Posted on 08/03/2002 3:59:39 AM PDT by JimVT
Bill Moyers faces drunken driving charge
The Associated Press
ARLINGTON -- Journalist Bill Moyers has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol.
"I intend to contest the charge," Moyers said in a statement Thursday.
Moyers, 68, who served as special assistant to President Johnson and publisher of the Long Island newspaper Newsday before turning to public television in the 1970s, was stopped July 27 on Vermont 7A in Bennington County.
Moyers said he had just left a friend's birthday party around 10 p.m. when he was stopped. He admitted to the arresting officer he had drunk a glass of champagne and "a small amount of wine" at the party, Moyers wrote.
Moyers swerved repeatedly across the centerline of the road and had trouble negotiating a curve, according to Trooper Travis Kline of the Vermont State Police.
"Not only was I observing the speed limit," Moyers wrote, "but my companions -- my wife and two friends -- testified they had detected no signs of any problem with my driving, and that I appeared to be in full control of my faculties, as indeed I was. I intend to contest the charges."
A roadside breath test showed Moyers' blood-alcohol content to be 0.10 percent. In Vermont, motorists who register at or above 0.08 percent are considered to be drunk under the law. A follow-up test at the barracks about 90 minutes later showed Moyers' blood-alcohol content had dropped to 0.079 percent -- within the legal limit. Police calculate how much alcohol would have left the driver's system in the time after the arrest and take that into account, Kline said.
Moyers, a resident of Bernardsville, N.J., told Kline he was staying at a hotel in Manchester. Following the arrest, Kline cited Moyers to appear at Vermont District Court in Bennington on Aug. 12, and released him from the barracks.
NOT!
Whatever it is, it also is present in Jimmy Carter. I think it may have to do with their dishonesty.
There are a few liberals whom I disagree with but who seem like decent people. About the only one I can think of offhand tho is John Kenneth Galbreath. (sp?)
It would be nice to see a liberal just take his medicine and admit he was wrong but I think whatever makes them a liberal is also what makes them skunks.
This was roughly the same thing George W. Bush said about his DWI arrest back in the '70s. He was pulled over not for weaving, as Mr. Moyers did, but for driving too slow.
And I'll bet that as a good card-carrying commielib, Moyers had no problem telling everyone then how a 20-year-old DWI citation made Bush unfit to be president.
But there is a difference. When Bush was arrested, he didn't try to fight the charges. He fessed up to his mistake and paid his fine. So who's more unfit?
That's interesting, YD, because Galbraith was one of the first libs I learned to depise.
Galbraithian Philosophy
Galbraith, to Friedman, was a 20th-century version of the early 19th-century Tory Radical of Great Britain. Galbraith believed in the superiority of aristocracy and in its paternalistic authority. These sorts of people -- and they are all too common these days -- deny that the free market should rule, deny that consumers should be allowed choice; and assert that all should be determined by those with "higher minds."
Drunken apostate, nothing new here.
"My friends didn't think I was drunk." What a pathelic excuse. Every Bubba in the Blue Ridge Mountains could mount the same defense, and those who were in the pickup alone at the time could cite their imaginary friends.
Hello, Bill Moyers. Welcome to Fraud Central. You'll recognize a LOT of your friends, here.
Congressman Billybob
Like his fellow-travelers are going to blow the whistle on him....
...."but my companions -- my wife and two friends -- testified they had detected no signs of any problem with my driving, and that I appeared to be in full control of my faculties,
P.S. Hope ya'll got your flak vest on this mornin' Congersman, ya'll about to hear from all them Blue Ridge "Bubbas"
That was Moyers' big mistake. You never admit to a police officer that you had even one sip of beer or wine. Any admission of the consumption of any amount of alcohol during a traffic stop will result in your automatic arrest. I know police officers and they have all told me that they will never let a person go who has admitted to drinking any amount of alcohol even though they may have passed all sobriety tests. This is because they are afraid that they will lose their jobs should the motorist have an accident further up the road and it came to be known that they allowed them to continue after admitting they were drinking - no matter what the amount.
