Posted on 05/02/2007 7:57:43 AM PDT by SmithL
IF YOU'VE turned on your TV or radio this week, you've heard the question: How could a man with James Mosqueda's criminal record possibly have been approved to haul 8,600 gallons of explosive gasoline? There ought to be a law, some say, to ensure that never again will there be a gasoline-fueled fire that melts down part of the MacArthur Maze -- and, they suggest, this never would have happened if the "hazmat driver" did not have a criminal record.
In Mosqueda's case, he has a serious criminal history. The tanker truck driver was convicted of a number of crimes, including felony possession of stolen property in 1994 and felony heroin possession in 1996.
If you were to ask any reasonable person to describe the ideal person to transport gasoline in the wee hours of the morning, I suppose it would be a person with no criminal convictions, who has never imbibed alcohol, who has crack reflexes, an aversion to speeding, a calm persona and a keen appreciation for driving freeways in the stillness of the night -- not someone with a serious prior drug conviction.
Now back to the real world.
The sort of person who is willing to haul a huge load of hazardous material down the highway in the middle of the night may not be astronaut material. (And after Lisa Nowak's diaper-run to Florida, it seems that not all astronauts are astronaut material.)
While Mosqueda's record would give anyone pause, the most salient information about his criminal history is that he has not been convicted of a crime in more than 10 years. He passed his driving tests. He worked in an industry that at times drug tests drivers. He received a Transportation Security Administration clearance that found he was not a threat...
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
He created a lot of union jobs, for sure.
I don’t bemoan anyone the opportunity to clean themselves up and become a productive member of society.
If he hasn’t fallen back into ‘old habits’,after 10 years, then I just cannot see a problem.
After all the controversy over the propsed Dubai Ports World deal last year, Rep. Peter King exposed himself as nothing more than an opportunistic A-hole when he allowed the prohibition against port employment for people with criminal records to be struck from the ports security bill passed by Congress last year.
This country doesn't have the political will to do sh!t when it comes to national security.
Are you listening Rosie O'Donnell.
It won't be long, however, before there will be technology that prevents vehicles from running into bridge supports. Gas tankers should be early adopters.
We aren't trying to be inflammatory, are we?
What size blasting cap is needed to explosively detonate a gallon of gas?
Why don’t we just pass a law making crashing burning fuel trucks illegal? Simple! Problem solved! /s
I’ll go you one better-let’s make it mandatory for gasoline to have additives which prevent it from burning? Then we can safely transport it anywhere!
...enough dihydrogen monoxide would do it.
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