This post is long. Recommended only for Motorcycle Rights History buffs and those that don't like getting screwed!
Please keep in mind that some of these links are from very old sites and may require a little looking.
It would appear highly unlikely that Rosenker (National Transportations Safety Board) would need the resources of ABATE of Florida. As dedicated as many of the members are they still represent less than 2% of the motorcycling public in their home state. That is at the least a small constituency at the state level, it is almost non-existent at the National Level.
Remember now. Rosenker was a member of "
Nixons CREEPS" and therefore not a stranger when it comes to using nefarious means by which to achieve his goals. Could it be that what he is after is not ABATE of FLorida but the organizations presidents James D. Reichenbach and his position with NCOM (National Coalition of Motorcyclists which is usually referred to as NCOM/AIM (Aid to Injured Motorcyclists).
AIM in short is an information sharing network of attorneys that represent motorcyclists against insurance companies. Who also happen to have a history of trying to keep secret their propensity to file lawsuits against the likes of Harley Davidson for failure to provide leg protection on motorcycles???
So one could imagine that Rosenker did not get a mouth piece for "Motorcycle Rights Advocates", but a shill for the machinations of Certain attorneys and Insurance companies.
Which might also explain why ABATE of Florida and other states have abandoned a "Brotherhood" of individuals fighting for "freedom" in favor of playing Biker baby sitters.
I have provided excerpts and the links to the stories below that outline how and why the AMA, MRF and others resigned from the NCOM Advisory Board. Read them and ask yourself what has NCOM done for you lately????
MRF President, VP of Gov't Relations resign from NCOM over product liability lawsuitsOn July 27, MRF President Mark Buckner resigned as the MRF Liaison to the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM). Board of Advisors, and Vice President of Government Relations Wayne Curtin resigned from the NCOM Legislative Task Force. Buckner and Curtin resigned over issues regarding product liability lawsuits filed by Aid to Injured Motorcyclists (AIM) attorneys. Aim, a group of attorneys affiliated with the law offices of Richard M. Lester, provides funding for NCOM's activities. Other resignations over the lawsuits include Ed Netterberg, Chairman of the NCOM Board of Advisors, board members Bob Letourneau and Etta Vanesky, Industry Liaison to the board Bob Jackson, Legislative Task Force members Sherman Packard and Butch Olson, Executive Director Pepper Massey-Swan, NCOM National Council members Steve Clover and Dave Dwyer, and Craig Clinch, European Coordinator of the International Coalition of Motorcyclists (ICOM). ICOM has since restructured its activities and is no longer affiliated with AIM or the law offices of Richard M. Lester.
Other resignations from NCOMTO: A.B.A.T.E. OF S.D. OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FROM: ED NETTERBERG
SUBJECT: MY REASONS FOR RESIGNING AS CHAIRMAN AND BOARD MEMBER OF THE NCOM BOARD OF ADVISORS
Enclosed is a volume of material (118 pages), for you reading pleasure, giving you the pros, cons, and everything in between in reference to what has become known as the AIM scandal. You read, you decide whether or not A.B.A.T.E. of S.D. should still endorse the AIM (attorney) program.
The enclosed material will be in five sections:
Section 1: All written resignations. Richard Lester's memos to the NCOM board of advisors, AIM atty's, and ICOM. Craig Clinch from England report to the NCOM board of advisors.
Section 2: AMA's article in reference to Richard Lester. Memo to Ed Youngblood, President of AMA from Bill Bish AIM/NCOM. Ed Youngblood's answer to Bill Bish.
Section 3: Two actual product liability law suits against Harley-Davidson.
Section 4: Minutes and news releases from the NCOM 7/27/96 meeting.
Section 5: Letters supporting Richard Lester and his AIM/NCOM program.
It has been stated and implied that Pepper Massey-Swan and others including myself have resigned from NCOM because we have alternative motives and we are trying to destroy the motorcycle rights movement. I believe this is a deliberate attempt to try to take the heat off where it really belongs and that is with Richard Lester and his AIM attorneys. They are the ones who filed the product liability law suits and the ones that lied about this issue from the very beginning.
AMA Exposes Richard LesterEarly this year, rumors began to circulate that Mr. Lester and his colleagues were actively involved in as many as 20 suits alleging that riders had suffered unnecessary leg injuries in part because manufacturers had negligently failed to incorporate leg protectors into their motorcycle designs. The rumors became open allegations on July 5 when Lester's long-time assistant, Pepper Massey-Swan, quit her job in an act of conscience. She posted a letter to NCOM's Board of Advisors and Legislative Task Force, charging that Lester had, when questioned by her, denied that AIM attorneys were representing such cases, adding that he would not tolerate such litigation. When she confronted him with the facts, Massey-Swan said Lester admitted the existence of the cases, but refused to order AIM attorneys to cease their involvement.
She stated in her letter, "It has been my understanding that NCOM was created to assist in the fight against anti-motorcycle legislation. AIM was a vehicle by which we were able to achieve this goal. ICOM was formed to offer our support to our European brothers and sisters, currently pouring all of their efforts into fighting against legislation that would force manufacturers to put leg protectors on motorcycles. Being a part of these law-suits in any way is contradictory to the core of beliefs and principles of the motorcyclist rights movement." She continued, "This is a devastating blow to motorcyclists, one that's sting will be felt for many years to come. That this office would be associated with these anti-motorcycle lawsuits is despicable and unprincipled."
Apparently the NCOM staff was not the only group kept in the dark about AIM's product liability suits. According to Ed Netterberg, chairman of the NCOM Board of Advisors, that group also remained uninformed. In a memo to the Board, Netterberg said, "I believe this type of information was withheld from us deliberately, knowing it would be unacceptable."
On the same day that Massey-Swan delivered her letter of resignation, Lester, who was vacationing in Kenya at the time, quickly moved into damage control mode. He sent memos to his AIM attorneys and to the NCOM Board of Advisors and Legislative Task Force members in the United States, and wrote a letter to motorcyclist rights leaders in Europe, seeking an urgent meeting in London. The memos were marked: "FOR YOU EYES ONLY. READ AND DESTROY."
In these documents he admitted that the litigation was going on, that he had knowledge of it, and that is was all a mistake which resulted from "inattentiveness" and his failure to "note the obvious conflict." One memo acknowledged that in the neighborhood of 25 such cases had been pursued by AIM attorneys, and stated "In hindsight I should have seen that while trying to enforce the legal rights of the injured biker against the manufacturer, the AIM attorneys were aiding the forces trying to mandate leg protectors in Europe." He described the whole affair as a "screw-up."
ARE WE RIDING FREE YET...................rc
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