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Politics

You Will Like the New California Budget OR ELSE!

Matt Welch | 2.19.2009 6:06 PM

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A whole new meaning of "constituent service."


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NEXT: Reason Writers Around Town: Matt Welch Talks Obama, McCain, and Tweetering With Ana Marie Cox on Bloggingheads

Matt Welch is an editor at large at Reason.

PoliticsWar on DrugsMilitarization of PoliceCalifornia
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  1. HammeredHead   16 years ago

    I'm considering New Zealand. I guess I better not call anyone in Washington and let them know.

    Seriously though, a friend of a friend sourced story....

  2. Naga Sadow   16 years ago

    I wonder if Auckland or Wellington need a Yank bartender . . .

  3. Elemenope   16 years ago

    A sad little queen of a sad little hill got her pile kicked, and wants to use her petty powers to lash out at the one who rankled her.

    While I agree with the sentiment that it's outrageous, I'm really not seeing the story behind it. It wasn't even the official; just some dickhead functionary, practically a secretary.

    When people have power, they act like dicks. SURPRISE!

    It would be more of a story if the cop who (as was mentioned, must respond to a complaint) instead of reacting as "heh. nothing to see her. the person who called this in was a tool", reacted as if the guy had committed a crime; that would be a thing.

    No system is fuckhead-proof.

  4. BPC   16 years ago

    I am pretty skeptical of "friend of a friend" stories myself, but since he named the Senator and described the incident it should be pretty easy to prove or disprove. I have a feeling Sen. Leiu is going to be getting a lot more angry calls in the near future.

  5. Episiarch   16 years ago

    What if she lied and said he made threats, LMNOP? Additionally, it's great that the cop was cool about it but you sure as hell can't trust many cops to be cool about stuff.

  6. Paul   16 years ago

    It wasn't even the official; just some dickhead functionary, practically a secretary.

    lmnop, it's those dickhead functionaries that run our country. The laws and regulations are passed by politicians showing they are 'doing something'. It's the functionaries that affect them, and use them to harass and agitate the public with which they interact.

    Those rules are used by homeowners to agitate and harass their neighbors, petty clerks and officious pricks make our lives difficult by blocking our movements, stymieing our business, catching us on technicalities, an applying the rules in an uneven and selective manner.

  7. I am governor Jerry Brown   16 years ago

    My aura smiles and never frowns

  8. BPC   16 years ago

    "No system is fuckhead-proof."

    True, but ours seems to be extremely fuckhead-friendly.

    Also, while this cop was cool, a different cop could have easily made this a far bigger deal.

    Next thing you know the cop decides you are a radical anti-government type, asks to come in and take a look around, you refuse, he insists.....

  9. HammeredHead   16 years ago

    Naga,

    I don't think it is on their critical skills list.

    http://www.immigration.govt.nz/templates/custom/SearchskillshortagesPopup.aspx?NRMODE=Published&NRORIGINALURL=%2fmigrant%2fstream%2fwork%2fskilledmigrant%2fLinkAdministration%2fToolboxLinks%2fessentialskills%2ehtm%3flevel%3d2&NRNODEGUID=%7b17CCA408-8572-4E07-80EB-26FAC203D4F7%7d&NRCACHEHINT=Guest&level=1

    However, I am sure if you got an offer you could start immediately. They seem to have much easier requirements compared to the horrible US H1B programm

  10. Elemenope   16 years ago

    True, but ours seems to be extremely fuckhead-friendly.

    This is very true. Also addressed to epi, et al.. My thing is, we KNOW THAT! We talk about it constantly. Heaven knows nothing I've written should give the impression that I think we are anything but ruled by petty, tiny tyrants that we call bureaucrats.

    My irritation is partly linked to the fact that if this weren't about some dipshit *who happens to be a politician's secretary*, you know, instead of a completely private dipshit, we wouldn't be reading about here or anywhere else. Read out the fact that this was a government office and you're left with a story that reads:

    "Petty tool calls cops after being ruffled by phone call. Cop shows up at caller's house and nothing happens."

    Wow. Newsworthy.

  11. dbcooper   16 years ago

    I wonder if Auckland or Wellington need a Yank bartender . . .

    Naga, NZ has distinct lack of bartenders who pour stiff mixed drinks as standard. If you're a 65% gin/vodka to 35% tonic man then you are indeed needed.

  12. jgr   16 years ago

    He should file a lawsuit, in that a false police report was made, under cloak of authority. Would CHP have sent a trooper if it were not the state senator's office calling? Yeah, right . . .

    After all, he's ALREADY in the files. Might as well get some use out of it.

  13. Mister DNA   16 years ago

    That CHP officer will probably be fired or demoted by the end of next week. After all, no dogs were killed in this incident. If the guy didn't have any dogs, the CHP officer could have at least done the right thing and gone to the wrong house.

