ROFL! Conservatives accuse "liberal media" of trying to push dastardly "helmet agenda",

[Grebrook]

http://newsbusters.org/node/13077

A helmet agenda? A HELMET AGENDA? LOL. I was unaware that helmets were some sort of liberal-Democratic priority, as opposed to, you know, COMMON FUCKING SENSE.

[TygrBright]

1. You're forgetting the very core of the libertarian/conservative ideology:

THE RIGHT TO BE AN ASSHOLE!

Anything, ANYTHING, that shows the slightest whisper of a glimpse of a stirring in a somewhat-related direction to interfering with that sacred, fundamental right MUST invariably and immediately be exposed as the Hideous Liberal Plot that it is.

It wouldn't be so bad if they wouldn't insist on breeding.

resignedly,
Bright

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Not that the laws are a bad idea, but how is not wearing a helmet, as you say, "BEING AN ASSHOLE"?

I could see how it would be considered "BEING AN ASS" or "BEING AN IDIOT", but to me, BEING AN ASSHOLE involves directly fucking with someone else's shit, peace of mind, freedom, quiet, personal choice, etc. To wit: Where I live, there are plenty of people on motorcycles- most of them wearing helmets, mind you: usually those ridiculous little german army style ones- who have modified the "pipes" on their giant humming metal phalluses to generate the MAXIMUM amount of NOISE POSSIBLE from a machine that size. Then, they ride them around my neighborhood, often at 4 am, rattling windows, knocking glassware off of shelves, waking babies, generally making just a bone-jarring amount of obnoxious noise pollution.

That, to me, is BEING AN ASSHOLE. If one of these chowderfucks wants to ride around without a helmet, while I would prefer that his emergency room bill not go on the public tab, really first and foremost I would prefer he or she figure out how to do it QUIETLY.

[Javaman]

4. I think calling some an asshole because they don't where a helmet is a bit much, but...

If a motorcycle rider choosed to not wear one, fine, just makes sure they pay a heavy price for their insurance.

I just don't want them driving up my health insurance based upon a stat that ripples across the board.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I can agree with that. Although I generally lean small-l libertarian on matters of personal choice

(despite the level to which the "l" word gives some folks hives around here :hide: )

I do think some laws, like seat belt and helmet laws, make reasonable enough sense.

My quibble was more with the all-caps word "ASSHOLE", the question to the poster being, how does someone not wearing a helmet directly and immediately affect you enough to make them an "ASSHOLE"?

[Jed Dilligan]

32. One way to look at it

If a helmetless cyclist or biker cuts you off and you hit him, he is more likely to die, increasing potential legal penalties against yourself.

Motorcycle riders tend to behave fairly well (except for the noise), but the helmetless bicycle riders with iPods in their ears and no regard for either traffic laws or self-preservation kinda freak me out. I don't want to go to jail for someone else's stupidity.

[loyalsister]

44. It took awhile to get that idea to catch on for bicyclists

- at all.
I wonder if you bicyclists would continue to be encouraged after seeing the cool breeze motorcyclists riding down the highway without helmets?

It's about cultural norms.
Making it a safety standard for cyclists to wear helmets is just a good idea.

If the pressure of a law is going to help reduce costs and prevent injury, I think it is entirely reasonable and appropriate to make it a requirement.

[NashVegas]

16. I Wouldn't Worry So Much

The helmetless tend not to collect so much on medical insurance. They tend more to get death benefits.

Secondly, unless you yourself live in an ultra-sterile environment, chances are your shit stinks, too, and raises things up a notch.

The whole point of insurance POOLS is that different people have different risks and risk levels, and yet chance can completely obliterate all predictions.

[Javaman]

24. What is your problem?

I don't take stupid chances. And for your information, my shit stinks plently and you're more than welcome to take a hardy inhale.

[NashVegas]

27. My Problem

Is with people who pull out the "I don't want the Other's nasty habits to increase my medical insurance bill," when no one is risk free, or likely to never require any medical attention of their own on account of a risk that could have been avoided.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Javaman]

25. What is your problem?

I don't take stupid chances. And for your information, my shit stinks plently and you're more than welcome to take a hardy inhale.

[Kber]

30. True

In many emergency rooms, they call motercycles "doner-mobiles".

[Toots]

31. You do know most head injuries occur in automobile accidents don't you?

Why don't you demand that cagers wear helmets as well? Head injuries are what drive up the rates not motorcycles.

[Javaman]

36. Define head injury? are you talking about whiplash?

because that is defined as a head injury. That is a far cry from someones melon being cracked open.

