Allen West

[Volkonski]

[AndyinPA]

I wonder what he wants to run for.

[Volkonski]

[gshevlin2]

He's an asshole war criminal who failed to be re-elected in Florida and is now keeping one step ahead of failure in Texas. The Texas GOP is now complaining about him, when they essentially hired him. They're a collection of naive shitmooks.

[Jim]

He's an asshole war criminal who failed to be re-elected in Florida and is now keeping one step ahead of failure in Texas. The Texas GOP is now complaining about him, when they essentially hired him. They're a collection of naive shitmooks.

You sure they didn't pick him just to have a token so they can say "see we aren't bigots, we hired a black"?

[woodworker]

Announced today he is running for Tx governor. Going to be fun.

[Phoenix520]

Carpetbagger.

[Patagoniagirl]

He's an asshole war criminal who failed to be re-elected in Florida and is now keeping one step ahead of failure in Texas. The Texas GOP is now complaining about him, when they essentially hired him. They're a collection of naive shitmooks.

You beat me to it.

[raison de arizona]

Sounds like LTC Allen West’s wife got arrested for driving while black. Bummer. He seems to think the officer involved is going to be fired and the Dallas 1) Police Chief, 2) Mayor, and 3) District Attorney are going to come to his house and apologize by Tuesday.

[sugar magnolia]

So much wrong with that speech that I don't even know where to start. People get stopped every day for improper lane changes (including me about 3 weeks ago for, you guessed it, no turn signal before changing lanes) and it is a common enough indicator of impaired driving that it's taught in the DUI certification classes. His receipts don't prove anything but that she paid for a lemonade on that receipt, not that she only had a lemonade to drink. The intoxilyzer can tell the difference between "insufficient sample" and a .00 reading. Two readings of 'insufficient sample' (not blowing hard enough or blowing incorrectly) is probable cause for arresting and/or offering a blood test. Not sure how they could have used coercion for a blood test, either. You either agree or don't agree. People seem to be under the impression you have to have a reading on a breath test to be arrested for DUI but probably close to 20% of my convictions were from my testimony alone with no breath test results. Physical appearance, actions, statements, "odor of alcoholic beverage", empty beer cans, etc are all completely admissible as officer observations and frequently result in convictions. If she was arrested, there has to be some sort of back-up with test results, observations, something. You can't just pull someone over and charge them with DUI for no reason. You can write them a bunch of moving violation tickets and put the fear of god into them, but you don't arrest them. You sure as shit don't arrest them if your on a task force because dicking around with someone who isn't drunk takes you off the street looking for people who are drunk.

Also interesting to me is the fact that he's waving around the P.F. Chang receipts but not the actual arrest paperwork. She would have received the initial pc ticket for no turn signal, the officer's attestation for the breathalyzer, his "top sheet" (or whatever DPD calls it) with the list of physical traits (red, glassy eyes, unsteady gait,slurred speech, etc) that is filled out at arrest, the paperwork from the hospital for the blood test, the receipt for her driver's license, and the actual DUI arrest ticket. Yeah, it's a big wad of paper you get when you get a DUI. I suspect he thinks if he doesn't mention all of that nobody will go looking for it.

[northland10]

I am like one of only 3 people in the metro Chicago area who use my turn signal for a lane change (not to mention using a turn signal to actually turn). The number goes up to 10 if you include people who use their turn signal 2/3rds of the way into the lane change.

[AndyinPA]

I drive an SUV. I always use my turn signals. I also use them, just a quick flash, if the car in front of me is making a turn, as I want the person behind me who probably can't see their turn signal know that I'm slowing down because someone in front of me is turning. My pet peeve is people putting on their turn signal as they turn.

Me thinks he doth protest too much.

[tek]

Off Topic

hoo boy, turn signals.
I thought Massholes were the worst about turn signals, but Floridians are orders of magnitude worse.
Mostly, if someone actually uses their turn signal, has nothing to do with what they are actually going to do. It is more likely signaling something they once did, or are thinking about doing, over a timeframe of several months.

