Morons in Myrtle
www.motorcyclemonster.com
Here we go again. A familiar battle where free men and women are denied their constitutional 1st amendment rights, by, in this case the powers that be in Myrtle Beach and in the county of Horry S.C. These local politicians have decided who can and who can not pull permits in their fiefdom, and are in effect removing a vital, successful, revenue producing, gathering of law abiding citizens.
I am not a lawyer but the constitution says, “the right of the people to peaceably assemble”. Apparently, these local officials have no concern for the interests of the motorcycling public or the constitution of the United States. These zealots apparently have decided that the economic impact to business’ resulting from their boycott against bikers is also not worthy.
This event is not only important to motorcycle hobbyists, it is also important to motorcycle related business’. Again, I am not a legal scholar but I’m sure when you interfere with other folks business’ and their ability to make a living in a lawful manner, they call it racketeering or restraint of trade. When I researched racketeering, it says something about “illegal activities relating to any enterprise affecting interstate commerce”. When I went further and looked up restraint of trade it said, “illegally interfering with free marketplace participation“. When these local governments not only refuse to sell a particular group permits, and then encourage other local governments to do the same, I believe are breaking the Federal laws of the United States. Again, I’m not a lawyer but if it “walks like a duck”.
If a particular religious group or political party wanted to gather, would the seated government have the right to say no? I don’t think so. If this type of fascist regime was allowed to continue, it wouldn’t be long until the Christians couldn’t pull a building permit and the Socialist Party would not be allowed to gather in the park. I’m sure the Republican Party would soon be history and those fringe groups like the Boy Scouts and Junior league would soon be forced to move on. And oh, by the way I also looked up fascist and it said, “sometimes used to denigrate people, institutions or groups”. Quack ! Quack!
It doesn’t seem to matter, that bike show promoters are law abiding citizens doing lawful activities on private property, willing to buy county and city permits, provide security, sanitation, crowd control, insurance , and be responsible for their actions
This story is as old as time as those with the power think they have the right to tell the rest of us, (peasants) how to spend our life and what is worthy and what is not. In a nutshell, it looks like the local government has decided to deny a group of law abiding motorcyclists their constitutional rights to gather, fellowship, and do a little business.
When we investigated why all of this non-sense is going on, many think a crime committed during the second May event, widely called Black Bike Week, has some locals wanting to rid their area of these rowdy bikers forever.
I believe if you had 200,000 librarians gather for a read off, one drunk might fall over her book bag and die of head injuries. If this occurred, would we banish the “ladies of the book” from our city? I don’t think so. What if an impaired golfer hit his buddy in the head with “Big Bertha”, would we close the golf courses? We had an astronaut try to attack someone a couple of years ago. I didn’t hear any call to end space travel.
Could it be possible that these folks are somehow convinced that bikers are all trouble? Even the most elite groups on earth have a bad apple, once in a while, and when you gather 2 or 3 hundred thousand, on is bound to surface. Please don’t throw out the baby with the was when a isolated crime occurs.
If a crime occurred during the event, find the bad guys and punish them to the fullest. I believe that one of the responsibilities of government to protect it’s citizens, even bikers. Part of their charge is also to make rules and regulations, collect taxes, and uphold laws to help keep order. They also do administrative duties like collect fees for permits, and help law abiding citizens enjoy those local, federal, and state rights and facilities. The most important part of their charge, in my opinion, is to do all of this with the federal and state constitutional rights of it’s citizens at the forefront, without discrimination.
My personal opinion is that a lynch mob of locals have made a terrible decision, and a misjudgment about motorcyclists. It’s for sure, these government folks have not done their research on the caliber of folks that ride. They have made the same mistake that motorcyclists have been battling for years. Bikers look a little rough with leathers and facial hair. We are a bit too loud at times and yes, I’ll admit that some of us drink a few on occasion. The blunder and crime that these folks may be taking part in, is to deny Americans their constitutional rights.
The part of this scenario that puts me in a quandary most is where are the constitutional lawyers that ride. Where is the ACLU and where are the law suites, stays, and injunctions when you need them. I will donate the first $100.00 to the legal fund to save the constitutional rights of the motorcyclist in Myrtle Beach. I took a putt up to the Strand last May and had a pretty good time. Ride Safe.
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