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Garner’s death will not have been in vain; Oren M. Spiegler; Beaver County Times; December 6, 2014.
Mr. Spiegler is such a prolific letter writer the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review gave him a little tribute back in 2003. Google “Oren M. Spiegler” and you’ll get more hits than you know what to do with. Unfortunately, prolific is not a synonym for competent. Mr. Spiegler claims to be a Republican. In my critique of “Breathing more freely,” I cited reasons why I was “beginning to believe Mr. Spiegler is simply another Republican impersonator,” but he sealed the deal with “Greatest foreign policy debacle.” Subsequent letters provided more confirmation. The group of local Republican impersonators also includes Messrs. William A. Alexander, Arthur Brown, Edward J. Hum, Bill Ralston, and George Reese, all claiming to be disgruntled Republicans.
You can find links to previous critiques of Spiegler letters I critiqued here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“I believe that the chokehold death of alleged bootleg cigarette salesman Eric Garner at the hands of police will not have been in vain.”
[RWC] This is my standard disclosure regarding the tobacco topic. I’ve never been a user of tobacco in any form. I prefer not to be in places where people are smoking – the smoke irritates my eyes and throat – and I hate the smell of smoke on my clothes. I don’t permit persons to smoke in my car or home.
“As should be the case in all interactions that the police have with suspects, this incident, thankfully, was recorded (it is regrettable that the individual who filmed it has apparently been singled out for harassment).
“It is rare that those of all political persuasions see a controversial incident the same way, but that seems to be the case here. Liberal and conservative and those in between are repulsed by what they see, a man who was not a violent criminal nor in the commission of a serious crime being subdued through a brutal method which is banned by police procedure.
“Naturally, members of the public question how the grand jury which heard evidence in the case and saw the recording could have rendered a decision not to indict on any charge the officer who brought about Mr. Garner’s death.
“I do not know what is gained by protesters who block traffic or seek to disrupt events, but there is every reason to listen to the voices of those who are concerned and upset at the outcome of this case.
“I believe that we can anticipate federal charges will be brought against the officer, that his time in law enforcement is over, and that we will now increasingly see police-citizen interactions recorded.
“Eric Garner resisted arrest and talked back to the officers, unwise actions, but he did not deserve to die during the encounter.”
[RWC] Mr. Spiegler glossed over the real reason Mr. Garner died. Because of confiscatory taxes, some low-income persons can’t afford to buy a pack of cigarettes. In NYC, with the highest total tax rate in the country, the average price for a pack of cigarettes is more than $14, $7.06 of which is the sum of federal, state, and local taxes. According to the Tax Foundation, “almost 57% of cigarettes smoked in New York were bought into the state illegally, the highest of any state.” Mr. Garner responded to demand and engaged in selling black market, low or untaxed cigarettes individually, aka “loosies.” Mr. Garner’s “business” cut into the sales of law-abiding store owners and they lodged complaints to the police. That’s why the officers were trying to arrest Mr. Garner. The city and state were also PO’d because of lost tax revenue.
Getting back to Mr. Spiegler, five of the above listed critiques addressed previous Spiegler anti-smoking/anti-tobacco letters. The nanny state Mr. Spiegler advocates wants to “prohibit” tobacco consumption via taxation instead of outright prohibition. Class, what happened when the 18th Amendment (aka Prohibition) tried to stop the consumption of alcohol by prohibiting “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes?” Why should anyone expect it to be different for tobacco regardless of how the prohibition is attempted? Here’s the bottom line. The nanny state’s excessive cigarette taxation killed Mr. Garner.
© 2004-2014 Robert W. Cox, all rights reserved.