Comments on Pro Libertate: Leniency Is For the Powerful

You described yourself well enough that I really d...

2008-03-26T21:07:00.000-06:00

You described yourself well enough that I really don't have to say anything more! Thanks! You certainly didn't answer any of my questions, tells me what kind of man you are! I read your profile of yourself and indeed, you are inadequate!

Dear Mrs./Miss Buttars -- I'm sure that aphasia is...

2008-03-24T23:26:00.000-06:00

Dear Mrs./Miss Buttars -- I'm sure that aphasia is a condition amenable to clinical treatment. Please seek help, assuming that you're interested in learning effective communication skills.

And if you're going to be a successful bigot, you're going to have to master rudimentary ethnic stereotypes. I'm not black; I'm dark brown, reflecting my Mexican ancestry. So rather than rummaging around in your barren mental cupboard for insults involving black criminals, you might want to try out a few dealing with "wetback" farm laborers, or suchlike.

Well Mr. Grigg, I am completely disgusted with you...

2008-03-24T22:45:00.000-06:00

Well Mr. Grigg, I am completely disgusted with you! You should be so ashamed of yourself!!!!
Let me tell you few things! Kevin was a police officer for almost 20 years,I guess you make it that far beating the sh** out of people right? Kevin & Finleys Dad got along just fine! The night of the incident Kevin was called in to help. Why? Because Jared Finley broke the law!!! He was found in possesion of drugs, which was later dropped because YELLEN was an idiot and did an illegal search. Jared became physically and verbally abusive. Which he was charged and found guilty. You forgot to mention that! Why? Answer me!!! He was out of control! How would someone as perfect as yourself taken him down and held him? Huh, Huh, Huh? Do you not know how obnoxious a druged up person can be? The tape recording, he said I can cover that, not cover up. BIG DIFFERENCE!!!. Meaning: he could explain. Why was he not convicted of simulated sodomy? I guess some people are just too stupid to get it or they just hear what they want to! I am so proud of Kevin! I would never let some punk Bit** disrespect me the way he did and say those things to me. I would of done much worse if given the chance!!! He (Jared) thought he could get away with it because his daddy was a cop.
And how dare you even make the assumption that we are related to Senator Buttars,He lives close to the border so he must be related... Are you retarded? I guess because you are black, you are related to every gay black man, every black murderer, & every black child molester. Should I go on? Now do you see how ridiculous you sound? Maybe next time you decide to write a story you could write the facts and get both sides. Have you ever heard the old saying "There is always two sides to every story"
Makes me wonder what else have you not been open minded and tried to get the full story?

As a born and raised Idahoan I think I can say tha...

2008-03-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

As a born and raised Idahoan I think I can say that people here are generally very pleasant and agreeable sorts. But, as I suspect elsewhere, they tend to have a 'lock-em-up' side towards those they consider outside their view of appropriate. Combined with the fact that most are 'dumber than fence posts' when it comes to history or constitutional principles can be a discouraging trait.

The thing that people need to realize about Idaho is that in our political sphere there are basically two dominant personality types - the good-ole-boys (a holdover from the age of less than honorable mining/timber/agricultural industrialists) and Mormons (probably the result of our unfortunate proximity to Utah). If you are not a good-ole-boy or a U-yoke, preferably both, you're not going anywhere politically in Idaho.

Growing up here I can say that in my youth, Idaho used to be a pretty tolerant place to live (at least from the time former Gov. Stuenenberg, well before my time, got his just rewards courtesy of striking miners from the northern part of the state). The sheriff showed up at a 'keggar party' and collected the keys - in the morning he came back and returned them. Some of the best pot available was in the trailers buried in the orchards of Senator Steve Symms fruit ranch where he housed his illegals. It was, to some extent, a live and let live place as long as it wasn't too blatant or obnoxious.

My personal observation is that there were two major things changed this dynamic. The first were a whole onslaught of changes at the federal level that tied being able to belly up to the federal tax trough to mandating that states adopt laws that the feds could not constitutionally enact directly (official payolla in my opinion). Take your pick - drug enforcement money, highway funds (think 0.08%, used to be 0.1%), TANF funds (think mandated levels of child support). The other was rapid assimilation of wash-out cops from California who came on the scene looking for 'asses to bust'. Not that we don't have our own homegrown variety mind you - Canyon County's sheriff Nourse was run out of office in the late 70's after it was discovered he had a penchant for late night beatings of prisoners in their cells (unfortunately, he's a good-ole-boy and back in his position as sheriff).

In the ensuing years, I think the draw of the federal payola tax trough and the influence of the 'bust-some-ass' authoritarians has come to be predominant in many areas of the state, especially the southern regions - and I wouldn't even get close to the counties bordering Utah. And the U-yokes are flexing more and more muscle every year (one only has to look at how they circled the wagons around former mayor Brent Coles - at least until he got busted 'wacking-off' outside his secretary's home at 3:00 a.m. apparently too much for even a U-yoke in good standing).

As for the other 'Anonymous' who councils a pleasant approach when dealing with the previously described personalities, all I can say is that apparently you are an individual more predisposed to licking boots than am I, may your chains rest lightly on you.

We have the ballot box, the jury box, and ultimate...

2008-03-05T14:43:00.000-07:00

We have the ballot box, the jury box, and ultimately the cartridge box, to deal with these supremely corrupt SoBs.

Obey the speed limit and all other traffic laws an...

