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<misc> Rants about cops, speeding...

I really should know better than to get into this thread, but I obviously have
too much time on my hands today.  Since we appear to be informally 'voting'
with our posts to the digest in terms of our attitudes about police, I thought
I'd add my opinion to the pile.  Yes, it's a waste of bandwidth, and has
nothing to do with BMWs; I apologize, and I won't do it again for a long time,
I promise.

As a card carrying member of the NMA, I have to agree that all too often
speeding tickets are simply a source of local government revenue, and that the
vast majority of traffic-police time could be much better spent ensuring
safety, rather than insurance company profits.  I won't even get into the
absurdity of the NSL, "Speed Kills" simpletons, and the rest.

However, police are definitely, overall, a force for good in society.  There
are many amongst us who would cheerfully kill, steal, and otherwise make life
much less pleasant, if they were not discouraged from their antisocial actions
by the police.  While police are not taking particularily huge risks (compared
to 7-11 clerks, used car salesman, and a host of other much more dangerous
professions) they are out there defending us (when they're not writing
tickets), it is a tough job, and they deserve our respect and understanding. 
They are enforcing laws the rest of us voted into existence (cops making up
something under 2% of the US population), and instead of heaping abuse on
them, we should be actively trying to change the real target of our
displeasure, namely an often absurd traffic code.

BTW, it's also a fallacy to assume that because an officer lies about a small
thing (e.g. a traffic offence), they must therefore be even *more* likely to
lie about a large thing (e.g. a murder).  The two are not connected, and in
many of us, the opposite holds true (i.e. our morals are a bit shaky about
little things, such as taking two newspapers from a vending machine when you
only paid for one, but we're very unlikely to steal a car left with the key in
the ignition).

End of oration, apologies for the waste of time, condolences to Jeff, our very
own smokey.

Simon Kennedy
'95 M3