<VV> Stupid Driving (Little Corvair)

Sat Jul 4 16:46:32 EDT 2009

WARNING!   Hot button has been pushed.  WARNING!
You have only a few seconds to avoid being offended by a rant.

It is ironic (to me) that the message just after this one on the list was
"Happy 4th of July".

The attitude here in Obamaland has become (over the last couple of decades)
more and more synonymous with that of the Europeans.  Every action or
attitude that can be imagined to cause anyone any danger, inconvenience or
discomfort is becoming unacceptable.  Anyone who is anti-social enough to
engage in an activity that might not promote the general good (as defined by
some unknown entity) is automatically labeled as bad or weird, or stupid, or
bird-brained or "willful and irresponsible".  God  and Government save us
from all irresponsible activities and their evil perpetrators.

We might as well call it all off, rejoin the Continent, and let the EU
govern us.  The 4th is no fun around here anyway, it's illegal to POSSESS
fireworks in Austin, let alone light one.

I've been driving for 47 years.

In that time, I've had two accidents - one when I was t-boned by a guy that
ran a red light (I was going about 20 at the time), and one when I was
coming out of a restaurant when the guy behind me honked and I exited the
parking lot without looking left and was hit by an oncoming car (totally my
fault - my responsibility to look).

Also in that time, I've managed to lose count of my tickets.  I do know that
when I graduated from college I had 19.  I've slowed way down since I got
married; I probably don't have more than 35  or 40 or so.  My first speeding
ticket was 75 in a 35 at just after midnight.  The only other car on that
straight city street was the cop following me with his lights off.  They did
that a lot, my mother used to track me coming home from my girlfriend's
house by listening to her police scanner.

The way it's supposed to work in the country our founding fathers set up 233
years ago (well, actually 220 years ago) is that we have laws and these laws
have consequences for breaking them.  In theory, the severity of the
consequences are supposed to relate to the potential damage to others of
breaking the laws.  That's worked for a really long time.  It's a good
system.

It worked for that speeding ticket in 1965.  The fine was $200, which was
more than a month's take home pay from my summer job - 1/3 of my annual
income.  I didn't drive that fast in town any more.  It didn't keep me from
speeding while driving between home and college.  Losing my license for 3
months wasn't enough to keep me from speeding on those empty roads during
that 4 hour trip.  I guess our Texas government didn't consider 85 in a 70
zone 5 times in a year and a half to be a big enough sin to make it too
expensive for me to do it.  By the way, I didn't drive an inch without that
license - consequences of getting caught were too high.

Was I being stupid in those days?  Maybe.  Is that within my rights?
Definately.
If we don't have the right to weigh the consequences and break the law on
that basis, then all crimes should be punished by death.

Be careful of the "I don't like that activity, it's [fill in the blank].
The guy that's doing that is unworthy (of freedom) and should be stopped at
all cost" attitude.  It's taking over our country.  My Corsa convertible
gets about 15mpg.  I wouldn't mind paying a "gas guzzler" tax on it (like
the gas prices aren't enough), but I dread the day when some Greenie comes
to take it away from me because somebody has decided I'm being irresponsible
and anti-social.

Give poor Rocco a break, he didn't hurt anybody,
  Roger

"Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote the freedom to err.  It
passes my comprehension how human beings, be they ever so experienced and
able, can delight in depriving other human beings of that precious right."
Gandhi

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "James P. Rice" <ricebugg at mtco.com>
To: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 04, 2009 8:53 AM
Subject: <VV> Stupid Driving

> Mike:  You are confusing driving stupidly fast on public roads late at
night
> with racing.  Racing requires at least one other vehicle in approximately
> the same location at the same time.  So much for definitions.
>
> With his record of a traffic arrest once every other year, this bird brain
> is "merely" a menace to the folks around him, and ought to be stripped of
> his driving privileges.  And maybe his cars.  Driving is not a right.  It
is
> a privilege granted to us by our fellow citizens thru out local
government.
> Anything you have to get a license to do from any level of government is
not
> a "right".
>
> Also, so far as I know, every racing organization requires a valid drivers
> license to drive a race car with them.  Those who race on the track are
> subject to the same laws of time, space and physics as the rest of us on
the
> street.  Failure to conduct themselves within those restrictions make them
> irresponsible citizens, subject to the same penalties as the rest of us.
>
> There isn't any known evidence cross referencing driving race cars with
> driving stupid on the street.  Even if this nut case has legally driven
race
> cars, Corvair or otherwise, it does not grant him the privilege of willful
> and irresponsible violation of his licensed responsibility to drive within
> the laws as defined by the rest of us for the rest of us thru our local
> government's).  I hope DuPage County strips him of his driving privileges,
> and has Larry or JR render all his cars non-functioning for about 60 days.
>
> Historically Your,
> James
>
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 2009 08:52:43 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Michael Kovacs <kovacsmj at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: <VV> Fw:  Cops nab man driving 98 mph in a classic '65 Chevy
> To: VV <virtualvairs at corvair.org>
>
> I hope Rocco stays off my roads. Bet he has never tried to do his racing
> legally.  I don't remember his name on any of the Corvair drivers that
race
> legally. Of course I may be wrong.
>
> What say, Rocco, got any trophies or track records to back you up? GGG.
> MIKE KOVACS
>
>
>
>
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