Why so little faith in the police? Do you really think they're incapable of judging when someone's had "too much"? If they can do it for street types, why not in bars? Obviously I'm not cheering an outright ban on drinking in bars; I just want to see things kept in moderation. Everything I said about rowdy drunks on the streets applies to bars, too. People turn into the biggest scumbags at that level of drunkedness. Why on earth shouldn't we try to do something about it? Indeed, in Australia, at least, much is being done to curb your typical Aussie's penchant for getting wasted, but it's mostly proprietors themselves following liquor authority guidelines. But getting some cops in there wouldn't be a bad idea either. People deal with this by avoiding bars known for their rough crowds, but not everybody in those bars is the rough type. They are people, usually poorer, and deserve some protection, too. I really don't see why society should countenance obscene drunkards. (Sure, bouncers toss them out, but they need to feel more of a sting if they're to change their behaviour.)
Yeah, who could possibly know, huh? Cops deal with thug types every day of their lives, but perish the thought of letting them decide who's had "too much". We'll simply have to let civil rights lawyers decide, I guess; they're so much smarter.
The price of freedom is vigilence and this is just another step on the slippery slope. Soon drunks in Texas bars will need civil rights lawyers if this type of policing keeps up, because it can never be done fairly. Soon you will have pissed off cops making bad busts and lots of lying going on to justify the brutality. last thing we need is a bunch of scared cops on roids with batons and guns in bars. By the way I once worked for a D.A. and still am pro law enforcement. I just also happen to be pro bright lines protecting my rights.
Great monologue by Hank Rearden. I strongly considered reading that exact piece in court, when I was caught 'speeding' in a 20 mph zone, which <b>should</b> have had a speed limit of at least 45 mph.
Now, we are allowing the government to come into a *private* business and arrest people for being *publically* intoxicated. What is next will multi-family homes be called public places? They arrested these people for being drunk at a bar because they might have driven home. Some of those people were drinking in the bar in the hotel that they were staying at and had no intentions, nor need, to drive. This is clearly an infringement of our rights. Just as is "Total Information Awareness," "Operation Echelon," etc. etc. Why doesn't anyone care that Big Brother is spying on us?
People generally don't give a shit, as long as the gov't abuse of powers doesn't directly affect their lives. "Oh well, I never get smashed in Texas bars, so *shrug*, I don't care." Then, when the gov't comes out with a new oppression tactic that DOES affect them directly, they just moan for a few seconds and get over it. As long as the fascism only crushes them <b>gradually</b>, boiling frog syndrome* comes into play. *Boiling frog syndrome (actually just an urban legend, not a zoological truth): If you throw a frog into boiling water he will quickly jump out. But if you put a frog in a pan of cold water and raise the temperature ever so slowly, the gradual warming will make the frog doze happily . . . in fact, the frog will eventually cook to death, without ever waking up.
Seriously, some vague arbitrary standard of public intoxication doesnt cut it. What's the cop going to do, go up and start a conversation with everyone in the bar to estimate their level of intoxication or simply round everyone up and ask questions later? Why dont you think this one through a bit before you fly off your handle?
Exactly, everyone's motivated by their own self interest until their own self interest is directly compromised.
In my previous post I said that some of the people arrested were at the hotel bar in the hotel in which they were staying. I read a different version of this story and noticed that the one in this thread didn't mention that. Here is the version I read: http://www.nbc5i.com/news/8169246/detail.html