[ComerPerro]

9. I've always said that about libertarians, LOL

The one right they are most interested in protecting is the right to be a complete fucking asshole

[Warren DeMontague]

14. And again, no one wants to answer how not wearing a helmet amounts to being an "asshole".

Leaving aside the ever popular "libertarian" (or should it, more rightly, be "Libertarian"?) bashing and the ridiculous conflation of the Conservative and "libertarian" agendas (never mind that conservatism has been taken over by theocratic control freaks since forever and a day) that's the real question I have: How is riding without a helmet "the right to be an asshole"? Specifically, how does someone not wearing a helmet directly amount to their being an "asshole" to YOU in real time?

Because frankly, I think riding around on loud pipes with no muffler is far more asshole-ish behavior than not wearing a helmet. And I've said, despite my loathesome small-l libertarian leanings, I support helmet and seatbelt laws. I think they make enough sense to be warranted. But that's not what I'm asking: I'm asking about why not wearing a helmet makes someone an "asshole" (as opposed to an "ass", for instance, or an "idiot with a death wish") Is it just about potential medical bills? Because the way some of these guys ride, I have to imagine without a helmet there aren't going to be many medical bills. Funeral bills, maybe.

[ComerPerro]

15. point is, libertarians typically believe in rights to do whatever the fuck they want, whenever

the fuck they want, consequences be damned. In the case of helmets, yeah, it only hurts themselves, and if they die in a crash because they weren't wearing a helmet, I couldn't really give a shit.

But these are the only things they stand up for. The right not to wear a helmet, the right to use racist speech, etc.

[Warren DeMontague]

22. That's an awfully broad brush you're painting with.

But when it comes to the right of consenting adults to make their own decisions about their own lives, yeah, I'm unapologetically socially or left-libertarian. Consenting adults want to look at movies of other consenting adults fucking in their own home? Yep. libertarian. Consenting adult wants to smoke a joint in the privacy of his or her own home and isn't harming or endangering anyone else? Yep. libertarian. Terminally ill person wants a pain-free exit of their own choosing. Yep. libertarian. "racist speech"? I come from a family of Jews who had people in the camps. Yet I also understand why the Nazis had the right to march in Skokie in the 1970s, and I lived nearby at the time. Doesn't mean I like the speech, but I respect that the right to use it is a cornerstone in the wall against precisely that kind of totalitarianism. Again, libertarian.

Helmet laws, seatbelt laws, laws against smoking in enclosed public spaces, I think impinge on personal freedom in a minor enough fashion versus their contribution to the general welfare that I think they're arguably justifiable. But overall, when I look at this planet, I don't see the problem being too much personal freedom for individuals--- I see encroachments on personal freedom from all angles; government, religious, etc. while corporations enjoy far too much "freedom" to screw with our collective well-being.

I think a lot of people here on DU identify as small-l libertarian, or socially/left libertarian. Some people genuinely confuse that with the big-L Libertarian party, and other more authoritarian minded members of the "left" genuinely think it's a dirty word. I could care less if someone thinks it's an insult, I'll gladly self identify as (small l) "libertarian" just as I gladly identify as a "liberal", a "progressive", and a (big D)"Democrat".

A simple left-right axis doesn't always do the best job of describing where people sit, politically.

The political compass is a good resource, although for all I know you've probably already taken the test:

http://politicalcompass.org

[immoderate]

20. I call them "organ donors."

--IMM

[Ganja Ninja]

2. Football or Motorcycle?

:crazy:

[Solo_in_MD]

5. MC Riders consider it a nanny state thing, which is often associated with

the well meaning liberal stereotype, at times for good reason.

[Robbien]

6. We don't care if they spill their brains all over the road

We just don't want our healthcare system to have to pay if the rightwinger manages to cling to life afterwards.

I don't believe this belief could be called nanny anything.

[Edweird]

12. In my neck of the woods, these guys are mostly professional types living a fantasy,

so insurance isn't really that much of an issue. I mean, if the guy can plunk down 20-50k for a toy he MIGHT use twice a month, he's doin' ok.

[SteveM]

19. Precisely. Liberals have a rich history of prohibition and mandatory SOMEthing.

Not that the right hasn't indulged the same activities in their own culture wars. As a number of commentators have pointed out, there is nothing ironic about "never inhaled" Bill Clinton appointing Barry McCaffrey as drug czar, which resulted in record arrests of pot users. Nor, with the spectacle of Sen. Diane Feinstein calling for a ban on all guns (even as she has armed body guards and used to pack herself). Nor, with Donna Shalala (a virulent anti-marijuana prohi) being called on to lead the charge against pot. (Ironically, she is now the president of the University of Miami, of all places.) The Democratic Party is thoroughly peopled with prohibitionists and "mandy-nannies."

