Editorial on Bristol Tennessee noise ordinance blamed victims
TriCities.com
Apr 24, 12:58 AM EDT 

Your recent editorial regarding Bristol Tennessee's new noise ordinance
could have come word for word from the Automotive Aftermarket-Boom Car
industry's advocacy play book. I'm certain that industry lobbyists and
lawyers would consider your editors to be dependable volunteers
promoting their agenda.

You justify overlooking a crime of violence against people by raising
the threat of police officers' being distracted from their duties, their
"time and energies - time best spent dealing with actual crimes and
emergencies." In doing so, you blame the victims and coddle the
victimizers. When civic leaders deem one evil as acceptable because
greater evils exist, they actually, are reversing a community's moral
and social direction. Instead of aspiring to a greater good, you accept
rude behavior as being "not that bad" when there is always a greater bad
to be used as an excuse.

You write that "Most violators are young men ... Getting their elders all
riled up is the whole point of their obnoxious behavior," but you fail
to mention that these young men are targets of sophisticated marketing
campaigns that encourage them to assault the elderly.

This sort of behavior is, of course, the exact opposite of the
fundamental ethos of social morality - to do as you would be done by.
The respect of elders and parents is a core value of all religions,
societies, communities and families - the lack thereof being a sure sign
of a fallen nation. Those who profit from promoting such behavior make
war on our homeland and its people. Those with public influence who do
not rebuke the perpetrators give comfort to the enemy.

Mark J. Huber