Drunken Driving Thread

["Douglas Hurst Quebbeman" <dougq@iglou.com>]

I'm surprised Dan hasn't yet called for a stop to this Audi-content-less
thread. But, since he hasn't, I'm going to go ahead and comment.

Most of the comments so far seem basically rational- if a drunken driver
has an accident, and <X> happens as a result, then <Z> should be done to
the drunk driver. Not a very Christian attitude, I must say, but rational.

Some other comments have just been ridiculous, along the lines of "hang 'em
whether they've had an accident or not."

At the central core of these remarks seems to be a push on the part of many
for an increase in their personal feelings of safety and security. But each
time I hear this clarion call, it always seems to be coming at the expense of
someone else's liberty.

During my sober 4th weekend, I celebrated American Independency in a way that
has become traditional for me- watching the musical "1776". While doing so, I
once again heard Benjamin Franklin's famous remark:

   "Those who would sacrifice a little liberty for a little security
     deserve neither security nor liberty."

And that's where I stand. One lister lost a fiancee, another almost lost one.
I'm sure the heartbreaks go on and on. I'm sorry, but...

I'd put my life on the line in an instant to try to save the life of another 
person. But I'm not willing to sacrifice any amount of liberty for anything
less than saving the life of every U.S. citizen. So I could (grudgingly) accept
a curtailment of liberty under martial law- bu not for any other reason.

But not to fight drunk drivers, not to fight the drug war, not to fight gang 
violence. There simply are no threats in our world today that justify dumping
the Bill of Rights into the shitcan.

And when I stop on the way home tonight and drink a *single* beer before 
completing my journey, I am not going to feel guilty about it in any way.

"Somebody better open up the window..."         -Doug Q
--
-Douglas Hurst Quebbeman (dougq@iglou.com)       [Call me "Doug"]
    QuattroClub USA# 4536     Audi International # 100024
       74 100LS Auto,     84 Coupe GT 
       77 100LS Auto,     86 5Kcstq QLCC 1.8bar  
"The large print giveth, and the small print taketh away."  -Tom Waits