The Everlasting Phelps

No one ever thought that Clinton might be a closet libertarian just because his middle name was Jefferson. Why are so many terrified that people will suspect that Obama is a closet Muslim because his middle name is Hussein?

Nearly everyone on the right thought that the tax cuts were such a great idea that they had no problem calling them the Bush Tax Cuts. If the HRA is such a great plan, why are so many on the left terrified of calling it Obamacare?

I don’t think either one really has much to do with the names.

Let them eat pork.

“I don’t have any hard and fast rule I can give you,” Cassilly says. “It depends on the circumstances, and if the officer in those circumstances had good reason to think he wouldn’t be recorded. Should a domestic violence victim have a camera shoved in her face and have her privacy violated because someone is following a police officer around with a camera?

Has this jackwagon of a prosecutor ever watched an episode of COPS? They do it all the time.  He pretty much described the premise of the show.

RTWT.  Police are agents of the state.  While they are agents of the state, they have no civil rights.  We do.  When they hang up their badge, and give up their arrest powers, then they get their rights back.

Here’s the deal.  Sheriff Arpaio is a piece of trash.  I want nothing more than for this criminal to be removed from office.

But he’s ours.  He’s an American, and he wears an American badge.  If you get him killed, you are starting a war.

Howard Kurtz:

Some of the most conservative and combative Republicans running for Congress are convinced that the media have it in for them.

But these candidates seem to regard it as an affront when reporters challenge them on their past statements and inconsistencies, which is a basic function of journalism. They are avoiding or limiting interviews with all but the friendliest faces as a way of circumventing the press. And some of them delight in skewering the mainstream media, a tactic that plays well with their base.

Aren’t the most liberal and combative Democrats doing the same thing?  When weren’t they limiting interviews with all but the friendliest of faces (meaning, anyone but Fox News)?

Takeaway from the story: state discovers that licensing has nothing to do with food safety, and that unlicensed plants are as safe as the licensed ones.

More waste that serves no purpose but to pay cops:

A majority of Dallas County commissioners said Tuesday that they favor eliminating constable traffic operations as part of massive budget cuts that are needed to close a $43 million shortfall.

The topic came up during a lengthy budget session – the first of many – during which numerous programs and positions were targeted for the ax. Everything is on the table, officials said, including a tax increase and employee pay cuts of up to 3 percent.

The constable traffic divisions don’t generate revenue for the county, and some have come under scrutiny in recent years because of controversies over towing and high-speed chases. Also, people have complained of speed traps, and some deputies have accused their bosses of instituting illegal ticket quotas.

You’ll never believe what is going on.  They are losing money writing tickets.  Why?  Because they can’t collect on them.  People just sit on the warrants.  Who is supposed to be serving the warrants?  The constables who are out writing more tickets.

Constable traffic operations have grown considerably in recent years, generating millions of dollars in ticket revenue for the county with the help of automated ticket-writing machines. But the county has struggled to collect the fines and is owed millions of dollars for citations.

Two constables have already said they will significantly scale down their traffic units to focus on their core mission of serving warrants and civil papers.

So why are they still out writing tickets?  Two reasons:  First, it is a “full employment” program for time-wasting constables.  The other?  Flat out theft and kickbacks:

The county’s investigation concluded earlier this year with a 91-page report that accused Cortes, among other things, of accepting bribes from a towing company that has an exclusive contract to impound vehicles stopped by his traffic deputies.

On top of that, there’s evidence that strongly suggests that the constables themselves are driving around these cars on dirty titles.

Every single person in the Dallas County Constables should be fired, all five Constables indicted and removed from office, and everything should be started from a clean slate.  The whole damned system is ruined.