied not enough. That's when Officer Joost had to take action.

"Our department policy is to handle this circumstance like any other circumstance," Hayes said.

Yeah, right. YOU get caught drunk as a skunk behind the wheel of YOUR truck with the engine still running and see if YOU get off with "public intoxication."

In this circumstance, Armstrong was given a public intoxication citation -- a Class C misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $500.

The same penalty, Hayes says, anyone would have gotten.

In MY humble opinion, Hayes is a lying sumbitch. Anybody else except a fellow cop would have been hauled off to jail for AT LEAST 24 hours, had his truck towed and impounded and become a poster-boy for MADD, complete with loss of driver's license, about $2,500 in fines, DUI class, community service and everything else those bastards can think of to throw at you, just to humiliate the shit out of you.

I am ashamed to admit it, but I was caught in that meat-grinder four years ago. I spent two years of my life getting out from under that crap. A DUI ain't no laughing matter anymore. I figure the whole thing cost me about $6,000, a whole lot of wasted time and work, and left a black mark on my record that is the first thing a divorce attorney brings up in court.

I'll NEVER be totally rid of that stain. I paid my fines. I attended all the classes. I did my community service three weeks after I had prostate cancer surgery (I had no choice--- I had a deadline to meet even though I was still wearing diapers and barely strong enough to stand up on my own) and I did my probation. I paid for my crime.

I see this drunken shitwad doing a lot worse than I did and watch him get off with a slap on the wrist? I ain't real happy about that. Laws either apply to everybody, or we don't need the fucking law.

People who play that kind of game remind me of kids who like to tie cats together by the tail and throw them over a clothesline. Boy, it's a hoot to watch those cats dance! After all, YOU don't have to worry about being thrown over that clothesline.

Our laws are made by a lot of sadistic people who like to watch others suffer. I believe that with every fiber of my being; if I am mistaken, tell me again why Martha Stewart went to jail.

Got-dam! My pissed-off quotient just went into the Red Zone.

(Thanks (I think) to HideMeRicky for the link.)