[Luke]

He is such an entitled idiot, hope this blows up in his war criminal face. Can't stand him. Glad he's out of Florida but sorry for our friends in Texas.

Off Topic

State Farm has a new(ish?) app called Drive Safe. It's not a breathalyzer, but you attach a bluetooth object behind the rear view mirror and it monitors your driving over your phone. After each trip it shows braking, turning, speeding and other stuff. Because of it, our auto premium is down to $40.00 a month (Chubb was charging almost $250.00; we also took some of the other coverages down but we were astonished by the difference). Dings me occasionally for braking (I yell at it, I'm like 93% is not good enough! ) and still not sure why, I'm a super careful driver and no accidents ever. I was totally raised that policeman are our friends, my Mom has drawings from when I was four or five with that as the caption. My only speeding ticket was in high school -- was tailgating a NYS trooper who himself was speeding on the Taconic State Parkway. Right after getting my license, we were on the way to see a spirtual healer named June Burke who was a transmedium, she spoke for an entity named Julian (like Seth if you read the Jane Roberts books).

Anyway, was just following the officer, it was kind of foggy (weather, not the Rooster) and then on came The Lights and was pulled over... the policeman was like what are you doing? And I said, just following you Sir, your police lights weren't on and you must have been speeding. He laughed like hell at this skinny little kid in a huge 66 gold Fleetwood Cadillac who could hardly see over the steering wheel and said "I'm allowed to do it and you're not". He didn't give me a ticket, there was nobody else on the Parkway but us and he found it amusing I'd be so dumb. During the reading with Julian, I swear, without mentioning it when we got there, one of the things said was be careful when you're driving. Never did that again! Check out Drive Safe, it's worth up to 30% off. And um, don't tailgate speeding policemen.

Be Rewarded with Drive Safe & Save Discounts - State Farm https://www.statefarm.com/insurance/aut ... -safe-save
Drive Safe & Save puts you in the driver's seat of your auto insurance. Since we'll use your driving information to calculate your discount, ...

[Dave from down under]

Off topic - but with every police car being a Mobile Breath Test (MBT)… if you are told to blow into the tube you do it otherwise it is a blood test.
(And if you blow positive it is a blood test)

I got pulled over and breath test because of poor driving, it was “just” formaldehyde poisoning…
Thankful for the pull over as the aerosol exposure was subliminal and a side effect is reduced cognitive functions.
So parked, slept for 6 hours to get it out of my system and then carefully drove home.

[filly]

You know who got stopped for not using a turn signal in Texas? SANDRA BLAND! Then she got thrown in jail and was found dead in her cell from “suicide.” Fuck you Allen West you goddamn war criminal.

[Dave from down under]

[scirreeve]

I got pulled over for that once. Cop was checking whether I was drunk or not (I wasn't). Let me drive on without a ticket. Of course if I wasn't white it might not have had the same outcome.

[Ben-Prime]

Off Topic

Anyway, was just following the officer, it was kind of foggy (weather, not the Rooster) and then on came The Lights and was pulled over... the policeman was like what are you doing? And I said, just following you Sir, your police lights weren't on and you must have been speeding. He laughed like hell at this skinny little kid in a huge 66 gold Fleetwood Cadillac who could hardly see over the steering wheel and said "I'm allowed to do it and you're not". He didn't give me a ticket, there was nobody else on the Parkway but us and he found it amusing I'd be so dumb. During the reading with Julian, I swear, without mentioning it when we got there, one of the things said was be careful when you're driving. Never did that again! Check out Drive Safe, it's worth up to 30% off. And um, don't tailgate speeding policemen.

Had a similar stop 33 years ago during my freshman year of undergrad study. Was on my last day of Spring Break -- during my time at NYU, my grandmother garaged my car so I'd have something to drive over seasonable breaks and other visits home -- so had to swallow my urge to argue with the officer that, no, he wasn't allowed to speed with his lights and sirens off either; take the damn ticket; and went to a driving school in NYC and sent the proof back down to Broward County in order to keep the points off my license. But the woman at the courthouse who set me up to do so laughed and told me that that particular cop was a well known jerk. And she didn't use the word 'jerk'; I am being kind here.

