These are long, but interesting:
Nice argument for a strawman, but I’m playing Dorothy today. Most major metropolitan police departments take corruption and overaggressive behavior quite seriously today, and any officer who, in your own words, “tase[s] you if the whim hits them,” and does it in any kind of public fashion ain’t going to make it past next roll call.
Uh, yeah. Just like the only criminals who get caught get punished. And that is largely predicated on witnesses stepping up and identifying the perpetrators. If the o.p. wants to whine on a message board about how he was done wrong by some wingnut, but then not make the slightest effort to notify the officer’s command about this excessive behavior, then I don’t see how he expects anything to change.
Stranger
It looks like there are still plenty of municipalities with public intoxication laws on the books. Here is a two year old article stating that 74 municipalities are still enforcing ordinances that make public intoxication a crime and here is a statement by William G. Dressel, Jr. Executive Director, NJ State League of Municipalities, from six months ago stating that there are still towns that still have public intoxication laws and are still enforcing them.
(bolding mine) Well, I’ll try to make sure I’m around multiple witnesses taking video at all times. Yes, corrupt, brutal cops who are caught on video will be punished. After their FOP defense does all it can to avoid it. I’ll give you that.
OK, I see where we diverge. I do not think I can change things. I’m interested only in covering my own ass.
FOP = ???
What exactly are you covering your ass from?
FOP = Fraternal Order of Police
^Yep, the cop union.
not to mention if you sit there for like 30 minutes after finishing the beer, when he breathalizes you you are below the BAC in your area, probably. Unless you are a tiny dainty girly type.
Yeehaw!
Actually, I didn’t know that we didn’t have public intoxication laws. Though I have to admit, the one time I staggered home from the Jolly Trolley, I was less worried about getting arrested than I was about passing out in the middle of North Avenue. 
(Haven’t seen you around the boards lately. Hope you’re well.)
Please re-read the articles. The first says that the towns are “enforcing” invalid laws. The second says that the ordinances are still on the books in some towns, but they’re invalid because of legislation passed by the state in 1977.
So, you base your ability to drive on a legal limit?
Blood Alcohol Content
What guarantees were there that even after one beer you weren’t going to suffer the effects of intoxication enough that it would affect the way you drove?
Yeah, the cop was a jerk (most are, yet if more people were responsible for their own behavior it would give cops less chance to act like jerks.), but he wasn’t the one drinking and playing roulette with other people’s lives that day. I think that puts him one up on you in the jerk category.
Frankly, if he was that concerned instead of threatening you he should have stated that .08 is the legal limit, but the effects of alcohol can affect each person differently.
One beer, with food, will not intoxicate most people to the point where they cannot drive safely.
No beers with food will have even less of an affect and did you look at the chart that I posted? I don’t know if the Shakes is a midget and gets plastered on one beer.
Yes, I did look at the chart. Did you? You’re espousing a worst case scenario, as if the OP weighs about 60 pounds and had two beers without food. Why don’t you get some common sense. You’re sounding just like the cop you said was a jerk.
Common sense is you don’t drink and drive. Just saying. Sorry it seems to offend you. Suck it up and have a water instead of a beer. Better for you and no chance of intoxication or killing someone else because of it.
What is offensive is your default assumption that the o.p. was acting in any way irresponsibly, or that the behavior described by the officer was reasonable. You seem to have a real bug on this issue, but unless the o.p. has some kind of genetic disorder that renders him incapable of processing alcohol, a single beer with food isn’t going to be any more prone to “killing someone” due to his “intoxication”. Quite frankly, someone who has just had their double espresso, or is suffering from nicotine cravings is likely more impaired from the standpoint of good driving judgment than someone who has consumed one beer.
Stranger
Jesus Christ… what is wrong with you people? (And I’m probably more agnostic!)
I’ve worked for fifteen years in the field… I wasn’t bred to be an asshole… Wow I’ve heard some incredibly stupid shit from some normally smart people. Shakes… if a cop EVER does that again… get his badge number… number of his police car… anything to id him. Go to the internal affairs… or go to the station and ask to speak to a Major or Captain. IE put paper on his ass… I think Malcolm Gladwell pointed out that like 5% of the cops in LAPD created like 50% of the complainants.
As for the tickets… jeez … yeah they want more of em today because you cheap fucks are whining about property taxes … Just kidding… but its sort of true. Look… i saw you run the light… I’m sorry that you weren’t aware of the “Get over Law” thats been in effect for 3 years now. Well… i understand that you thought the left turn ahead of on-coming traffic was okay… but actually its a violation so SIGN RIGHT HERE… Traffic enforcement is part of the job. not a major portion… but its their…
Look this is to everyone… if a cop pisses you off… not writes you a ticket… but generally does something rude/assholish etc… put paper on him. I’ll let you in on a secret… Cops HATE to write… HATE IT… So get after the bad ones. And btw. stop making jokes when I’m getting my Chocolate frosted cake doughnut and D&D. I’ve got a 34 inch waist and I’m in better shape than most of you… so reciting the line from “Walk like and Egyptian” isn’t funny… god knows I’ve heard it a hundred times…
OH yeah… and btw. they can’t “arrest” you for drinking with car keys in your pocket. That’s the craziest shit I’ve ever heard. if someone is pulling that off… it must the land of no defense attorneys!!
If you’ve been drinking… and you realize that …oh shit. i can’t drive right now… climb in the BACK SEAT of your car. If you sit behind the wheel and are drunk they can make a case against you. If you sit in the front seat with the keys in the ignition they can make a case. SO climb in the backseat and make sure the keys aren’t in the ignition.
Sure you can arrest them. Doesn’t matter if you’ll get in trouble for it later. Good, bad, you’re the guy with the gun.
Not asking for a cite, but is this from your knowledge or is it what someones third cousin has mentioned happened to a friend of a friend? I have no knowledge of the USA law system but this seems more something that would happen in the Phillipines years ago.
Did you miss where I said the cop was a jerk? And he could have handled things differently if he was that concerned? Apparently.
Oddly enough, I do have an issue with people assuming that they can handle ‘one’ beer and be able to drive as well as they did before. And if the guy drinking double espresso has the same reaction, or craving a cigarette, or a meth hit, or whatever, then they shouldn’t be driving either.
Your examples are all examples of self inflicted and definitely optional activities that could be easily avoided by choosing another activity (eg. drinking water, chewing nicotine gum, etc).
No, I don’t expect everyone to be as perfect as me (I don’t drink alcohol, coffee, or smoke), but I expect them to take some little bit of responsibility for their actions and at least make some small token effort to take driving seriously and make best efforts to avoid causing an accident.
Such a token effort, for example, would be to not drink until they get their asses home and not drive on the roads with the rest of us until they have recovered from their drinking.
Yes, I know most cars have cup holders and it is difficult for many to not put a bottle of whiskey in there instead of a Big Gulp, but it is nice to know that it is only because of a legal requirement most don’t do so rather than being the right thing to do. Which is in effect the argument that the OP is putting forth. “I’m under the legal limit, so it is okay”. I had a house built a few years ago and I was ready to throttle the builder’s rep when his response to perceived defects was inevitably, “Well, it is within building codes”. Building codes are the minimum levels required. Legal blood intoxication levels are the maximum. Same excuse, different asshole.
If I give cops any slack, and I don’t give them much because most of them are ignorant fucktards who’d butt rape you with a stick if they thought they could get away with it, it is because he may have scraped one too many dead bodies off the road because some asshole has had just ‘one’ beer before getting into his car.