{"id":1319,"date":"2014-08-11T21:32:47","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T21:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mattralston.net\/?p=1319"},"modified":"2014-08-11T21:34:36","modified_gmt":"2014-08-11T21:34:36","slug":"stop-dui-checkpoints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/politics\/stop-dui-checkpoints\/","title":{"rendered":"Stop DUI Checkpoints"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EJvRLlR5-HE\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I ran into horrible traffic on Sunset this Saturday because there was a DUI checkpoint. Not only are these bastards infringing on our basic rights, but by blocking off the street their reach is now effecting us\u00a0outside of having our 4th amendment trampled. I was late for my movie because people\u00a0whose salaries I pay have decided there is an all out war on American citizens, and that our money should be siphoned off to the government.<\/p>\n<p>Of course checkpoints are unconstitutional, as the officers have no probable\u00a0cause that\u00a0you are committing a crime. Its hard enough stealing people&#8217;s money\u00a0by pulling us over\u00a0one car at a time, so these douchebags are literally corralling entire thoroughfares of\u00a0potential fine victims.<\/p>\n<p>Framing their money grab in terms of stopping drunk driving\u00a0is relatively genius. Nobody thinks drunk driving is a good idea, and so\u00a0many people who question these totalitarian Nazi party inspired tactics\u00a0are lectured\u00a0by proponents of oppression of all the lives these cops are saving while they earn overtime.<\/p>\n<p>I think its funny when\u00a0people brag about American freedom, yet the tactic of using roadblocks is the basically the quintessential symbol of government oppression and its happening right here in 2014. Bob Marley sang about the use of roadblocks as an evil display\u00a0of the police state. That was the Bob fucking Marley who lived under British apartheid in Jamaica.<\/p>\n<p>But at least the checkpoints are getting drunk drivers off the roads right? No. Studies show about .59% of drivers who are stopped are issued DUIs. That does not seem very efficient. But wait, there&#8217;s more. As long as the police are stopping and harassing law abiding citizens, there&#8217;s no reason they can&#8217;t check you out for some other stuff after they give you a rapid eye test with their dumb ass flashlights. Often times the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sandiegoreader.com\/weblogs\/news-ticker\/2012\/feb\/17\/sheriffs-sobriety-checkpoint-yields-no-duis-smalle\/\" target=\"_blank\">checkpoints yield no DUIs<\/a> but rack up\u00a0revenue on minor offenses such as expired drivers license citations.<\/p>\n<p>Yet when government mouthpieces attempt to justify checkpoints, it is not pitched as a &#8220;Let&#8217;s catch people with expired driver&#8217;s licenses&#8221; type of thing, because showing a photo of a dead baby killed by a drunk driver really manipulates people&#8217;s emotions\u00a0and therefore the judgement of anyone who thinks roadblocks are a good idea.<\/p>\n<p>In reality checkpoints serve to strip money from people for minor offenses, getting\u00a0them into the court system where they can miss work hanging around in overflowing lines all day and give the government more of their hard earned money.<\/p>\n<p>Checkpoints also <a href=\"http:\/\/www.alternet.org\/story\/145665\/california_cops_exploit_dui_checkpoints_to_rake_in_cash\" target=\"_blank\">target minority communities<\/a>. For example, 61% of checkpoints occurred in areas with a high Hispanic population, compared to 17% for low Hispanic populations. Of course this shouldn&#8217;t come as much of a surprise because targeting minorities is a major lynchpin of greedy fat oppressor pig society.<\/p>\n<p>What can be done about this?<\/p>\n<p>First of all, you don&#8217;t have to answer a cop&#8217;s questions since this is America and we still have freedom to travel within its borders. I would also recommend you explain to the officer exactly why he is a fucking asshole tearing the fibers of the American flag\u00a0apart one hair\u00a0at a time. Don&#8217;t be nice to them when you see them in a restaurant. They are not on your side anymore.<\/p>\n<p>Also, vote for candidates who will stand up for you.<\/p>\n<p>Once I win a seat on West Hollywood&#8217;s City Council in March of 2015, I will make sure that no checkpoints will ever be allowed in its borders. Furthermore I will require outside police agencies to announce their plans on holding checkpoints in surrounding areas.<\/p>\n<p>I will tell them that their presence is not welcome, and maybe even send them some Bob Marley records so they may attempt to gain a little perspective on their actions.<\/p>\n<p>Together we can take back the streets.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I ran into horrible traffic on Sunset this Saturday because there was a DUI checkpoint. Not only are these bastards infringing on our basic rights, but by blocking off the street their reach is now effecting us\u00a0outside of having our 4th amendment trampled. I was late for my movie because people\u00a0whose salaries I pay have &#8230;<a class=\"post-readmore\" href=\"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/politics\/stop-dui-checkpoints\/\">read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1319"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1545,"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1319\/revisions\/1545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1319"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1319"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mattralston.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1319"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}