View Full Version : Libs Are Insane Pt 1 Tacoma
NousDefionsDoc
04-04-2007, 14:46
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/310078_protest03.html
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TACOMA -- Tacoma police say last month's 12-day anti-war protests cost the city an unbudgeted $500,000 to provide a large-scale law enforcement presence.
The rough estimate covers overtime, regular compensation, equipment and food for hundreds of workers from Tacoma police and other agencies, Assistant Chief Bob Sheehan said.
The city plans to ask the Port of Tacoma and the military to cover some of the costs.
"That's a tremendous hit on our budget -- a half-million dollars of unexpected expense," said Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma, adding that the military would get the first invoice.
"I think our request is justifiable," Baarsma said. "I would expect that we would be reimbursed. I would be surprised if we weren't."
Police increased law enforcement at the Port of Tacoma during the convoying and storage of Army Stryker vehicles from March 3 until a ship carrying the military equipment left for Iraq on March 14.
Protesters were there each night.
incommin
04-04-2007, 14:50
Bill the protester and the organizations that support the anti war, anti-military
dirt bags.
Jim
FearMonkey
04-04-2007, 14:55
When I told an old friend from High School that I was going to be stationed at Fort Lewis, WA. He asked, "Do we have a military base there to keep the hippies and liberals in check?" Sadly, the only fitting response seemed to be, "Yes." :(
Bill the protester and the organizations that support the anti war, anti-military dirt bags. Jim
Agreed Sir! When "they" come 'round here..."they" are great for paintball practice! Should see the faces when suddenly covered in green paint!:lifter
Drop 'em all in A-stan. my little .02
Holly
82ndtrooper
04-04-2007, 15:27
Let me get this straight. He wants to be reimbursed for services that should be offered as part of the departments sworn duty ? We are at time of war, and men and women are dying for the freedoms that Americans are afforded, and he wants to be reimbursed for over time, and added police security ?
Funny, since he's forgetting the economic impact of having a Naval Base and Army Base in his backyard. If the bases packed up and went away, his town of Tacoma would flourish as a wild over grown field. Would private industry be enough in Tacoma to sustain their current level of living ?
I'm just not sure I understand the line of thinking, maybe it say's more about me than him.
Wonder who they bill for all their other protest "OT". :rolleyes: Unbelievable.
Send it to George Soros...
Sionnach
04-04-2007, 17:46
I don't want to leave Mr. Harsey alone with all the hippies, but I'll bet Alabama or Mississippi would love to have the military units currently stationed in Washington. I doubt the city of Mobile would mind paying overtime... of course, except for a few college towns and Atlanta, we don't have much in the way of hippies in the bottom half of Dixie.
Perhaps the city should instead invoice ANSWER, MoveOn.org, and the American Communist/Socialist/Democratic Party. Better yet, the Army should invoice the city of Tacoma for the extra time it took to load the vehicles due to the protesters.
The Reaper
04-04-2007, 18:02
The city plans to ask the Port of Tacoma and the military to cover some of the costs.
That's a tremendous hit on our budget -- a half-million dollars of unexpected expense," said Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma, adding that the military would get the first invoice.
Protesters were there each night.
Why not arrest the protesters on the first night, and bill them individually while suing their organizations for the overtime?
TR
Why not arrest the protesters on the first night, and bill them individually while suing their organizations for the overtime?
TR
Sir,
Just one American civie here... but AGREED!
Holly
move the posts to alaska, we'll take em as well.
Bill Harsey
04-05-2007, 09:12
Un-fookin believable. :mad:
We've watched this stuff develop for many years around here. Anti-Vietnam war protests morphed into anti timber industry protests morphed into social justice protests (think WTO "Battle in Seattle") and back to anti war.
Those for whom everything is provided have the luxury of condemning those who provide.
LibraryLady
04-05-2007, 10:10
Methinks Mr. Mayor is not conversant in his own muni code.
http://www.ci.tacoma.wa.us/cityclerk/files/MunicipalCode/Title11-Traffic.PDF
Specifically:
11.15.300 Cost recovery for unlawful special event.
Whenever a commercial or noncommercial special event is conducted without a special event permit, when one is required, or a special event is conducted in violation of the terms of an issued special event permit, the event organizer shall be responsible for, and the City shall charge the event organizer for, all City costs incurred for personnel and equipment for a public safety response caused or necessitated by the adverse impacts of the special event or the violation of the special event permit upon public safety. (Ord. 27155 § 1; passed Oct. 21, 2003
Note: costs for a legal event are also billed to the event organizer. I have my doubts as to the legality of these protesters.
'Nother Note: City of Tacoma has an elegantly organized site... took me all of a minute or two to find this info.
LL
Goggles Pizano
04-05-2007, 11:46
Methinks Mr. Mayor is not conversant in his own muni code.
http://www.ci.tacoma.wa.us/cityclerk/files/MunicipalCode/Title11-Traffic.PDF
Specifically:
11.15.300 Cost recovery for unlawful special event.
Whenever a commercial or noncommercial special event is conducted without a special event permit, when one is required, or a special event is conducted in violation of the terms of an issued special event permit, the event organizer shall be responsible for, and the City shall charge the event organizer for, all City costs incurred for personnel and equipment for a public safety response caused or necessitated by the adverse impacts of the special event or the violation of the special event permit upon public safety. (Ord. 27155 § 1; passed Oct. 21, 2003
Note: costs for a legal event are also billed to the event organizer. I have my doubts as to the legality of these protesters.
