I have a pet peave. It's not like I've picked it up by the road and brought it home. I haven't named it yet and I don't set out food for it nor do I buy it toys or treats. Yet I can't quite seem to get rid of it and its been with me for a long long time. SO, I guess it's become a pet . . . an annoying one, yet still a pet. Peaves can be like that sometimes.
This is related to my last post. It has to do with patriots and citizenship (or lack thereof.)
I have a great deal of respect for law enforcement officers. I was one for a short period of time many years ago (when surely I was way too young to be carrying a gun!) I am extrememly grateful for the work they do and I recognize the risks they take daily (every shift they show up for) on behalf of the citizens of a community and the peace and safety therein.
However . . . (here is the peave sneaking in) . . . have you noticed that maybe 2 out of 3 times you see a law enforcement vehicle on the open road WITHOUT lights &/or siren operating they are driving in excess of the posted speed limits . . . sometimes WAY in excess . . . enough so that if you or I did that we would be pulled over. If they had their emergency lights operating, I wouldn't give it a second thought . . . even if they were merely on their way home for lunch. But the idea of those who are charged with enforcing our laws so frequently and apparently casually breaking those laws bothers me.
BUT . . even more than marked law enforcement vehicles, I am REALLY bugged by cars with judicial or legislative plates which almost without exception are left laning the interstate and passing almost everything on the road. At such disregard for our laws, I take offense.
What does it say about attitudes in our government when those who write the laws, those who judge us by the laws and those who enforce our laws have so little respect for simple laws like the speed limit? How much harder is it for me to drive within the limits of the law when these in government won't?
A patriot loves their contry and loyally and zealously supports it. Obeying our legal* laws is a must for a good citizen and certainly for a patriot.
*[The Supreme Court has ruled that any law that is written, passed, &/or enacted which is contrary to the U.S. Constitution is no law at all. It is the courts job to make those determinations and the citizen's job to make sure the courts do their job.]
It appears to me that at even the very simple levels our nation is suffering from a lack of good citizenship and it is that which makes this otherwise insignificant matter into a peave which has become one of my pets.
