And Justice For All...
This week I revisit the Carole Migden case. She's the California State Senator who was involved in erratic driving and a couple of accidents a few weeks ago. She has since attributed her bad driving to the chemotherapy drugs she's taking to battle chronic myeloid leukemia.
This column just seeks a bit of justice. The thing that has stuck in my craw ever since this case occured was Migden allegedly telling another motorist, "You can't talk to me that way. I'm a State Senator!" It presumes there's a difference in how she should be treated.
And looking into Migden's past, you find that her alleged outburst fits right into her personality. It's not the first time she's made statements like that.
She is notoriously hard on staff members. In fact, staff members call working for Migden a "combat tour."
She once publicly berated two peace officers for not doing her bidding in a timely manner.
And there's the now infamous time when the Democratic Senator wandered into the State Assembly where they were voting on a bill she'd authored and pushed the 'yes' button for an absent GOP Assemblyman.
Then there's her prior accident in Sacramento years ago where she apparently blew off the incident in such a way that the other driver harbors resentment to her to this day.
Now none of this means she wasn't suffering from some fugue state caused by her chemotherapy. None of it means she wasn't out of it when she caused these two accidents. That will be investigated and adjudicated.
Her rough, gruff past does invite skepticism in a way that it might not for a different politician.
But beyond all of that, the important thing is that she be treated like any other citizen.
No more Paris Hilton justice.
This column just seeks a bit of justice. The thing that has stuck in my craw ever since this case occured was Migden allegedly telling another motorist, "You can't talk to me that way. I'm a State Senator!" It presumes there's a difference in how she should be treated.
And looking into Migden's past, you find that her alleged outburst fits right into her personality. It's not the first time she's made statements like that.
She is notoriously hard on staff members. In fact, staff members call working for Migden a "combat tour."
She once publicly berated two peace officers for not doing her bidding in a timely manner.
And there's the now infamous time when the Democratic Senator wandered into the State Assembly where they were voting on a bill she'd authored and pushed the 'yes' button for an absent GOP Assemblyman.
Then there's her prior accident in Sacramento years ago where she apparently blew off the incident in such a way that the other driver harbors resentment to her to this day.
Now none of this means she wasn't suffering from some fugue state caused by her chemotherapy. None of it means she wasn't out of it when she caused these two accidents. That will be investigated and adjudicated.
Her rough, gruff past does invite skepticism in a way that it might not for a different politician.
But beyond all of that, the important thing is that she be treated like any other citizen.
No more Paris Hilton justice.
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