2008-03-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

Obey the speed limit and all other traffic laws and in the rare unfortunate circumstance that you do get pulled over - politely put on the charm - it works every time. I have never had a bad interaction with a cop over the last ten years due in part to following the aforementioned advice. And I have been pulled over by some real ornery ones.

"cops CANNOT "investigate" other cops any more tha...

2008-03-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

"cops CANNOT "investigate" other cops any more than any other profession can "police" itself objectively."

Exactly! That's why you can't expect lawyers, doctors or politicians to investigate themselves. There is no incentive to do so. Their egos would never allow it.pa

Perhaps owing to the prominence of fully-informed ...

2008-03-05T10:59:00.000-07:00

Perhaps owing to the prominence of fully-informed jury activists in Idaho, jurors here are required to sign, under penalty of perjury, a statement attesting that they will be guided by the judge in determining the facts and law of a case. The intention here, of course, is to prevent "jury nullification" by effectively rendering the jury a nullity -- a body that exists solely to ratify the will of the presiding judge.

I realize that those who love liberty will be tempted to go all out to become empaneled in order to combat the prevailing apathy and ignorance that characterizes contemporary juries. However, it is even more imperative that we resist any attempt at jury tampering by prosecutors and allegedly "impartial" judges, which is exactly what this statement represents. It is therefore essential that one refuse to sign any such statement.

Al Newberry said...

These same cops who often criticize criminals for objecting to "snitches" or "rats" call internal affairs people the same kind of terms and act as if they are the scum of the earth. In fact, they may be the only good guys in the system.

Remember, "internal affairs" is staffed by cops who come from the same ranks as those they investigate. Given the all-pervasive nature of "the blue wall of silence" and the overwhelming evidence of the lack of serious punishment cops face as a result of their increasingly felonious behavior, internal affairs bureaus should be considered nothing more than instruments of coverup for the blue-clad criminal class.

To put it in a manner much more polite than that which I use over at the Copwatch forums, cops CANNOT "investigate" other cops any more than any other profession can "police" itself objectively.

the rule of law is dead RIP

2008-03-05T05:52:00.000-07:00

the rule of law is dead RIP

I love cop shows, even though I disapprove of much...

2008-03-04T20:28:00.000-07:00

I love cop shows, even though I disapprove of much of their procedure. One thing that always irks me, though, is the attitude they always show about Internal Affairs. These same cops who often criticize criminals for objecting to "snitches" or "rats" call internal affairs people the same kind of terms and act as if they are the scum of the earth. In fact, they may be the only good guys in the system.

Just read where 3/4 new law enforcement is out of ...

2008-03-04T19:44:00.000-07:00

Just read where 3/4 new law enforcement is out of the military. I think things are going to get much worse. I just watched a video of a marine throwing a puppy off a cliff and laughing about it. People like that are going to be in our police forces more and more.

Having just completed 75% of my move to Idaho ( Ho...

2008-03-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

Having just completed 75% of my move to Idaho ( Howdy neighbor!) I have to say that people have treated us very well and are very friendly. Not that I've had any experience with the local cops... and pray that I never have anything but peaceable dealings.

But having said that your story about the nun reminded me of the time I served on a jury back in Midland, Texas (my former home town). The case involved someone being charged with drug possession and rape. The sad sorry examples of humanity dragged before the jury were pitiful enough but what got my goat was how flimsy the purported rape angle was handled. To be honest I can't say that it was clear at all. It was in the jury room that I found that not only was the jury indifferent but bamboozled by the "law". When we asked for clarification from the judge I can't say we got any. We convicted but afterwards I was of the opinion I'd been railroaded.

We live in a moral abyss. I am still shocked and...

2008-03-04T17:53:00.000-07:00

We live in a moral abyss. I am still shocked and horrified at blatant self serving behavior of public officials, but then I remember that it is a heathen society out there, and there should be no expectation of our public and civil servants acting in a civil manner. I have started to form the opinion that it will not get better until it gets worse, and hopefully the sheeple are stirred to action. An optimist I am.

I remember reading about the perjury charges again...

2008-03-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

I remember reading about the perjury charges against Carol Asher.

Part of the explanation for the 95%-plus conviction rate in many criminal courts is that juries are told, "If you find that conditions A, B and C are met, then you MUST convict." There are tragic stories about juries who knew that the charges carried excessive penalties which they felt inappropriate, but were cowed into a guilty verdict by the stern "You MUST convict" admonition by some gray-haired guy in a black robe. A few heroes like Carol Asher are "fully informed" and stand up to the bullying.

Equally tragic stories emerge of juries who convict, only to learn that they were told only half the story in court. That's what happened to Ed Rosenthal in Oakland. The jury was told that he was a mid-level dope dealer, caught with dozens of pounds of pot. Only after the "trial" was over did they learn that Rosenthal was deputized by the City of Oakland to grow medical marijuana, under the protection of state law. But he and his attorney were gagged by the judge from presenting this uncontested fact in court. It wasn't a permissible defense. Needless to say, this was a federal court, where the acts of the states and the people are regarded as contemptible nuisances.

Official attitudes and notions of impunity filter down from the top. When the president can openly admit to felony violations of the FISA Act and get away with it, lower-level officials take this as carte blanche for any kind of vigilante "justice" they choose to mete out. The backslid USA is a moral hard case where reform must be carried out top-down, not bottom-up.