I hate to see an old guy's life ruined, even an old Republican bully like South Dakota Rep Bill Janklow, but any other verdict would have been a travesty. He was driving 70 in a 55, ran a rural stop sign like he always does, and killed a motorcyclist. Because he is a Republican legislator, one of those icons of personal responsibilty he plead guilty and threw himself at the mercy of the court. Oh wait, no he didn't. He just lied his ass off with some ridiculous story about a diabetic reaction from not eating that made him kill the guy. Certainly, nothing that happened could have been his fault. Nobody bought it, and the jury found him guilty. Janklow has been driving this way for his whole career, and telling humourous stories about how he disregards the traffic laws. It was only a matter of time.
I've been thinking recently about the effect of automobiles and driving habits on our common humanity. It just amazes me what hypocrites we all become when we get behind the wheel: we want the guy in front of us to speed up or get over, the guy behind us to "get off our ass," and quickly curse out anyone who makes any "error" such as last minute turns, lane changes, etc. Of course, none of us have EVER done such a thing. I mean, how many times have you seen someone take a huge risk (like passing on the right in heavy traffic) just to gain, say, 7 feet in some imaginary measurement from point A to B. In time terms, the risk/reward is so ridiculous that clearly people lose all ability to make rational judgments. Janklow seems a perfect example of this strange disease. And Americans seem to have the most mild case of this in the world, from what I can tell in my travels. I have yet to decide who are worse: the drivers in Seoul, Casablanca, Rome, or Catania, but they all make Boston look like one of those orgnanized driving tracks at the amusement park. Should we move towards mandatory speed-locks on cars? I mean, why exactly is it legal to own a Mustang that goes 154mph when there is not a single place in America where it is legal to drive anywhere near that fast? How many lives would be saved if we put 70mph speed blocks on every car in America. It would put the show "High Speed Chases" out of businees, I guess, but the cops and their unblocked Mustangs wouldn't mind, I suppose.
And somehow he would have done differently if her were a Democrat?? ROFLMAO, suuuure. Face it, the guy broke the law and he deserves what he gets. Whether he's a Republican, Democrat, Independent or Whig. It doesn't matter, 9.9 times out of 10 the person will come up with an excuse to get out of it.
Re: Re: Janklow guilty of Manslaughter That's the second time today I've agreed with you. Make sure and watch out for falling asteroids on your drive home.
Yeah, I think the fact this guy is a Republican senator is incidental. The guy was well known for speeding and driving recklessly (he had the citations to prove it). Eventually, it caught up with him and he killed someone. Everything he's got coming to him he's earned. Interestingly, regarding the diabetes defense, he had to the police on tape that he had eaten that day and that his blood sugar was fine. Changed his mind at trial though.
I'm developing a theory that certain gadgets (cars and cellphones so far) are *#*#*#*#*#*#*# detectors. If you're an *#*#*#*#*#*#*#, your use of such device will bring it out of you. I mean, there are countless people you don't notice on the morning commute, and one or two who can actually use a cellphone in a coffeehouse without being a dickweed. Those people are certified non-*#*#*#*#*#*#*#s.