Many people do not realize this, but once you admit at a traffic stop to the consumption of any alcohol whatsoever, a drunk driving conviction against you is virtually sealed and delivered. Thanks to the MADD fanatics, you are assumed to be automatically guilty. Your license will be seized, you will be thrown into jail, your reputation will be forever tarnished and you will be in real danger of losing your job.
Yes, drunk driving is a crime. But overzealous prosecution of it through roadblocks has resulted in thousands of innocent people getting ensnared into a criminal process that is greatly stacked against them. With roadblocks, you could be sober and driving responsibly yet find yourself in jail because you had one glass of wine at dinner and the officer smelled it on your breath.
Moyers swerved repeatedly across the centerline of the road and had trouble negotiating a curve, according to Trooper Travis Kline of the Vermont State Police.
This is the lawful way that drunk drivers should be taken off the road. Not through unconstitutional roadblocks in which you are forced to lie to police officers for fear of losing your livelihood and freedom, but because you have been observed to be weaving and swerving on the road.
Moyer's son mentioned the President's drinking in this article.
The local rag ran an article by Moyer's son critisizing the President's stance on the War On Drugs.
The article was published by the LA Times, so I'll post a link.
The President's Experience Should Shape His Policies
William C. Moyers, (Bill Moyer's son), is Vice President of External Affairs for the Hazelden Foundation. His personal experiences were the basis for the 1998 Public Television Series, "Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home."
"There is something about him which is just plain creepy."
Agreed, and perhaps his son who has been in some trouble, might have been influenced.
Moyers has been the PBS's answer to a New Age Philosopher, however it is pablum philosophy and seemingly relativistic, just what the libs like.
As Jeff Foxworthy sez, "You know yer a redneck if'n the directions ta yer house includes the phrase, 'When ya turn off the paved road....'"
Billybob
You are right … not even a wrist slap. Judges look at these famous Liberals, identify with them, and declare that being caught is their punishment. I predict we will never hear of this Bill Moyers incident again.
A typical response from a drunk, "I've only had 1 beer", as they stumble and stagger.
After having served on Okinawa for a couple of years with a bunch of good ol' boys like "Dink" Archer from Mumphis and "Duke" Larsen from Sapulpa, OK I was one day honored with the statement: "Ya know, Jeeum, you a good ol' Yanki shee-ut."
Many years ago, (I just realized it is nearly forty) he sat beside my sister on a flight from London to Washington. Her husband was a Navy pilot stationed in Washington, and they had a new baby girl. She said Galbreath took the baby and played with her for nearly the whole flight. A really nice man according to my Sister.
For those interested in the MADD phenomenon, they have now taken to volunteering to check I.D.'s at fairs and small town street celebrations where alcohol is available for purchase. In our small, very liberal town, there is an annual community festival weekend. Carnival, parade, etc. The organizers wanted to have a beer tent this year, something new. The usual complaints came in regarding this, so the committee agreed to allow the MADD mothers to staff the I.D. checkpoint. They were allowed to charge $1 for the I.D. bracelet (MADD fundraising) and hand everyone a MADD brochure. All this just to get the city council to agree to a simple beer tent during the street dance.
Our oldest daughter & her boyfriend, who turned 21 just a few weeks before the event, approached the I.D. checker and were treated to an emotional review of her own daughter's death at the hands of a drunk driver when the MADD mom noticed the birthdate on boyfriend's I.D. was the same as her daughter's. Talk about a downer. The kids were just uptown enjoying their friends and community. The next thing they knew they were subjected to that. It was pretty awful.
The kids are very responsible; they had already agreed that my daughter was the D.D. and everything was under control. They did not deserve or need a MADD mom's harrassment. However, as a victim group, none exceed the power of MADD.
Stick a fork in him; he's done.
By the way, I understand orange juice has one-tenth the alcohol content of beer. So, if one beer is unacceptable, are several glasses of orange juice also?
I agree. On a side note, I think in my state you are allowed to get a blood test from a qualified institution to test BAC within one hour of arrest. This drops BAC by .02.
If that's the case in Vt. then Moyers is off the hook ....it sounds like.
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