[NoGOPZone]

21. It should be more often associated with

insurance company types guarding their profit line, for an even better reason.

[Renew Deal]

41. I don't care if bikers are dumb enough to ride without helmets

My problem is that I don't want to see their brains splattered on the roadway. They should save us the trauma and wear a helmet.

[Edweird]

8. Hey, if some orthodontist doesn't want to wear a helmet for his weekly trip to hooters,

what the hell do I care? My motorcycle is my daily ride. I always wear a helmet 'cause it's a jungle out there.

[ComerPerro]

10. So if the complaint is that "Rolling Thunder" isn't getting enough attention and honor,

can't we conclude that Rolling Thunder isn't about honoring the military, but instead about riders honoring themselves?

[AllegroRondo]

11. My solution

anyone not wearing a helmet is automatically considered to have given their consent to be an organ donor.

[SteveM]

13. Unfortunately, a kernel of truth. In both Austin, TX and Gainesville, FLA...

...the issue of mandatory bicycle helmets popped up simultaneously (possibly in other locales as well), and pushed vigorously using the same data and tactics (I know because I travel between both cities). It died back in Austin, then was resurrected again several months ago, died again. In both instances, it was pushed by left-of-centers politicians who have bought into the "safety culture." Both of these places are "college towns," and it made political sense for the bicycle helmet manufacturers to push their agenda there. There has not been much in the way of credible evidence to show that bicycle helmets aide anyone in an actual collision-crash (not designed for such), but fear always walks hand-in-hand with prohibition politics.

Motorcycle helmet politics is considerably different, but mandatory laws find sympathetic audiences among liberals as well. In Austin, there is a Republic of Texas (ROT) Rally scheduled in a few days and amidst the thundering exhausts of many thousands of Harleys, the murmurings for a helmet law can always be heard. Smells like culture war to me.

[benEzra]

37. Statistically, riding a bicycle is as safe as being a pedestrian from a head-injury standpoint

so if cyclists are required to wear helmets, then pedestrians should too...

FWIW, I wear a bicycle helmet when bike commuting, but I usually do NOT wear one when I am cycling on untraveled roads for the whole wind-in-your-hair zen.

Most people who own motorcycles don't own them for commuting, going to the grocery store, or fighting traffic. They own them because they want to occasionally feel the wind, enjoy the whole biking experience, whatever. But it's not MY damn business if somebody on a pleasure ride on a low-traffic road wants to go helmetless, and those who would use the police power of the State to make that person wear a helmet are no different than the right-wing theocrats.

[NoPasaran]

17. I hear tell a helmet is called a "brain bucket"

I reckon a feller oughta know whether or not he's got one to protect.

[originalpckelly]

18. I for one encourage our Republican friends to never wear helmets if so inclined.

At some point you have to wonder if this isn't some form of evolutionary garbage collection for bad traits.

[Ganja Ninja]

26. I encourage them to ride blindfolded in the nude.

If they are so stupid to be sucked into this blatant piece of GOP propaganda then a helmet wouldn't do them much good anyway.

[Blue_Tires]

43. by all means...uncle chuck will weed out the undesirables on his own n/t

[Swamp Rat]

23. But they need helmets the most.

"aaaaahh-drrrrrrrrrrrrr!! durp! durp!"

[RevCheesehead]

28. Is this is Joe Liebermann thread?

:)

[Rockholm]

29. The helmet agenda is code for gay agenda.

New terminology. It gets better play in Iowa and North Dakota according to focus groups. I guess you did not get the memo.

[Jed Dilligan]

33. Is that a dirty joke or

for real?

[Rockholm]

38. A joke.

[GoneOffShore]

34. People who don't wear helmets generally are known as organ donors. n/t

[HardRocker05]

39. don't know what the official 'liberal' stand on this is, but they should be against the nanny state.

[Renew Deal]

40. Yes, the Helmet Agenda planned in Mao Hall is a success

:rofl:

[tabasco]

42. The Liberal Helmet Agenda is only the first step to mandatory total body armor !

Hail Lennon!


Hail Stallin'!


Hail Marx!


Hail The Helmet Agenda Commie-Zar!


WE WILL ALSO FORCE WHITE PEOPLE TO GET ABORTIONS EVEN IF THEY'RE NOT PREGNANT AND MAKE BIN LADEN DICTATOR AND FORCE EVERYBODY TO WEAR TURBANS AND BECOME MUSLIM AND TAKE AWAY ALL THEIR GUNS BUT MOST OF ALL FINALLY WIN THE WAR ON CHRISTMAS !!!!!!