Originally posted by Fritz
Did you speed on the way to work this morning?
Haven't been to New Bern lately, have you? My "commute" takes all of five minutes (and that's only if I hit a few red lights, which I stop for).
Seriously, I thought that our society viewed a DUI differently from other moving violations. My mistake.
Originally posted by Guvnah
Let it go, people. It's history. He's a good kid. He's doing the right things amid the fallout of the incident.
First, it's a "mistake", now it's an "incident." No telling what tomorrow's definition of this crime will be watered down to.
Whether considering it a mistake, a serious crime, an incident, or any other term you care to attach to it, it doesn't change the fact that what's done is done. The judge made a ruling to the best of his legal abilities and sentenced according. No matter how much you debate and debate, it's not going to change what happened in this case or anyone's views on drunk driving and first offenses. It will save us all valuable mail box space being taken up by announcement e-mails.
~Kyra
The bottom line is he broke the law (in other words, he committed a crime), and he was punished appropriately. Case closed. I still believe that calling it a mistake tends to gloss over the seriousness of a DUI ("Oh no, I made another mistake; I hate it when that happens.").
Not to get in a legal discussion here, but most of our problems with our legal system sits with judges who legislate from the bench and lawyers who have no sense of right or wrong, just winning and losing.
This appears to be the "can of worms," Frank.
Phelps both made a mistake and committed a crime. He seems like he was treated fairly by the gawdawful legal system.
This lawyer-bashing gets very tiresome. I'm starting to know how Terry feels. Lawyers are paid to do a job. Just like engineers, IT specialists, bankers, advertising executives, nurses, insurance agents, math professors, etc. Some lawyers have to earn a living or do what their boss says. They can't always pick and choose their clients. There is a code of ethics for lawyers. If they cross the line, they can be disbarred. But holding them up to some philosophical standard is rubbish. They are not typically philosophers. If they were, they would be "philosophers." Like me. :cool:
Some swim coaches don't have a highly honed sense of right or wrong either for that matter. They might seek short term, win-win, gains, which might not be what is best for their swimmer in the long term.
Plus, back to swimming, it seems that many swimmers, USS or masters, focus on winning or losing -- just like those alleged bad guy lawyers. Not all, by any means. But certainly Geek and GoodSmith. There is a lot of guitar smashing talk going on.
Lower the drinking age
Raise the driving age
Improve public transport
I got home from most of my drinking and staggering via taxis, buses and trains...
At least Phelp is giving a message of contrition and trying to speak out against what he did. How many other athletes show such humility when they have done wrong in the "do you know who I am " kind of world that many celebrities live in?
Well said. :groovy: Who needs more "do you know who I am" types? Blech.
But you know, my son just did a research report on the drinking/driving age/licensing issue. It seems that statistics do, in fact, show that when the drinking age was raised from 18 to 21, the "incidents" (or maybe it was crash fatalities) of/from drunk driving declined. Although, for teenagers, it appears that getting rid of passengers and other "distractions" (cell phones, ipods) yields the greatest decrease in "incidents."
Public transportation is good.
Well said. :groovy: Who needs more "do you know who I am" types? Blech.
But you know, my son just did a research report on the drinking/driving age/licensing issue. It seems that statistics do, in fact, show that when the drinking age was raised from 18 to 21, the "incidents" (or maybe it was crash fatalities) of/from drunk driving declined. Although, for teenagers, it appears that getting rid of passengers and other "distractions" yields the greatest decrease in "incidents."
Public transportation is good.
Fort, fabulous new quote. I have nothing to add other than my strong opinion on this topic which I will refrain from sharing *gasp* it's shocking I know ...
Fort, fabulous new quote. I have nothing to add other than my strong opinion on this topic which I will refrain from sharing *gasp* it's shocking I know ...
I may have to smash you with a guitar if you don't fess up. It's too, too shocking for a loud flyer to remain silent! I may have to go in the backyard and resort to back walkovers. And you know how I hate going backward ... (I can't see who may be stabbing my lawyer-back.)
