There is a revealing article in today's Chronicle that uncovers some damning facts for State Senator Carole Migden. In the article Migden explains why she decided to keep her illness and her use of medication a secret from everyone.
"I didn't want to be pitied. I didn't want to be seen as a goner. I believed I would live. I never lied, I just chose not to disclose," Migden said.
By the way, that's Migden in the photo along with the top brass of the CHP. She's carried legislation for them through the Senate. Carole Migden and the CHP are pals.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata had this to say, "There are very few things you can keep quiet, and your health is one of them. Only if the condition inhibits your work is a public explanation needed. When you can't remember what happened when you were driving, that's when it has begun to affect your public position, and it's time to disclose."
Perata is close, but not right on the spot. The time for a state senator to fully disclose that she is being treated for a very major illness and that as result of the treatment she is taking powerful medications is not immediately AFTER a disaster. The time to disclose is BEFORE any problems arise.
The public has a clear right to know these things about publicly-elected officials. Elected officials work for us, the people.
And just when you think it can't possibly get any worse, now we find out Migden's medication, Gleevec, has no history of causing like problems in anybody else. That history as well as the official prescribing information for Gleevec is available here. Read it yourself if you like.
So ... if Migden wasn't high on Gleevec, just what kind of drug was she using? It's always possible that Migden has some other undiagnosed medical condition, but one thing is absolutely certain: Gleevec didn't make Carole Migden turn into a fire-breathing Dragon Bitch on the highway.
Another issue a blog reader brought up is the issue of the CHP.
The CHP received numerous cellphone calls from people who were reporting Migden for driving at speeds estimated to be as high as 80. Other callers reported her for swerving in and out of lanes and still other callers reported that she had side-swiped a guardrail and just kept on going.
Most of the witnesses agreed that Migden was talking on her cell phone more often than not.
Then the CHP received calls that the same driver had just rear-ended a another car.
So, what did the CHP do? They gave her an alcohol test and let her go.
No drug search.
No drug tests.
Not even a lousy traffic citation.
Nothing.
The California Highway Patrol played favorites and now the entire world knows that they treat some state officials a lot better than the rest of us peasantry. The CHP gave a California State Senator the privilege of being above the law. That is corruption. It is dereliction of duty.
Attorney General Jerry Brown should launch an investigation into the behavior of the CHP during the Migden incident. Brown should dig into the guts of the CHP and find out exactly who is the CHP officer who decided Migden should neither be tested for drugs nor cited and even allowed to drive off from the scene by herself.
That officer should be dismissed from service (OK - at very least the officer responsible should be "re-educated" by the Commissioner) and an apology from CHP Commissioner Mike Brown should be made to the people of California.
The Attorney General's Office may be reached here.
1 comments:
If the woman that was hit - as per the SF Chronicle - wasn't married to a chippie, she would have been thrown in jail for suspected DWI, DUI, being an illegal alien, and child endangerment.
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