Violence Flares in Oregon
by Andrew G. Eggleston Sr.
whitesage12@hotmail.com

Credit The Libertarian Enterprise

You know the score pal, if you're not cop you're little people!
—Captain Bryant Blade Runner

Oregon, Nov 29 2006—The transportation industry fell under attack this past week as violence flared between police and truck drivers. And what would precipitate an initiation of force between the police departments and those folks in the transportation industry? Why an accident of course! Any of my readers who has ever driven anything with more than three axles (this includes a pick-up truck with a trailer) knows that there is a point where that beast of a vehicle beneath you can up and do what it wants all on its own. Oops, forgot to add that it was freezing, with packed snow and ice on the roads. Did I mention that this accident took place on a highway hill with a steep grade of 6%? (This means that the road drops more than 300 feet each mile)

Now that I've been recalcitrant about laying out the facts—here's the deal. This Wednesday evening last, a state patrol officer was injured when a Semi-truck and trailer lost control on the snow and ice. The truck jackknifed out of control and hit the patrolman's car, pinching the patrolman between his car and the sheer rock wall. A tragic and horrible set of circumstances to be sure, the odds of such an accident taking place at that time, in that place, must be astronomical to calculate—I wouldn't try. The officer was, as I understand, assisting a stranded motorist, protecting and serving the public. I must hope that this incident hasn't jaded all of the local constabulary to assisting stranded motorists.

The patrolman was Life-flight airlifted to an area hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery to repair damage to his brain and skull. All went well and he is expected to make a complete recovery back to his previous healthy self. Good news, but that is where the good news ends. A local policeman was heard to say "It was open season on truckers last night boy!" The local and state police began to ticket and "safety check" trucks as often as possible, slowing and stopping the transportation of commerce along the I84 freeway for the next 16 to 24 hours. Simply because one of their fellows was unlucky enough to have an accident, and the truck driver in question was "held over" in a local motel until an "investigation" could be completed into his measure of culpability in what was being labeled "reckless driving". As I understand it, there were at least 4 or 5 "legitimate" violations discovered and cited. Pah! Hogwash! A confidential source within a department indicated that many of these citations were of the nature of; making an illegal exit of a private drive, onto a major roadway, without coming to a complete stop—you know, seriously dangerous infractions! As the new day dawned local blue-gang thugs were comparing their tallies of numbers stopped and citations issued.

Welcome to the American Police State. I want to express my sympathies to those men and women of the transportation industry made to suffer these delays and indignities simply for supplying America with everything needed to keep it running smoothly. Did it ever cross the mind of these policemen that just one day without trucks, and many areas run out of food. Just two days without trucks, and many areas run out of fuel. Just three days without trucks, and many areas run out of disposables (toothpaste, deodorant, etc.). Then hard goods like clothes, tires, caskets to bury the starved, and so on. No, there was no thought of these kinds of things—only that one of their gang was hurt by "a careless trucker" in an accident, and they were going to get their pound of flesh in payback.

Let me state for those who are not aware, an accident is NOT an initiation of force; it is a tragedy, a mishap, a sad set of circumstances that were unavoidable. An initiation of force is deliberate, clearly deliberate, and typically viewed by all as an avoidable set of circumstances. Force is what was initiated by the police in this section of the world; let's hope they've got it out of their system. As a Libertarian I am appalled, and I just wanted you to know why I believe that the enforcement of the Bill of Rights cannot happen soon enough.

My source has sworn to defend this country from all enemies, foreign and domestic. . . shouldn't he arrest himself for his participation in that evenings events?

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