So I feel your pain on this one.

[tek]

Off Topic

State Farm has a new(ish?) app called Drive Safe. It's not a breathalyzer, but you attach a bluetooth object behind the rear view mirror and it monitors your driving over your phone.

We have State Farm car insurance here in Floriduh.
Ms has that 'Drive Safe' thing, or at least did until a couple weeks ago.

It is stupid.
The phone app complains that her trip isn't being recorded when she goes for a walk around the neighborhood.
The phone app complains that her trip isn't being recorded when she's in the passenger seat of my car.

It's like it was written in 36 hours by college freshmen at a hackathon.

[fierceredpanda]

I'm a defense lawyer, so my sympathies should be with West's wife, but this is preposterous. It sounds like she was either too inebriated to blow hard enough or deliberately didn't because she knew what the results would be, which is something I see pretty often. So the officer got a warrant for a blood draw. Ho hum.

I have had actual cases where the blood draw ended up coming back (.00) and the DA requested the state crime lab test again looking for other intoxicants besides ethanol. When those results also came back negative, my client gets the case against them dropped. And even if the results are positive, if I can show that the cop improperly pulled over my client, the case is getting dismissed. What doesn't happen is the officer getting fired, even though it certainly wouldn't bother me if overzealous OWI Task Force cops (I even have one in mind who is a real asshole on the street and on the witness stand) were fired for getting it wrong. The fact of the matter is that such a standard would make police officers afraid to do their jobs.

Also, it's helpful to once again reflect that the chants of "Back the Blue" from the political right are really about stifling dissent from their perceived enemies under threat of force, not to mention encouraging violence against black and brown bodies. It's fascists viewing the police as their very own Sturmabteilung. The moment they themselves are on the receiving end of police attention, such as here or the 1/6 cases, their backing of the blue promptly ceases.

[raison de arizona]

West Calls for DPD Review After Wife’s Baseless Arrest
800x200 version of Allen West for Governor logo

Garland, TX, August 23, 2021 — Last Friday evening, Lt. Col. (Ret.) Allen West’s wife, Angela West, was arrested for suspicion of a DWI. She was sober, complied with police, and was met with hostility and combativeness from the arresting officer.

Lt. Col. West has posted multiple videos on his social media updating the situation as well as relaying the details of the evening that prove his wife was sober, cogent, and innocent of these libelous allegations. The officer involved should be removed and all charges against Dr. West should be dropped. This unnecessary and humiliating series of events requires a formal apology from DPD leadership.

If this had happened to someone who did not have her husband’s platform and network, it is very likely that an innocent person could have been railroaded and not actually have received justice. The DPD should be reviewing policies to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Additionally, the entire West campaign are ardent supporters of the Thin Blue Line, but officers who abuse their authority have no place in law enforcement.

Below are the links to Lt. Col. West’s video debriefs on the arrest:

Video from night of arrest.

Video update from Saturday.

###

https://west4texas.com/news/press-relea ... ss-arrest/

[RTH10260]

Waiting for the police to release their various camera recordings, from the cruiser and the officers.

[MN-Skeptic]

Off Topic

One feature I like - sort of - in my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is "lane assist." If I cross a line on the road without signalling, I get a warning sound. Since I always signal my lane changes, I hardly hear it, and it's not a loud obnoxious sound. By the way, I really like the safety features in my Santa Fe. If I signal a lane change and there's a vehicle in the lane I'm signalling to, it gives a noticeable warning sound.

[filly]

Off Topic

One feature I like - sort of - in my 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport is "lane assist." If I cross a line on the road without signalling, I get a warning sound. Since I always signal my lane changes, I hardly hear it, and it's not a loud obnoxious sound. By the way, I really like the safety features in my Santa Fe. If I signal a lane change and there's a vehicle in the lane I'm signalling to, it gives a noticeable warning sound.

Yes my Subaru Outbacks have that and many other things that I think should be standard on new vehicles. For some reason the lane change bells go off more frequently when my husband is driving! Back on topic we do not drink and drive. Ever.