It is one thing to hype an action prior to an event, it's another to distort the truth after the event and the truth has already been reported. Poor tactics at the very least. It's liable to encourage your adversaries to discount any future "actions" you may announce.
Read the transcripts of the Delray meeting here. Consider that the Delray Beach Mayor and city commission are on a very slippery legal slope from the outset (Consider these comments by MADD Ray that can be seen here, "And stop panicking. There is no call to panic. There never was. Delray's proposed ordinance, if enacted, would clearly have been void as preempted: http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/872394/ Stand up. Take a deep breath. Either take a positive role to take advantage of this Mayor's stupidity, and set a precedent for other cities to take to heart, or get the fuck out of the way. Whatever you do, save the "education." You want to bend over, well then you bend over. Don't point the finger at the tribal members who don't want to bend over: http://pub42.bravenet.com/forum/3562429698/fetch/872874"
Then Consider excerpts from this letter (seen in its entirety here) by the West Palm Chapter of ABATE of Florida pertaining to the success of the Delray rally:
----- Original Message -----
From: President-abate To: President-abate Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 1:21 PM
Subject: Delray Beach Ordinence 10/16/07
"Brothers and Sisters, We were among the of hundreds of people that turned out for the City of Delray's meeting to enact an ordinance banning motorcycles in a 5 block area of Atlantic Ave. from Swinton Ave. to Federal Hwy". He repeats that statement later on with, "A protest was organized by The Enforcers MC. ABATE P.B.C. and Wings of Gold MC had also gathered supporters within their organizations and were supported by members from local Clubs and independents totaling in the hundreds"
As reported in the Florida Sun Sentinel which we referenced in an earlier post, but can be seen here, the number was not "hundreds" but closer to 150.
Now it could have been hundreds as the June issue of the Masterlink (ABATE of FLoridas newsletter) two chapters within reasonable driving distance claim approximately 67o membrs between the two of them (this does not count the members of other nearby chapters that could have attended). Now add to that, the numbers of the ENFORCERS MC that were present, other associations and clubs that were present and the independents that were present out of the thousands of "Bikers" in that neck of the woods and the author of the letter has just made a major tactical mistake. By contradicting numbers reported by more than one source he has called attention to how weak is forces actually are and damaged his credibility for future call to action.
From ABATE Chapter President, "Commissioner Eliopoulos also commented that they were inundated with emails, faxes and phone calls from all over the country in regard to the Ordinance and basically said, if your able to contact that many people to respond you should be able to explain that we need your help to resolve this problem."
From the transcripts: Mr. Eliopolis: Madam Mayor, obviously we got inundated with e-mails, calls over the last few weeks, the newspapers have been talking about this. Unfortunately probably the majority of e-mails we were getting probably were not from our local citizens but were from, to your credit, all around the country-- which is probably a good thing, because if you can get the word to travel that far, you can get the word to travel about what our issue is.
I will let the reader ponder on the subtle nuances between those two statements.
"We need to get the word out to everyone that we need to be considerate when traveling through Delray Beach."
"Delray Beach has a noise ordinance, they intend to enforce it and the penalty for loud pipes is $200. I would be willing to bet that the police will be directed to look for EPA stickers even on older bikes with stock exhaust systems if you are stopped. What they might not be aware of the fact that only until recently did these EPA stickers start appearing on the pipes. It's not going to be easy to explain all this while they're writing you a $200 ticket."
In other words the best way to keep a city from attempting to engage in an illegal action ban motorcycles in their cities is to be very nice.
There are other considerations here that have been somewhat over looked. Restaurateurs moved into that part of the city and put tables out on the sidewalks next to the traffic. Now the people eating at the restaurants are complaining about the traffic that has always been there. A person who was there also communicated that it maybe questionable as to all the tables on the sidewalks violates the American with Disabilities act as it would be extremely difficult for somebody in a wheel chair to navigate the area. Now as I wasn't there I have to take this person at his word. As I have found his word to be true in the past I have no reason , to date to believe it is not true now.
Now I have no doubt that there are assholes that get a kick out of trying to startle an elderly person (or any other person) trying to eat a meal next to a road. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any legislation that will be effective in curing "assholism". I understand that this maybe a naive suggestion, but it would seem to me if you did not want to be bothered by traffic noise while eating, you would not eat next to a will traveled roadway.
If in fact you do have an asshole trying to "illegally" break the sound barrier in a congested area. Bust em. Don't take away the rights of those do no harm.
Quoting Girl Geek on the issue, " While I always look to work within the "system", follow established protocol, and maintain the "nice" sensibilities we seem to hold so dear, there is a distinct danger in doing so:
The "system" itself can engulf you and you become a part of it. This is insidious because you don't even realize it is happening. They "smile in your face" in order to have you believe that everything will be alright as long as you are "nice" , play by the rules and compromise when necessary. Then, what happens is that you think you are doing everything by the book and you end up getting screwed by the same people that heartily slapped you on the back. Watch that back".
Girl Geek makes a very shrewed observation there. Never allow a pat divert you from your mission or lead you into the trap. And do not declare Victory until the last battle is fought.
From Sun Tzu: "Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy,
but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him".
For those who may wonder why I quote one of the foremost authorities on war and use words such as tactics, enemy and adversaries. Consider the numbers of your brothers and sisters dying daily overseas's and on the killing fields we call our highways. Have no doubt. We are at war.
Thus the saying, no retreat, no compromise, no surrender. Then we will ride Free.....rcAdd to Technorati Favorites