  14. HammeredHead   16 years ago

    Talking about shooting dogs, the cop in the crazy chimp story hid in his car. I guess he had no intention of confronting an actual dangerous animal and helping the poor woman.

    He didn't shoot the chimp until it opened his car door.

  15. Elemenope   16 years ago

    Talking about shooting dogs, the cop in the crazy chimp story hid in his car. I guess he had no intention of confronting an actual dangerous animal and helping the poor woman.

    He didn't shoot the chimp until it opened his car door.

    If you'd ever seen a guy being beat to shit by a chimp, you wouldn't open the fucking door either.

  16. Naga Sadow   16 years ago

    Elemenope is correct. Those fuckers are crazy strong and tempermental to boot. I have a similar rule with friends and family. If I walk in on a friend or family member getting the shit kicked out of him or her, I'm jumping in on the brawl. I'll find out later what was going on. The corollary is that supernatural or wild animal attacks are exempted from such the rule. Seriously. What the fuck am I supposed to do about a poltergeist or a fucking gorilla? I'll find out later what was going on and mourn if needed.

  17. Naga Sadow   16 years ago

    dbcooper,

    2oz of said gin sir. I believe that by using your percentages 2/3 gin, 1/3 tonic. At least with the glasses I use. Well, not counting dicks that demand a high ball glass. Always pisses me off that they are surpised I don't fill up a 12 oz glass with 2/3 gin.

  18. Elemenope   16 years ago

    Naga Sadow --

    If I walk in on a friend or family member getting the shit kicked out of him or her, I'm jumping in on the brawl. I'll find out later what was going on. The corollary is that supernatural or wild animal attacks are exempted from such the rule. Seriously. What the fuck am I supposed to do about a poltergeist or a fucking gorilla? I'll find out later what was going on and mourn if needed.

    That's a fantastic rule-of-thumb. I'm gonna borrow that!

  19. HammeredHead   16 years ago

    I don't blame him for shooting it when the door was opened. I have a problem with an armed man hiding in his car and failing to serve and protect.

    I feel bad for everyone else concerned though. A truely sad story about a very lonely widow, a dead beloved pet, and a horribly mangled woman.

  20. Naga Sadow   16 years ago

    Elemenope,

    No problem. I'm full of such wisdom. I came upon that rule from two different sources. An ex-girlfriend of mine convinced me to let a friend of her's live with us as a roommate. He was total dick. Always bumming shit from me and getting pissed if I ever said no. One day we were arguing about him being a dick. Naturally the conversation was going nowhere so I walked away and took the trash out(yes, that was what the argument was about). I came back in to find him yelling at my girlfriend, and my girlfriend crying and yelling at him. I assumed the worst and punched him in the face and put his head into the corner wall.

    The other part came from a security guard I used to work with at the Biloxi Coliseum. He would never go into Hall A cuz of a "spirit" that kept trying to talk to him one night years before I met him. I pointed out that he was a Normandy vet with a DSC. His retort was that you could shoot back at Germans but not ghosts. Best to run away and stay away. I could not find fault with his logic.

  21. Elemenope   16 years ago

    I came back in to find him yelling at my girlfriend, and my girlfriend crying and yelling at him. I assumed the worst and punched him in the face and put his head into the corner wall.

    Better to say sorry later. Nice moves, BTW.

    I pointed out that he was a Normandy vet with a DSC. His retort was that you could shoot back at Germans but not ghosts. Best to run away and stay away. I could not find fault with his logic.

    Smart old guy.

  22. Naga Sadow   16 years ago

    Elemenope,

    He's been dead about two years now but he would have laughed at your observation. He never told the story of his DSC to me personally(it's pretty wicked, I heard it from another security guard who he's known for years and years) but he never claimed to be a hero. He claimed to be thinking more rational than most at the time.

  23. Rick Gozinia   16 years ago

    You will jog for the master race, and always wear a happy face

  24. R C Dean   16 years ago

    I don't blame him for shooting it when the door was opened. I have a problem with an armed man hiding in his car and failing to serve and protect.

    Bingo. Columbine all over again.

    If these guys want to lord it over us mere civilians, then they need to put their asses on the line when it counts.

    He had a gun. He wasn't going to get into a fistfight with the chimp. Get out, get behind the car, and start shooting.

    I'm pretty confident that, here in West Texas, a rampaging chimp wouldn't last long enough for the cops to get there. Plenty of guns, and people who know when to use them.

  25. joshua corning   16 years ago

    Pretty sure if someone called Obama to bitch about the stimulas package and armed police showed up at the door joe would defend it.

    I am glad that peice of shit statist is gone.

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