'Nother Note: City of Tacoma has an elegantly organized site... took me all of a minute or two to find this info.
LL
Uh Mr. Mayor, your slip is showing!
Bill Harsey
04-06-2007, 08:27
and this once again illustrates why we can't take Library Lady anywhere.
Nice work Ma'am.
The Reaper
04-06-2007, 08:36
Maybe the Army should send the bill back to the Mayor with a bill of their own for money injected into the local economy, providing green areas, and most of all, for preventing enemy invasion of Tacoma for the past two hundred years.
TR
I grew up in the Seattle area, as much as I hate to admit it at times. I posted this on SWJ last month after returning off leave from there. The whole Tacoma protester fiasco was happening at the same time. Here's a snapshot of what life is like in Seattle now.
BLUF: The fact that I'm in the military doesn't license others to express to me their opinion of the government, POTUS, the Global War on Terror, or, in particular, how things are going in Iraq, especially if they haven't left their local area in the last 5 years or ever served in the military. Additionally, this subject is much like asking a celebrity for an autograph when he or she is out an about with his or her family. In short, a bit rude, especially when coupled with the knowledge that there are certain things military members cannot talk about.
First, let me put things in context...
About four weeks ago I was at Hec Edmundson Pavillion in Seattle, Washington to watch the High School Boys 3A Basketball State Quartefinals. I went with my Mom and Dad whom I've seen but three times in the last two years on account of being gone like most of you. A friend of my parents who was sitting two rows ahead of us and knew that I had been in Iraq twice told me that it was nice to see me, which was the catalyst for a high school wrestling coach sitting in the row between us to believe he just got the green light to tell me what he thought. So the high points are:
1. I'm on vacation with long hair and an unshaven face wearing no article of clothing identifying me as a member of the military.
2. I'm a paying spectator at a high school basketball game.
3. I'm sitting in the middle of a row with no polite way to escape.
So there I was...
The first question which is always asked is "Is it as bad as we see on TV?" Nine times out of ten this is the verbal cold barrel shot downrange at the unsuspecting servicemember. As always I explain that perception will always be personal reality for the American people and they believe what they see, no matter whether it is correct or not. I also acknowledge that the media is a business and it sells more copies if we talk about suicide bombers instead of schools built. He told me that reality was reality, especially if it's the perception (this statement came back to bite him in the ass later).
Regardless of the answer, any answer for said servicemember precipitates the second STATEMENT (not question) which is usually directly tied to the question asker's opinion of the current American government administration. I usually deflect this by saying that my perception of what is going on in Iraq is formed off of 24 months of experience in country, not the perception or personal opinion of the administration. The logical algorhyth, so follows that any talk about the administration is irrelevent to the topic of Iraq, which they initiated in the first place.
Most (not all and certainly not the clown that night) take this as a hint that political ramblings or opinions of a sitting President will not exit my head through my mouth. I'm a believer that political views should (for the most part) be kept private until voting day and expressed through a certain outlet called the voting box.
This guy didn't take the hint.
His follow up puzzled me, since my five year old daughter evidently understands geography better than this employee of the Seattle Public School System. He asked me what I thought about the Shia Iranians taking over part of western Iraq. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I believe my edge was a bit more honed that this guy. He seemed confused when I didn't think that was physically possible and began to draw a map of the area on a concessions napkin to show him how far away from western Iraq that Iran really is.
The subject went back to POTUS and administrative integrity (which seemed to be his fallback subject when he started talking about something he knew nothing about), which I immediately told him had nothing to do with what I do on a day to day basis in Iraq. Regardless of who is in Washington DC my mission remains what it was in April 2003; to provide safety and security to 26 million Iraqis who deserve it as much as we do.
The family friend who inadvertantly started this knew I was in Al Anbar the first time I was there and asked about my multiple explosions (which, by the way, were in OIF I) and how they had affected me. This is where I got pissed. Opportunistic Public School employee thought this was a good way to make the point that things weren't better because "look at how many time even you say you were blown up." I, as calmly as a could at that time and space, told him that his rebuttal was using incidents over 3 years ago and instances he knew nothing about. When I explained that my second tour I came into contact only a handful of times, he told me that it was because I was in an "easy" area the second time.
:confused: :eek: :mad:
I asked him if he knew where Tal Afar was. He really didn't. I asked him if he knew what salafism or takfirrism is. He didn't. I asked him if he'd ever been to Iraq. He hadn't. I asked him if he knew about an operation in Northern Iraq a year and a half ago which was identical to the plan being implemented today in Baghdad. He hadn't. I told him he really had no idea what he was talking about and I really didn't wish to dignify the conversation with a continuance.
He then told me that he supported the troops even though he didn't agree with what we were doing. (I usually throw the bullshit flag out on this). I told him I didn't buy the first part of his thesis if the second held true (part of me at this point just wanted to disagree with everything this guy had to say). He asked me if a lot of servicemen felt that way. I said that most did. He told me that didn't reflect the reality of the situation.
I closed with telling him that was the perception of the American serviceman and, as he said earlier "reality is reality, especially if it's the perception."
My mother was sitting next to me the whole time and stayed uncharacteristically quiet (she's a redheaded Irishwoman with a volitile mouth). For the first time in recent memory she told me she was proud of me and that she was getting close to punching this guy in the throat.
I went back to eating $5 hotdogs with my Mom and Dad and enjoyed some high school basketball.